Bo Nix is set to take the field Friday for his preseason debut, and the Broncos will get their first home look at him this year when they host the Green Bay Packers at Empower Field at Mile High. Sean Payton said the quarterback should play around 14 snaps in the Broncos Game, a brief but meaningful run after Nix sat out the preseason win over the Falcons a week earlier.
For Nix, the timing matters because this is the first chance to hear play calls from Davis Webb in live action. The Broncos' first-year Offensive Coordinator will be getting his quarterback on the field in front of a home crowd for the first time this season, and Nix said earlier this week that he was super excited to be back at Empower Field at Mile High.
He said Friday will be the first time he gets those calls from Webb during a game, and he described the moment as something he wants to treat like a full game from the opening snap until he is pulled. Nix said the chance to play at home is always a blast, and that the point is to get work in while feeling the pace, the hits and the rhythm again.
That work comes with a wrinkle. Matt LaFleur said Green Bay's starters will see action on Friday, which means the Broncos are not just trying to stay clean and organized for their own evaluation. They will also be measuring themselves against a Packers group that should arrive with more live-game urgency than a typical preseason opponent.
Even with that extra layer, the Broncos' goals remain straightforward. Payton said the No. 1 priority is still finding the right 53 players for the roster, and he has framed these additional reps as part of that process. Denver is also trying to stretch its preseason win streak to nine games after beating the Falcons in Atlanta, with Friday's game offering another test before roster decisions sharpen.
That makes Nix's workload the detail worth watching. Payton has put the number at around 14 snaps, but the exact split of those snaps is still not fixed. For a team that wants clean operation, a home crowd, and useful tape, the bigger question now is not whether Nix plays. It is how much the Broncos let him show before the evaluation shifts to the next set of decisions.
