Kareem Jackson on 104.3 The Fan: Broncos had “a ton of problems,” not just Wilson

While the 2022 Broncos are thankfully not on the forefront of our minds any longer, a lot of people still want to know what made the season go so horribly wrong.

Denver went 5-12. Head coach Nathaniel Hackett was fired after just 15 games. And QB Russell Wilson threw only 16 touchdowns, coming nowhere close to living up to expectations after the huge trade and big contract extension.

On Tuesday, Broncos safety Kareem Jackson joined “Stokley and Zach” on 104.3 The Fan to discuss a variety of topics. Jackson just inked a new deal with Denver to return for a fifth year. The Broncos haven’t had a winning season during his time here, and that stung the most a season ago.

“Fast forward to last year, Russell comes in and the expectations grow even greater. To just fall short of all the goals you have as a team and those expectations, for us it’s definitely frustrating,” Jackson said. “To obviously go out and lose the way we lost last year, having eight or nine one-score games and two or three walk-offs in OT, that stuff is even more frustrating.”

Brandon Stokley followed up that answer by asking specifically about Wilson, the player that (rightfully) took the most heat throughout the year.

“Definitely a lot of noise. A lot of outside noise as well. For Russ, if you’re the guy under center, making that type of money, you’re going to be the first guy that everybody will point out. I’ll sit here and today and say that wasn’t just the problem. We had a ton of problems,” Jackson said.

Jackson went on to elaborate on those problems, making it perfectly clear fans and media shouldn’t put all the blame on Wilson.

“We had a ton of injuries, you know had a bunch of different lineups out there. I might of been the only guy that played every game last year. If it’s a revolving door when it comes to your lineup on both sides of the ball, there’s no chemistry on defense. There’s no chemistry on offense,” Jackson said.

Injuries did indeed crush the Broncos in 2022. Hopefully a whole new coaching staff and training staff can help fix those issues in 2023.

As for Jackson re-signing with the team, he said that was always likely to be the case.

“For me, it was always the plan to sign back here. When free agency started, they had a few things they wanted to get worked out. I know they wanted to get the offensive line and stuff. So, (GM) George (Paton) told us we want you back, we just want to iron some things out first and then we’ll get to your situation,” Jackson said.

He had to wait two months after free agency started, but it all worked out in the end.

“It was one of those things where we just had to be patient. I’m an older guy. I understand the business, you’re not the hottest thing out there like you used to be when you were in your 20s,” Jackson said.

Jackson also touched on his role in 2023, what it’s like playing with Pat Surtain II and his prediction for the Nuggets and Lakers in the Western Conference Finals.

To listen to the full interview, click here.

***