There are now multiple whispers out there suggesting that first-year head coach Nathaniel Hackett will be working to save his job when his 2-5 Denver Broncos face the 2-5 Jacksonville Jaguars at Wembley Stadium in London this Sunday. 

For a piece published Wednesday, ESPN’s Dan Graziano reported that “things are already feeling sticky in Denver” for Hackett and that “there’s even chatter in some league circles that his job could be on the line with this Sunday’s game against the Jaguars in London.” 

For what it’s worth, Graziano isn’t convinced that’s necessarily the case. 

“I’m not sure I fully buy that Sunday is a make-or-break game for Hackett, because it would be absolutely bizarre for a non-Urban Meyer head coach to be fired at the midway point of his first season,” Graziano continued. “But things haven’t gone well there, and if the Broncos fall to 2-6, it wouldn’t surprise me to see some sort of action, like a call for some changes on the staff or a rearranging of responsibilities. Hackett already has added a game management consultant to the staff since the season started; could he do something like cede playcalling to another coach on the staff so he can focus more on head-coaching responsibilities?” 

On Monday, Broncos insider Benjamin Allbright tweeted that the franchise’s new ownership feels “embarrassed” by the state of the club during the opening half of what was once a promising season. Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio later wrote that Broncos defensive coordinator Ejiro Evero could be made interim coach after the Jacksonville game in part because Denver will enter its bye week after that contest and ahead of its matchup at the Tennessee Titans on Nov. 13. 

Hackett previously served as Green Bay Packers offensive coordinator but wasn’t able to bring future Hall of Fame quarterback Aaron Rodgers to Denver with him this past winter. The Broncos instead acquired Russell Wilson from the Seattle Seahawks, but Wilson largely performed like a shell of his former self over the team’s first six games before he went down with an injury. 

ESPN stats show that the Broncos enter Week 8 dead last in the entire NFL in scoring and are averaging a paltry 14.3 points per game.