When the Denver Broncos traded for quarterback Russell Wilson this offseason, he was expected to help the team march to the playoffs. Instead, the Broncos are 3-8, Wilson has looked terrible, and there are rumors that his teammates would prefer to see someone else starting at quarterback.
Things culminated this past weekend when, during the fourth quarter of the Broncos game, defensive lineman Mike Purcell let out an animated tirade in Wilson’s direction. He did not appear to be happy with his quarterback.
Mike Purcell had some words for Russell Wilson has he returned to the Broncos sideline pic.twitter.com/FL6RaFwAT8
— FOX Sports: NFL (@NFLonFOX) November 27, 2022
Wilson and the Broncos were in the midst of another miserable offensive performance, led by Russ, who passed for just 145 yards on 19-of-35 attempts. His lone touchdown pass came in garbage time when the outcome was already decided.
This also came on the heels of former lineman Tyler Polumbus revealing that Wilson’s teammates were getting irritated at him for various reasons.
Meanwhile, Ciara recently threw a birthday party for Wilson, and “It looked like about half the team was there,” according to Mike Klis of 9News.com. NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero also reported that Wilson had “lost the locker room,” per his sources.
So has Wilson lost the locker room? Head coach Nathaniel Hackett doesn’t buy it.
Nathaniel Hackett when asked about an NFL Network report that Wilson has “lost” some in the locker room: “To me, it’s all gossip. We have a fantastic locker room. I’ve never seen somebody work that hard and try to embrace a team like he has.”
— Nick Kosmider (@NickKosmider) November 30, 2022
“To me, it’s all gossip,” Hackett said, via Nick Kosminder of TheAthletic.com. “We have a fantastic locker room. I’ve never seen somebody work that hard and try to embrace a team like he has.”
Maybe, maybe not. Where there’s smoke, there’s often fire, and it’s pretty clear that something is very wrong with Wilson and the Broncos right now.
