The Denver Broncos had a bye in Week 9, giving head coach Sean Payton an opportunity to watch football games over the weekend like an ordinary fan.
Speaking with media members during a conference call on Monday, Payton said a trick play during the USC-Washington game on Saturday caught his eye.
“It gives you a chance with the bye week,” Payton said of tuning into games. “You get to see a Thursday night game. You see the games on Sunday, and there’s one more game [Monday]. I probably watch it differently. My wife will say, ‘You never show any emotion.’ I just watch it. I’ll see something maybe that I’ll want to go back to today on coaches’ tape that was unique.
“USC ran some crazy flea flicker that I have to see on coaches’ tape. I know they didn’t win the game, but it looked pretty unusual. Probably like everyone else, you get comfortable, and you flip through your channels, and you find the game that maybe matters to you. Certainly, [Monday] night mattered while watching that game because we’re playing that opponent. You’re watching that a little differently. You’re watching that a little bit more relative to scheme and trying as best you can guess what’s happening [while] paying attention to injuries and cadence and all those things. Generally speaking, [I] probably [watch] the other games much like you guys would.”
Here’s the play that Payton referenced:
USC HIT THE DELAYED FLEA-FLICKER 😱 pic.twitter.com/BSXcnsida8
— ESPN (@espn) November 5, 2023
Broncos general manager George Paton was in attendance for that game. Denver’s GM got a close look at Caleb Williams (Trojans) and Michael Penix Jr. (Huskies) as he continues to scout college football’s top quarterbacks.
Maybe Payton will one day run a similar play with the Broncos, perhaps with the same quarterback who executed it so well on Saturday.
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