Denver Coach Sean Payton, who’s returning to the sideline after a year’s sabbatical, described the work of his predecessor, Nathaniel Hackett, and his staff did in Denver last season as “one of the worst coaching jobs in the NFL” and said there were “20 dirty hands” around Russell Wilson’s career-worst season.

“Everything I heard about last season,” Payton said, “we’re doing the opposite.”

Although Payton was known for his frankness during his 15-year stint with the New Orleans Saints, his comments came as somewhat of a surprise given that he’s admonished his team not to look back at 2022 and because he had avoided playing the blame game when discussing roster repairs and culture change.

“It doesn’t happen often where an NFL team or organization gets embarrassed,” Payton told USA Today. “And that happened here.”

Payton also lashed into Hackett’s new team, the New York Jets, in an interview with USA Today’s Jarrett Bell that was posted Thursday.

“Part of it (in Denver) was their own fault, relative to spending so much (expletive) time trying to win the offseason – the PR, the pomp and circumstance, marching people around and all this stuff,” Payton said. “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.”

Asked about Payton’s comments, Jets Coach Robert Saleh had some spicy comments Thursday.

“Well, I’m not going to acknowledge Sean on that. You know, he’s been in the league a while. He can say whatever the hell he wants,” Saleh began. “Obviously we’re doing something right if you’ve got to talk about us when we don’t play you until Week 4.”

The Jets visit the Broncos on Oct. 8 in Week 5.

BENGALS: Quarterback Joe Burrow was carted off the practice field after he came up hobbling from a scramble on Thursday.

The 26-year-old franchise quarterback hobbled on one leg and then went to the ground after the play near the end of the afternoon practice. Coach Zac Taylor later said it was a calf injury. Burrow was wearing a sleeve on it and came up limping.

“Sometimes players feel a little sore after the first day,” Taylor said when asked about Burrow wearing the sleeve on his right calf.

“I’m not the expert here, but my gut says Joe will be OK,” center Ted Karras said in the locker room.

• Two-time Pro Bowl defensive end Trey Hendrickson signed a one-year contract extension Thursday that ties him to Cincinnati through the 2025 season.

The four-year, $60 million deal that Hendrickson signed with the Bengals during 2021 free agency was set to expire at the end of the 2024 season.

DOLPHINS: All-Pro cornerback Jalen Ramsey will undergo surgery Friday to repair a torn meniscus in his left knee, a person familiar with the diagnosis told The Associated Press.

Ramsey was injured and he was carted off the field at the end of Miami’s practice on Thursday. The person, speaking to the AP on condition of anonymity because the team hasn’t released details, said the severity of Ramsey’s injury will be determined during surgery.

Ramsey collided with receiver Tyreek Hill during an 11-on-11 drill. Ramsey went down grabbing at his left knee and was attended to by trainers.

CARDINALS: Arizona has reworked the contract for All-Pro safety Budda Baker, adding $2.4 million in bonuses and incentives for the upcoming season, including a $300,000 signing bonus, according to a person familiar with the deal.

The 27-year-old has been one of the best defensive players in the league since he was drafted in the second round out of Washington in 2017. He’s a two-time All-Pro selection in 2017 and 2020 who is known as a hard-hitter despite his relatively small stature at 5-foot-10 and 195 pounds.

JETS: Free-agent running back Dalvin Cook is heading to New York to meet with the new-look Jets this weekend.

“We’ll never say no to a great player,” Jets Coach Robert Saleh said Thursday. “If the opportunity presents itself in the right way. So we’re excited about him and his visit. It’s really just being able to get have a conversation, get hands on him.”

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