DENVER (AP) — Jerry Jeudy can't wait to get back to Denver, the city he once was so eager to leave.
Monday night marks Jeudy's homecoming when the Cleveland Browns (3-8) visit the Denver Broncos (7-5), who are seeking to go three games above .500 for the first time since opening the 2021 season with three victories.
“I ain’t circled it,” Jeudy said, “but I definitely seen that it was on the schedule, was very excited about it. Now it’s here. Now it’s time to perform.”
Jeudy was the Broncos' first-round draft pick in 2020 and mostly a disappointment before requesting a trade in March and signing a three-year, $58 million contract extension in Cleveland.
Jeudy returns to Denver on the kind of roll he never really enjoyed in the Mile High City — 19 catches for 300 yards and a touchdown over the last three games — and he's developing a good chemistry with Jameis Winston while averaging nearly 100 yards per game since Week 8.
That's the kind of production the Broncos envisioned but rarely saw from the highest-drafted wide receiver in franchise history, one who got along well with Denver coach Sean Payton but still felt he needed a change of scenery.
“I just wasn’t satisfied how they were using me and I felt like I could do way more than what they expected of me,” Jeudy said. “I felt limited, so I felt like I had to go somewhere else to really showcase what I’m about.”
Part of the problem was living in Courtland Sutton's shadow in Denver.
Sutton is on quite a roll himself as he deepens his connection with rookie QB Bo Nix after skipping the offseason program in a quest for more money.
Sutton has caught 36 passes for 467 yards and three TDs over the last five weeks and is coming off his first career game with multiple touchdown receptions. He even threw a TD pass to Nix at Baltimore in Week 9.
Just like he did when the Broncos faced Atlanta safety and former teammate Justin Simmons recently, Sutton said he wishes Jeudy all the best — but just not in Denver.
“I wish nothing but many blessings and a lot of highlights coming to him — anything past this week," Sutton said. “But going into this week, he's got a tough matchup with (Patrick Surtain II) over there. That's cornerback one.”
Like his former teammates, Payton was — and is — a big fan of Jeudy's.
“He’s explosive, he separates,” Payton said, adding, Jeudy “has great hips, great transition, and he has great football IQ.”
It just didn’t pay off all that often in Denver.
Jeudy grew up in Florida about 20 minutes away from Broncos star fellow Alabama alum Surtain, and they squared off against each other plenty in youth football.
“It’s going to be a fun matchup,” Jeudy said. “I’ve known Pat since little league, been competing against him down there my whole life. To finally get the opportunity to go against him on this big stage, it’s going to be fun.”
Surtain is equally excited to play against his childhood friend.
“Yeah, it's going to be fun,” Surtain said. “I know it's going to be a great matchup."
The Broncos are in position for the seventh and final AFC playoff spot entering December. The Browns have won just two of their last nine games but those victories were against the playoff-contending Ravens and Steelers.
“You can't look at records in the NFL,” Broncos right tackle Mike McGlinchey said. “Any team any week is capable of beating anybody. Like you just saw, Carolina took Kansas City down to the wire.”
Take it from Jeudy: Altitude is a real challenge in Denver.
“It’s kind of hard to breathe but that shouldn’t stop us,” said Jeudy, who advised his teammates to “make sure they hit that, what’s the thing? The altitude room.”
The Browns spent time during the week in their altitude room inside the team's headquarters where the oxygen level can be changed so players can do cardiovascular training in conditions replicating what they'll deal with in Denver.
“We got treadmills. We got some bikes. We got some skiing,” Winston said.
Nix has been named the NFL Rookie of the Week three consecutive times. He has thrown for at least 200 yards and two touchdowns without an interception in his last three games, which is tied for the longest streak by a rookie since the AFL-NFL merger in 1970. The others to do it were C.J. Stroud, Gardner Minshew and Dak Prescott.
The Browns have a horrible history with — and in — Denver.
Cleveland has suffered some of the toughest losses in franchise history against the Broncos, who beat the Browns in three AFC Championships in four years in the late 1980s. Two of those losses were given infamous nicknames: “The Drive” and “The Fumble.”
The Browns are 4-14 at Denver. They won in 1970 and 1972 but have gone 2-14 since.
“I don’t put much stock in the history there,” coach Kevin Stefanski said. “It’s a tough place to play regardless for any team that goes in there.”