Sean Payton on calling plays again “I wish it was like riding a bike”

Sean Payton says getting back on the play sheet hasn’t been as easy as riding a bike. He also says it hasn’t taken long to settle in.

Payton took the play-calling job back from offensive coordinator Davis Webb last week. His first game with the play sheet was Sunday’s 23-17 win over the Chargers, and his second comes Thursday night against the Seattle Seahawks. After practice on Tuesday, the Broncos head coach was asked whether calling plays again came naturally, like riding a bike, or whether he was still knocking off rust.

“Probably a little bit of both,” Payton said. “There’s some things that you gotta spit out quickly. Maybe just some subtle terminology changes.”

Payton didn’t love the comparison.

“I wish it was like riding a bike. Because, my memories of riding bikes was always care free, relaxing. So, I wouldn’t use that necessarily,” he said.

“But, you do get used to how fast everything goes. Especially when you go from college to the NFL, and that clock is much quicker.”

His first week back didn’t go smoothly on offense. Denver gained just 224 net yards, its second-lowest total of the season. The Broncos converted only one of 12 third downs, and Bo Nix threw for 123 yards, the second-lowest total of his career. Payton said before the game that he wanted more balance between the run and the pass and wanted to reduce “the calorie count” in the game plan for Nix. Denver did run more than it passed, with 29 carries and 27 pass attempts.

The defense won the game. The Broncos trailed 17-10 going into the fourth quarter. Zach Allen then forced a fumble with a strip-sack, and Brandon Jones intercepted Justin Herbert, sparking a 13-0 run to close the game. On four of Denver’s five scoring drives, the defense gave the offense the ball in Chargers territory.

Thursday’s test is much tougher. The defending Super Bowl champion Seahawks come to Denver at 3-2, the same record as the Broncos. Seattle is averaging 26.8 points per game, Jaxon Smith-Njigba has 583 receiving yards and seven touchdowns, and the Seattle defense has 14 sacks and seven interceptions through five games. The Broncos defense has the chance to capitalize though, as the Seahawks are coming off a 32-29 loss to San Francisco in which they turned the ball over four times.

With a short week, Sean Payton has had little time to get comfortable again. The Seahawks and Broncos kick off Thursday, October 15, at Empower Field at Mile High.

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