Broncos, Russell Wilson still searching for identity on offense: ‘It starts with me’
ENGLEWOOD — Nathaniel Hackett and Russell Wilson each fell on their own swords Wednesday.
The Broncos head coach and quarterback were pestered with questions about the offense’s struggles during their weekly press conference. And for good reason, as Denver continues to be one of the worst offenses in the NFL, sitting in last place in scoring offense at 14.6 points per game.
Hackett was the first to take blame Wednesday.
“In the end — like we’ve talked about —is accountability. It starts with me,” Hackett said. “I want to always hold myself accountable and make sure that I’m giving the guys the ample opportunities to make plays.”
And then his quarterback followed in his footsteps after practice.
“First of all, I got to play better. It starts with me,” Wilson said. “I’ve got to find ways to make more plays for us. More touchdowns. It’s something you continue to work toward every day. I’ve been down before. It doesn’t mean we can’t come out on the other end of it all. I think we’ve got a lot of football left. A lot of football left. A lot of football left.”
Wilson said all the Broncos need to do is score two more touchdowns per game, and that would fix many of their issues. That sounds easy enough, right?
Wrong. The Broncos have scored a league-low 12 touchdowns. Their division rival, the Kansas City Chiefs, lead the league with 30. Wilson has thrown only seven touchdown passes this season, which is the lowest in the league among quarterbacks who have played in eight or more games.
And there’s been little shown on the field that indicates a change in production is coming. When asked what the Broncos’ offensive identity is, Hackett said, “not a good one.” He’s right — their identity is a historically bad offense that can’t score.
“It hasn’t been a very successful offense and we have a lot of things that we want to get better at,” Hackett said. “We want to be sure that we continue those opportunities for the guys and continually get better options for the guys. For us, right now, a lot of improvement is needed be able to gain that identity.”
The hope is to have an identity centered around Wilson, Hackett said. That’s been Hackett’s hope since the Broncos traded for Wilson in March.
“I am comfortable with a lot of things, I’ve played a lot of ball, and I’ve done a lot of things, whether it’s down-field throws, quick throws, running the ball, whatever it is,” Wilson said. “All the things you can do in a football game, I think we are capable of doing. We just have to do it a little cleaner, a little bit better, a little more execution across the board. That’s our focus.
“It’s not necessarily what you call and how you call it all the time. It’s also making sure we are always executing and getting in the best positions as players and making sure we are making our plays.”
Instead, Wilson is on pace to have his worst statistical season of his 11-year career. And while Wilson is tied to the Broncos for the long haul, Hackett needs to figure out how to best use Wilson quickly, or else he may be out of a job at season’s end.
“We want to be sure that we look at the guys that we have that are out there,” Hackett said. “There’s going to be a lot of different faces, potentially. We want to be sure that we take advantage of the things that they do and at the same time continually build this thing around Russell.”
Injury report
The Broncos could receive a boost on the offensive line this week with the debut of tackle/guard Tom Compton, who signed with the Broncos this past offseason. Compton has yet to appear in a game this season, dealing with a back injury. But is practicing this week on a limited basis.
“We sure want him to (play),” Hackett said. “He’s a player that’s played a lot of games in this league. We need him. We need him for this team. This is going to be a big week for him to be able to take a big step forward.”
Some other good injury news is that safety Justin Simmons anticipates playing this Sunday after missing last week’s game with a knee sprain.
Here’s Wednesday’s full injury report:
Did not practice: DL Eyioma Uwazurike (illness), TE Andrew Beck (hamstring), WR KJ Hamler (hamstring), WR Jerry Jeudy (ankle), CB K’Waun Williams (wrist/elbow/knee)
Limited: WR Kendall Hinton (shoulder), OLB Baron Browning (hip), G/C Graham Glasgow (shoulder), OL Tom Compton (back), OL Cam Fleming (quad), S Justin Simmons (knee), DL Mike Purcell (NIR), S Kareem Jackson (NIR)
Broncos quarterback Russell Wilson scrambles on the field Sunday against the Titans during the second half in Nashville, Tenn.