Demaryius Thomas first started busting his slump during the bye week.
It was the Monday after the Broncos’ loss at Seattle, where Thomas again inexplicably struggled with two more drops. All the players had to endure the postgame cleanse, or conditioning that sweats out the bumps and bruises, on Monday.
Thomas showed up at Dove Valley before most of the others and caught ball after ball off the Jugs machine.
“I had to do something,” Thomas said. “I was dropping them.”
Droppin’ Demaryius is gone. Demaryius the Destroyer of cornerbacks is back.
“All that talk is done now, right?” said Emmanuel Sanders, who went from the NFL’s leading pass catcher after the Broncos’ third game, to the Broncos’ “other” receiver after Game 4.
“We weren’t worried,” said Broncos slot receiver Wes Welker. “When he’s on, he’s uncoverable.”
Doesn’t Antonio Cromartie know it. Thomas entered play Sunday against Arizona with a disappointing 13 catches for 141 yards and one touchdown through the Broncos’ first three games.
Against the Cards, Thomas had the most productive receiving day in Broncos history. Thomas made eight catches for a team-record 226 yards, including touchdowns of 31 and 86 yards that were heavy on his specialty — yards after the catch.
“There were opportunities when I fell,” said Cromartie, who was charged with trying to cover Thomas one-on-one most of the day. “Playing against a receiver like him, you can’t get into situations where you fall. He’s going to make a play. He got the best of me today, and that’s all I can really say.
“When you give up 238-damn yards to any damn receiver, that’s not your best day.”
Cromartie was either exaggerating Thomas’ performance, or understating it, depending on the stat sheet or his memory. Just because a chop-block penalty took away a 77-yard touchdown catch by Thomas in the third quarter doesn’t mean that play wasn’t branded in Cromartie’s conscience.
With 6:40 left and the Broncos up 34-20, Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning completed a 20-yard pass to Thomas. At that point, Thomas had seven catches for 213 yards.
The Broncos’ single-game team record was 214 yards, set by tight end Shannon Sharpe in a 2002 overtime game at Kansas City.
When the Broncos got the ball back with 3:28 left, the right people were made aware Thomas was 2 yards away from breaking Sharpe’s record. Manning started the series with a 13-yard completion to Thomas. That gave him 226 receiving yards and the record. And to think about that 77-yard touchdown play in the third quarter that didn’t count.
“I don’t know about getting Demaryius going — he got himself going,” Manning said as he finished dressing at his locker. “He challenged himself. It wasn’t anything the coaches had to say. A great player like Demaryius, he knew.”
There were a couple reasons Thomas suddenly developed a bad case of the drops through his first three games. Replacing the then-suspended Welker in the slot for the season opener against Indianapolis threw Thomas off his rhythm. While he was worried about his new position, he dropped one. Then he started worrying about the one he dropped.
PHOTOS: Arizona Cardinals vs. Denver Broncos
“I knew if it was like third-and-5, Peyton always went to Welker and I knew if I’m not open, he’s going to be on me,” Thomas said. “The first one I dropped, I let it get in my head, “I’m letting down Peyton, I’m letting down my team.’ “
Back on the outside, Thomas’ touchdown catches of 31 and 86 yards were plays that not even the great Calvin Johnson makes. On the first for 31 yards, Thomas beat Cromartie off the ball, made a catch down the seam, then stiff-armed linebacker Larry Foote before zigging and zagging through defenders until he reached the end zone.
On the second, Thomas again beat Cromartie, caught a perfectly thrown go-route from Manning down the left sideline, then outraced a safety who had the angle.
“The first meeting we had about the Cardinals, our offensive coordinator (Adam Gase) said the receivers have got to beat man-to-man and press coverage,” Thomas said. “Because we knew they’d blitz a lot. That is all we did (in practice) and we told (our) defense to press us.”
Mike Klis: mklis@denverpost.com; Twitter: @mikeklis
