ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — Things haven’t gone as Melvin Gordon had hoped so far in his first season with the Denver Broncos.
Whether it was his DUI arrest earlier this month or his fumbles on the field this past Sunday, Gordon said Wednesday that he is sorry for what he called the first off-the-field trouble in his career and promised better play is on the horizon as the Broncos face Gordon’s former team, the Los Angeles Chargers, this weekend.
“I am sorry I was even in the situation,” said Gordon on Wednesday, in his first public comments about the incident. “I don’t want people to feel like ‘oh, because Melvin didn’t say anything or he didn’t speak on it, he just don’t care, he’s not apologetic about the situation.’ That’s not the case at all. Obviously I try to do my best to walk a straight line and lead by example, things like that. I’m a little upset I even put myself in that situation.
“I had a hard time just dealing with it myself, like I said, never been in trouble before. … To the people of Denver and everyone, I don’t want anyone to feel like I just don’t care, like ‘oh he got his money, he don’t care.’ I do (care), I do. I’m not happy I was in the situation.”
Gordon, who signed a two-year, $16 million deal in the offseason, was cited for speeding — police clocked him at 71 miles per hour in a 35 mph zone — as well as DUI late Oct. 13 in downtown Denver. He likely will face league discipline — as much as a three-game suspension — possibly this season.
On the field, Gordon has seen some rocky moments as well. He fumbled twice in the Broncos’ loss to the Kansas City Chiefs this past Sunday, including an errant toss toward quarterback Drew Lock on an ill-fated flea-flicker attempt in the third quarter.
The Chiefs returned that fumble to the Broncos’ 14-yard line on the way to a field goal. He had also fumbled in the second quarter of the game and has lost three fumbles already, overall, in six games played. He missed the Broncos’ Week 6 game against the New England Patriots with strep throat.
“It was just kind of unfortunate I put too much on it,” Gordon said of the flea-flicker attempt. ” … You don’t go out there and try to fumble. The guy who fumbles feels the worst in the whole stadium, in the whole world at that point in time. … I’m dying to make a play, I’m trying to help this team win. I don’t feel like it’s an issue with me, I just get caught up sometimes just trying to make a play.”
Gordon leads the Broncos in carries (82), rushing yards (349) and rushing touchdowns (four), but his 4.3 yards per carry mark is a bit deceiving. Without a 43-yard touchdown run against the winless New York Jets as the Broncos were trying to run out the clock in the closing seconds, his per carry average is 3.8 yards on his other 81 attempts.
He also has had 21 carries go for either no gain or negative yardage. With Phillip Lindsay currently in the concussion protocol, Gordon may have the bulk of the carries Sunday against the Chargers.
“Obviously I didn’t have the game I wanted to have. … It’s not too late, we got a lot of games left to turn things around,” Gordon said. “The year is not over yet. I can still go out there and show the back I want to be, we’ve got a lot of games left.”
