Hackett gives an endorsement of the guy hired to help him, Jerry Rosburg

We’re four games into the Jerry Rosburg era with the Broncos.

If you’re saying “who?” while reading that statement, remember he was the coach hired to help Nathaniel Hackett with game-management issues back in September. The Broncos were 1-1 at the time, but had several embarrassing gaffes with basic football decisions against the Seahawks and Texans.

After an 11-10 win against the 49ers, in Rosburg’s first game, Hackett endorsed his presence in helping him coach. We haven’t heard much about Rosburg since then, but at his press conference on Thursday, Hackett was asked about Rosburg joining the staff late. He maintains Rosburg has continued to be an asset while getting up to speed.

“Jerry’s been great. I mean, he’s been absolutely fantastic. Trying to get to know people and have that kind of relationship. At the same time, working on all the situational stuff. But I mean, he’s done a great job for me, for this team, for everything that he’s done. I really appreciate him being here, along with Brad (Miller) and everybody that works in analytics,” Hackett said.

Rosburg spent 11 seasons working under John Harbaugh as Baltimore’s special-teams coordinator before retiring in the 2019 offseason. His NFL experience also includes six seasons with the Browns and a year with the Falcons, all handing special teams.

But after the brutal start to the year on in-game decisions, someone decided Hackett needed help. Whether that be Hackett himself, GM George Paton or CEO Greg Penner, we may never know. Rosburg is here to stay, though, and be a voice for Hackett on critical choices. While Denver’s 2-4 record is concerning, at least we haven’t seen things like fans counting day the play clock again.

When asked if improvement is still forefront on his mind, including working with Rosburg, Hackett ripped off a few cliches.

“We’re always evaluating everything. We want to get better as coaches, we want to get better as a team. It starts with me, always trying to improve. I think that’s the overall philosophy for most coaches, so I’m always going to look at everything. We want to win, we want to put our team in the best position possible, so we’ll continually do that,” Hackett said.

Winning is something the Broncos haven’t done much of under Hackett. And after the 2-1 start, Denver has lost three straight games. Their 2-4 mark has them picking near the top of the 2023 NFL Draft, but they don’t actually own the pick. That selection went to Seattle in the Russell Wilson deal, and would currently see the Seahawks picking No. 7 overall.

So, there you have it. Hackett’s still happy with Rosburg, and some things have improved. But that doesn’t mean fans are happy with the current state of the Broncos. Far from it.

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