Sean Payton Sounds Off on Broncos Resting Starters in 2022 Preseason
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Sean Payton has hit the Mile High City like a breath of fresh air, clearing out the loser's malaise that had lingered over the Denver Broncos like a glowering thunderhead. Change is in the air, and for a team like the Broncos coming off a five-win season, it's carrying with it precious, life-giving oxygen.
There will be a multitude of things that Payton will do differently than his failed predecessor Nathaniel Hackett. Based on his comments at the Annual League Meeting in Arizona on Monday, one of those differences will be Payton's approach to the preseason.
Last year, Hackett made the curious decision to rest offensive and defensive first-teamers in the preseason. When the regular season rolled around, the Broncos appeared ill-equipped for its physicality and intensity.
In hindsight, not exposing the starters to preseason reps — out of an abundance of caution — blew up in Hackett's face. Not only were the Broncos a loose, sloppy team come the regular season, but resting the starters in August did absolutely nothing to stave off the injury bug.
In fact, there's a good argument to be made that the lack of preseason playing time only exacerbated the team's vulnerability to injuries. Payton, a 15-year veteran of the NFL head-coaching ranks, won't make the same mistake.
“We are going to play all of them," Payton said on Monday. "In the preseason? Absolutely we are. That’s the preseason.”
Reading between the lines, it would seem that Payton does attribute the Broncos' exceeding injury misfortune last year to the starters not playing in the preseason. While addressing the topic of the team's wide receiver corps, that became clear.
"From a team standpoint, we weren't healthy," Payton said. "None of the starters played in any of the preseason games and there wasn’t any nine-on-seven, one-on-one [drills during training camp]. The approach was much, much different than what I'm used to."
In Payton's view, if you want to succeed at football, you've got to practice football. That includes hitting, blocking, and tackling.
"I do know that we're playing tackle football and you have to practice tackle football," Payton said.
Traditionally, NFL starters play a few series in preseason Games 1 and 2, followed by a full half in Game 3. Then, the starters would usually rest in the preseason finale. But that was back when there were four preseason games. Now that there are three, a little exposure in each exhibition contest — to greater and lesser degrees — is the formula.
Payton also emphasized multiple times in Arizona that when it came to the Broncos' woeful failure to meet expectations last year, there was more than one man with "dirt" on his hands. In that same sense, there were several factors that led to the Broncos leading the NFL in injuries and salary-cap dollars languishing on injured reserve.
That's one big reason why Payton not only jettisoned Denver's strength and conditioning coach of the previous four years — Loren Landow — replacing him with his own guy Dan Dalrymple, but also why Beau Lowery was hired as a vice president of player health and performance to preside over Denver's entire sports science program.
“I don't know that there's one bullet point," Payton said in response to a question about why the Broncos were so unlucky health-wise last year. "There is probably a series of things. Typically, when you have the season that went like it did last year, there's a lot of people with dirt on their hands. It’s not just one thing. Beau Lowery—we hired him to come [to Denver]. I've worked with Beau and he's outstanding. He'll head up the training room, strength [and conditioning], sports science and all of that."
Payton recognizes that football is a war of attrition. It's physical and violent, and the season is long. Even more so now with 17 regular-season games. That's why the Broncos had to invest some resources into bringing true experts and experienced veterans of sports science/strength and conditioning.
"It's hard in our league. The training room is one of those rooms where it's hard—the grass is always greener," Payton said.
This is one area of football operations poised to produce significantly improved results for the Broncos in 2023 and beyond. Payton's deep-diving scrutiny into all the nuances of pro football will have a palpable effect on the on-field product.
If this much detail and forethought is going into the Broncos' sports science platform, imagine how much more refined the offense will be under Payton's purview.
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