NFL Insider: If they stay healthy, could Jerry Jeudy, Courtland Sutton, Tim Patrick be a sequel to 'The Three Amigos?'

Jun. 10—In his NFL Insider, Denver Gazette beat writer Chris Tomasson takes you around the Broncos and the NFL:

There are plenty of sequels out there. So how about one for "The Three Amigos?"

Mark Jackson would be all for it.

"Absolutely," said Jackson, who was a member of the famous Broncos receiving trio that was intact from 1987-92. "I would definitely be for another version. They could call it 'Three Amigos 2.' There's a 'Fast & Furious' (sequel) and now they're up to part 10."

Those who could comprise another notable Denver threesome are Courtland Sutton, Jerry Jeudy and Tim Patrick, who all have had some nice receiving seasons in their career. The problem is they haven't often been intact as a trio.

In 2020, when Jeudy caught 52 passes for 856 yards as a rookie and Patrick had 51 grabs for 742 yards, Sutton played in just one game due to a having suffered a torn ACL. In 2021, when Sutton had 58 catches for 776 yards and Patrick had 53 receptions for 734 yards, Jeudy missed seven games because of injury. And last season, when Jeudy caught 67 balls for 972 yards and Sutton 64 for 829 yards, Patrick missed the entire season due to a torn ACL suffered in training camp.

"They have a lot of talent now and they're starting to get a little more experience," Jackson said. "But none of them have consistencly put together full seasons. So if they can, what they do remains to be seen."

Jackson, who played for the Broncos from 1986-92, was joined on "The Three Amigos" by Vance Johnson, who was in Denver from 1985-95, and Ricky Natiel, who played from 1987-92. With John Elway throwing the ball, all three had their moments.

Rod Smith didn't arrive in Denver until two years after "The Three Amigos" dissolved. For now, the former Broncos star receiver likes the trio the Broncos have if all three can stay healthy.

"It will come down to play calling," said Smith, who played for Denver from 1994-06. "If you have the coach (in first-year boss Sean Payton) and the system to put each of those guys in their respective spots, they can be ultra effective."

Smith likes the entire receiving group the Broncos have put together. They hope that quarterback Russell Wilson, who struggled last season after being acquired from Seattle, can bounce back with additional weapons available.

Also on hand now for Wilson is rookie receiver Marvin Mims Jr., a second-round pick from Oklahoma. And Denver still has K.J. Hamler, another receiver who has been bogged down by injuries and one whose availability for the start of training camp is in question due to a torn pectoral muscle suffered while working out in March.

"I really like the depth," Smith said. "They have great depth on paper right now but you still got to go out and perform."

Sutton is optimistic about that happening.

"I like the guys in there," he said. "Competition brings out the best in everybody. ... We have a great room. ... It's been good having those guys in there and everybody's in their competing."

Plenty of money is being spent on the position. Sutton has the team's second-highest salary-cap number for 2023 at $18.266 million and Patrick is No. 7 at $11.071 million. Jeudy has a modest cap number of $4.834 million this season but in 2024 it will climb to $12.987 million due to Denver having picked up his fifth-year option.

In 2024, Sutton is on the books for a $17.325 million cap number and Patrick for $12.971 million. But neither has any guaranteed money for 2024, so it remains to be seen what will happen with them.

So if there is a sequel to "The Three Amigos" in the works involving Jeudy, Sutton and Patrick, it might be best for it happen in 2023. If either Sutton or Patrick is no longer around in 2024 for salary reasons, Mims, who was perhaps drafted as as an eventual replacement for either, could become part of a notable trio.

What I'm thinking

—Payton hasn't been hesitant to take some shots at last season's Broncos, who went 5-12 and had a first-year coach in Nathaniel Hackett who was fired with two games remaining. His latest one came when asked about safety Caden Sterns looking to take the next step in 2023 and part of his answer was, "I hope all of them take the next step because last year's steps were not good enough."

Payton won a Super Bowl coaching New Orleans and won more than 63 percent of his regular-season games, so he knows a bit about getting players to take "the next step."

