The Denver Broncos wrapped up their second day of acclimation training camp practices on Thursday, right before Friday’s first public practice in front of Broncos Country. Bo Nix led the way for the first-team offense after Jarrett Stidham received first-team reps on Wednesday. Here are the news and notes from Thursday’s practice.

Bo Nix leads Denver Broncos first-team offense on Day 2 of camp

After Stidham received the first quarterback reps of Wednesday’s training camp practice, Bo Nix took the reins on Thursday.

The Broncos had one 7-on-7 period and two team periods on the afternoon, where each quarterback received their fair share of reps.

For Nix, he completed all four passes thrown in 7-on-7 to Javonte Williams, Lucas Krull downfield, Jaleel McLaughlin, and Tyler Badie. Zach Wilson was next in the rotation, connecting on all four passes thrown to Adam Trautman for a nice pickup, Lil’Jordan Humphrey downfield, Courtland Sutton, and Tyler Badie. Stidham received the third portion of the team’s QB reps, connecting on all four of his pass attempts in the period to Audric Estime, Greg Dulcich for a nice gain, Nate Adkins, and Lucas Krull.

While 7-on-7 is effective for the quick passing game, it won’t likely have the biggest impact on how the QB battle plays out.

Once the Broncos transitioned to the team period, it featured more 11-on-11 work which will be more impactful as the position battle goes on.

Nix got the first four reps of the afternoon, finding Michael Bandy in the quick passing game for a solid gain. He had one missed opportunity in the first team period as he looked to connect with his former college teammate Troy Franklin deep downfield after he gained a step on Patrick Surtain II, but overshot it by a yard or two. He had one pass in the second team period that was high and barely off the fingertips of Courtland Sutton, falling incomplete, and another pass intended for Josh Reynolds that was broken up on a terrific play by Levi Wallace. Nix did, however, have the best play of the day offensively between the QBs, evading pressure with a spin move and keeping his eyes downfield, finding Tim Patrick for a first down on a scramble drill.

Wilson’s team period saw some struggles, not necessarily based on his decisions, but pressure from Denver’s defensive line. On his first offensive series, Wilson was sacked twice — once by Durrell Nchami, who sacked Wilson the day prior and had various pressures. He’d go on to connect on several short passes to Krull, Thomas Yassmin, and McLaughlin.

Stidham received the final reps of the day at the QB position, connecting with Devaughn Vele during a scramble drill, a pass to Williams, Estime, and a nice inside throw to McLaughlin to end the day. He had one throwaway due to coverage and had a nice play in 11-on-11 where he scrambled for positive yards after evading pressure.

So what will the QB rotation look like tomorrow when fans attend? Could it be Wilson since Nix and Stidham had their first looks? That’s up in the air, but Broncos head coach Sean Payton said he’d fill us in.

“I said I’d fill you in tomorrow,” Payton said. “We’ll see how it goes.”

Key observations from Broncos practice

Estime was one of the key standouts from Thursday’s acclimation practice. He had two separate runs, specifically during Denver’s team period, where he hit the hole and burst through, cutting and demonstrating good ball carrier vision. I asked Payton after practice about his thoughts on Estime since he’s made his return from the offseason scope procedure.

“We’re getting to see a little bit more of him,” Payton said. “That position group has looked pretty good. Someone wrote a story about it. I think we have good competition there. We have good skill sets and guys that can do different things there. Historically speaking for me, I’ve always believed that that depth is important because there’s a lot of wear and tear in 17 weeks to play with just one runner. It’s good to have him out there.”

Defensively, the Broncos defensive line led by D.J. Jones, Zach Allen, and John Franklin-Myers helped set up some pressure opportunities on the afternoon. Jones had a key run stop in the backfield against Williams on the first play of team period. Payton shared what he thought the team did well today initially after practice ended.

“I try to avoid the day-to-day reports on who stood out because I like to watch the film,” Payton said. “Defensively, I thought we made some good plays on the ball in the passing game. I thought the tight ends had a handful of catches, the group of them. I thought the runners did some good things, but let’s take a look at the tape and kind of see.”

In terms of defensive plays made on the ball in the passing game, safety JL Skinner and cornerback Levi Wallace each stood out with key pass breakups during the Broncos team period this afternoon. Skinner has looked more confident on the field compared to last season and is playing more loose as he’s picked up the defensive scheme. He had a great play in coverage on Greg Dulcich, getting into his hip pocket and knocking a pass away. Wallace did the same thing in coverage against Reynolds.

Overall, the Denver Broncos first two days saw them get plenty acclimated as things heat up on Friday with fans being able to attend for the first time. Pads won’t come on until Monday’s practice.