Broncos head coach Sean Payton coached Russell Wilson for a year in Denver. And Payton would have preferred to coach against Wilson yesterday.
The Broncos won with a massive fourth quarter comeback over the Giants on Sunday, but Giants rookie quarterback Jaxson Dart didn’t make it easy, and after the game Payton said he would have rather had his defense play against Wilson than Dart.
After the game, Payton reflected on his own tenure as a Giants assistant from 1999 to 2002 and said he told Giants owner John Mara that he wished the Giants hadn’t replaced Wilson with Dart as their starting quarterback until after playing the Broncos.
“I have a ton of respect for that organization,” Payton said. “I spent four of my early years there coordinating, Super Bowl, first game in this stadium, before 9/11. I’m close with the Mara and Tisch families. And they found a little spark with that quarterback. I was talking to John Mara not too long ago and I said we were hoping that that change would have happened long long after our game.”
There’s no doubt that the Giants have become a tougher team to beat since Dart became their starting quarterback. Payton’s team found a way to win, but it would have been an easier game to win if Wilson were still the Giants’ starter.
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