Sean Payton has coached numerous players who have returned to play against their former teams in the NFL, and he acknowledged it will be “unique” when he enters the Caesars Superdome as a visitor on Thursday night.
Payton patrolled those sidelines as the New Orleans Saints’ head coach from 2006-21, guiding the franchise to its lone title in Super Bowl XLIV. After a year working as a studio analyst, Payton took the reins of the Denver Broncos in 2023.
He returns to the Big Easy in what shapes up as an important Week 7 game for both teams. The Broncos (3-3) are coming off a loss to the Los Angeles Chargers, while the Saints (2-4) have dropped four consecutive games.
Payton’s return to New Orleans has additional hurdles as Denver travels on a short week.
“I think those around us know how challenging the short week is as compared to as if it was a full week,” Payton said Monday. “Certainly, there will be emotions going back there with players, but I do think that comes up quite a bit in our league. With players and in this case certainly the amount of time I was there, I understand it.
“We have to deal with the crowd noise. That place is loud, and you guys know that.”
Payton sees a bit of a silver lining with the short week in that it doesn’t give him time to get tied up in the extracurricular elements surrounding the game. That includes Drew Brees, Payton’s quarterback from 2006-20, being inducted into the Saints’ Hall of Fame during a halftime ceremony.
“Fortunately it’s a short week because I haven’t had (a) chance to dive into all the other stuff,” Payton said. “I have already reached out to (Brees), congratulated him and said, âThis is the first of many.’
“I say this, it’s about the game. It’s about the win, the significance of us playing our best football on a short week, and it’s about our team. I’ll address that with them (Tuesday) morning and (say), âHey, let’s understand the significance of getting our fourth win.’ I think that’s the No. 1 thing and then go from there.”
The game features an interesting matchup between a Saints team that gave up 51 points to Tampa Bay despite intercepting three passes on Sunday, and a Broncos offense that was held scoreless at home until the fourth quarter by the Chargers.
Despite going on to a comfortable win over Las Vegas the week before, the Broncos also failed to score in the first quarter and their first touchdown came on a 100-yard interception return by Patrick Surtain II.
Playing more up-tempo while trying to rally from behind against the Chargers helped Denver produce two fourth-quarter touchdowns, and a faster pace could be a bigger part of the game plan in a loud road environment.
“I think that’s important,” Payton said. “With each team you play, you meet as a staff and you talk about how you think we want the game to unfold and then you plan accordingly.
“Certainly that’s not out of the question. A lot of it is what are you trying to accomplish when you do that? Sometimes that’s done because it can reduce the crowd noise. Sometimes that’s done because you can slow down the pass rush. So, I think it would be something that would be game plan-driven.”
