Broncos LB Sends Message to Russell Wilson Ahead of Week 2 Steelers Tilt

Jonas Griffith can't wait to face Russell Wilson and the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Apr 19, 2024; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Russell Wilson (3) throws out a ceremonial first pitch before the Pittsburgh Pirates host the Boston Red Sox at PNC Park. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports / Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

Denver Broncos fans will get the chance to express their feelings about Russell Wilson in Week 2. It's a safe bet that the TV cameras will be glued to the inevitable non-handshake between Broncos head coach Sean Payton and Wilson when the Pittsburgh Steelers arrive at Mile High in Week 2.

It's a given that the standard pleasantries will be dispensed with. For now, the Broncos locker room has turned the page on Wilson, but veteran linebacker Jonas Griffith said recently that he wants to rub his former quarterback's nose in it just a little bit.

"I'm really excited obviously for any game I get to play in," Griffith told The Drive hosts Phillip Lindsay and Zach Bye on 104.3 The FAN. "But you see that one you're excited to go out there and—beat the Steelers. First of all, it's a good organization. I want to pick off Russ, for sure. I think that would be really cool, just to pick him off and get the victory, first and foremost." 

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Payton will likely walk a fine line in how he approaches the build-up to the Steelers throwdown. If the Broncos head coach puts too much emphasis on dishing out penance to Wilson, he'll run the risk of overshadowing the importance of a crucial Conference contest early in the season.

It can be better to let things breathe when it comes to how former teammates feel about each other, particularly when they get the opportunity to face off again. Nothing is ever completely one-sided in emotionally charged situations, even if Griffith was being pretty wholesome about pick off Wilson.

Wilson also had his friends and backers within the Broncos locker room — including veteran wide receiver Courtland Sutton, who was perhaps his closest ally. Even so, Sutton is well aware of the realities of the game, a profession where friends can be pitted against each other as opponents.

"That's above my pay grade," Sutton said earlier this month. "I know that the guys upstairs—the people upstairs that make those decisions—they have a rhyme and a reason for why they do it. It's not for us to understand, we probably will never understand. The thing that I have come to understand with this business that we're in is they're always going to say it's just business, never personal, so we've got to move on accordingly."

In the modern era of social media interaction and post-game shirt-signing frivolities, NFL superstars tend to keep things cordial within their exclusive fraternity. Payton has a notable history of stoking fires to gain motivational edges, dating all the way back to 2009 and his alleged rubber-stamping of 'Bountygate.'

Perhaps the manner in which Payton wielded the ax toward the dethroned Wilson and the way the front office attempted an in-season contract restructure with their starting quarterback provided more than enough bloodletting for the Broncos. Thus, perhaps Wilson should be the one feeling aggrieved and on a mission to prove a point.

However, if Wilson were to lose out in Pittsburgh's training camp to Justin Fields, it might take the air out of all the revenge storylines. Still, the game would be replete with scrutiny around the NFL, even if Wilson were to be relegated to holding a clipboard on the sideline.

While Payton's return to face the New Orleans Saints in Week 7 is more likely to be an unabashed love-fest, the early-season homecoming Wilson will be a tad more prickly.

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