Broncos coach Sean Payton: Frustration on special teams at tardy players, not ‘outstanding’ coaching

HOUSTON — Broncos coach Sean Payton made it clear Monday morning that his special-teams ire regarding players being late getting onto the field was not directed at coordinator Darren Rizzi — but the players themselves.

“My disappointment after the game, relative to the kicking game was more the late on the field was 10, there’s an 11th guy running out there,” Payton said. “And if you’re supposed to be one of the 11 on, pick any unit and you’re on the bench, then I got a problem.”

Payton also mentioned the first-quarter blocked field goal by Houston’s Denico Autry — “our technique wasn’t good,” he noted — and the 45-yard punt return yielded in the third quarter, which he attributed to “a handful of guys that lose leverage.”

The Broncos also had a turnover when fill-in returner Michael Bandy muffed a punt, leading directly to a Texans field goal.

But just as pre-snap penalties on offense and defense tend to rankle him more than infractions in the run of play, so did the issues in getting set before the actual special-teams plays.

When pressed about it later in the Monday morning conference call with Denver-area media, Payton doubled down.

“I’m referring to players that aren’t on the field that need to be, all right? Coaching is outstanding, all right? We’ll get that cleaned up,” Payton said.

“My point is, there’s 10 the field, and there’s supposed to be 11, all right, then that player that’s supposed to be out there, I’ll find someone else to do his job. Is that crystal clear?”

The entire follow-up came following a postgame comment Sunday in which Payton noted the substitution issues, saying, “We’ll get that cleaned up, or we’ll find someone else who can do it.”

Clearly, in Payton’s mind, the “someone else” isn’t another coach.

BRONCOS SPECIAL TEAMS HAVE BEEN INCONSISTENT IN 2025

While rookie punter Jeremy Crawshaw has been solid and kicker Wil Lutz has missed just one placekick of any kind that wasn’t blocked — with walk-off game-winners in two of the last three games — Denver’s special teams have been a trouble spot this season.

The 45-yard punt return was the longest allowed by the Broncos in the 2025 campaign. With an average of 11.5 yards allowed per punt return, Denver ranks 22nd in the NFL this season, down from 10th last year.

Denver ranks 31st in kickoff-return average allowed after placing 14th last year, yielding 29.1 yards per runback this season under the overhauled kickoff rules. This decline is significant given the massive increase in returns; opponents returned just 22 kickoffs against the Broncos in the 2024 season but have run back 35 this year.

Among 30 punters with at least 20 punts this season, Crawshaw ranks 11th in gross average, 17th in net average, seventh in percentage of punts placed inside the 20-yard line and 23rd in touchback percentage.

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