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Russell Wilson at fighting weight might just be a good sign for the Broncos: “He definitely still has some gas in him”

A svelte Russell Wilson smiled at the question.

You going to take off and run more this fall?

ā€œIā€™m trying to get moving for you,ā€ he said slyly.

The 12th-year quarterback looked capable of doing just that as he started his second training camp with the Broncos, though any grand conclusions after one day in helmets can safely be avoided, just as Wilson sidestepped a question about how much weight he cut over the offseason.

ā€œI donā€™t know, Iā€™m just ready to play football. Iā€™m not worried about the numbers on that,ā€ he said. ā€œI think the biggest thing for me is I feel great, feel confident in what Iā€™m doing. Feel strong. Feel fast. Really worked on everything.ā€

A nine-time Pro Bowler in Seattle, Wilson regressed across the board in Denver. He threw a career-low 16 touchdowns on just 60.5% completions. The Broncos lost 11 of the 15 games he started. He dealt with three different injuries over the course of the season.

ā€œLast year is last year,ā€ Wilson said. ā€œIt wasnā€™t anything that I ever wanted. ā€¦ But you take the highs with the lows, the mountains with the valleys.ā€

Just as alarming as his inefficiency and inaccuracy was the fact that Wilson took a career-high 55 sacks. Heā€™s always been sacked a lot ā€” itā€™s part of the nature of mobile quarterbacks ā€” but his 10.2% rate last year was the second-highest of his career.

Was it concerning, then, to see Wilson at times on Friday hold the ball, then improvise outside the pocket and either take off running or throw on the run? Head coach Sean Payton said not at all and that, in fact, he even encouraged it.

ā€œYou want to play it like a game. Thatā€™s what we are trying to simulate,ā€ he said. ā€œItā€™s hard to practice the spontaneous moments that take place in a game. If you break down a whole game, two thirds of it happens in the pocket the way itā€™s supposed to. A third of it, thereā€™s a movement adjustment, thereā€™s pressure, thereā€™s all sorts of things that can take place. Iā€™m comfortable when I see him climbing (in the pocket) and taking off because one of those plays is like a 30-yard gain.

ā€œHow else do you practice that? Itā€™s the same way with the scramble drill when we are out of the pocket. You just begin working on that all of the time. I think itā€™s one of the things he does well in the framework of a play. When something breaks down and he flushes, a lot of the time good things happen.ā€

In the days since the Broncos reported for training camp Tuesday, Payton has gone further in expressing confidence in his quarterback than at any point so far over his first six months on the job. He expressed regret about the tone of his comments in a recent USA TODAY story overall, but stood by what he said about Wilson ā€“ essentially that heā€™s got plenty of ability left and that he didnā€™t hit a career wall last year.

ā€œHe looks good now. Heā€™s moving around well,ā€ Payton said Friday.

Suffice it to say many of Wilsonā€™s teammates feel the same way.

Left tackle Garett Bolles earlier this offseason provided a fiery defense of his quarterback and said heā€™s looking forward to Wilsonā€™s doubters eating crow.

Wide receiver Courtland Sutton said Wednesday he sees a quarterback who might smile and play nice publicly, but wants nothing more than to engineer a career ā€” and franchise ā€” turnaround.

ā€œYou guys have seen him, he looks amazing from the outside appearance, but just talking with him and seeing where his headspace is and where heā€™s trying to get to, itā€™s amazing to see him in that light,ā€ Sutton said. ā€œHe has a chip on his shoulder because he knows he didnā€™t put out what he wanted to put out last year. Everyone knows who Russ is and the things heā€™s done and last year wasnā€™t, obviously, what we wanted to see. Knowing him, it wasnā€™t what he wanted to put out there.

ā€œTo see him show up looking the way he did and having the mindset he has, itā€™s very encouraging and itā€™s one of those things where everyone is rallying behind him and is ready to go to work.ā€

Safety Caden Sterns? Heā€™s on board, too.

ā€œHonestly heā€™s been the same and I say that in a good way,ā€ the third-year defender out of Texas told The Post. ā€œFirst one in the building, last one out the building. Heā€™s a good guy. Obviously in this sport, the nature of the beast is you get put on blast sometimes, but I really feel like heā€™s still one of the best quarterbacks in the league and heā€™s going to redeem himself this year. Iā€™m excited to see what he does. He looks a lot healthier this year. He was going through some injuries (last year), so heā€™s going to be a big piece to what we do. ā€¦

ā€œHeā€™s definitely still got some gas in him, still.ā€

Part of the challenge in the next several weeks is quickly gaining a mastery of Paytonā€™s offensive system. The coach on Friday said itā€™s ā€œcompletely differentā€ than what Wilson and the offense did last year, making for a steep learning curve.

ā€œThereā€™s a great sense of urgency what weā€™re trying to do and a great sense of urgency to understand the playbook and get everybody on the same page. Theyā€™ve done a great job of it. The coaching staff has done a tremendous job of really teaching the details to all of us players,” Wilson said. “ā€¦ Weā€™ve had a really focused offseason and I think, as I said, itā€™s one day at a time and weā€™re trying to embrace every single day. In terms of the playbook and all of that, weā€™re ahead of schedule.ā€

In addition to the playbook itself, though, Wilson and Payton have to develop their own on-field rapport through camp and the preseason. Wilson is a very different player than Payton had in New Orleans with Drew Brees. He can tuck the ball away and run for a first down, but Payton likely doesnā€™t want him freelancing so often that the offense struggles to find rhythm.

Like he has since before Payton even interviewed for the Broncosā€™ job, Wilson on Friday sounded like a player eager to follow the veteran coach.

ā€œCoach Payton has a great balance of winning and his mentality, how he speaks to us and how he walks into the room,ā€ Wilson said. ā€œHe has a certain presence that you feel in the room and everybody feels that and we all collectively feel that. Heā€™s a legend in this game we trust everything that he thinks about and what heā€™s doing and how we go about it. ā€¦

ā€œItā€™s a joy to be in this building and a joy to play for him.ā€

When Wilson first waxed poetic about Payton’s offensive prowess in January and imagined what it might be like to play for him, he also acknowledged he needed to follow his worst season with his best offseason. The coach ended up in Denver.

Is the other mission accomplished, too?

ā€œYeah we did that,ā€ he said. ā€œAnd now itā€™s time to just go one day at a time and go do what we know how to do and play at the highest level. Thatā€™s our focus.ā€

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