The Denver Broncos are staying patient with rookie punter Jeremy Crawshaw after his string of punt struggles throughout the team’s first three preseason games, especially with the regular season in sight.
Denver Broncos staying patient with rookie punter
Perhaps one of the most puzzling developments of the preseason has been the struggles of rookie punter Jeremy Crawshaw. When we watch him in practice, he booms the football with ease, but nearly every one of his preseason punts in a game setting has been the exact opposite of what we’ve seen.
Consistency is something the Denver Broncos are working on with the rookie punter, who does have the talent to effectively flip field positioning. Crawshaw punted six times in the preseason for a total of 262 yards, which turned into an average of 43.7 net yards per punt, but a concerning average of 25.0 yards per punt.
In Saturday’s preseason win against the New Orleans Saints, his first punt traveled a low 42 yards, gifting the Saints possession at their own 49-yard line. This is something that can’t take place when the games begin to matter.
After Tuesday’s practice, Broncos head coach Sean Payton reaffirmed the team’s commitment to working with and continuing to develop Crawshaw and how the staff can help him by creating some simulated looks over the course of practice.
“Keep working with him and developing with him,” Payton said. “That’s part of it. That’s part of it. I think we’re going to happy with him and his ability. It seems to always be that first punt. So we’re going to create some situations where right in the middle of a practice, we’ll have a punt before we get to a punt period. The reality of it is you get an at bat. You don’t get four at bats, five at bats. So trying to create those singular events for him I think will help too.”
The Broncos will have a week and a half until their first regular-season matchup at home against the Tennessee Titans to get him where they need to be.
