Sean Payton insisted Monday that he was only trying to compliment Jacksonville last week when he referred to the Jaguars’ 2025 success in the context of playing in a “smaller market.”
He also complimented Jags first-year head coach Liam Coen for seizing on the comment and turning it into motivational fodder for his team, which stomped Denver, 34-20, on Sunday and halted the Broncos’ 11-game winning streak.
A brief reset: Payton on Wednesday was talking about Jacksonville, winners at that point of five straight, rattled off several things the team was doing well and then said, “As you look at them and you watch the tape, it’s a smaller market, but you see a real good team.”
Coen in his postgame news conference Sunday night responded by saying, “Great team effort. Just thankful that a small market team like us can come into a place like Mile High and get it done.”
At least one Jaguars player coming off the field yelled, “Just a small market team,” according to a post from the team’s social media captioned, “Small market, big Ws.”
Payton on Monday said his comments last week were “very complimentary” of Jacksonville.
“And those guys are playing outstanding football,” he added. “And so that topic came up strictly because not enough of the country has seen how good these guys are playing.”
The Broncos head coach is a master of finding motivation for his team in his own right, and readily recognized Coen for deploying a technique he’s used countless times.
“That’s a good job by Liam,” Payton said. “He’s looking for a rallying cry. But, obviously, if you were listening to the press conference, the intentions were strictly, ‘Hey, quietly, these guys are sitting here right near the top of the AFC and they’re ready to win their division.’ And, look, I spent 16 years in a small market.
“So it was just a way for a coach to take it and use it to his advantage.”
Payton also made it clear that Sunday’s Denver loss wasn’t about bulletin board material, officiating or anything other ancillary factor.
“This is a confident team and I’ll say this, there wasn’t a guy in the locker room yesterday … that felt like we didn’t get beat,” Payton said. “This wasn’t officiating, this wasn’t — we got beat. Jacksonville was the better team yesterday and I think our players know that.”
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