Melvin Gordon is nursing a foot injury, but one reporter used that information to make an unwarranted assumption about a visible lump under the Denver Broncos‘ running back’s sock.
Gordon (seen above) did not play in the Broncos’ preseason opener against the Dallas Cowboys, but he was on the field for warmups. Arran Andersen of Fox 31 saw Gordon on the field and thought he may have landed a scoop by being the first to notice a weird pad sticking out of his right sock on the same foot that was deemed injured.
“Melvin Gordon working out with a pad on his right foot,” Anderson tweeted alongside a photo of the Broncos running back. Only it wasn’t a pad on his right foot, it was his cell phone, as Gordon himself reported.
Hahaha that's my cellphone sir… https://t.co/7PdsdQeoeJ
— F L ⚡️ S H (@Melvingordon25) August 14, 2022
Gordon has a right foot contusion and there was something unusual under his right sock. Assuming the two were related was an easy mistake to make, but one that probably could have been avoided with a little deeper reporting.
The biggest tell may have been Gordon’s Bluetooth headphones, which require a phone to be nearby. And it’s certainly easier to run through warmups with the phone firmly placed inside a sock rather than flailing around in your pocket. Anderson didn’t hide from the gaffe though, correcting the misinformation and admitting the blunder caused his Twitter mentions to spike.
Whoa. RIP my mentions. Melvin Gordon tweeted me that his cell phone was in his right sock, not a protective pad during his pregame workout at Mile High . The #Broncos RB missed practice time last week with what Coach Hackett called a foot contusion. pic.twitter.com/8l0gU1CAVn
— Arran Andersen (@arranandersen) August 14, 2022
Gordon’s foot injury has been categorized as minor, which seems to be accurate based on the fact that he was on the field and going through his warmup progressions before the Broncos’ first preseason game kicked off.
