Former star wide receiver and current NFL Network analyst Steve Smith torched Broncos wide receiver Jerry Jeudy for being unable to handle criticism.
Jeudy took exception to Smith calling him a “JAG,” or “just another guy,” as Smith explained during the pregame broadcast.
.@SteveSmithSr89 tells it like it is 🗣️
Sound up for this one 🔊@MikeGarafolo | @RealMikeRob | @BuckyBrooks | @RhettNFL pic.twitter.com/xc7d2uKljh
— NFL GameDay (@NFLGameDay) October 12, 2023
“I called out to him because on my podcast “Cut To It,” Smith told his broadcaster during NFL Network’s pregame broadcast Thursday. “I just talked about guys that maybe have not showed up in a way or in a manner… and so the word that I’ve used to describe him in the past was a JAG, just a guy.”
According to Smith, Jeudy was perturbed by the label and wouldn’t accept Smith’s apology.
“When I saw him, he’s playing well, I wanted to say to him face to face like ‘Hey, I know I said some things in the past I probably shouldn’t have, and I’m sorry.’ That’s what I wanted to say to him,” Smith explained.
“His response, Mike Rob and Bucky,” he told his broadcast partners. “was ‘Ninja’ – I’m just using the word ninja – ‘I don’t mess with you’ and it was a curse word.’” (RELATED: Why Is Deshaun Watson Still Questionable?)
It was at this point Smith went totally scorched earth.
“I’ll say it again, I’m sorry that I said you were a JAG, just a guy, who’s an average wide receiver they used a first-round pick on, that isn’t doing anything. I hope today that you actually show up in a way that you haven’t shown up in the last couple of years since they drafted you, Smith said, railing against the former Alabama receiver. “So if you ever got a problem with Agent 89, I’m sorry… for saying that you’re an average wide receiver that they’ll eventually move on [from] and when teams call me and ask me should they trade for you, I’ll say ‘No. don’t trade for Jerry Jeudy. Because he’s mentally unable to handle constructive criticism from people who watch specifically, can he be a wide receiver. He can be a wide receiver, he’s a tier three.’ Go back into the studios I’m done now,” Smith concluded.
Jeudy, taken 10th overall by the Broncos in 2020, has had a disappointing start to his career, hauling in only nine touchdowns in his first 36 games, according to Pro Football Focus. While that’s not quite abysmal production from a wide out, the Broncos would like to see more from their first-round pick.
By comparison, Smith, who the Carolina Panthers drafted in the third round of the 2001 draft, made the NFL Pro Bowl his rookie year as a return man and ended his career with a prolific 81 touchdowns and 14,731 career receiving yards, good for 8th most all time, per Pro Football Focus.