Sean Payton walks back some but not all of his headline-grabbing comments

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — Sean Payton had one too many lattes before sitting down for an explosive interview with USA Today that dropped on Thursday morning.

“Listen, I had one of those moments where I still had my Fox hat on and not my coaching hat on,” Payton stated on Friday after the team’s third practice of training camp, walking back many of his comments in the USA Today piece. “I said what I said and obviously I needed a little more restraint. I regret that. That being said, what I told the team is if it can happen — I think I’m pretty good relative to working with the media and pretty savvy and I just had one of those moments. [USA Today Reporter] Jarrett [Bell’s] a good friend. Real good at his job. Two lattes in the morning, first one I see and 40 minutes later, I’m regretting it. It is what it is.”

Since Payton’s introductory press conference in February, Payton has preached that the team will be “anonymous donors” and work in silence in terms of staying out of the headlines. Payton broke his own rule and took accountability for that on Friday.

“I said this to the team in the meeting yesterday, ‘We’ve had a great offseason, relative to that. I’ve been preaching that message. And here I am, the veteran, stepping in it,'” the head coach said. “It was a learning experience for me. It was a mistake obviously. I need a little more filter. There’s a pound of flesh for these guys and as a coach you stick up for them. After a while, we’re past that season from last year.”

Part of the explosive comments Payton was referring to was calling last year’s Broncos staff “one of the worst coaching jobs in the history of the NFL.” He also took a shot at Nathaniel Hackett by name as well as calling into question the way they New York Jets are handling their business this offseason.

When asked if he’ll give Jets’ head coach Robert Saleh or Hackett a call, Payton stated he will at the right time.

“I think the world of Robert. I know him. I don’t know Nathaniel,” Denver’s head coach said. “At the right time [I’ll call them]. Listen, it certainly will bring more interest to the game when we play them [in Week 5]. But that seems like years from now. I’ll handle it the right way.”

Additionally, in the article, Denver’s new head coach called into question the way current members of the Broncos’ organization handled things last year, including mentioning the team’s general manager and team president.

Despite those comments, Payton put his full support behind the front office and ownership on Friday.

“The front office and the ownership are the two reasons I came here. So George [Paton] and I are close. He was one of the big attractions. He and ownership,” Payton stated. “My point was it was just across the board organizationally. It wasn’t just one person. They’re good.”

Payton, however, didn’t walk back all of his comments he made to USA Today.

The most notable being his support for his starting quarterback Russell Wilson. He said he “absolutely” stands by his support toward Wilson, in which he told USA Today he still believes Russ has gas left in the tank.

“The guys, and I said it to them last night, you deserve the best teaching in the world and we’re going to give it to you,” Payton added. “They really do. They’re the best players in the world and they deserve a chance. Now it’s not going to be easy.”

The other part the head coach didn’t back off from was his comment that he would be “pissed off” if the team didn’t make the playoffs this season.

“Listen, I’m not afraid of the expectation,” he stated firmly. “I’ve talked with several people about being used to contending for the postseason. You don’t take it for granted, but that mindset needs to be present here. Yeah. I see this as a team that has that ability. It’s our job to bring that out of them.”

With training camp fully underway, Sean Payton once again set the expectations for the 2023 Broncos: Playoffs or bust.