NFL Combine
INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA - Head coach Sean Payton of the Denver Broncos speaks to the media during the NFL Combine at the Indiana Convention Center on February 28, 2023, in Indianapolis, Indiana. Stacy Revere/Getty Images

Not everything needs to be said, and that's what Denver Broncos coach Sean Payton realized moments after he made scornful remarks about the man he replaced, Nathaniel Hackett.

Payton expressed his regret and apologized for calling Hackett's run with the Broncos "one of the worst coaching jobs in the history of the NFL" and saying he should have more filter.

He said he would try reaching out to Hackett and Jets coach Robert Saleh.

"Listen, I had one of those moments where I still had my Fox [network television] hat on and not my coaching hat on," he told USA Today.

"I said this to the team: We've had a great offseason relative to that, I've been preaching that message, and here I am the veteran stepping in it. It was a learning experience for me, a mistake obviously. I need a little bit more filter."

Hacket, who's with the New York Jets now as an offensive coordinator, was fired last season after going 4-11.

Saleh reacts to Payton's remarks

Jets coach Saleh came to Hackett's defense, and he thinks his colleague will not get any detractors if he is not doing things right.

"I live by the saying, 'If you ain't got no haters, you ain't popping.' So hate away," Jets head coach Robert Saleh told reporters when asked about Payton.

"Obviously, we're doing something right if you've gotta talk about us when we don't play until Week [5]. And I'm good with that."