Broncos QB Russell Wilson up-and-down in preseason debut

GLENDALE, Ariz. – Sean Payton hadn’t seen enough of his starting offense just yet.

Or maybe he hadn’t seen enough from them.

After 14 snaps of inconsistent work Friday night, the Broncos coach sent Russell Wilson and company back onto the State Farm Stadium turf for a fourth series. Maybe a different start would have prompted Payton to put his No. 2 unit in on the front end of his estimated 15-18-snap range for the first-team offense. But not on this night.

Eventually, Wilson and company found some rhythm.

Wilson capped his first preseason game since 2019 with a 21-yard touchdown pass on a slant to Jerry Jeudy that came on fourth-and-4, one play after Jeudy dropped an easy first down completion along the sideline.

That sequence might be the best microcosm of the Broncos’ starters 20 snaps worth of offensive work.

Wilson’s numbers didn’t look bad in the end – 7-of-13 passing for 93 yards and a touchdown, good for a 102.4 quarterback rating.

All the same, Wilson was fortunate to get a fumble back on a sack in which he tried to flush backward out of the pocket instead of climbing – a recurrence of a bad habit from 2022 – and was inaccurate on several other throws. Wilson missed Adam Trautman in the flat on his first throw of the night and didn’t give Courtland Sutton a chance for yards after the catch on an easy throw later, but he also looked comfortable in the play-action game in delivering shots down the field to Sutton for 14 and Jeudy for 19.

Wilson was hit four times in the first three drives, an inauspicious start for a rebuilt offensive line that played Friday night without right tackle Mike McGlinchey.

Running back Javonte Williams went through warmups but did not play. In the starting spot, Samaje Perine looked strong and difficult to tackle while picking up 26 yards on six attempts.

Payton is not going to call 14 pass plays to every six rush attempts during the regular season the way he did Friday night with Wilson on the field. He clearly wanted to get a look at the way his starting quarterback and set of receivers fared at this juncture of the preseason.

The answer: Plenty of work to be done.

“You want to get in there, and you want to see clean execution and timing,” Payton said earlier this week about what he wanted to see from the starters. “Most importantly for the quarterback is that you’re moving the ball and giving yourself a chance to score. I think that will be important for everyone, not just him.”

Wilson and the offense scored once and put themselves in position for points one other time. But they also squandered a golden chance for points and went three-and-out on their first drive.