Broncos’ Brandon Jones goes school yard on his two long, turnover returns

TAMPA, Fla. — As Brandon Jones looked back on his two long, highly entertaining turnover returns, he had one regret.

“Little upset with myself because I felt like I could have got a pick-six,’’ said the Denver Broncos’ starting safety who was the team’s No. 1 free-agent addition this year with a three-year, $20 million contract.

“There was a lot going on, I was a little too busy with my eyes, trying to look around. A lot of people told me I should have kept going straight, I would have had six. But I took a difficult route on that and decided to drain myself of all my energy going back-and-forth throughout the field.”

Jones had an interception return of 37 yards in the first quarter to set up first-andgoal at the Tampa Bay 9. The Broncos’ offense scored four plays and one defensive offside penalty later on Jaleel McLaughlin’s 1-yard touchdown run.

On his interception, Jones veered over to step in front of a go-ball down the right sideline Tampa Bay quarterback Baker Mayfield threw to his favorite target, Mike Evans.

“We were in our defensive coverage, I believe we were in some sort of Cover 2,’’ Jones said. “We knew going into it that Baker had a lot of confidence in his arm, especially against Cover 2 being able to hit balls in tight windows. So kind of based on the week of preparation, the route concepts that we got, I saw Mike Evans take a vertical release out of some sort of a bunch look and kind of knew, kind of broke before the ball was even thrown, knew the route he was going to run. Was able to make a, you know, a good interception.

Late in the fourth quarter, Jones picked up a Cade Otton fumble and returned it 34 yards to seal the Broncos’ 26-7 run.

On both returns, Jones started on the left side of the field, near the Buccaneers’ bench, and finished on the right side. And on both returns, he seemed to run out of gas.

“There was definitely easier things that I could have done,’’ Jones said. “I easily could have got the ball and just went straight and trusted the speed. But for whatever reason in that moment I turned into this little kid playing recess, backyard football. Just like to have a little fun, that’s it.

“I’m a little upset with myself because I should have took the easy route. But it all kind of worked out. I think the biggest thing was a lot of defensive guys were upset because they swore that they had the key block to lead me into the end zone and that I refused to follow them. So next time in the future I know I’m going to trust my teammates and follow the path of those guys.”

Jones was having a little fun with himself. The greater truth was the returns were impressive for a guy who battled a hamstring pull throughout the offseason and training camp and was on a snap count in the first game of the regular season. Jones keyed a defense that forced two turnovers not including the two series they turned the ball over on downs, registered seven sacks and only surrendered one score.

It was a dominant Denver win – as stated by Mayfield and Bucs’ head coach Todd Bowles in their postgame interviews – that restored hope in Broncos Country.

“I can’t say we’re surprised because we put in the work and we know what we’re capable of doing once we’re all on the same page,’’ Jones said. “It was just really a great team win.”