Denver media absolutely shreds Payton..

Elvis said

The difference between the two teams couldn't have been different though. DA inherited a team that won 9 games despite some of the worst circumstance a team could have faced and the team got worse. Payton came to a team that hadn't won 9 games since 2016 and should get them back to that 9 win mark in year 1.

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I don't want to fall in that trap of thinking that players should be 'at least as good' as they were under the previous leadership. With each coaching change comes new philosophies & schemes. It's easy to assume that Dennis knew everything that Sean was doing and that he would just continue with the status quo. It's pretty easy to see that he has a much different style than Payton.

The players know that things have changed as it pertains to coaching styles & expectations. No doubt both Sean & Dennis are reminding their kids that there's a new sheriff in town and that they need to trust the new philosophy for success. I doubt seriously that DA came in saying that they were going to do everything just as coach Payton used to do it.

For every coach to gain/earn everyone's trust, the players need to see his 'process' getting results , and they need to see the kind of changes that (at least gradually) actually make the team better. A new coach has limited time before everyone (inside & outside the organization) loses faith and develops a bad attitude about what he can really do for the team.