Broncos HC Nathaniel Hackett has Shown 'Sign of a Great Leader'

Denver Broncos training camp this year will be the Russell Wilson show for obvious reasons. Unsurprisingly, tickets for the 2022 season didn't take long to sell out as Broncos Country is eager to see Wilson operating head coach Nathaniel Hackett’s offense.

Several internal positional battles have thrown some interesting storylines into the mix. For those who are inclined to go to hockey games to see the fights, training camp never fails to deliver increased levels of trash talk and pushing and shoving.

During recent OTAs, the Broncos' coaching staff let things breathe and even allowed the players to jaw back and forth fairly extensively. So, we can expect the players to remember all too well what buttons to press on each other, especially as even more fuel is thrown on the completive fires.

New defensive coordinator Ejero Evero is a fan of the prickly spats that have developed between the offense and defense thus far.

“I always love it. I think it brings something to practice,” Evero said. “Obviously, it doesn’t override you doing your job. [S] Kareem [Jackson] does a good job of giving good banter and locking back in. It’s not for everybody. I know I wouldn’t be able to do it.”

Jackson loves that he's going toe-to-toe with Hackett between plays.

“For him to kind of go back and forth with me with the energy that he brings every day on a consistent basis is a sign of a great leader,” Jackson said. “For us, it’s a lot of fun.”

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Jackson is often the instigator of such bouts of verbal jousting during practice. Knowing where to draw the line will be the brief of the head coach, but in cornerback Patrick Surtain II's estimation, the boundaries set by coach Hackett are already pretty flexible, and they bring some energy with them.

“That’s great. It brings all our competitive spirits out knowing that the head coach will chip in with ‘K-Jack,’” Surtain said. “That’s the energy that we need for us to have a great team. When your coach is that energetic and so much about the team, it only leaves a positive thing, so that’s great.”

Hackett has been particularly hands-on with his approach so far, and has often been seen helping out on several different drills. Hackett's passion has been witnessed by the players, who've seen how much their top coach lives and breathes football.

Training camp is where degrees of professionalism count for much more. Jackson is plenty savvy enough to police himself for the most part, so Hackett knows that treading that fine line represents an early test of his judgment.

Follow Keith on Twitter @KeithC_NFL.

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