Russell Wilson “wishes he could’ve played better” for fired coach Hackett
Dec 28, 2022, 3:45 PM | Updated: 3:50 pm
There are a lot of reasons the Broncos fired former head coach Nathaniel Hackett on Monday.
His offense’s brutal play, particularly that of QB Russell Wilson, was probably chief among them.
Denver’s offense is the worst in the NFL, averaging just 15.5 points per game, while the team’s record is a dismal 4-11. Wilson has thrown only 12 touchdowns in 13 starts to go along with nine interceptions. He’s been sacked 49 times and is completing just 60.1 percent of his passes. This isn’t what anyone signed up for when GM George Paton traded for Wilson in March.
At his press conference on Wednesday, Wilson opened with a statement about Hackett’s firing. He started by praising the person Hackett is.
“First of all, obviously devastated about coach Hackett, because I think he’s an amazing man and an amazing teacher. An amazing father, just watching him with his kids. Just watching what he’s been able to do and how he’s taught the game for us. This season has been a season that we never thought was going to happen the way it did,” Wilson said.
And while Paton took a lot of the heat at his presser on Tuesday, Wilson continued with his kind words about Hackett before putting some of the responsibility on his shoulders as well.
“He was a guy that spent all of his time and all of his effort into us as players, as staff members, as coaches. I think that he’s going to be an amazing coach, one of the brighter minds that I’ve been around. I think also, too, it’s been a crazy season. Tons of injuries, everything else. But the reality is I wish I could’ve played better for him. I wish I could’ve played at the standard, the level that I’ve always played at,” Wilson said.
That standard with the Seattle Seahawks was nine Pro Bowls in 10 years for Wilson. He won one Super Bowl and played in another. The Broncos aren’t even close to sniffing the postseason, let alone the biggest game in sports. Wilson knows a lot of that falls on him. He closed with something simple yet powerful.
“I love him to death and everybody misses him for sure,” Wilson said.
The reality is if the Broncos played better, Hackett would still be employed. But it never worked, the Wilson and Hackett duo. The next coach will be tasked with “fixing” the former star QB.
That appears to be a tall task, but one that has to happen.
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