Even his hair was in a hurry.
When coach Sean Payton walked to the podium Tuesday, there was no time to spray the spike on top of his head or mat it down. Minutes are precious. Payton arrived in shorts and a sweatshirt. A three-piece suit with a briefcase would have been more fitting. He was all business, no small talk, no opening statement.
Questions!
The kinder, gentler Spring Sean stayed in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, on the putting green. Regular Season Sean returned from vacation with the urgency of a 9-1-1 call.
While the 25-minute pressers in May and June were welcomed diversions, Payton has reverted to his default settings with the stakes raised. The first training camp acclimation practice is Wednesday. The opener is Sept. 8 at Seattle.
Gentlemen, start your engines. Expectations, start your coffins.
“None of that means anything. It’s stuff to talk about when the media cycle is quiet,” said Payton, who would know after spending a season with Fox Sports. “We will get ready to play. We expect to compete and expect to win.”
Nobody outside the Broncos building believes this team will deliver more than seven victories. It made Payton’s initial meeting with the media fascinating when widening the lens. The Broncos are in transition after electing to eat $53 million of Russell Wilson’s dead cap money this season and moving on from safety Justin Simmons and linebacker Josey Jewell.
Payton likes young guys. But will he play them? This is a man who moves like a shark with no wasted movement. Can he demonstrate patience as the Broncos recalibrate?
Winning and developing are not mutually exclusive. However, it requires a broader vision and a tolerance level for mistakes that run incongruous to Payton’s personality.
How will he deal with this?
“We won’t live with (errors) consistently. With a younger team I think we have to be smarter with our installation (of offensive and defensive concepts). We have to be smart on how much we want to give them,” Payton said. “There’s a balance there that you really work with relative to experience, but also the scheme.”
There is no question about Payton’s football intelligence. For 15 years, his Saints teams showed unprecedented offensive prowess, producing seven division titles and a Super Bowl crown. Save for 2006, though, youth has not been a defining characteristic of his teams, especially at quarterback.
Payton has consistently had some of the oldest rosters in the NFL. It made sense. When you have future Hall of Fame quarterback Drew Brees, tearing down to the studs or going under an HGTV makeover is not an option. You are all in to win. As such, Brees frames a lot of the conversation around Payton’s resume. They were the voices in each other’s head, artists on the same canvas, always seeing the same picture.
Brees, who led the league in passing yards seven times, explained during Super Bowl week that the 2023 Broncos did not look like a Payton offense, lacking the “timing, rhythm and tempo.” It’s no coincidence that Payton drafted Bo Nix. Seemingly every quarterback who has ever suited up for Payton identified him as the perfect fit.
Nix has been compared to Brees because of his accuracy and ability to process information, the latter of which Payton acknowledged again Tuesday.
And yet, this is not a fair overlay. Brees had played five seasons before joining Payton. In fact, entering his 17th season as a head coach, Payton has only started a rookie quarterback once – Ian Book on Dec. 27, 2021, because of COVID-19.
With Nix – let’s be honest, he is too smart, too seasoned by 61 college starts not to be ready for the opener – Payton will enter uncharted territory. He desperately needs Nix to work. But it will require nuance and a few deep breaths.
Payton prides himself on teaching. Same with his staff. This is their time to shine. It is easy to get younger. The hard part is getting better. This requires a pivot for Payton. Last season after cutdown day, the Broncos’ 53-man roster boasted an average age of 26.2 years, ranking 24th in the league, per the annual rankings by the Philly Voice.
This season, they will likely be in the top 15. They could have first- and second-year players starting at quarterback, running back, receiver, center, cornerback and edge rusher.
For this climb back to relevance to work, Payton has to lean on inexperience. He struggled with it last season, most notably with wideout Marvin Mims Jr. He caught 10 passes for 246 yards, including the team’s only 100-yard receiving game, in the first five weeks. Then he became a ghost, posting 13 receptions for 135 yards over the final 12 games.
NFL coaches like veteran players because of their predictability. They know what they are going to get in games, in practices and in meetings. But when a roster is green, the tie needs to go to the player without the graybeard.
Youth brings its advantages.
“There is juice and energy,” safety Brandon Jones said. “And eagerness to learn.”
Added right guard Quinn Meinerz, “You don’t want to count out a young and hungry team that’s been working really hard.”
Payton showed up Tuesday in a rush. He was not in the mood to suffer fools or play nice. That’s fine. Just make sure to play the young guys because the Broncos are never going to restore their glory if the kids aren’t alright.
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