Jerry Jeudy is hoping to play against Las Vegas on Sunday afternoon in a game that would be just 17 days after he was carted off the practice field with a right hamstring injury.
Jeudy, the Broncos’ 2020 first-round pick and leading receiver, complimented Denver’s training staff and vice president of player Beau Lowery in particular, but also said he hopes at the end of the week he gets to make the decision on whether he’s in uniform.
“It’s my body, it’s how I feel, so I feel like it’s my decision, for real,” Jeudy said.
He insisted, though, that he’s not rushing back to the field.
“I’m being 100% smart about it,” Jeudy said. “I’ve got to listen to my body. If I feel good, then I’m good. If I don’t, then I don’t. It all depends on how I’m feeling.”
Jeudy’s been a limited participant in practice the past two days and has done most, but not all, of the individual work during the periods of practice open to reporters.
Whether he plays Sunday remains to be seen, though even having the possibility seemed unlikely when Jeudy went down on Aug. 24 during a joint practice with the Los Angeles Rams.
“When you first saw it happen, we all certainly had a sinking feeling,” offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi said. “Then we got the initial reports and it maybe didn’t sound as bad as we thought it was going to be. Didn’t know — still don’t know — when he’s going to be back, but I think certainly sooner rather than later compared to what we thought when we first saw the injury.”
That day, Jeudy took an end-around against the Rams and motored toward the right sideline before his right hamstring grabbed him “out of nowhere,” he said.
“At the moment, I was just like, it hurt. It was hurting me, I couldn’t walk, so I was just like, ‘Let me get on this cart so they can make it easier and faster,’” he said. “I wasn’t really thinking about (the severity), but once I got the MRI it made me feel a little bit better.”
The progress has been relatively smooth, hardly a guarantee when it comes to hamstrings. Jeudy said he doesn’t remember dealing with an injury to the muscle in his past.
“I’m feeling pretty good,” he said. “I’ve just got to consistently feel good throughout practice every day and keep getting better and better. As long as I feel good on Sunday, we’ll see what happens.”
Hamstrings can be notoriously difficult to come back from, but Jeudy called himself a “fast healer” and said he took returning for Week 1 as his goal since the injury occurred.
“I wouldn’t say I’m surprised because I’ve been putting in a lot of work these past two weeks to try to get back for the first game,” Jeudy said. “So I’m not really surprised because of the amount of work I’ve put in up to this day.”
What will be the final determination?
“I just want to feel like there ain’t nothing hindering me,” he said. “I just want to feel that confidence, that explosiveness, cuts. If I feel good, that just builds more and makes me feel more comfortable.
“That’s the only thing I’m focused on right now.”
Injury updates. Like Jeudy, cornerback Riley Moss (core) was limited Thursday. Tight ends Chris Manhertz (chest) and Greg Dulcich (personal) were full participants.
Broncos swing tackle Cam Fleming told The Post on Thursday that he had offseason back surgery and that he spent most of training camp trying to get back up to speed.
“I’m still working toward the 100%, but probably midway through camp, after a couple of preseason games, I started feeling a little bit better,” he said.
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