The Denver Broncos’ 2022 season appears to be in dire straights, as the talented roster has been decimated by injuries and the offense is still thoroughly lost, despite now being a month into the season.
It’s a rocky situation that will require a lot of self-reflection from both the players (namely Russell Wilson) and the coaching staff to sort out, but head coach Nathaniel Hackett’s Friday press conference should’ve fueled some optimism that maybe the situation could be solved.
It was a different Hackett from what Denver media had seen in the past. He was more open about the struggles presently facing the team and seemed more willing to make sizable changes in an attempt to solve them.
“I would say for sure we need more time,” Coach Hackett said on Friday, following the loss. “I think we’re in the process of we’re going to evaluate everything. We’re going to sit down as an offensive staff, we’re going to look at all of the things that we thought were good. Things that sometimes they look good, and we might not have capitalized on them, so we don’t want to necessarily throw those things out of there. We just want to find ways to get guy open and give them the opportunity to make plays. That’s what we’re looking for. We’re going to be sure we look at it with a fine tooth comb, all of us, every single one of us, to try to put those guys in the best position possible.”
Fortunately for the Broncos and Coach Hackett’s staff, the team has a long break between games to address the problems plaguing them. When the team gets a bye week in the near future, they’ll only have three more days of rest than they’ll currently get to experience.
And if any team could use a ‘bonus’ bye week, it’s this one.
“For us, we have to take a breath a little bit to get re-energized. We have a long week next week with the Monday night game, but the fact of it is we’re going to work and we’re going to do what we have to do to be able to put the guys in the right position and find the right things to get these guys going. Put them in better positions to be open and better positions in the run game. That’s what we want to do. We’re here for the long haul this season.”
One hurdle that will seriously limit the Broncos’ ability to pivot is the fact that they have to find solutions for both the offensive struggles currently facing the team, while also finding solutions for how they’ll work around season-long absences from some of their most important players.
“Injuries are a thing that, as a coach, I can’t control. I mean, especially the ones that we’re having. It’s not things that guys are going to be able to come back from. They’re long-term things and that’s a part of this game. As a coach, I can’t control it, I can only move forward. I can only go to the drawing board, grind and try to find ways to put people in good positions. The new guys that are going to have to go in there, we have to find a way to make those guys successful. That’s our job and it crushes me because they’re such good guys and they’ve worked so hard. We’re 2-3 right now and it’s not where we wanted to be, but that’s where we are. I feel bad for those guys because they can’t be a part of us bringing us out of this, but they are going to be there for us.”
Broncos fans from around the nation will get to see how well the coaches did at solving and managing those problems soon, as the team will face the Los Angeles Chargers on Monday Night Football in just over a week.
