AP

This offseason saw receiver Eric Decker leave Denver for the Jets in free agency, and Emmanuel Sanders sign with the Broncos to take Decker’s place. Decker sometimes feels the way you’d expect a receiver to feel about leaving a first-place team quarterbacked by Peyton Manning and joining a last-place team quarterbacked by Geno Smith and Michael Vick.

“Honestly, sometimes it’s hard to watch them when they’re playing,” Decker told the New York Daily News. “When they’re clicking on all cylinders, they’re a tough football team. They got the right pieces.”

Sanders ranks fifth in the NFL with 954 receiving yards, while Decker ranks 62nd in the NFL with 450 receiving yards. Decker isn’t crazy about watching that.

“Emmanuel Sanders is playing well in my spot, so to speak,” Decker said. “Sometimes, you know, it’s tough to see all the success. But that’s football. It’s going to go in swings. Who says we can’t be a great football team? We got to obviously do some right things to get there, but I’m happy for Peyton and Demaryius [Thomas]. I respect them so much. They’re all good friends, so I like to see them do well, but sometimes it’s hard.”

Decker isn’t saying he regrets leaving Denver, and his contract with the Jets gives him 36 million reasons to be happy where he is. But Decker is being honest about his mixed emotions: It’s tough to leave a team like the Broncos to play like a team for the Jets.