Photo by Rich Schultz/Getty Images
It’s gonna go down Week 5 between Robert Saleh and Sean Payton
New Denver Broncos head coach Sean Payton sat down with Jarrett Bell of USA Today as the team opened training camp, and addressed how the team fared in 2022 as well as his hopes and expectations for 2023.
And the new head coach did not hold back.
Payton threw everyone he could under the bus — except for quarterback Russell Wilson — and aimed the bulk of his criticism for former head coach Nathaniel Hackett. We talked extensively last season how Hackett was, let’s just say slow to acclimate to life as an NFL head coach.
Payton was much more pointed in his criticism.
“Oh, man,” Payton began. “There’s so much dirt around that. There’s 20 dirty hands, for what was allowed, tolerated in the fricking training rooms, the meeting rooms. The offense. I don’t know Hackett. A lot of people had dirt on their hands. It wasn’t just Russell. He didn’t just flip. He still has it. This B.S. that he hit a wall? Shoot, they couldn’t get a play in. They were 29th in the league in pre-snap penalties on both sides of the ball.”
Fear not, there’s more.
“That was a message,” Payton said. “They can only beat the (expletive) out of you so much. But everybody’s got a little stink on their hands. It’s not just Russell. It was a (poor) offensive line. It might have been one of the worst coaching jobs in the history of the NFL. That’s how bad it was.”
Hackett might be gone from Denver now, but he is not out of the NFL.
In fact, he is in the Big Apple, as the new offensive coordinator of the New York Jets. His new boss, Robert Saleh, took to the podium on Thursday at Jets’ training camp and had a few thoughts of his own.
Robert Saleh on Sean Payton’s comments today: “I’m not going to acknowledge Sean. He’s been in the league awhile, he can say whatever the hell he wants.” #Jets
— Zack Rosenblatt (@ZackBlatt) July 27, 2023
Saleh, too, was just getting warmed up.
Robert Saleh on Sean Payton: “Obviously we’re doing something right if you’ve gotta talk about us when we don’t play until Week 4.”
Said “there are a lot of crows pecking at our neck.” #Jets
— Zack Rosenblatt (@ZackBlatt) July 27, 2023
That’s right, folks. Our first training camp COACH BEEF of 2023. Football is truly back.
Oh, and in case you are wondering, these two teams actually meet in Week 5, out in Denver. The game is slated for a 4:25 p.m. start Eastern, and you can expect it to be the featured game during that time slot.
Especially given this newly-added drama.
