Sean Payton: ‘Russ Has To Be Sharper’

Denver Broncos head coach Sean Payton has called on quarterback Russell Wilson to be more alert after two 2023 defeats.

Denver led 21 – 3 against Washington on Sunday only to find themselves down 35-24 and eventually lose 35-33. The Broncos’ red zone inconsistency continues, and Sean Payton says communication on the field must improve.

Sean Payton asserts they need to be quicker out of the huddles and Wilson has to initiate plays more efficiently. Worryingly, the quarterback appeared to contradict Payton on that point, underlining the stated communication problem.

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“There were a number of drives where we were late with personnel, getting out of the huddle we took a while,” he said. 

“That has to change. We had to burn timeouts in the first half, and I’m not used to doing [that]. We have to be better. I have to be better. Russ has to be sharper with getting the play out, and then we have to look at how much we have in. If we need to wristband it, we will.”

Wilson doesn’t see speed out of the huddle as an issue, but admits the offensive play needs to be ‘cleaner’.

“I thought we’ve done a really good job of getting in and out of the huddles,” Wilson said on Sunday. 

“I thought we had two or three plays where we could’ve been a little bit faster. In the first half, we called a timeout on one of them. We have to be cleaner. We’ll be cleaner next time.”

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The Broncos face a stiff challenge to get back on track against the 2 – 0 Miami Dolphins up next.

“I get it, and I get that we’re going to write and talk about it,” Payton said. “I can’t change that we’re 0-2, but I can certainly change how we approach the next game and prepare to play the third game. That’s all we can do.”