The Broncos open their three-game preseason on Friday night, in Arizona. That night, new coach Sean Payton plans to play his starters.
“I haven’t shelled it out yet, but they’re going to play,” Payton told reporters on Saturday. “We’ll figure out how many snaps. We typically break a game into three phases — first, second, third phase — and then special teams, we might just do two phases, but we’ll have a plan, especially as we get into next week. I’ve got a few notes written down. I don’t have a pitch count. I don’t have an exclusion list if someone’s got a light injury that we back —but we can expect our guys play a little bit.”
Would that include quarterback Russell Wilson?
“That would include him,” Payton said, “He’s a player.”
Payton has no complaints about three preseason games, something that started in 2021, his last year in New Orleans.
“It’s fine,” he said, not initially recalling that he’s done it once before. “It must not be something I dislike. I think it’s fine. We can create the practice environments we want, and so it’s fine.”
The Broncos continue the preseason on Saturday, August 19 at San Francisco. They finish with a home game against the Rams.
