From his gunner position on the left side of the field in the first quarter Sunday, was zooming in a direct line toward Oakland punt returner TJ Carrie.
But as Carrie dropped his head, allowing ‘s punt to bounce at the 9-yard line behind him, Fowler changed course mid-sprint, corralled the ball in front of the goal line and dropped it on the 1-yard line before his momentum carried him into the end zone, allowing teammate to scoop it up.
Though the great special teams play by Fowler didn’t end of up having a positive result for the Broncos — the Raiders followed with a five-play, 99-yard touchdown drive — it didn’t go unnoticed.
“Bennie’s gotten two game balls in the first month of the season,” Broncos coach said. “One, obviously, for his game against the Chargers for scoring two touchdowns. But one last week with gunner play on special teams. Bennie is a valuable member of our football team, obviously, being our third receiver and a ‘core four’ (special teams) player for Brock (Olivo). His value is huge for us.”
The Broncos were seeking bigger production out of the wide receiver spot behind and this season, and Fowler has delivered. His coming-out party was the two-score game in the opener, but he’s remained consistent since.
Fowler’s 10 catches (just six short of his career-high for a season) and 119 yards are both third on the team behind Thomas and Sanders.
“To me, he’s been pretty good the whole time I’ve been here, but he’s making the most of his opportunities for sure,” quarterback said. “He’s in great shape. I know he’s learned a lot from those two guys in front of him. We need him to step up because, when guys want to give a lot of attention to Demaryius and Emmanuel, you’ve got to have other guys get involved for you.”
Bye week message: rest. The bye week comes at a time when the Broncos are mostly healthy, and the weekly bruises have yet to accumulate to a high level.
Still, Joseph had a simple message for his players Wednesday before they left the facility for their bye weekend.
“It’s so early, so you have to force yourself to rest,” he said. “Your bye, if it’s right in the middle, that’s a good spot. Being so early, you have to force recovery and force yourself to kind of relax and pull away from it. If not, it’s coming to come back and haunt you in four weeks. It’s different having a bye this early.”
(Texas A&M) and Siemian (Northwestern) are among the players who will travel to see their former college programs this weekend. As for Joseph, he’ll be attending his son’s flag football game on Saturday and helping his daughter prepare for a homecoming dance later in the evening.
“I’m going to be a dad for the first time in about three months,” he said.
