The most exciting part of last week’s NFL Thursday night game might have occurred before kickoff of the Kansas City Chiefs’ 19-8 victory over the Denver Broncos. That’s when NFL Network analyst Steve Smith ripped into Broncos wide receiver Jerry Jeudy, during which the former All-Pro said he would tell teams “don’t trade for Jerry Jeudy.”

In the Denver locker room on Thursday, Jeudy said it seemed as though he’d been the subject of trade rumors for “about two years,” and they’ve only appeared to intensify with this season’s NFL trade deadline approaching on Oct. 31.

“It don’t affect me at all,” Jeudy said, “because at the end of the day I’m still going to be the player I am. I know what I can do and I know what I’m capable of, so trade me or not trade me, it don’t matter because at the end of the day I’m going to still be me. …

“I block all that out. I know how my coaches feel about me. I know how my teammates feel about me. All these people who got their opinions are outsiders that have never been in the locker room, never seen me practice, never seen how this year really operates, so everybody that’s outside, I just ignore them because they don’t know what really be going on for real.”

Jeudy appeared to be trying to ignore Smith last week, too.

According to Smith, he had referred to Jeudy as a JAG – just a guy — on his podcast “Cut To It” and wanted to tell the former first-round draft pick from Alabama during warmups that he shouldn’t have said that.

Smith said Jeudy didn’t want to hear it, so Smith said to the NFL Network audience during pregame coverage: “I’m sorry I said you were a JAG – just a guy who’s an average wide receiver they used a first-round pick on. I hope today you show up in a way you haven’t showed up in the last couple of years since they drafted you. So if you ever got a problem with Agent 89, I’m sorry for saying that you’re an average wide receiver that they will eventually move on. And when teams call me and ask if they should trade for you, I will 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 3.”

Smith added from the sideline at Arrowhead Stadium, “Go back into the studio. I’m done now. Thank you,” then dropped his microphone.

In the locker room after the game, Jeudy said he didn’t remember his interaction with Smith before the contest. But a week later, he had something to say about it.

“I’m just going to head in and clear the air,” Jeudy said. “This is my last time talking about it. Basically, if he say he came to apologize, if he came to apologize to me, I would’ve understand that and I would have listened to what he had to say. But where I’m from, we just don’t – if somebody talk bad about you, you don’t go to them in person and try to act friendly towards them like you ain’t just talked bad about them. I don’t got no hate towards Steve Smith. He was a good player and stuff like that. I just stand on what I stand on. You feel me? If you feel some type of way, keep that same energy when you see me in person. I don’t got nothing against him or anything. That’s just how I feel. That’s just what it is. If I would have knew he would apologize, of course I would have reacted different. But at the same time, I know somebody talking bad about me. I told him, like, what it is and moved on from there. He wanted to take it to the media and stuff and make it bigger than what it needed to be, but at the end of the day, you know, that’s just what it is. …

“One thing I do agree on: I feel like I should’ve listened to what he had to say. But at the same time, I’m going back to my roots and where I’m from. Once somebody talk bad about you behind your back, don’t expect to come to them in person and think everything going to be OK at the end of the day.”

Denver coach Sean Payton said he was more concerned about getting the football to Jeudy more often than what the wide receiver had going on with a TV analyst.

“He’s frustrated, I’m sure,” Payton said on Monday. “He’s a talented player. We need to continue to look for ways to get him throws — not only in the slot, but outside.

“The other stuff, I don’t try to keep track of as long as it’s not a distraction to what we’re doing as a team. But that being said, he’s very competitive, he’s smart, and so he’s a playmaker for us and we got to continue to look for ways to put him in positions to make plays.”

Jeudy joined the Broncos from Alabama as the 15th selection in the 2020 NFL Draft. He has 20 receptions for 222 yards in five games in 2023 after missing the season-opener with a hamstring injury. In 46 NFL games, Jeudy has 177 receptions for 2,517 yards and nine touchdowns.

In their next game, the Broncos play the Green Bay Packers at 3:25 p.m. CDT Sunday at Empower Field at Mile High in Denver.

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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.