Samaje Perine wasn’t aware of Melvin Gordon’s remarks, but when told of them, he couldn’t disagree.

Gordon recently opined that running backs, if capable, should switch positions. In his opinion, the compensation wasn’t worth the physical toll of prying through the trenches.

“I don’t blame him just because you look around the league and see how the running back group as a whole is being treated,” said Perine, who left the Cincinnati Bengals for the Broncos this past offseason.

“At the end of the day, being in it, (I know) how valuable we actually are,” he said.

That doesn’t mean he disagreed with Gordon’s sentiment.

“I just know with my son, I’m not going to push him to play sports period,” he said. “But if he wants to play football, I’ll try to (steer him away from running back).”

Perine might be squeamish about the health of his position in general, but his love for his role hasn’t waned. He said the last time he played anything other than running back was in middle school, when the stocky, muscular veteran took the field as a linebacker.

“It’s just always been what I’ve done, what I’ve done the best, and I’ve loved every bit of it,” he said. “I mean, what the outside perception of it is, that doesn’t really pertain to me, but I just still love to do it. I love to break the long runs, love catching it out the backfield, protecting the quarterback and take a lot of pride in that. So for me, it’s just always been a love thing and I still love to do it and I hope the position regains traction.”

That’s not his problem this season, nor any other.

He came to Denver because he saw the teeming possibilities of a two-back system under new head coach Sean Payton. He assessed what he had with the Bengals — a pass-first offense already with a productive back in Joe Mixon — and wanted to push himself as a player.

He was tired of being used primarily as a third-down running back and wanted, instead, to be counted on earlier in downs. Paired with Javonte Williams, who recovered from last season’s ACL tear faster than anyone could’ve imagined, Perine sees a potent combination.

In Perine’s view, there wasn’t — and isn’t — a running back competition. Officially, Williams is listed higher than Perine on the depth chart, but considering the spry back’s injury concerns, Perine’s dual-threat value isn’t hard to deduce. He caught a career-high 38 passes last season for 287 yards, and rushed 95 times for 394 yards. His six combined touchdowns were more than any running back the Broncos employed last season.

Rather than any type of internal competition, Perine said he was “looking forward,” to having Williams back so that they could optimize one another. His recovery didn’t dissuade him from joining Denver.

“It’s already been like we’ve been together for years now, just kind of gelled right away,” Perine said. “Wasn’t any getting used to one another. And I think the biggest thing is we are both not big personalities. We are both pretty easy to get along with, so I feel like that helped a lot. But yeah, we embraced each other. We look after each other and it’s like we’re already a brotherhood really.”

Between the two of them, there’s little ego in the Broncos’ running back room, which allows for seamless communication and a willingness to share what the other sees. They’ve also taken a leadership role for younger players like emerging undrafted rookie Jaleel McLaughlin, who quickly became one of the biggest revelations of training camp.

Under Payton, who has a history of finding ways to optimize skill players’ strengths, Perine trusted there’d be enough work for as many backs as the Broncos can identify.

Perine knew he needed a change in scenery. What he landed on was an opportunity a mile high.

Taking to the air

Coach Sean Payton showed a penchant for finding ways to get his running backs involved in the passing game during his time in New Orleans. With Samaje Perine coming off a career year receiving with Cincinnati, there’s reason to believe he could offer Denver a dual threat out of the backfield. Here’s a look at the top single-season receiving yard totals produced by running backs under Payton:

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