{"id":854518,"date":"2026-10-09T07:27:42","date_gmt":"2026-10-09T07:27:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/854518\/"},"modified":"2026-10-09T07:27:42","modified_gmt":"2026-10-09T07:27:42","slug":"broncos-players-react-to-sean-payton-taking-play-calling-from-davis-webb","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/854518\/","title":{"rendered":"Broncos players react to Sean Payton taking play-calling from Davis Webb"},"content":{"rendered":"

Twenty-four years ago, Sean Payton found himself in a spot eerily similar to Davis Webb\u2019s<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In late October 2002, New York Giants head coach Jim Fassel stripped Payton, then a 38-year-old offensive coordinator, of his play-calling duties. Payton didn\u2019t like it, telling reporters at the time he disagreed with the decision<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Fast-forward to August 2026, when Payton said Webb wouldn\u2019t be treated the way he was as a young signal-caller in New York. The Broncos wouldn\u2019t \u201chave any of that,\u201d Payton told Sports Illustrated<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not one of those where if it doesn\u2019t by Week 5, what\u2019s this going to look like?\u201d Payton said to Sports Illustrated. \u201cIt is going to work. It\u2019s not going to have that wait-and-see.\u201d<\/p>\n

That promise did not last long. Just a few months after Payton\u2019s comments, the coach is playing the role of Fassel, removing Webb from his play-calling duties ahead of the Broncos\u2019 Week 5 contest against the Los Angeles Chargers<\/a>.<\/p>\n

What changed between August and now?<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think when you announce your starting lineup, you don\u2019t say \u2018For now this is our starting lineup.\u2019 Just felt like we needed a change right now,\u201d Payton said in response.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt just wasn\u2019t working enough for you at this point?\u201d he was asked.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou said it.\u201d<\/p>\n

The decision to take over play-calling duties reverberated throughout the Broncos\u2019 locker room. Players said not much has changed in the building since Payton announced the decision to Webb and the team on Monday. Maybe Payton has been more vocal at practice, but one player said the structure has remained relatively similar. Webb is still running the team\u2019s offensive meetings, wide receiver Troy Franklin told The Denver Post.<\/p>\n

Even before the switch, Payton was still heavily involved during games. He was active in the lead-up to games and on the headset on Sundays, a source told The Post. The team\u2019s offense has looked much like previous iterations of Payton\u2019s offense in Denver.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s the same offense,\u201d tight end Dallen Bentley told The Post.<\/p>\n

The scheme might be the same as last year, but the production isn\u2019t. Denver has regressed in almost every major statistical category through four weeks, including points scored, passing yards, rushing yards, total yards, first downs, and time of possession. The Broncos have not recorded a first down<\/a> on their opening drive of a game this season. Under Payton\u2019s play-calling, Denver averaged 5.05 yards per play and scored on 43% of its first drives from 2023 to 2025.<\/p>\n

\"OffensiveOffensive coordinator Davis Webb for the Denver Broncos looks on as tight end Evan Engram (1) prepares for a play during practice on Thursday, August 6, 2026, at Broncos Park in Centennial. (Photo by Timothy Hurst\/The Denver Post)<\/p>\n

Not all of that should fall at Webb\u2019s feet, though. For one, the Broncos have faced some of the NFL\u2019s best to start the season: the Chiefs, Jaguars, Rams, and 49ers. Last season, Denver\u2019s first four opponents went a combined 28-40 .<\/p>\n

Players also acknowledged they have not executed well enough. After the team\u2019s blowout loss to the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 1, quarterback Bo Nix said the offense had let Webb down. That feeling was amplified after Thursday\u2019s news. Payton said everyone was disappointed, because it felt like players had let one of their teammates down.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re just not executing, not scoring points, too many penalties. Just problems that we\u2019re kind of in control of,\u201d tight end Evan Engram said. \u201cThat\u2019s the main message is we just have to play better no matter who\u2019s calling plays.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou still have to go out there and execute. That\u2019s the biggest thing that\u2019s hurting us right now is execution and penalties,\u201d wideout Marvin Mims Jr. said. \u201cSo no matter who\u2019s calling the plays, whether it\u2019s Sean or Coach Webb, we just have to go out there and do our jobs individually.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nix is extremely close with Webb and will likely feel the biggest impact of the change. Payton relayed calls to Nix in the huddle last year and said Thursday he\u2019d get plays in quickly to Nix. It\u2019s unclear if Webb will still communicate with Nix on game days.<\/p>\n

Franklin said the decision was \u201ca little bigger than me.\u201d The wideout said he didn\u2019t know why the change was made.<\/p>\n

For Webb, the move is a reminder of how quickly things can change in the NFL.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s just a hard business. Sometimes you feel like people should be given more time to prove themselves,\u201d Bentley said.<\/p>\n

At the NFL Combine in February<\/a>, Payton said the decision to hand play-calling duties to Webb was made to \u201cbenefit our team.\u201d The coach said he began considering the move midway through the 2025 season, and Webb\u2019s promotion to offensive coordinator this offseason was the right move.<\/p>\n

Payton affirmed his belief in Webb on Thursday, calling him a future head coach. But Payton holds that position in Denver, and as he said Thursday, he does not have to \u201crun (calls) by anyone.\u201d<\/p>\n

That\u2019s the reality now on and off the field.<\/p>\n

Want more Broncos news? Sign up for the Broncos Insider to get all our NFL analysis<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Twenty-four years ago, Sean Payton found himself in a spot eerily similar to Davis Webb\u2019s. In late October…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":854519,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3781],"tags":[7,86641,301,2863,187,3943,165,6324,6,9,302,66],"class_list":["post-854518","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-denver-nuggets","tag-basketball","tag-davis-webb","tag-denver","tag-denver-broncos","tag-denver-nuggets","tag-denvernuggets","tag-latest-headlines","tag-more-broncos-news","tag-nba","tag-nfl","tag-nuggets","tag-sports"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/117409772259907314","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/854518","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=854518"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/854518\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/854519"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=854518"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=854518"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=854518"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}