Sean Payton bring an old-school, rugged coaching mentality to the Denver Broncos, and it's really paying off. None of the prior Broncos' coaches in recent memory would have been able to do what Sean payton has done with the Broncos over the past few seasons.
Now already in year three, Payton surely hopes to take this team over the hump and into Super Bowl contention, but it's not going to be easy. No NFL team gets into contention without hitting on a ton of draft picks, having the franchise QB, having the right staff in place, and also having intense offseason workouts and practices.
Sean Payton has talked about this many times with the media; he clearly believes in practicing as hard as possible to give the roster enough seasoning for the season, and this recent quote from the coach himself really proves how far the franchise has come.
Sean Payton's tough practice schedule for the Denver Broncos is evidence of how far the franchise has come
Here is Sean Payton talking about the team's upcoming practice schedule:
"You’ll see a practice Sunday, Monday they’ll be off, Tuesday pads, Wednesday pads, Thursday pads. I don’t want to hear any complaining. Friday, we’ll fly to New Orleans and then get ready to get good work in with the Saints. Then we come back and have another Sunday practice, Monday, cut down comes, Tuesday, Wednesday. Fortunately, that feels like a long ways away because there’s a lot we have to do prior to then.” - Sean Payton
You can't get much more cutthroat than that, and these tough practice schedules seem to be paying off, as the Denver Broncos are not only one of the more well-prepared teams in the NFL, but they have also been one of the least-injured.
I'd like to think that practicing hard in the offseason does help players get exposed to taking more hits and as a result, suffer less injuries. Could you imagine Nathaniel Hackett giving this type of quote or having a practice schedule this intense? Heck no.