Denver Broncos star Justin Simmons has opened up on the excitement he’s feeling at working with new coach Sean Payton.
Payton was hired by the Broncos to be their head coach back in February, after an agreement was reached with the New Orleans Saints. The Broncos traded a raft of draft picks, including this year's first round selection, to the Saints in order to bring Payton to Mile High City, as preparations continue with training camps for the start of the 2023 regular season.
Simmons, a safety, was drafted by the Broncos back in 2016 in the third round with the 98th overall pick. He has since gone on to become a key player for the Broncos, making six interceptions during the 2022 season which is a season-high for the 29-year-old.
The safety has worked with four different head coaches during his time win Denver. Nathaniel Hackett was replaced by interim coach Jerry Rosburg before Payton took charge after the conclusion of last season.
Now Simmons will get to work with Payton, who has more than 20 years of coaching experience in the NFL, including a Super Bowl victory. And the safety believes the start to life under the new head coach is already promising.
“Sean’s been great,” Simmons told the Denver Post. “Honestly, for him, he’s been there and done it and he’s very confident in what he can do and how he’s done it in the past.
“So when you have that type of confidence and you can tell that what you do works, people just follow that lead. There hasn’t been that much that we’ve done yet — we’re getting ready to start practice and all that good stuff — but I’m just excited for the season. I’m excited to get the ball rolling. I’m excited to win.”
Payton will bring numerous changes to the Broncos during his leadership. And it’s that work which Simmons believes will leave the team in a stronger place by the time the season gets underway in September.
“All business,” Simmons said. “We’ll put what we’ve been doing in the dark, that will come out in the light during the season.”
One member of staff brought to Denver by Payton will be familiar to Simmons and several others on the Broncos roster. Vance Joseph was hired as the defensive coordinator, and served as the Broncos head coach for nearly two seasons before leaving in December 2018.
Joseph was then hired by the Arizona Cardinals t o be their defensive coordinator. After four years in Arizona, Payton has brought Joseph back to Denver, and Simmons is looking forward to reconnecting with his former head coach.
“I love VJ. Love him,” said Simmons. “Obviously it was unfortunate the way the stint turned out when he was here as the head coach.
“I’ve always loved him, especially as a person. He’s player driven. He’ll do anything for the guys on the team. Right now, it’s been cool for me seeing, I feel like, a different version of him. When you’re the head coach, you’ve got so much more on your plate and you can’t be around as much.
“For the past few weeks to be around him as the defensive coordinator, you can tell how much it means to him and how much he loves the players. It’s been cool to reconnect.”
