The hand wringing over Russell Wilson’s camp struggles is absurd
Aug 5, 2023, 8:37 AM
Broncos training camp started last week, and it’s been full of ups and downs, from injuries to standout players to Sean Payton completely destroying previous head coach Nathaniel Hackett. The 2023 NFL season has officially begun.
The ups: We’ve seen some rookies show real potential, the defense looks aggressive and dominant, Payton is running a completely different operation than last season, and he’s been very outspoken about his expectations for the team this year.
The downs: Unfortunately, Tim Patrick went down again with an Achilles tear and will miss another year, K.J. Hamler is taking time off for a medical condition, Russell Wilson has thrown several picks, and the offensive lines have been struggling to give Wilson time in the pocket.
If you’ve paid attention to any sports media in Denver over the past two weeks, you’d think the Broncos are in straight turmoil because Wilson threw some bad passes and had a few interceptions during camp so far. The storyline hasn’t changed from last year and is absolutely ridiculous.
Last season, Wilson came to Denver and was introduced to a new team with new coaches, teammates, an offensive system and a completely new organization. It was tough for him to adjust himself to a new environment with a coach who was experiencing being a head coach for the first time. It was expected that there would be growing pains, but no one predicted it would be as bad as it was.
Those growing pains are expected, and at the end of the day, Wilson was given the benefit of the doubt. Hackett was fired, and Wilson got to keep his job in hopes that it was just an off-season.
Fast forward to training camp 2023, Payton hired 16 new coaches and has made over 100 roster moves since March 7, 2023. It’s an entirely different team than it was from last year.
Wilson will again have to endure growing pains with a new head coach implementing an entirely new offensive system. He’s also not the only one struggling; the whole team has had to go through this adjustment period of learning the new schemes and how Payton will run this team. Wilson happens to be in the spotlight.
Every mistake that Wilson makes has been overanalyzed and taken out of proportion. It’s called practice for a reason. Wilson’s got to learn the new system somehow. He won’t get better without making mistakes first. Pretty sure that goes for everyone doing anything new for the first time. Rather see Wilson make these mistakes now and learn from them rather than in week one against the Raiders.
Let’s be honest, is this year going to be a playoff year like Payton said it would be? Probably not. But this year will be crucial for building these relationships, establishing trust, and mastering this new playbook. Championship teams don’t get built overnight or in a year; developing that kind of success takes time.
Just take a look at the Nuggets.
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