For Russell Wilson, the early start of Sean Payton's tenure is not helping much to ease concerns about his performance. While he was far from great under Nathaniel Hackett's leadership, the first two games ended with Broncos' losses - and the cracks are starting to show already.
With Sean Payton planning to reduce verbiage on the calls he makes from the sideline to Russell Wilson, Pro Football Talk analyst Mike Florio gave his verdict on why that's a bad signal for the quarterback - and he also shed some light on why he thinks different about Hackett after seeing Wilson playing with another coach:
We have to glean what people mean from what they say. With Sean Payton, I don't think it's as difficult as it is with other coaches. He never raised this issue a single time. During the years that Drew Brees was his quarterback, there was never an issue with verbiage, there was never an issue with getting plays in there, never an issue with getting plays called, getting guys out of the huddle. It was a well-oiled machine - boom, boom, boom, boom, Saints touchdowns, yards, priest records, Hall of Fame. Now after two games with Russell Wilson, here it is. He's saying it out loud. I think we're gonna see that wristband on Russ sooner rather than later. I think a little bit differently about Nathaniel Hackett frankly, after a couple of weeks of Sean Payton and the things he's saying based on his work with Russell Wilson.
Why is Russell Wilson struggling so much?
The quarterback isn't mobile anymore due to his age, which means that some of those amazing plays he made with the Seattle Seahawks simply aren't there. He can't escape from pressure and leave the pocket consistently as he did.
He has never been a great pocket passer, and now that he needs to stay put and scam the defense, it has become a cause for concern. He should improve during the year after understanding Sean Payton's offense even better, but at this current time, he's not at a high level.
The Denver Broncos will play the Miami Dolphins on Sunday.
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