MERILATT MONDAY

Russell Wilson is facing his “eye of the tiger” moment with Broncos

Feb 6, 2023, 6:30 AM


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The Broncos quarterback has been chucked under the bus. That’s the only way to explain what’s happened in the NFL during the last few days.

First, Nathaniel Hackett landed a gig as the Jets offensive coordinator. This was fresh off his disastrous 15-game stint as the Broncos head coach, where his offense was arguably the worst in the franchise’s 62-year history.

Then, Ejiro Evero wanted to bail. Rather than remain with the Broncos under new head coach Sean Payton, the team’s defensive coordinator chose a lateral move to fill the same role with the Panthers, where he’ll work under Frank Reich.

On the surface, these moves make no sense. Why would anyone hire the architect of a historically bad offense to resurrect their anemic attack? Why wouldn’t a defensive coordinator want to continue building upon one of the league’s best defenses and be a part of a Super Bowl-winning head coach’s staff?

There’s only one reason. Russell Wilson.

The only way for Hackett to land on his feet was to blame all of Denver’s struggle on the quarterback. The spin coming out of New York when he was hired said as much.

The only reason for Evero to leave the Broncos for the Panthers is because of Wilson. He believes the QB undermined Hackett and will eventually sink Payton.

Right now, the evidence is in their favor. Wilson had a terrible season. In 15 games, he threw for 3,524 yards and 16 touchdowns, while throwing 11 interceptions. Denver went 4-11 in those games.

That begs a simple question: Was it the player or the coach?

We’re fixing to find out. Wilson will be behind center for the Broncos in 2023, led by one of the best offensive minds the league has seen in the past 20 years.

If he can’t succeed under Payton, then it’s a Wilson problem. If the QB returns to his old form, it was a coaching issue.

That seems overly simplistic. But it’s the reality. And here’s hoping Wilson has gotten the message.

He should be more motivated for the 2023 season than any campaign since his rookie year. He should be chomping at the bit to show everyone that he’s still an elite quarterback.

If so, that’ll translate into a QB with different priorities. It’ll result in an old-school version of Russ.

He needs to ditch the celebrity circuit. His summer shouldn’t be spent at Wimbledon, Grand Prix races and other hobnobbing occasions.

It should be spent in the weight room. It should be spent watching film. It should be spent on the field.

Enough with the photos and videos doing workouts abroad. Enough with the stories about watching film on the private jet. Enough with the social media clips of him running cone drills.

That’s all nonsense. It’s all fake work.

Last offseason, Wilson was like Rocky Balboa at the beginning of “Rocky III.” He was all glitz and glamour, but convincing himself he was still training hard.

Rocky got knocked out by Clubber Lang. Wilson got TKO’d by the NFL.

In the movie, Balboa had to get back by rediscovering his “eye of the tiger.” Apollo Creed had to take him out of his cushy surroundings and train him in an old-school way.

Wilson has to do the same thing. He needs to ditch the pomp and circumstance. He needs to rediscover the hungry QB who was trying to prove the naysayers wrong.

And he won’t have to manufacture the motivation. It’s front and center.

Last season, no one was the butt of more jokes than Wilson. He was also constant fodder on national talk shows.

But that pales in comparison to what’s happened the last two weeks. Denver’s 5-12 debacle has been placed squarely on him.

Hackett said so. Evero did too.

That should fuel Wilson. It should help him rediscover the eye of the tiger.

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