The Broncos will open the preseason without Bo Nix on Friday against the Falcons, even though Sean Payton said the team’s starters will get around 15 snaps. Jarrett Stidham and Sam Ehlinger will split the quarterback work while Nix travels with the team to Atlanta.
The decision turns a familiar preseason question into a specific answer. Payton said Nix is healthy enough to play and would take the field in a regular-season game, but the Broncos decided about a month ago that he would sit this one out and make his preseason debut next week, when Denver hosts the Packers on Friday, Aug. 21.
That gives the Broncos a simple plan for the first Week 1 preseason game. Stidham and Ehlinger each are expected to handle a half, which leaves the offense with live snaps for two backups while the starter waits for the next game. It also means the first look at Nix in game action will come at home, not in Atlanta.
Payton did not frame the move as a health scare. He said the Broncos are not worried about Nix having a setback, noted that his camp reps have not dipped from previous years and pointed to a play in which Nix moved and hit Pat Bryant as proof he is right where the team wants him. In other words, the choice is about timing, not damage control.
That is what makes the move notable now. Payton’s own standard is clear: if this were a regular-season game, he said Nix would play and likely be 100 percent. Instead, the Broncos are holding him back for one exhibition while still bringing him on the trip, a sign they are separating readiness from usage and choosing not to spend a live rep until next week.
Some Broncos players will stay behind in Denver while the team travels to Atlanta, but the quarterback plan is the cleanest part of the trip. Nix waits one more week, Stidham and Ehlinger take the snaps on Friday, and the next test for the offense comes against the Packers. The Broncos have made their call early; now they are simply letting the preseason catch up to it.
