The Broncos had a rough outing in their preseason home opener against the Packers. And even though the 33-13 loss doesn’t matter, coach Sean Payton wasn’t happy with the performance.
“Obviously that wasn’t good enough,” Payton told reporters after the game. “There weren’t a lot of things — I said this after the game. Just pick a topic. Pick penalties, we lose there, kickoff, kickoff return, we lose that battle. Rushing numbers, we lose that. We can’t just say, ‘Hey, this is preseason [game] two.’ Each phase saw their share of what ended up being the final score. So tomorrow we’ve got to be able to come in, coaches the same way, and look closely at what we’re doing and get the corrections made. You can’t not pay attention to these games, these scrimmages, these important steps towards the start of the regular season.”
Although he said quarterback Bo Nix’s first game action since breaking an ankle in the divisional round was “solid” (he led a six-play 65-yard touchdown drive in in his only snaps of the game), Payton generally wasn’t thrilled with the offensive output.
“We’ll look at the tape, but we had too many minus plays, too many penalties offensively.” Payton said. “I don’t know how many third-and-10 or more we had, but quite a bit, right?”
Asked about whether Nix will play in the preseason finale, Payton revisited his frustration with the first-teamers.
“I’m not getting into next week,” Payton said. “I want to play them all until the third quarter next week. So let’s figure out the tape tomorrow, see where we’re at and let’s do what’s best for us as we prepare for the Chiefs.”
That game, on the first Monday night of the season, is only 17 days away. To the extent the Broncos have things they need to clean up, the clock is ticking.
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