Did Sean Payton give Patriots bulletin-board material with Super Bowl remark?

New England Patriots

“They can rest in Cancun too at the end of the day.”

By Conor Ryan

January 22, 2026 | 4:19 PM

2 minutes to read

FOXBOROUGH — The Denver Broncos might be underdogs entering Sunday’s AFC championship game against the New England Patriots.

But Broncos head coach Sean Payton isn’t lacking in confidence for his team — even with Denver now soldiering on without starting quarterback Bo Nix. 

On Wednesday, Payton was asked by the media in Denver if he had any message for fans after urging them to be loud for last Sunday’s divisional-round victory over the Bills. 

“Well, they’re going to have plenty of rest after this one,” Payton said. “Two weeks.”

Of course, two weeks after Sunday’s AFC championship game is Super Bowl LX — which will be held in Santa Clara, Calif. at Levi’s Stadium. 

It should come as little surprise that a coach would echo plenty of confidence in his team’s odds of punching their ticket to the Super Bowl on Sunday. But could the veteran head coach’s comments be used as bulletin-board material by a Patriots team that has operated with a chip on its shoulder all year?

Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel was posed such a question on Thursday at Gillette Stadium. 

“I think we’re plenty motivated for the game. I think our players are continuing to build confidence through the week,” Vrabel said. “I’m really excited to go out there and play.”

The Patriots have made the most out of whatever slights have come their way this season.

 After a dominant defensive performance in last Sunday’s AFC divisional-round victory over the Texans, several players on New England’s defense acknowledged that they took umbrage with all of the discourse surrounding Houston’s imposing defensive unit. 

“It fueled the whole defense,” defensive lineman Milton Williams said last Sunday. “Ain’t nobody been talking about our defense all year. We’ll see what they’ve got to say today.”

“Everybody was talking about them all week and I think it just turned us up,” safety Jaylinn Hawkins added. “Like, alright, we want to go out there and show what we can do, you know what I’m saying? But like I said earlier, respect to them because they balled. They get after it. We just wanted to show what we can do and that’s what showed tonight.”

Even though Denver enters Sunday’s game as the top-seeded team in the AFC, the Patriots are currently tabbed as 4.5-point favorites, according to CBS. 

Most of that revolves around the Broncos’ QB situation, as backup Jarrett Stidham is set to start on Sunday after Nix suffered a broken bone in his ankle last weekend during Denver’s playoff win over Buffalo.

Stidham — who was drafted by New England in 2019 — has not attempted a pass in a regular-season game since 2023. 

Still, the Broncos figure to be a tough out for the Patriots, given both their home-field advantage in Denver and their stout defensive unit. 

Based on Patriots wideout Kayshon Boutte’s comments on Thursday, it doesn’t appear as though New England’s offense is fretting over the challenge that awaits on Sunday. 

“I haven’t seen it,” Boutte said of Payton’s comments. “They can rest in Cancun too at the end of the day.”

 

Conor Ryan is a staff writer covering the Bruins, Celtics, Patriots, and Red Sox for Boston.com, a role he has held since 2023.