Broncos WR Dishes On Sean Payton's Locker Room Speech After Raiders Loss

This was Sean Payton's message to the Denver Broncos after Sunday's defeat.

The Denver Broncos lost a heart-breaker in the season opener and to the Las Vegas Raiders, no less. The Sean Payton era in Denver began with a one-point defeat at the hands of a bitter division rival. 

Many in Broncos Country had to resist succumbing to the here-we-go-again temptation of apathy, and it's worth wondering whether some of the players in the locker room were struggling to hold onto belief post-game. After every victory, NFL teams publish their head coach's victory speech, and such videos for the Broncos have been few and far between in recent years. 

What do the coaches say when it's a loss, and a bitterly disappointing one at that? Wide receiver Courtland Sutton shared some insight on Payton's message to his players in the locker room after Sunday's loss. 

“Staying true to the course," Sutton said of Payton's message to the team post-game. "Understanding that we did some things well. There are some things that we want to correct when we go and watch the film."

What happens next for the Broncos? Don't miss out on any news and analysis! Take a second and sign up for our free newsletter and get breaking Broncos news delivered to your inbox daily!

Staying the course, as a message, is about remaining committed to the team's goals this year and staying bought-in despite the early setback. However, there was another theme to Payton's post-game message to the players. 

"Ultimately, everybody has to be accountable to themselves at the end of the day and watch the film with an open mind and understand, yeah, we might have done some things well, but we didn’t win," Sutton said. "So there are things that we got to go in and correct.”

Accountability. 

It's been lacking in Denver for years. The head coaches and even the legendary John Elway have been the ones to eventually answer for the Broncos' failures to win. 

Fans haven't seen players held accountable, at least not publicly. And that's as it should be, for the most part. However, fans would like to hear the coaches call a player out when he makes a gaffe that contributes largely to costing the Broncos a win.

Most coaches don't operate that way, though. And of all coaches, Payton is the least likely guy to air his team's dirty laundry in public. 

But accountability will be meted out behind the closed doors of Dove Valley, or else it'll be too easy for a team that has obviously forgotten how to win to continue jumping the tracks, even as an expert conductor attempts to keep the train on course.

When it comes to individual performance, Sutton finished Week 1 with four receptions for 32 yards and a touchdown, most of which came in the first half. He was on pace for a nice day, but the Broncos' offense petered out a bit in the second half.  

Here's to hoping that the players continue to buy into Payton's message of staying the course. After all, it was just one game. And the first of the season, to boot. 

By the time September is in the books, Broncos Country will have a much clearer picture of the mettle of Payton and his team. 

---

Follow Mile High Huddle on Twitter and Facebook.

Subscribe to Mile High Huddle on YouTube for daily Broncos live-stream podcasts!