Broncos head coach Sean Payton said Friday that receiver Josh Reynolds is doing OK but “pretty shaken up” after being shot last week.
“He’s fortunate,” Payton told reporters after Denver’s Friday practice. “Obviously the league and the local authorities are handling that. I’ve had a chance to talk with him. He was pretty shaken up and I’ll leave it at that.”
Reynolds was shot last Friday in Denver. 9News, citing court documents, reported that Reynolds and another man were shot at in their car after they were followed out of a strip club.
Payton said he spoke with the team Friday about the incident.
“Today we’ve got counseling and so many resources and they go into play,” Payton said. “All of it.”
After practice in the team’s locker room, the details of the incident didn’t matter. Teammates said they were just glad Reynolds was OK.
“It’s crazy knowing that, if you think about it, we could have easily lost one of our teammates and not only that but a very close brother to me and a very close teammate to me and my family,” said left tackle Garett Bolles, whose locker is next to Reynolds’. “Somebody that I love and care for and we talk on a regular basis. Just knowing that, the whole situation, I don’t want to talk too much about it because I don’t know — I’m going to leave it up to the authorities and the police and the NFL — just hopefully justice is given to the people that were involved in trying to take somebody’s life.
“There’s never anything in this world — no time, no place, no altercation, no nothing that (justifies) trying to take someone’s life.”
Reynolds was in attendance at practice Friday as he had been the previous two days. He was already on injured reserve after a fractured finger earlier this month required a minor surgery. That’s why he didn’t make the trip to New Orleans last week. The Broncos’ team charter landed back in Denver in the early hours of Friday, around the same time the shooting reportedly occurred.
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“First things first, I’m glad he’s OK,” cornerback Pat Surtain II said. “Obviously wish him the best on his recovery because situations like that, just him being able to make it out of that situation is a blessing for him and for this organization. As a whole (team) and everybody involved in this organization, we’re glad he’s OK.
Bolles, though, acknowledged that it’s difficult to know how to help Reynolds given the circumstances.
“Going through something like that, I don’t think there’s much you can say to a person just because a lot of us have never experienced that before,” Bolles said. “Just caring for him and knowing that we love him and he’s one of our brothers goes a long way. …
“We know he’s going to make a speedy recovery and we’re just thankful that we still get to see our brother every single day moving forward.”
Police announced Wednesday they had arrested two people on suspicion of attempted murder in the shooting.
Burr Charlesworth, 42, and Luis Mendoza, 35, were both arrested on investigation of attempted first-degree murder and first-degree assault after allegedly shooting two men Friday on southbound I-25, according to a news release from the Denver Police Department. Denver police shut the interstate down for multiple hours Monday to investigate the shooting and are working to identify more suspects, according to the release.
The Denver Post was unable to independently obtain court documents in the case. The NFL did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment.
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