Jerry Rosburg’s faith in Albert O showed that the Broncos did him wrong for too long

Sometimes, all it takes is a coach who believes in you.

And clearly, Jerry Rosburg believes in Albert Okwuegbunam — at least to the degree where the Broncos’ interim head coach wanted to see what was there with the third-year tight end.

“I’ve been in Albert O’s ear because I think he’s a highly-talented individual and I haven’t seen him much on the field this year, and I was just curious as to why that was, because he’s a good-looking athlete,” Rosburg said.

So, Rosburg spent part of the Dec. 28 practice — the first after his promotion — working with Okwuegubnam on blocking drills.

“It was for a reason,” Rosburg said.

Rosburg often speaks of planting seeds. In this case, it was the seeds of time spent working one-on-one.

“He wanted to see me go in some drills, go against some teammates and he was happy with what he saw,” Okwuegbunam said.

Happy enough to play Okwuegbunam 37 snaps — the most work he’s had since Week 2, and more than twice as many snaps as he had in an entire 12-game stretch prior to Sunday. Happy to see Okwuegbunam deliver a solid block to spring Jerry Jeudy on a swing pass.

And happy to see Okwuegbunam overcome a dropped pass to catch three passes for 45 yards and a touchdown.

“So, I was happy that he turned it about. And whatever jitters he might have had, it seemed to me that he settled down,” Rosburg said.

But the truth is, the opportunity should have come earlier.

A reason why the Broncos deactivated Okwuegbunam repeatedly throughout the season was because he didn’t have a role on special teams. Backups need to play in that phase, and he didn’t have a job.

Which is why it was telling that Rosburg — who spent part of the week in the Broncos’ special-teams meetings — ensured Okwuegbunam was active.

Yes, Greg Dulcich’s hamstring injury created an obvious spot for him on the game-day active roster. But as wide-receiver injuries mounted, it would have been logical to have Okwuegbunam active instead of a final receiver.

One obvious and apparent chance for Okwuegbunam to break through seemed to be the Week 13 game against Kansas City. That week, injuries decimated the receiving corps to the point where the Broncos played without three of their top four wide receivers.

That contested seemed a perfect opportunity to give Okwuegbunam some looks. Abandonining the three-wide sets in favor of more two-tight-end packages to put Okwuegbunam in space appeared to be a perfectly cromulent idea.

It would also have allowed Okwuegbunam to do what he always could do: stretch the field and stress a defense. There aren’t many defenders who can keep pace with a 6-foot-4, 250-pounder with 4.5 speed. You have a mismatch in power or speed.

Playing him extensively on Dec. 11 seemed logical.

“Yes,” then-coach Nathaniel Hackett said Dec. 7 at the notion of doing just that. “… I think getting Albert up is going to potentially help us. It’s all hands on deck. We have to get everybody out there to see what they can do—find the matchups that we can and get that rhythm however we can.”

And yet Okwuegbunam played two snaps that week.

It would have been easy for him to circle endlessly on the cul-de-sac of frustration. He did his best to keep his chin up.

“Obviously, it’s unfortunate the way things happened this season. A lot of things happened that are out of my control,” he said. “But I just made the decision to come to work every day and work hard and keep a positive mindset.

“I knew that I would get another opportunity at some point — and that was [Sunday], and I’m glad I got a good outcome.”

And more snaps should be coming in Week 18.

“He’s a big, talented guy & he needs to play,” Rosburg said. “He needs to play well.”

With Rosburg supporting Okwuegbunam and cultivating his growth, one would expect that he would do precisely that. And if he can, he would show the Broncos should have found a way to get him on the field more often weeks ago.

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