Sean Payton regrets bombshell quotes as a coach, no longer an analyst

New Denver Broncos head coach Sean Payton made big-time headlines this week when he called out everything wrong about the team in 2022 and how he’s doing the opposite in 2023.

Now Payton says he regrets the comments that roasted former Broncos head coach Nathaniel Hackett, the offensive line, current general manager George Paton and more, saying “Everybody’s got a little stink on their hands. It’s not just Russell (Wilson.)”

On Friday after the Broncos first training camp practice, Payton said he and Paton are good and that the coach and ownership are still all fine.

“I had one of those moments where I still had my FOX hat on and not my coaching hat on,” Payton said on Friday. “I said to the team that we’ve had a good offseason and here I am the veteran stepping in it. It was a mistake, I need more of a filter… I said what I said and obviously needed a bit more restraint.”

Coach Peyton apologizes for his comments. Admits it’s was a mistake. pic.twitter.com/9K5hg6O3nd

— Darren McKee (@DMacRadio) July 28, 2023

The comments drew immediate backlash from the New York Jets who now employ Hackett to run their offense.

“I kind of live by the saying ‘if you ain’t got no haters you ain’t poppin.’ So, hate away. Obviously, we’re doing something right if you got to talk about us when we don’t play you until Week 4,” Jets coach Robert Saleh said.

“It’ll bring more interest to the game we’re playing but I’ll handle it the right way,” said Payton on Friday, who also mentioned he does not know Hackett.

Peyton says he will reach out at the right time to Saleh and Hackett. pic.twitter.com/rY7TWtLxli

— Darren McKee (@DMacRadio) July 28, 2023

Payton’s comments about doing everything opposite from last year and being more accountable were nearly universally applauded by Broncos Country but it did target some current staffers at Dove Valley.

“It doesn’t happen often where an NFL team or organization gets embarrassed,” Payton said to USA Today. “And that happened here. Part of it was their own fault, relative to spending so much (expletive) time trying to win the offseason – the PR, the pomp and circumstance, marching people around and all this stuff.”

Payton was clearly defending the much-maligned star quarterback that calls Denver home, Wilson. But in doing all of this, out of his way to USA Today, he brought on a lot of attention to the Broncos. Payton has said he wishes for his players to be anonymous donors and to get away from social media. That hasn’t always been followed by the team, nor the coach now which is probably where some of the regret comes in.

“That wasn’t his fault,” Payton said to USA Today. “That was the parents who allowed it. That’s not an incrimination on him, but an incrimination on the head coach, the GM, the president and everybody else who watched it all happen.”

The 2022 Broncos finished 5-12, missing the playoffs for the seventh-straight season and Hackett was fired before it ended. Payton comes from a year off after a successful run coaching the New Orleans Saints.

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