—In the old days, NFL teams put together basketball teams that would travel around during the offseason and face local competition. Now, one only can imagine what kind of front line the Broncos could put together if they had such an offseason team. It could feature 6-foot-8 tackle Mike McGlinchey who was a darn good high school hoops player, 6-7 tight end Chris Manhertz, who started in the post for Canisius College, and 6-7 defensive lineman Haggai Ndubuisi, who once held his own on the court in Nigeria.

—If the Broncos don't make the playoffs in 2023 and Payton remains as coach, they would relinquish any chance to turn down being on HBO's "Hard Knocks" in 2024. Teams can't say no if they haven't made the playoffs for two straight years, don't have a new coach and haven't been featured in the last 10 years. The Broncos never have been on "Hard Knocks" and haven't made the playoffs since 2015, so they would have been eligible this year if Hackett were still around.

What I'm hearing

—Former Broncos 1,000-yard rusher Reuben Droughns likes what he is hearing about how well Denver running back Javonte Williams is recovering from a serious knee injury suffered last October. Williams has been a limited participant in spring drills and is expected to be ready for the start of training camp in late July. "That's impressive, said Droughns, who rushed for 1,240 yards for Denver in 2004 and followed that up with 1,232 for Cleveland the next season. "It's not easy coming off an ACL injury. We need him. If he can return to his previous form, we've got a chance."

—Smith is a fan of every undrafted player on the Broncos. After being undrafted out of Missouri Southern State in 1994, he went on to become Denver's all-time leading receiver with 849 catches for 11,389 yards. "Any undrafted player that comes into the Broncos organization, I'm partial to," he said. "We're a group a guys that nobody gave us a chance of even being in the league."

—In 1973, the Broncos had a winning record for the first time, going 7-5-2 in their 14th season. With that in mind, guard Larron Jackson said players got rings after the season to commemorate the accomplish. Then again, he said players who wanted such rings had to pay for them.

What I'm seeing

—In Thursday's final practice of organized team activities, Payton put his team through a series of game situations. Afterward, he said the Broncos have a "board where there's 43 things that are unique end-of-game, end-of-half, and sometimes middle-of-the-game situations that may come up once every four weeks (or) maybe once every two years." So anything weird that comes up this season for Broncos would beg the question: Was that one of the 43 things on the board?

—When NFL teams conclude offseason drills, there's often a mad dash by players for leave the facility to start summer vacation before returning for training camp. Stay tuned to see how quickly Broncos players disperse following a three-day mandatory minicamp running Tuesday through Thursday. Payton also might be in a bit of a hurry. "My daughter is getting married next weekend, like right after we break," he said. "I have to figure out my speech."

—Payton has had the Broncos sign a bevy of former New Orleans players and he's also brought in film. Sutton said he has been studying tape of Michael Thomas, who caught an NFL-record 149 passes for 1,725 for Payton's Saints in 2019. "A week or two ago, I just got Michael Thomas' 2019 targets ... and I'm just diving into it and being able to see how he may have ran a route that we are learning now," he said.

Lists

The Broncos have lost 15 straight games to Kansas City and sure hope they won't be in line in 2025 to break an NFL record. A look at the NFL's longest winning streaks by one team over another:

1. 20 Miami over Buffalo, 1970-80.

2. 19 Washington over Detroit, 1968-97

3. 17 San Francisco over over Los Angeles/St. Louis Rams, 1990-99

4. 15 New England over Buffalo, 2003-11

4. 15 Kansas City over Denver, 2015-present

6. 14 New England over New York Jets, 2016-present

Wilson obviously didn't make the Pro Bowl last season. But with nine career appearances, he is just one shy of entering the list of quarterbacks in NFL history with 10 or more Pro Bowl selections:

1. 15 Tom Brady, Patriots, Buccaneers

2. 14 Peyton Manning, Colts, Broncos

3. 13 Drew Brees, Saints

4. 11 Brett Favre, Packers, Vikings

5. 10 Johnny Unitas, Colts

5. 10 Aaron Rodgers, Packers