Denver Broncos quarterback Jarrett Stidham rushed for a nine-yard touchdown in a 27-2 win over the Green Bay Packers last week.
After the game, Stidham was asked if he felt like running back Javonte Williams as he lowered his shoulder to reach the end zone.
“Yeah, everyone kept calling me Lamar Jackson on that sideline,” Stidham said. “I have a long way to go for that. I just saw an open lane and decided to take it and tried to get in the endzone and it worked out.”
With kneel-down stats included, Stidham is credited with 32 carries for 97 yards in his NFL career (four starts). In college, he rushed for 224 yards and nine touchdowns in three seasons (37 games). So it’s something he can do, but it’s certainly not Stidham’s biggest strength.
Jarrett Stidham trucks a defender for a rushing touchdown #NFL pic.twitter.com/8pxfAoA0Bn
— Tanner Phifer (@TannerPhiferNF) August 19, 2024
The good-natured teasing from his teammates reflects the kind of comradery Denver has in the locker room.
“I feel like it hasn’t been like this everywhere I’ve been [and] one thing that I’ll talk about is: I feel like on teams I’ve been on, you kind of hangout with the offensive guys or the defensive guys kind of hangout with the defensive guys,” Stidham said. “But [here], I hang out with offensive guys, specialists, everybody and to me that doesn’t really happen a lot. If you go into the cafeteria at the facility, you see guys sitting with other guys, it’s just a cool community that Sean [Paytton]’s really built.”
Stidham said the Broncos have a close locker room, closer than the other teams he’s been with before landing in Denver last year.
“[W]ith a lot of guys coming back this year, you just naturally get closer,” Stidham said. “One thing we did last year was right after the season was over, the next week there was probably 16 or 17 of us that took a trip to Aspen for a long weekend of just hanging out, dinners, just being guys and again, that doesn’t happen everywhere.”
He’s no Lamar Jackson, but he is loved by his teammates. If he ever gets an opportunity for the first regular-season rushing touchdown of his NFL career with the Broncos, Stidham’s teammates will be there to celebrate.
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