Josey Jewell earned his nickname, “The Outlaw,” over four seasons and 49 games leading Iowa’s defense from his middle linebacker spot.
But keeping Jewell’s rugged reputation in the NFL required a shift of perspective when the Broncos picked him No. 106 overall (fourth round) in April’s draft. Jewell thrived as the lone inside linebacker in the Hawkeyes’ 4-3 scheme. Now, he’s playing alongside either Brandon Marshall or Todd Davis with a pair of rangy linebackers on the edges in Denver’s 3-4.
“Early on in OTAs,” Jewell said, “it was a bit of a learning curve.”
The Broncos removed Jewell’s training wheels, quickly, as a knee injury to Marshall advanced the rookie’s role in base-and-nickel packages through three games. Jewell’s defensive snap count progressed from seven (Seattle) to 14 (Oakland) to 38 (Baltimore). He’s totaled eight tackles, including one for loss.
“A lot of learning lessons for me, especially, coming in early like that and playing on the defense,” Jewell said. “A lot of things that you realize after a week, you look at the film, think about it, watch it by yourself and you understand what you did wrong. You try to improve yourself every day.
“Getting these early ones, I think you try and critique yourself even harder. Because if they’re going to put you in, you better be able to go out there and fit.”
Back in the Broncos locker room, Jewell does his best not to revel in the early playing time, no matter how dream-fulfilling it might be, as he enters the first of what he hopes are many Monday Night Football appearances as an NFL linebacker.
“I haven’t really thought about that yet and I’m trying not to think about it,” Jewell said. “I’m going to try and live in the moment and understand what I need to do week-to-week and day-to-day.”
