Broncos HC Sean Payton Working to Bring Back Vintage Russell Wilson
It doesn't really matter if it's during OTAs or training camp, Denver Broncos quarterback Russell Wilson will always be in the spotlight. It’s always been that way ever since his former head coach Pete Carroll thrust him into the Seattle Seahawks starting line-up as a rookie back in 2012.
Way beyond the state boundaries of Colorado, perhaps the national narrative is emerging that nothing short of winning NFL Comeback Player of the Year will see Wilson achieving true redemption in the wake of the chaos and failure that came to define his first year in Denver.
Just maybe such a massive goal is indeed driving the 34-year-old, nine-time Pro Bowler to stick it to his critics this coming season. That journey always starts in the springtime with some incremental steps towards much bigger objectives.
"I think in terms of what we're doing out here, the coaches have done a great job of teaching us," Wilson said last week. "We're doing that really well, and we're taking it day by day. We had a great day today. Guys are really working, focused. I'm looking forward to putting the pads back on and playing again."
For as desperate as the Broncos are to turn the page on last year’s litany of disasters, it's still a valuable reference point for Wilson to remember those debilitating lows. For a great turnaround to happen, some serious mental obstacles will also have to be negotiated out of the gate.
"Mentally, there's always the journey," Wilson said. "There's always the journey of highs and lows. There's been a lot of highs, there's been some tough lows, but adversity, you have to be able to handle it all. I'll be ready to handle it."
Such levels of adversity translated into the arrival of head coach Sean Payton to grab ahold of the franchise and set it back on the correct course. It’s been illuminating that Payton has decided against any bold declarations that his team is back in a Super Bowl window.
Instead, Payton has been about keeping everyone’s lips sealed behind the scenes and readjusting the collective sights on more immediate, albeit, smaller, targets.
The clarity of Payton's message has to be uncomplicated and conveyed precisely. For Wilson, he’s taken to his new head coach's fresh approach like a duck to water, quashing any notion that the pair might not share the same football ideologies.
"I think Sean's one of the best coaches to ever coach this game," Wilson said. "He's intense, he's focused, he's such a great teacher of the game. All of us are learning every day, more information, learning how to play the game the right way. How to practice at the highest level. That's what we're focused on right now."
You could say that the Broncos are already a more level-headed and intelligent football team simply because they're concentrating on the basics first. Payton is quickly creating a fully focused environment, just like Carroll developed in Seattle, and which famously also made a Super Bowl winner out of Wilson.
For the forthcoming journey Wilson and Payton are embarking upon, the QB needs to feel comfortable behind the wheel, so tailoring the vibe to best accommodate him is a must. Suffice to say that Payton isn’t looking to just copy and paste the blueprint that Carroll mapped out previously, but he remains a savvy football tactician all the same.
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