Sean Payton called them “ugly.” Adam Trautman said they will go in a box. Alex Singleton said he will look at them again in a half century.

The Broncos (13-3) clinched the AFC West title Saturday when they were off and the Los Angeles Chargers (11-5) lost 20-16 at home to Houston. Players returned to Broncos Park on Monday and were greeted by T-shirts and hats in their locker commemorating the team’s first division title since 2015.

“I haven’t seen the hats or the shirts,’’ Payton, the Broncos’ coach, said on a conference call Monday morning, speaking to the media for the first time since after last Thursday’s 20-13 win at Kansas City. “My understanding is they’re pretty ugly. We just didn’t really talk about (winning the division). The focus was on this week’s game and the Chargers and the seeding ramifications.”

Payton’s point is the Broncos have much bigger goals than simply winning the AFC West. If they defeat the Chargers on Sunday at Empower Field at Mile High, they will be the No. 1 seed in the AFC playoff race.

Payton called it “very much like a playoff game.” But Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh said later Monday that star quarterback Justin Herbert won’t play Sunday in order to be rested for the playoffs. Herbert, who will be replaced by Trey Lance, has been battered all season due to injuries on the offensive line and the Chargers have locked up at least the No. 7 AFC playoff seed.

Singleton, a linebacker, and Trautman, a tight end, also spoke on conference calls Monday. While they didn’t necessarily agree the T-shirts and hats are ugly, neither considered them to be that cherished of a possession due to the Broncos wanting to claim much more this season than a division title.

The T-shirts are blue and read on the front, “2025 AFC WEST CHAMPIONS BEEN THERE, WON THAT.” The writing is in white with the exception of the word “WON,” which is in orange and has by far the biggest letters.

“I brought it home,’’ Singleton said of the T-shirt. “It’s fine. It’s nice to have. It will go in a box for the rest of my life. But I’ll probably see it again in about 50 years from now.” 

Trautman also will put his stuff in a box.

“I don’t think anybody’s going to necessarily be wearing them,’’ Trautman said. “But mine will go in my little memorabilia box of shirts and stuff. … It’s cool to have, though. It’s like a piece of memorabilia or whatever. It also can be one of those things you look back on and it’s almost disappointing if the season doesn’t end how you want.”

Trautman stressed that “we want the one seed” and called winning the AFC West a “stepping stone.” Singleton feels the same way.

“We have one goal,’’ Singleton said. “It’s to win this weekend. Beat the Chargers and be the one seed. I think that is the message and that’s the energy in the building.”

The ultimate goal for the Broncos remains winning their first Super Bowl since 2015. That has been the talk all season by Payton. He really got it going after he brought up during training camp that he had a team capable of getting to the big game.

“It was in a question relative to what I saw early on from this team,’’ Payton said Monday. “I’ve coached a number of teams that I had a tremendous amount of confidence in, and I thought it was important that these guys understood. That topic can be comfortable to talk about, and it’s OK to talk about.”

Payton won a Super Bowl with New Orleans in the 2009 season while taking the Saints three times to the NFC championship game during his 2006-21 tenure. For that reason, Trautman said what Payton said before the start of the season motivated Denver players.

“That was a huge deal,’’ said Trautman, who has played under Payton for the Saints from 2020-21 and for the coach’s three years in Denver. “And it’s not like he’s a first-, second- or third-year coach coming in and just saying that, right? And it’s kind of an empty thought because you don’t know what it’s like. But he knows exactly what it looks like. Not only with Super Bowls, but just successful teams that can knock on the door every year.

“He wasn’t vocalizing that years before. He says it when he means it and it wasn’t like he got here and was immediately (saying that) this is a Super Bowl team right away. … It’s a motivation thing as well. You feel motivated by that because you have this Hall of Fame coach who’s been there (and) done that, telling you what this team is capable of. So (it was a) definite confidence booster.”

With Payton’s Super Bowl aspirations in mind, he didn’t go overboard after the Texans defeated the Chargers on Saturday.

“The immediate focus shifts towards Monday’s meeting,’’ Payton said. “(Equipment manager Chris Valenti) texted me (about the T-shirts and hats, saying), ‘What do you want me to do?’ And I said, ‘Just put them in the lockers.’’’

Singleton, who won an NFC East title with Philadelphia in 2019 and celebrated in the locker room after a game, didn’t watch Saturday’s game, saying he went with his family to Zoo Lights at the Denver Zoo. But he said there was some excitement after the Chargers had lost.

“All of a sudden, the group chat and the phone calls were just coming through,’’ Singleton said. “Just how excited everybody is, and what it means to this team and this organization.” 

Trautman won an NFC South title with New Orleans in 2020. After the Saints clinched that season, they put on their T-shirts and hats in the locker room.

“It’s definitely weird to not do that and you just kind of show up (Monday) and it’s in your locker,’’ Trautman said of the goods. “So that is weird for sure but we didn’t really mention (the division title) too much (Monday).’’

The Broncos are trying to earn some better T-shirts and hats this season, ones that perhaps nobody will refer to as “ugly.”