The Denver Broncos were on the field on Thursday for their second practice of the week ahead of Sunday’s AFC Championship game. As the game inches closer, the Broncos approach hasn’t changed even after the injury to Bo Nix.
Denver Broncos approach to preparation hasn’t changed after Bo Nix injury
The game of football is complex in almost every sense. Offense, defense, special teams, coaching, personnel rotations, you name it. When you lose your franchise quarterback to a season-ending injury, sometimes there can be a sense of panic that creeps in that forces you to change how you prepare without him, but that’s not the case in Denver.
With Jarrett Stidham stepping into the spotlight, he’s ready for the moment, and he’s going to prepare the same way he has throughout his entire career — as if he’s going to be the guy. On Sunday, he is the guy.
“I think what I always go back to, in any game, regular season, preseason, the AFC Championship, it’s still the same game,” Stidham said. “Obviously there are implications and winner advances, all that kind of stuff, but at the end of the day it’s still football. That’s how I view it. I’m not treating it any differently. I’m not treating my preparation any differently. I’m just going to go out there and play and be myself. I think that’s the biggest thing. I’m not going to try to be somebody that I’m not. I know how I can play, and I know the kind of guys I have around me and the kind of team that we have. So we all just have to play within ourselves.”
There’s a reason Stidham has been in Denver for three seasons, and his knowledge and experience inside Sean Payton’s offense are something that will be a benefit to him on Sunday, even if he hasn’t started in a regular-season game since 2023.
“That’s his personality,” Payton said. “He’s going to rip it, and that will be our approach. He has this calm demeanor that I think suits him well. He’s played in big games, college. I said this at the start of the season, I felt like our [No.] 2 was inside the best 32 [quarterbacks], and I think everyone feels that way. That’s why that signing was important. You don’t know when it’s happening, but I’m glad it happened. I’m glad that acquisition took place.”
Broncos didn’t come this far just to get this far
Talking to Broncos players both last week and this week in the locker room, they understand that every game is do-or-die. This team doesn’t care about the outside noise, and they thrive being the underdogs. They’ve already been written off after Bo’s injury by national folks, but once again, that doesn’t matter to them.
But at the end of the day, the locker room has a belief in themselves, and they’ve acknowledged that they haven’t come this far, just to make it this far, and that message has been consistent from superstar cornerback Patrick Surtain II.
“We just got to find a way,” Surtain said. “Obviously, losing a guy like [QB] Bo [Nix], the emotions just tells a lot, but at the end of the day, we got to find a way and build each other up. I mean, we didn’t make it this far, just to come this far. So we realized that we have a lot on the horizon to look forward to. This is championship football now, so we got a lock in and buy into the process.”
Players are locked in and bought in.
“I know [QB] Jarrett [Stidham] very well,” Courtland Sutton said. “Been able to spend a lot of time with him in terms of OTA’s, training camps, preseason and getting some reps with him throughout the week. Whatever it may be. I have no doubt in my mind that Jarrett will be ready to go play. If there is a guy that prepares as well as [QB] Bo [Nix], it’s him. He goes in and knows the entire playbook. He knows everything that needs to be done for us to go out there and have success. It was one of those things where it’s a quick transition. You are sad, then you have to realize that we still have a job to do. You know that the guys that are going to be out there are qualified to go out there and do what they need to do. Jarrett is qualified. He’s had success in the NFL and going out and playing games. He’s a very talented guy in terms of football IQ and just football ability. We’re just looking forward to going out there and having a great week of preparation. We had a great day of practice today and we will go in there and watch get film and continue to excel at the little details of the things we can be better at so we can be at our best for him and for each other.”
It’s an all-hands-on-deck approach for the Denver Broncos on Sunday, and from the vibes at practice and energy in the locker room, they’re ready to bring forth their best effort.