ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — You may have heard this Broncos season is about whether new coach Sean Payton can get Russell Wilson playing well again.
It looked promising through the offseason practices and the first couple days of training camp.
The last couple days? Not so much. Word from the Broncos is a quarterback shall not be judged during the installation phase of new offense.
“I think he’s doing well,’’ Payton said. “I like what I’ve seen, I said it yesterday. I think there are times when you’re not seeing a clean picture. He’s scrambling. In a game-type mode though where we’re running the ball more with the installations that we’re doing, I think he’s doing well. I like where he’s at.”
Hey, Payton is the offensive guru here. His offenses ranked among the scoring leaders in 9 of his previous 15 coaching seasons with the New Orleans Saints. Really the only time to judge a quarterback is during the preseason. And even then.
By the way Wilson should get help from Javonte Williams in preseason game No. 2 at San Francisco. Payton said the Broncos’ top running back who is returning from and ACL will play.
“Yeah, he will get reps,’’ Payton said. “It may be that we wait until Week 2. We haven’t gone through the outline of the plays yet, but I like how he is progressing.”
Better days ahead perhaps.
Courtland improving
In 2019, before his ACL injury, Courtland Sutton was the Broncos’ top receiver and one of the best in the league with 72 catches for 1,112 yards and 6 touchdowns. Going on four seasons later, those numbers remain career-bests. But Payton is optimistic is getting closer to 2019 form.
“I feel like he’s transitioning well,’’ Payton said. “I think he’s running well. I feel his strength. We watched a number of seasons on a few of these players. If you just watch one season, you might have a set opinion. When we watched him in 2019, for instance, it was really impressive. We talked to him about some of the things we saw him do. Fortunately, we’ve seen some of that in this camp, so we’ll keep going.”
Kicker battle
The Great Kicking Competition didn’t go well Thursday.
Under simulated fairly live situations, Brett Maher made his kicks from 33, 38, 40 and 43 yards out, but then missed his final two field-attempts from 48 and 50 yards.
Elliott Fry made it from 33, 38 and 43, missed from 43 and 48, then made it from 50. So they were both 4 of 6, which means both missed an opportunity to go 6 for 6 and put some distance from the other.
Coaching style
Payton was asked about the balance between being hard on his players while not taking away their confidence.
“We say it all the time, take tough coaching, be able to take it, and be able to accept it,’’ Payton said. “It’s all in an effort to make them better. I think we’ll never take the stinger out of them being confident. Players by-and-large want to know how they can improve. I think they want that information, and it’s our responsibility as a coach to give it to them.
“Sometimes, the message is with a little sugar, and sometimes, it’s just what it is. I think it depends on the error and if it’s repeated. That kind of thing.”
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