EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Julius Thomas buttoned his shirt, slowly pulled on his jacket and gathered items from his locker.
“I thought when I turned around, you guys would be all gone,” Thomas said.
As long as Thomas continues to make old records disappear, there’s no chance the media will leave him alone. Sunday marked the end of an exhausting week for Thomas. Considered one of the NFL’s good guys, Thomas dealt with a flood of criticism over a cut block on Arizona’s Calais Campbell and absorbed an $8,268 fine, which he is appealing.
Then came game day. And all he does is catch touchdowns.
Thomas secured two in the Broncos’ 31-17 victory over the New York Jets, the latest leg in a breathtaking stampede through the record books. Thomas’ nine touchdown catches tied a record set by Calvin Johnson in 2011 for most in the first five games.
Thomas needs nine over the final 11 games to eclipse Rob Gronkowski’s NFL single-season tight end record of 17.
“It’s just a blessing. I have to give credit to the guy who deserves it, the man upstairs,” Thomas said. “The path I took here wasn’t an accident.”
Thomas remains an unconventional star. He excelled at Portland State in basketball. One year of college football created loose comparisons to Gates and Tony Gonzalez, former hoops standouts who made the transition to the NFL. Thomas broke out last season, earning Pro Bowl honors. He broke down the film and decided to work in the Los Angeles area with Gonzalez in the offseason, finding ways to improve his routes and production.
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As he becomes more polished, Thomas makes defenses look helpless. In a gear-grinding, methodical Broncos performance, Thomas provided arguably the biggest moment. The Broncos owned a precarious 10-7 lead late in the second quarter, taking over at their 20. The sprint to points began. If the Jets stiffened and allowed only a field goal, they would have entered halftime with a rare commodity this season: hope.
Instead, Peyton Manning connected on a 22-yard touchdown pass to Thomas with 27 seconds remaining.
It was vintage Broncos. Manning attacked reserve cornerback Darrin Walls, in for the injured Dee Milliner, and Thomas torched him on a seam route.
“Put a corner on him, and he’s too big. He boxes them out like a basketball player. Put a linebacker on him, and he’s too fast. He stretches the field on them,” Broncos defensive tackle Terrance Knighton said. “In the red zone, defenses know (we) are going to Julius and can’t stop him.”
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Manning went back to Thomas on the Broncos’ opening drive in the second half. At the 4-yard line, the Jets appeared confused. Manning called Thomas before the snap, then sent him back into a wide set. The Jets didn’t take the hint. Thomas ran a quick slant in front of safety Calvin Pryor for the score, taking advantage of the Jets’ lapse in judgement after spending much of the game tilting coverage in his direction.
“He’s a matchup problem,” said Manning, who sits three touchdowns shy of breaking Brett Favre’s all-time mark of 508. “They had some double teams toward him, so that tells you what they thought of Julius. (Offensive coordinator) Adam (Gase) did a good job of moving him around.”
Thomas punctuated the second score with four stomps and howls of ” “
He yells it after touchdowns. It’s kind of his thing. The Broncos’ offensive horse might end up hoarse by season’s end.
“I like to have fun out there,” Thomas said. “I was just really excited. “
Troy E. Renck: trenck@denverpost.com or twitter.com/troyrenck
