The Denver Broncos could be without their leading rusher when they visit Gillette Stadium on Sunday.
Broncos coach Vic Fangio said Wednesday he hadn’t decided whether Melvin Gordon will be suspended for this week’s matchup with the New England Patriots after the running back was charged with driving under the influence late Tuesday night.
“Everything’s open right now,” Fangio said in a video conference with Denver reporters. “We hope to have a decision made by (Thursday) or the next day.”
Gordon has accounted for 281 of Denver’s 370 rushing yards and all three of the team’s rushing touchdowns this season. The former Los Angeles Chargers star was held out of practice Wednesday.
“I didn’t want him to practice today until we get to the bottom of everything,” Fangio said after practice. “(We’re going to) talk to the league, get all the facts in order before we make a decision on what we’re going to do and weigh the differences between what the mandated league punishment would be and anything we want to do in addition to that.”
According to a police report obtained by Mike Klis of Denver’s 9News, Gordon was pulled over after his vehicle was clocked at 71 miles per hour in a 35 mile-per-hour zone. Officers noticed Gordon’s “speech was slurred, breath had a moderate odor of an unknown alcoholic beverage, balance was swaying (and) eyes were watery” and arrested him after he performed “unsatisfactorily” in field sobriety tests.
“Yeah, I’m disappointed,” Fangio said. “But my own two kids have disappointed me at some points in their lives, (and) I never stopped loving them anymore. (Gordon is) one of us. We love him. But there’s going to be some consequences to what happened last night.”
Broncos running back Phillip Lindsay is expected to play Sunday after missing the last three games with a foot injury.
