Russell Wilson Addresses 'Division' in Broncos' Locker Room
It's pretty darn hard to sugarcoat the plight of the 2-4 Denver Broncos, especially after coughing up their second straight overtime defeat in a row. The Broncos fell to the Los Angeles Chargers on Monday night, 19-16.
The Broncos next face a rapidly ascending New York Jets team. Without a doubt, the Broncos now find their season lurching more towards complete disaster, as opposed to the standard apathetic irrelevance of recent seasons.
This certainly wasn't how it was supposed to go for Denver, particularly after the acquisition of Russell Wilson seemingly answered the prayers of the fan base. Bizarrely, Wilson's weekly struggles continue to resurface, and he simply fell off the cliff after going 10-of-10 passing to begin Monday night's loss.
Wilson went 3-of-11 for a miserable 15 yards in the second half in L.A., and he was also sacked three times, which may have had something to do with him emerging from the loss with a tweaked hamstring. Even with the rotation of the personnel upfront, the Broncos had no answer to the Chargers' aggressive blitz packages.
Perhaps most worryingly, Wilson also failed to diagnose where the extra pass rushers were coming from pre-snap. Without a combination of getting communication right, and holding up in their assignments, the Broncos' offensive line is dooming the team's competitive chances.
Wilson was understandably defiant post-game as a question about potential locker room fractures was inevitably fired at him.
“We don’t have division in our locker room,” Wilson said post-game. “You guys saw how hard we played for each other. It didn’t go our way, but everyone is fighting their butts off every day. The line, the receivers, the running backs, the defense, the defensive line, the linebackers, and our safeties and corners, everybody was playing for each other and we felt like we could have won the game. It didn’t work out, but everyone is still together, and we still believe in everything we can do.”
During his post-game debrief, Hackett detailed how the Broncos tried in vain to shuffle the O-line's pass protection as the bullets were flying.
“We had planned originally that we wanted to get [Broncos OL] Billy [Turner] in there and let him have a little run,” Hackett said from the podium. “He came in there, he was playing at a high level, and then we decided to move [T] Cam [Fleming] over to the left side. I’ll be able to look at the tape a little closer and see where we can move forward with that,”
Such is the extent of the Broncos' offensive woes that the defense has been left to keep them afloat in games. But without an offense that can even be average, the Broncos are battling with one hand tethered behind their back.
It begs the question: at what point does it create a San Andreas-type fault line right through the middle of the locker room?
Wilson and Hackett projecting a united front is expected. Below the surface, however, it's hard to deny the long faces and confused expressions that have started to appear on the Broncos' sidelines.
Swallowing his obvious disappointment, all Hackett can really do is accept responsibility for Denver's gameday gaffes and soldier on.
“It’s very disappointing. I think all those guys know that," Hackett said. "They’re disappointed, I am disappointed. We have to look from within. Every person has to look at themselves, how we can all get better. Whether it is the penalties or whether it is the self-inflicted wounds, what we can correct to be able to move forward. There is still a lot of football left and we have to grow. We have to be better as a team all around. It starts with me and the offense.”
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