The Broncos have plenty of reasons to be on edge heading into Sunday’s matchup with Jacksonville, and not all of them come from the scoreboard.
Denver is trying to shake off a rough opening night in Kansas City, while the Jaguars are walking back into a building where they already did damage last season. Jacksonville beat the Broncos 34-20 at Mile High late last year, and that result still lingers in the background of this Week 2 meeting.
The coaching history between Sean Payton and Liam Coen adds another layer. Before that game last season, Payton referred to Jacksonville as a “smaller market” team, and Coen used it as fuel. After the Jaguars handled Denver, Coen leaned into the moment from the podium.
"Just thankful that a small-market team like us can come into a place like Mile High and get it done," Coen said after beating the Broncos.
Now the two head coaches are publicly keeping things cool, even if the memory of that exchange hasn’t gone anywhere. Coen said Wednesday that he ran into Payton at the NFL owners’ meetings last March and got a reminder that the Broncos coach hadn’t forgotten.
"I talked to Sean at the [owners'] meetings [last March], and he gave me a little love for it, but he said, 'I'm coming for you this year,'" Coen said on Wednesday with a smile. "But it's great. It's all in competition."
Payton addressed the subject Thursday and offered a short, measured response when asked about the “smaller market” storyline.
“I saw him at the Combine, it might’ve been the owners meeting," Payton said of Coen on Thursday when asked about the "smaller market" storyline. "He’s doing a good job."
Even with the tone softened, Coen made it clear he’s learned plenty from Payton along the way. He said the Broncos head coach has influenced the way he thinks about the game, especially in his play-calling approach.
"I've learned so much football from Sean Payton," Coen said. "When we're at the owners' meetings, you just listen to the stories, and a lot of it is insightful. You can learn something from every conversation with him because of his experience, and a lot of the ways that I've typically modeled calling plays stems from what I learned from him."
That praise lands with a twist now that Denver’s offense has been handed over to Davis Webb as play-caller. Payton gave Webb those duties this offseason after promoting him to offensive coordinator, but the first test was a rough one. Bo Nix and the Broncos looked badly out of sync in a lopsided loss to the Chiefs.
Jacksonville, meanwhile, is coming off a blowout of the Cleveland Browns and has every reason to believe it can press its advantage again. Trevor Lawrence has already seen what Denver looked like against Kansas City, and he’s headed into the matchup with Nix after the Broncos quarterback looked shaky in his first game back since breaking his ankle in the playoffs.
Payton has been around long enough to know one bad night doesn’t define a season, and Coen knows better than to dismiss him. Still, the Jaguars have a chance to go after a Denver team that looks vulnerable after Week 1, and the Broncos have to be hoping that same vulnerability doesn’t turn into another ugly Sunday.
The back-and-forth between these coaches may have quieted down in public, but the words are still there. Payton told Coen, "I'm coming for you this year," and Coen can use that however he wants.
What happens on the field will matter more than the old barbs, but the game inside the game is hard to miss. Sunday should tell us plenty about what both coaches have been saving for each other.
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Heath Farwell and Doug Pederson are weighing game-management adjustments to help limit damage and create better starting spots for the defense. With the Broncos waiting and the altitude factor in play, the Jaguars know this is more than a routine special-teams cleanup job - it may shape how they choose to attack kickoffs and control the game flow on Sunday. [Read more 🡒]