National Football League

Jets WR Garrett Wilson mum about apparent troll of Broncos HC Sean Payton

Published Aug. 16, 2023 4:17 p.m. ET

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Garrett Wilson is ceasing fire in the latest back-and-forth between the New York Jets and Denver Broncos. 

After appearing to take a bit of a shot at Broncos head coach Sean Payton with his wardrobe choice in the Jets' preseason game against the Carolina Panthers on Saturday, Wilson took a step back when asked about it on Wednesday. 

"I'm not going to speak on it," Wilson told reporters with a wide grin. "I was advised not to speak on it. Good question though."

Prior to the Broncos' first preseason game, Payton told reporters that any players who aren't playing or are taken out should still be wearing their jerseys and shouldn't be wearing sunglasses and buckets hats. He also asked that his players not partake in any interviews during their game against the Arizona Cardinals.

Wilson, who didn't play in the Jets' second game of the preseason, did the exact opposite. He sported shades and a bucket hat while opting not to wear his jersey. He even did an interview on the Jets' broadcast of Saturday's game early in the second quarter. 

While all that could have been a coincidence considering many star NFL players dress similarly on the sideline during preseason games they don't play in, Wilson seemed to be aware of what he was doing. Not long after Saturday's game, he liked a viral tweet that pointed out he did the opposite of all the things Payton told his team to do. 

Of course, Wilson's apparent trolling of Payton came on the heels of the Broncos coach ripping Jets offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett, who coached the Broncos in 2022. Payton said in an interview with USA Today in July that Hackett's lone season at the helm in Denver "might have been one of the worst coaching jobs in the history of the NFL. That’s how bad it was."

Payton also took a shot at the Jets when he compared their offseason to the Broncos' offseason in 2022.

"It doesn’t happen often where an NFL team or organization gets embarrassed," Payton said. "And that happened here. Part of it was their own fault, relative to spending so much f---ing time trying to win the offseason — the PR, the pomp and circumstance, marching people around and all this stuff.

"We’re not doing any of that. The Jets did that this year. You watch. 'Hard Knocks,' all of it. I can see it coming."

Sean Payton rips Nathaniel Hackett: "Worst coaching job in history"

Not surprisingly, Payton's comment was met with considerable blowback from members of the Jets. 

"It made me feel bad that someone who has accomplished a lot in the league is that insecure that they have to take another man down to set themselves up for some easy fall if it doesn't go well for that team this year," Jets quarterback Aaron Rodgers told NFL+ in late July. "I think it was way out of line, inappropriate, and I think he needs to keep my coaches' names out of his mouth."

Jets coach Robert Saleh said that he wasn't going to "acknowledge" what Payton said, but he also seemed to take a shot. 

"As far as what we have going on here, you know I kind of live by a saying that, ‘If you ain’t got no haters, you ain’t poppin'.’ So hate away," Saleh told reporters in late July. "Obviously, we’re doing something right if you have to talk about us and we don’t play you until Week [5]. I’m good with it. The guys in our locker room, they’ve earned everything that’s coming to them."

Jets OC says Sean Payton broke "code" with criticism

Hackett spoke with reporters a week after Payton's comment and said that his successor in Denver broke an unwritten "code" between coaches. While Payton said he regretted his comments a day after the interview was published, Hackett said he hadn't heard from the new Broncos coach at that point. 

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