Denver Broncos wide receiver Jerry Jeudy has addressed his viral beef with legendary WR turned NFL Network analyst Steve Smith Sr.
During the pregame leadup to the Week 6 ‘Thursday Night Football’ game against the Kansas City Chiefs, Smith absolutely lit into Jeudy during a rant that saw him refer to the undeforming 24-year-old as a ‘JAG’ -just another guy- as opposed to an impact player.
Shortly after video of Smith’s comments went viral Jeudy was seemingly responded to Smith before vibing to the pregame music a little harder than normal right behind where Smith and the pregame crew were filming.
While speaking with reporters on Thursday Jeudy stated he had ‘no hate’ towards Smith but didn’t appreciate him acting differently when the cameras were not around.
‘I’m just going to go ahead and clear the air and this is my last time talking about it. Basically, had he came to apologize to me I would have understand that,’ said Jeudy.
Denver Broncos wide receiver Jerry Jeudy has spoken about the beef with Steve Smith Sr.
During the ‘Thursday Night Football’ pregame show Smith called Jeudy ‘just another player’
Jeudy has performed well expectations for the 1-5 Broncos offense throughout the season
‘And I would have listened to what he had to say. Where I’m from, if somebody talked bad about you, you don’t go to them in person and try to act friendly toward them … I have no hate towards Steve Smith. He was a good player.’
‘I just stand on where I stand on. You feel some type of way, keep the same way when you see me in person. I don’t have anything against him, that’s just how I feel. ‘If I would have knew you were going to apologize of course I would have reacted different.’
‘But at the same time, I know somebody talked bad about me, I told him what it is and moved on from there. He went and took it to the media stuff and made it bigger than what it needed to be.’
Jeudy has also had his named at the center of trade rumors as the Broncos and Indianapolis Colts have reportedly had ‘extensive’ trade discussions about him and that the talks have progressed past the point of ‘exploratory conversations.’
The wideout tried to downplay the rumors while also stating he is not bothered by them while speaking with reporters.
‘ I block all that out… I know how my coaches feel about me, I know how my teammates feel about me,’ Jeudy said.
Jeudy has recently been linked with being trade to the Indianapolis Colts after extensive talks
He made also comments on Thursday seemingly blaming his teammates for his poor numbers
‘All these people that got something to say, they opinions are outsiders that have never set foot in the locker room, never seen me practice, never seen how this s*** really operates…’
‘Trade me or not trade me, it don’t matter. At the end of the day imma still be me.’
Jeudy also made some statements on Thursday that may be seen as blaming his teammates for his underwhelming performance this year, which could potentially accelerate his exit if the Broncos are indeed planning to move him elsewhere.
‘As a receiver there’s a lot of people you have to depend on. You could be open, but the OL don’t do their thing, the QB didn’t do the job, the OC don’t put you in a.. it’s a lot of stuff that we’ve gotta go through as a WR to be successful,’ Jeudy said.
Through five games this season Jeudy has only recorded 20 catches for 222 yards and zero touchdowns, while the Broncos have compiled a 1-5 record.