The last quarter of the 2014 season was awful for Julius Thomas, and it was hard to watch for Denver Broncos fans after he caught 12 touchdown passes in the first nine games, including three in the season opener against the Indianapolis Colts.
The Broncos had seemingly figured out how to exploit any and all matchups in the red zone that involved Julius Thomas being covered by whoever the other team wanted to put on him, until an ankle injury — again — knocked him out of action. Thomas was so badly affected by the ankle injury, that his two touchdowns against Oakland on November 9th were the last two touchdowns he caught this season, and he only managed five receptions the rest of the season as a whole.
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Thomas — as much as anyone on the Broncos roster — needed that bye week in the worst possible way. According to a report from Jeff Legwold, Thomas says he’s feeling a lot better.
“It was a big week for me,” Thomas said. “It was good to get some rest. Every doctor will tell you the most important thing is rest, but it’s tough to do in the middle of the season. So I got a little bit of time to stay off it and get some treatment on it. It went well.”
Thomas’ absence in the Broncos’ offense has provided the team with a reason to find a steady running game to go along with the dominant passing attack, but not having Thomas on the field in the capacity he was at the start of the season seems to have been detrimental to the aerial attack.
It hadn’t seemed like that big of a deal at the time, but as Thomas’ injury kept him off the field, the Broncos’ passing game got progressively worse. Our own Tylor Walden pointed out the fact that it’s critical that Thomas get back that mojo he had early in the season, because the Broncos’ offense is completely different when he is 100 percent.
After seven weeks with just five receptions, Thomas is also going to have to make sure things go well in the postseason to re-establish his value as a free agent this offseason. Ankle injuries had nearly been the death of Thomas’ career before a Pro Bowl season in 2013.
The re-emergence of Thomas in the Broncos’ offense will be a huge boost for a team that has to re-establish itself as the top passing offense in the NFL. It also might cheer Peyton Manning up a bit.
He seems like he could use it.