Broncos HC Unloads on Outside Calls for his Job

The Denver Broncos' predictable loss to the New York Jets could be a major tipping point. What was being whispered by Broncos insiders for a couple of weeks has now crossed over into the national conversation — head coach Nathaniel Hackett is in trouble.

While the Broncos' Trans-Atlantic trip to London to take on the Jacksonville Jaguars creates logistic concerns, it probably gets the team out of the line of fire for a few days at least. Some team bonding might be a welcome distraction, but if the murmurings carry any weight, Hackett is coaching for his job at London’s iconic Wembley Stadium this Sunday.

On Monday, we learned through multiple media sources — national and local — the Broncos' new owners — the Walton/Penner group — are "embarrassed" by the team's 2-5 start and could take action on Hackett if London is another failure to launch. Hackett responded to the noise and speculation about his job security, and how it's affecting the team.

“It's about what goes on in our building, and how we all communicate, how we all talk. I haven't felt that others might have but we block out that noise,” Hackett said on Monday. “We don't really have a lot of time to look at it because we just want to keep all of our heads down and do better, both as coaching staff, players across the board. Everybody wants to come together and be able to win and turn this thing around and that's our goal. That's our main focus and that's what we're all going to keep looking at.”

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The last time the Broncos were in London, back in 2010, it sealed the fate of former head coach Josh McDaniels — eerie stuff. Hackett’s particularly shaky job security issues are now being run on a loop by the big networks. The constant murmuring is impossible to turn off, no matter how hard you try. Hackett seems relieved by the opportunity to take the Broncos abroad in the face of this media onslaught.

“I think it’s great to be able to get away for a little bit. We have a bye [week] afterwards also, but we’re going there to win a football game first and foremost,” Hackett said on Monday before hopping on a plane to the U.K. “I think it’s so important to let the guys get out there, be together and work through it. Everybody needs to look from within because we put ourselves in this position and we have to get ourselves out of this position, it’s that simple."

First-year head coaches invariably have a pivotal moment of crisis to overcome — to a greater and lesser degree — but Hackett needs to win three straight just to get the Broncos back to .500 halfway through Year 1. This kind of ‘rubber meets the road’ moment for an embattled coach typically requires the services of a star quarterback to come riding to the rescue.

Currently, Russell Wilson is day-to-day with his hamstring injury and that shoulder tear, the gravity of which has largely remained a mystery. Heading into a game that might be his last, it's a given that Hackett would have to play Wilson, if the veteran QB gets medical clearance, but the head coach remained coy when he provided an update on Monday.

“We're going to play it by ear. We are getting on a plane to go to London now, and we'll be able to know a lot more as we move forward on Wednesday, but he's day-to-day,” Hackett said. “I know his mindset and he's trending in the right way. We'll see where it goes from there.”

Wilson suddenly returning to bail out his young head coach would be a gift for everyone who makes a buck covering the Broncos. But given Wilson's ailing health and his more than troubling form through six starts, that glossy narrative happening is the epitome of a sporting longshot.

Follow Keith on Twitter @KeithC_NFL.

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