The Broncos quarterback rotation continued on Day 1 of the team’s mandatory minicamp Tuesday.
Head coach Sean Payton indicated it may go this way well into training camp, as well.
The first day of Denver’s three-day minicamp saw Jarrett Stidham run the first-team reps, Zach Wilson the second-team and Bo Nix the third-team.
That’s in keeping with how Payton and the offensive staff ran the three weeks of organized team activities, too, with each quarterback getting a day each week with the top group.
“Every day we’re rolling them different with the ones, twos and threes and we’re kind of doing the same thing with a lot of the position groups,” Payton said Tuesday. “I just feel like this is the time of the year to do that.”
Soon enough, it won’t be. Payton, though, said he doesn’t feel rushed to make a decision on a starter between the rookie Nix, the journeyman Stidham and the reclamation project Wilson.
“I have an end-game, that would be the week before the first game,” Payton said. “But I don’t have a set date. … I don’t have a date. I have a gut.”
Payton downplayed the idea that any of the three would benefit from getting most of a training camp’s worth of reps with the No. 1 group.
“I think most important is the right decision,” he said.
Stidham’s command of the offense is clear and has been on display since the beginning of OTAs when practice has been open to reporters. On Tuesday, he threw a well-timed deep crosser to Marvin Mims Jr. for a big gain that probably went as the offensive play of the day.
“Clearly within the framework of what we’re doing, he’s much further along than Year 1 and that transition,” Payton said of Stidham. “He’s looked real sharp during this offseason program. Real decisive. There’s leadership he’s able to provide there.
“There’s good competition.”
Denver Broncos quarterback Jarrett Stidham (8) works out during organized team activities at Broncos Park Powered by CommonSpirit in Englewood, Colorado on June 4, 2024. (Photo by RJ Sangosti/The Denver Post)
A pair of offensive veterans on Tuesday noted that Nix’s approach so far belies his status as a rookie. That’s a common refrain around the Broncos building. Partially because Nix is 24 years old and started an FBS-record 61 games in college, but also because he’s seemingly settled into life as a pro quickly.
“It almost feels in a sense like he’s been here before,” left guard Quinn Meinerz said.
Added receiver Courtland Sutton, on the field for the first time after skipping the voluntary portion of the offseason amid a contract “stalemate,”: “Obviously I understand the politics of the game and I know everyone’s probably looking for (Nix) to be the guy. He does a lot of things really well and he has the ability to be able to go out and have success early.”
Payton on Tuesday said that oftentimes the answer becomes clear for both coaches and the players on the roster as the regular season nears.
“We always talk about the locker room and the players in the locker room,” he said. “I think when we get into training camp and we get into preseason games, I think oftentimes the decisions take care of themselves. The objective is to win. I understand the question relative to (the big picture), but in our league it’s year to year. Man, we’re trying to win this year and we’re going to make the right decision relative to who gives us that opportunity.”
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• Denver as expected had strong attendance for the mandatory work. The only player not seen was linebacker Drew Sanders, who has been out all of OTAs after tearing an Achilles tendon in April.
• Players limited to conditioning work or otherwise out of action included: TEs Adam Trautman (core) Greg Dulcich (foot/hamstring) and Dylan Leonard; safeties Brandon Jones, Caden Sterns (knee) and Delarrin Turner-Yell (knee); and RB Audric Estime (left knee). Estime’s return to the side field came only a couple of weeks after Payton said he had a scope and a platelet-rich plasma injection for an injury last month.
• Dulcich may have a chance to participate in minicamp as the week goes along. Said Payton: “He’s doing really well. … We’ll be smart in our approach and then there’s a couple guys that we have a chance to see more work from tomorrow than today.”
• Denver had six tryout players on hand for the first day of minicamp, including WR Ra’shaun Henry, CB Kyler McMichael, TE Feleipe Franks, TE Hunter Kampmoyer, DL Blaine Hoover, LB Jordan Kunaszyk and OLB Andre Smith. Franks was a collegiate quarterback at Florida and Arkansas and is trying to make the move to tight end. He appeared in 20 games for the Falcons in 2021-22. Smith and Kunaszyk have each played extensively in the NFL. Smith has played 62 games for four teams over the past six seasons. Kunaszyk was a special teams player in Cleveland the past two years and has appeared in 46 games over five NFL seasons.
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