Nathaniel Hackett showed that he can play the heavy when it’s necessary

It wasn’t exactly Bill Parcells sparring with the media at the podium. It wasn’t anything like Mike Ditka using press conferences as a bully pulpit. But it was something.

For the first time since being hired in January as the head coach of the Broncos, Nathaniel Hackett showed that he has two sides. Everyone has seen the happy-go-lucky, joke-cracking version. On Monday after a training camp practice that was less than stellar, we all saw the stern, semi-ticked, none-too-pleased edition.

“Coming off of a day off, some of us have to get used to that,” Hackett said after practice, referring to the fact that the Broncos didn’t practice yesterday and returned out of sync today. “Some of us had a bit of a slow start. We’ve got to address that.”

Again, not exactly a Jim Mora-type rant. It wasn’t a Mike Gundy-like soundbite for the ages. But it was meaningful.

Hackett showed that he’s got an edge to him. He demonstrated that it’s not going to be all you-know-whats and giggles. When players don’t do what they’re supposed to do, he’s going to notice it. And he’s going to address it.

This has been a question about the head coach since he was brought on board. While most people love his enthusiasm, energy and positivity, there has been some concern about how he’s going to handle the moments when a stern approach is necessary. On Monday, we began to get the answer.

About midway through practice, the offensive players gathered for a pep talk from Russell Wilson. The quarterback took his cue from his head coach.

“I was upset because it hadn’t been going very well and he felt that, so he brought them up,” Hackett explained after practice. “That was great.”

As is his style, the coach eventually tried to turn a negative into a positive. He chose to focus on the fact that the offense bounced back after the regroup huddle, playing well in the red zone and improving overall.

“That’s gonna happen in a game,” Hackett said of the slow start. “It’s about how they respond.”

It was also about how the head coach would respond. And on Monday, he passed a bit of a test. Facing his first moment of adversity, Nathaniel Hackett showed that he can be an old-school coach when needed.

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