Sean Payton's comments about Nathaniel Hackett appear to have been part of "a grand strategy, designed to take pressure off the team and put it on himself," according to ESPN's Seth Wickersham.
"He got texts from coaches across sports who considered it a masterstroke," Wickersham added. "But Payton simply has less of a filter these days, even if it later requires damage control."
Payton, who was hired as head coach of the Broncos this offseason following the team's firing of Hackett, unloaded on the former Denver head coach in a July interview with Jarrett Bell of USA Today.