Denver Broncos: Kapri Bibbs earning trust of the coaches

Denver Broncos running back Kapri Bibbs made some big plays in a loss to the Oakland Raiders, and may have earned some needed trust of his coaches…

Denver Broncos running back Kapri Bibbs was one of very few bright spots in the team’s win over the Oakland Raiders, but it wasn’t how he started the game that got everyone’s attention…

Bibbs began the game against the Raiders by making some pretty foolish looking decisions, taking the ball out of the end zone on kickoffs and not coming close to the 25-yard line. He certainly wasn’t on the good graces of the fans at that point, but head coach Gary Kubiak saw it in a different light…

“I like Kapri’s aggressiveness,” Kubiak said on Monday. “Obviously there is a plan in place. We have to execute that plan. The thing I like about Kapri is that he is out there trying to make plays last night and he did. He made a big play. We struggled with our drive starts. It was very poor. I think we were inside the 15 the first three or four possessions and then inside our own one twice. That’s very tough to overcome.”

The  Broncos gave Bibbs two touches in the running game, but entrusted him with kick return duties and also had him in the game late over Devontae Booker when they were trying to mount what would turn out to be an insurmountable comeback.

While many expected the immediate emergence of rookie Devontae Booker, who has also run well at times this season, the breakout back from the most recent game is Bibbs, who had a huge play late in the game and a really nice run on a toss play that got the Broncos a key first down.

Kubiak said the coaches are gaining some trust in their young back, who has been scratching and clawing his way to this moment for three years.

“I think we’re gaining confidence in him. Booker is not doing anything wrong. We have to get him some room. He’s got 12 carries for 2.2, so we have to find somebody some room, whoever is in there. Kapri came in and made big play on third and short, made a big run for us. He almost busted that out of there. Those are our two guys here down the stretch. They have to play well and we have to trust both of them to play.”

The big run that had everyone talking about Bibbs after the game was this incredible effort here:

This video isn’t the best quality, but this run by C.J. Anderson is immediately what I thought of when Bibbs was chasing the goal line on Sunday night:

That kind of effort is the type of effort the Broncos need from everyone on the offense right now. The offense is just stagnant, and the running game was non-existent seemingly by design. If the Broncos can get more touches to Bibbs, keep drives going much longer than they did on Sunday night, I think they’ll have some success.

Bibbs talked about what that run has done for him, specifically:

“Confidence. It just definitely boosts my morale. I had to go watch that like 20 times, especially for it being my first career TD. It definitely feels great. The best part about it all was seeing my teammates run down the field like that; seeing Michael Schofield, Emmanuel Sanders and Jordan Norwood. Seeing those guys run down the field like that to come to my aid and I’m running down the field and all I hear is Emmanuel saying, ‘Cut back, cut back, cut back!’ And then I look back and cut back and end up scoring the touchdown off of it because a teammate is hustling down the field. As a player, that’s all that you can really ask for and I know 100 percent that they’ll leave it out on the line for me and I want to do the same for them.”