Russell Wilson has had a season to forget.
In his first year with the Denver Broncos, Wilson has a career-high 10 losses, and even if the Broncos win their final two games of the season, Wilson would finish with a career-low five wins.
Wilson would need to throw four touchdown passes in each of the team’s final two games just to match his career-low for TD passes in a season (20), and he is just two interceptions away from tying the second-most he’s ever thrown in a season (11).
Wilson has been sacked 49 times this year in 13 games. His career-high was 51 sacks during a 16-game season in 2018.
Not all of the blame for Wilson’s struggles falls on him, but there’s no question that the quarterback needs to improve if he’s going to keep the starting job beyond 2022.
“The decision to have Russell here was a long-term one,” Broncos co-owner/CEO Greg Penner said Tuesday. “This season has not been up to his standards or expectations. We saw some glimpses of it in the last few weeks.
“He knows he can play better. We know he can play better, and we know he will do the right work in the offseason to be ready for next year.”
Because of his large salary cap hits, it would be hard for Denver to part ways with Wilson before 2024. In the meantime, the team’s next coach will be tasked with getting the best out of their expensive quarterback.
“It’s not just one player,” insisted general manager George Paton. “It’s not whether Russ is fixable or not, but we do believe he is. We do.”
Time will tell if that belief is warranted.
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