GLENDALE, Ariz. – Russell Wilson walked off the podium, a quick chat with reporters completed after an 18-17 preseason opening loss.
He went through a door back into Denver’s locker room and ran into rookie running back Jaleel McLaughlin.
The shifty Youngstown State product had been accelerating, bobbing and weaving on the field not long before, but he stopped in his tracks to field congratulations from the nine-time Pro Bowl quarterback.
McLaughlin, a training camp standout who “seems to break a big run every day,” according to offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi, capped his lone drive of playing time Friday night with a 4-yard touchdown run. His first in the NFL.
Preseason or not, that feels pretty darn good.
“Itap a surreal moment. Shoutout to the guys up front, they made it easy for me,” McLaughlin said. “Itap a different feeling once you get into the back of the end zone and you actually score.”
McLaughlin carried four times for 20 yards and took a pass upfield for 12 as part of an 87-yard, go-ahead touchdown drive engineered by No. 3 quarterback Ben DiNucci late in the game.
If it felt like a long wait, McLaughlin wasn’t complaining.
“I just stayed locked in,” he said. “Everyone has to work their way. I just stayed locked in and thatap what I’m going to do. And learn as much as possible, because I’ve got a great group of running backs ahead of me.”
That same group makes for stiff competition in trying to make the 53-man roster. Javonte Williams and Samaje Perine are essentially locks assuming they’re healthy, meaning there’s likely one spot between McLaughlin, Tyler Badie (the second man in behind Perine on Friday night) and Tony Jones Jr.
McLaughlin’s trying to make his case by getting into the end zone and getting to the Broncos’ facility early. Really early. He arrives most days around 5 a.m.
“I’ve been doing that since high school,” he said. “I’ve always been the first one in the weight room, working out before school. Things like that. Just to work as hard as I can to put my best foot forward. I’m going to continue to do that no matter how high or how low I get.”
McLaughlin ran for 8,166 yards in college between Division II Notre Dame College and FCS Youngstown State.
“Jaleel’s got such great burst,” Wilson said. “He’s got great confidence. He gets there early, leaves late. He’s dedicated to the game.”
And he’s trying to prove he can hold up to the physicality of the NFL at 5-foot-9 and 183 pounds.
“We’ve seen it. We’ve seen it tonight,” McLaughlin said. “That was good. I felt like I did an OK job of that.”
His coach had a similar review.
“Pretty good,” head coach Sean Payton said. “He had the ball come out once on one run, but we’ll see it on tape and we’ll get a chance to correct it.”
Touching the end zone in your first ever professional game will make coaching easier to take the next day.
McLaughlin couldn’t even be bothered to worry about the fact that his name was mistakenly spelled “McGlaughlin” on the back of his first game jersey.
“Thatap how itap pronounced, so, hey, it helps out everyone,” he said with a smile.
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