Report: Broncos to play everyone in preseason games
The Denver Broncos' 2022 woes can be sourced from many different things, but I think most people would agree that the biggest thing was coaching. Nathaniel Hackett was just not ready to be a head coach, and that's fine. Not everyone gets it on their first try. Now, there is a theory thinking back to […]
The Denver Broncos' 2022 woes can be sourced from many different things, but I think most people would agree that the biggest thing was coaching. Nathaniel Hackett was just not ready to be a head coach, and that's fine. Not everyone gets it on their first try.
Now, there is a theory thinking back to last season that a ton of media guys came up with and even some fans. When the Broncos started slow – and that's the only pace they ever ended up going – people thought that maybe the unexpected start was because the starters didn't play in the preseason. So, maybe there was some rust.
Now, was that a major reason why they struggled? No. But, I 100% believe that it's part of the reason they struggled, especially when you consider that the team had a new head coach, new coaching staff, and a new quarterback.
Why wouldn't they play their starters in the preseason though?
"We try to get the work in practice," general manager George Paton said in 2022 after Week 1 of the preseason when the team chose not to play their starters. “Every coach is different, every team is different. We didn’t play our starters in Week 1, we’ll see about week 2. But we are getting a lot of work in with our practices. We had that scrimmage with the (Cowboys last week), and two great heavy practices this week. So we feel good about where we’re at.’’
They felt good about where they were, but we saw how everything transpired. I'm sure if they looked back on how they handled the offseason, their verbiage would definitely be different.
As for the new head coach Sean Payton, he will be handling things a bit differently.
“We are going to play all of them," Payton said on Monday. "In the preseason? Absolutely we are. That’s the preseason. None of the starters played in any of the preseason games and there weren’t any nine-on-seven, one-on-one [drills during training camp]. The approach was much, much different than what I'm used to."
I get what Hackett was trying to do. The Broncos have always struggled with injuries and he didn't want to take any chances. But, now it seems that he should have played them. But, of course, hindsight is 20/20.
At least we now know that this upcoming preseason we will now be seeing something a bit different.
