ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — With the possible exception of Lee Elia, all coaches deep down understand where fans are coming from because they also were once fans.
And like all fans, future coaches figured they can do a better job than the coach who was leading their favorite team. There is a point when all future coaches believed they could make a difference. They all grew up believing they’re way of thinking, and leading, would eventually be a winning way. It’s why they wind up becoming coaches.
So when it was posed Monday to Broncos head coach Nathaniel Hackett that Denver’s fans are frustrated by the team’s 3-8 showing, he was able to deliver an appropriate dose of compassion, perhaps because there was a time where he sat where they are now.
"Nobody’s as frustrated as I am," Hackett said. "This is not where we wanted to be at this time in the season. None of us thought it was going to be like that and that responsibility is fully on me. I want to be the one that can do everything to help this football team. Because we as a group have to come together and try to find a way to win a football game.
"We can’t play the way that we played yesterday (a 23-10 loss to what had been a 3-8 Carolina team) and expect to win a football game. It starts with me from the preparation.
"I’m the most frustrated. I think our fans are great. They want to win. Just like we all do. I don’t blame them for being frustrated. For me, all I know is the work. Put my head down with our staff. I believe in this staff, believe in these players. And we’ve got to get better plays, better execution across the board."
Hackett sounded as if he was a little under the weather at his day-after-game press conference, but as usual he treated every question with respect, even the tough ones. He doesn’t always give the most in-depth answers for gamesmanship reasons – yes, he was a fan, but he was also born as the son of a football coach – but he never gets flustered at a question.
As Elia did as the Chicago Cubs' manager early in the 1983 baseball season. ("Bleep those bleeping fans,'' is how the Elia diatribe began.)
If only Hackett could get his Broncos’ players to play winning football. The Broncos have lost seven of eight entering their next game Sunday against the 7-4 Ravens in Baltimore.
Other topics Hackett addressed Monday:
Purcell’s passion
Broncos’ defensive tackle Mike Purcell, already so mad he had just picked up an unnecessary roughness penalty following a short Carolina field goal that put Denver behind 20-3 in the fourth quarter, walked toward the sideline, shrugged off Hackett’s inquiry as to what happened, then demonstratively urged quarterback Russell Wilson to “Let’s Effing Go!”
Hackett was standing in front of the exchange and postgame Sunday said he didn’t know anything about Purcell making Wilson his personal audience for his motivational tirade.
"Was addressing Mike with the personal foul that he had," Hackett said Monday. "Talking with him as he passed by me, heard him say, ‘Let’s go.” Did not know it was directed to any specific person. It looked like it was just he wanted everybody to start going and wanted to get a spark. That was all that I heard.
"I talked with Mike after, talked with Russell, everybody. Everybody’s good. It’s part of it. It’s an emotional game."
Asked further about Purcell’s emotional outburst, Hackett said: "I appreciate his passion and understand it. I just don’t want him to get that personal foul in that situation. But besides that I love when the guys are fired up."
Ozigbo waived, possibly to clear room for Boone
Two days after he was promoted from the practice squad to the Broncos’ 53-man roster so he could serve as the No. 3 running back for the Carolina game, Ozigbo was waived. The move comes as Hackett said running back Mike Boone would be cleared to practice this week after spending four weeks on injured reserve with a high ankle sprain. If he practices well, Boone would be the Broncos’ No. 3 running back behind Latavius Murray and Marlon Mack for the game Sunday at Baltimore.
Bronco Bits
The Broncos hope to get two of their top three receivers, Jerry Jeudy and KJ Hamler, back this week. Jeudy has missed the past two games with an ankle injury; Hamler has been out three games with a hamstring strain. The top two picks of the Broncos’ 2020 draft will first have to get through practice Wednesday without any setbacks. …
Fullback Andrew Beck apparently aggravated his hamstring strain during the game at Carolina as his status has been listed as day-to-day. Newcomer linebacker Dakota Allen also suffered a hamstring injury in the game.
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