Broncos head coach Hackett tips his hand on playing starters in preseason

The Denver Broncos will have three preseason games before the 2022 regular season gets rolling.

Don’t count on seeing much of the starters.

Speaking on the eve of training camp at the UCHealth Training Center, Broncos head coach Nathaniel Hackett was asked about his preseason philosophy. He gave one of the better quotes you’ll hear about exhibition football.

“I look back at all the history of the preseason. I know that winning a preseason game doesn’t help you get to the playoffs,” Hackett said.

Quick, think about the Broncos preseason in 2021. Can you remember a single opponent? A standout play? Probably not right away. After a few seconds, the Vikings and Seahawks probably come to mind, with Drew Lock and Teddy Bridgewater battling it out.

But that didn’t work out for the Broncos, who went 3-0 in the preseason, only to watch the regular season end with a 7-10 mark and no playoff football for a six straight year. The preseason doesn’t matter for the ultimate goal, and Hackett knows it.

Instead, he will use the three games to take a look at the back end of his roster — guys on the fringe of getting cut or making the team.

“Preseason is for evaluation — just watching guys go out there and do some basic things and just play football. Whoever needs to go out there, how we see fit, that’s how we’ll do it,” Hackett said.

Russell Wilson doesn’t need to be evaluated. Justin Simmons and Pat Surtain II sure as heck don’t need to be evaluated. There are plenty of starters on both sides of the ball who will be starters no matter what.

Is it reading between the lines a little bit to assume the Broncos will barely play their starter this preseason, if at all? Of course. But Hackett said what he said, and his goals involve the postseason a whole lot more than the preseason.
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