Sean Payton is aware of slightly one thing about reclamation tasks. Nearly twenty years after he rescued Drew Brees’ profession following a torn labrum in the QB’s throwing shoulder, Payton has turned his consideration to revitalization of Russell Wilson. Like Brees, Wilson is an undersized passer, who thrives when he can roll out from behind his towering linemen.
Payton isn’t a fan of how the Broncos dealt with final low season
On Thursday, Payton minimize a promo for the 2023 season by critiquing his predecessor, Nathaniel Hackett, in unusually blunt phrases throughout an interview with the USA Today’s Jarrett Bell.
“It doesn’t happen often where an NFL team or organization gets embarrassed,” Payton instructed USA Today. “And that happened here. Part of it was their own fault, relative to spending so much [expletive] time trying to win the offseason — the PR, the pomp and circumstance, marching people around and all this stuff.
“We’re not doing any of that. The Jets did that this year. You watch. ‘Hard Knocks,’ all of it. I can see it coming. Remember when [former Washington owner] Dan Snyder put that Dream Team together? I was at the Giants [in 2000]. I was a young coach. I thought, ‘How are we going to compete with them? Deion [Sanders is] there now.’ That team won eight games or whatever. So, listen … just put the work in.”
That jolt awoke the Jets and Broncos coaching camps. In case you’re questioning, the Broncos and Jets, the place Hackett is now offensive coordinator, do face off on October 8. This remark will likely be a serious storyline in Week 5 and Aaron Rodgers received’t neglect it. After Payton’s verbal nukes about Hackett reached Jets head coach Robert Saleh, he shot again with a verbal slingshot and referred to Payton as a “hater.”
The teaching fraternity is a decent knit one and it’s uncommon to see a former head coach communicate so negatively about his predecessor — except there’s prior damaging historical past. After a yr of working in the media for Fox Sports, Payton is much more cognizant of how the media sport works. Maybe he discovered slightly a lot from Colin Cowherd’s sofa throughout his time away. Payton has to succeed in the postseason in 2023 at the naked minimal, as a result of if the Broncos falter, he’ll by no means hear the finish of it. It might also imply he was unable to restore Wilson’s glitchy coding.
2022 was certainly one of the most disastrous seasons a bonafide celebrity quarterback has ever had. It was harking back to Donovan McNabb turning right into a pumpkin with the Redskins and possibly worse due to the Super Bowl expectations heaped upon Denver.
For some time it appeared like Payton needed us to get all the way down to brass knuckles in 2023 and give attention to soccer. Whether by design or coincidentally, Wilson has additionally been extra discreet this summer time. No Danger Russ Subway adverts and no viral memes. What we do know is that he is noticeably leaner after carrying extra bulk round than he had previous seasons. Consequently, he moved round in the pocket much less typically, he was slower when he did and Hackett’s offense stifled his pocket motion. If Sean Payton is unable to get the most out of Wilson, no person can.
Follow DJ Dunson on Twitter: @cerebralsportex
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