Broncos Sean Payton on Jets OC Nathaniel Hackett: ‘I Feel Like I’ve Addressed it’ | News, Scores, Highlights, Stats, and Rumors

Denver Broncos head coach Sean Payton made significant waves this past summer with his pointed criticism of his predecessor (and current New York Jets offensive coordinator) Nathaniel Hackett.

On Thursday, Hackett was asked if Payton ever reached out to him afterward, and he said he had not heard from him.

One day later, reporters spoke with Payton on the matter, and he had this to say two days in advance of his team’s home game against Gang Green.

“Respectfully, I feel like I’ve addressed it,” Payton told reporters (h/t Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk). “[Jets coach] Robert [Saleh] did a great job of talking about it. Here’s the thing — we have two teams focused on getting their second win. I think that’s where our focus has been.”

Payton made the following remarks in an interview with USA Today‘s Jarrett Bell last July regarding the 2022 Broncos’ difficult season, in which the team finished dead last in scoring and Hackett got fired in his first season after a 4-11 start.

“They can only beat the (expletive) out of you so much,” Payton added.

“But everybody’s got a little stink on their hands. It’s not just (quarterback Russell Wilson). It was a (poor) offensive line. It might have been one of the worst coaching jobs in the history of the NFL. That’s how bad it was.”

He also added more comments:

“…There’s so much dirt around (why Wilson struggled). There’s 20 dirty hands, for what was allowed, tolerated in the fricking training rooms, the meeting rooms. The offense. I don’t know Hackett. A lot of people had dirt on their hands. It wasn’t just Russell. He didn’t just flip. He still has it. This B.S. that he hit a wall? Shoot, they couldn’t get a play in. They were 29th in the league in pre-snap penalties on both sides of the ball.”

Both Hackett and Saleh were asked about the remarks soon afterward, with the former believing Payton broke a code within the coaching realm and the latter saying this:

“I kind of live by a saying—’If you ain’t got no haters, you ain’t popping.’ So hate away,” Saleh said, via SNY. “Obviously we’re doing something right if you’ve gotta talk about us when we don’t play you until Week 4.”

Ultimately, the Jets and Broncos have far greater concerns than any back-and-forth that went down this summer. Both teams are reeling at 1-3 and in desperate need of a win to avoid digging a further hole. They’ll face each other in Denver on Sunday at 4:25 p.m. ET.