Sean Payton Reveals How Russell Wilson Fared During 3rd-Down Day

This is an area Russell Wilson absolutely has to improve on for the Denver Broncos to succeed in 2023.

While some around the NFL claim that quarterback Russell Wilson is 'fighting for his job' at Denver Broncos HQ, the team has him taking 100% of the first-team reps at OTAs. The outside perspective might think that Wilson is on unsteady footing, but inside the building, he is the Broncos' guy under center. 

On Thursday, following another OTA practice, Broncos head coach Sean Payton shared some feedback on how Wilson is faring in assimilating the new scheme and turning over a new leaf, specifically as it relates to a critical game situation. 

“He’s doing well," Payton said of Wilson. "Today I thought was a good day. Today was [a] third down [practice]."

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Payton is a nuance-oriented coach. Take a given football subject, and Payton will deep dive and drill further than many of his peers around the league. 

One area that Payton really digs down into is third down. It's known as the 'money down' for a reason, as it dictates whether an offense will stay on the field, or punt. 

The Broncos, over the past seven seasons, have been woefully unprepared for critical game situations, whether it's third down, red zone, clutch moments — whatever. Payton is an expert in these critical areas, and while Thursday's practice was focused on third down, it is OTAs, which present a unique "challenge," as Payton described it. 

 "There’s a challenge in OTAs with third down," Payton explained. "The challenge in third down is you have to contest every throw. Within the framework of OTAs, it’s hard to do that. They understand it. I’ll whistle them and just talk about the period. We can see if there’s a sack, we can see if the [defensive backs] are in position. Generally speaking, especially on those early yards, we’re contesting every throw. It’s a little bit less challenging when you’re in first and second down playing zone defense."

Payton's remarks on Wilson concluded with, He’s doing well.”

Last year, no team was worse on third down than the Broncos. Converting just 29.1% of third-down tries, Denver finished last in the league on the money down. 

That sad distinction dove-tails, sadly, with the Broncos relinquishing a league-high 63 sacks, most of which were on Wilson. The Broncos' offense couldn't stay on the field, which is why it finished dead-last in the NFL in scoring with a 16.9 ppg average. 

Yuck. 

Payton is fixing to turn the ship around and it starts with the quarterback and becoming expert in critical game situations. So far, Wilson seems to be taking to Payton's coaching and scheme like a duck to water. 

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