Denver Broncos rookie running back Audric Estime made a splash with his first career carry on Sunday, rushing for 13 yards and hurdling a defender.
On the way down, safety Julian Love punched the ball out of Estime’s arm.
One day later, Broncos coach Sean Payton downplayed the fumble by giving more credit to the defender than criticism to Estime. Payton also didn’t say he would discourage Estime from attempting hurdles, but he did make it clear that he wants the running back to be more of a bruiser than a dancer.
“I don’t coach against that,” Payton said of the hurdle. “I don’t ever want to take away from their instincts. The one thing that was interesting on that play if you go back and look at it. It’s a great play by the Seattle defender in that — we had a takeaway for instance. [Alex] Singleton had an interception yesterday. That play I put on for our staff to look at. There are some takeaways where you’d say, ‘It’s an interception. There was pressure on Geno [Smith]. He stepped up, and Singleton made a play.’ And that’s a turnover, when there are other plays like Audric’s, where that’s more of a takeaway.
“The timing of the tackle and then the deliberate punch out. I’m putting that play on as much for [the] defense, and then obviously we’ll see it offensively relative to if I’m in the open field and taking that approach. With that being said, last week in Audric’s locker there was a picture of Barry Sanders to the left and then Jerome Bettis to the right. Barry Sanders had the Ghostbusters circle and red line through it. You have to know what kind of runner you’re going to be in this league. I didn’t see many times where Bettis was leaping over people.”
Point taken.
Payton doesn’t want to coach against Estime’s instincts, but the coaching staff envisions more of a Bettis-style role for the 227-pound running back. At the end of the day, if Estime holds onto the ball, the Broncos will take a 13-yard carry with or without a hurdle. We’ll see if Estime has better ball security (and fewer hurdles) going forward.
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