Ahhhhh, the wristband chatter is back.
For those of you who blocked the 2022 Denver Broncos from your mind — I can’t blame you — let me refresh.
Last November, Seattle Seahawks coach Pete Carroll noted that Geno Smith wearing a wristband with a play-call sheet helped the offense run smoother. It was a dig at Wilson, who Carroll added was “resistant” to wearing such a band.
Wilson got a solid retort in, noting the Seahawks “won a lot of games” without a wristband.
A QB wearing a wristband isn’t new or innovative. If it was good enough for Tom Brady, it’s good enough for anyone.
The difference here is that if Wilson remains resistant to a wristband, but Payton insists, believing it could help smooth out the operation, it could lead to the first on-field power move of the coach’s reign.
“I thought we’ve done a really good job of getting in and out of the huddles,” Wilson said on Sunday. “I thought we had two or three plays where we could’ve been a little bit faster. In the first half, we called a timeout on one of them. We have to be cleaner. We’ll be cleaner next time.”
Denver got off to a hot start against Washington, but a Wilson fumble late in the first half and another interception turned the tide, going from up 21-3 to down 35-24. The communication issues are part of the problem, as has been the defense’s inability to get a stop the past two weeks.
Payton knows it’s on him to turn things around before they snowball further downhill.
“I get it, and I get that we’re going to write and talk about it,” he said. “I can’t change that we’re 0-2, but I can certainly change how we approach the next game and prepare to play the third game. That’s all we can do.”
That third game comes against the 2-0 Dolphins in Miami next Sunday.