Jake Butt sat at his locker, still sweating and flushed from his morning workout. It was a Wednesday afternoon in mid-October — an ordinary Wednesday afternoon that his teammates had seen come and go for three months.
But for the Broncos’ rookie tight end, it was the day and the moment he had dreamt about for years, one he only hoped would come after he suffered a torn ACL — his second torn ACL — in his final game as a Michigan Wolverine.
“It was just football for real,” he said with a wide grin. “Itap pretty cool, you have a moment and I’m like, ‘Alright this is sweet.’”
Jake Butt is finally nearing the end of his long wait and is on the verge of suiting up on an NFL game day.
That day might be Nov. 5, against the Eagles in Philadelphia.
That day can’t come soon enough for the Broncos.
Denver’s offense has reeled the past two weeks, with “embarrassing” losses to the New York Giants and the Los Angeles Chargers that dropped them to a 3-3 record and on a chase to find answers and find them fast. The Broncos’ run game has stalled. Their once-balanced offense has become skewed. They were shutout for the first time in nearly 25 years last Sunday, their protection has been spotty, they’ve found themselves in way too many third-and-longs, their turnovers have been killers and the red zone? Well, they haven’t quite figured that out, either. (The Broncos rank 28th with a 42.9 red-zone conversion percentage.)
Their No. 2 receiver, Emmanuel Sanders, is still recovering from an ankle injury and for more than two years now, they’ve lacked a true No. 3 pass-catcher who can be a reliable threat when Demaryius Thomas and Sanders are doubled in coverage, as they so often are.
Monday, the Broncos take on the Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium, where their record will either drop to 3-4 or they will inch closer to Kansas City’s AFC West-lead.
The Broncos need a spark and they need it soon and maybe, just maybe, that spark is Jake Butt, a John Mackey Award winner (given to the nation’s best tight end) who totaled 138 catches, 1,646 receiving yards (11.9 average) and 11 touchdowns in his four years at Michigan.
Ahead of the 2017 draft, he was billed as the complete package — but with an asterisk because of his injury history. He had the size (6-foot-6, 250 pounds) to be a mismatch, he had the hands to be a threat in the red zone, he had the strength to be helpful in pass-blocking.
In April, Broncos general manager John Elway said the team was “fortunate” to get Butt in the fifth round. They placed an unofficial timetable of August or September for his return, but when the season opened, he was put on the non-football injury list to continue his recovery for six weeks.
“The cards I’ve been dealt, I deal with,” he said. “Whatever cards I’ve been dealt, thatap what I’m dealing with. I’m not thinking about any other option.”
Itap true. With his unique last name, he landed an endorsement deal with Charmin toilet paper. With his extensive recovery, he stayed in Colorado during the offseason to rehab and learn the offense as much as possible without taking the field in full.
“You wish every rookie had his mindset. Everybody’s different, but he’s different,” offensive coordinator Mike McCoy said. “The way he works and the way he prepares, I can’t wait for him to get out here. We understood when we drafted him it was going to take some time for him to get out here.
“He lives here. He’s here all the time watching film and doing extra things with (tight ends coach) Geep (Chryst) up in the meeting rooms and asking questions all the time. You can see him in the meetings taking notes. You see the way he’s worked with our medical staff, and he’s here all the time. You just love the way he works.”
Head coach Vance Joseph said Butt experienced some soreness after his first week of practice. He’s still getting in “football shape,” Joseph reiterated.
But soon, Jake Butt will be on the field, wearing an NFL jersey, just as he had always hoped. Soon, he might solve a few problems for this Broncos’ offense.
