ENGLEWOOD, Colo — There was a touch of quarterback arrogance expressed Wednesday by Bo Nix.
He was asked on QB press day following the team’s 13th training camp practice in 15 days about the Broncos’ depth chart head coach Sean Payton put out the day before. Nix, who has been sharing first-team reps if not getting a touch more than incumbent Jarrett Stidham, was listed No. 3 on the depth chart.
“Couldn’t care less,’’ Nix said and nothing more. Pressed for more, he smiled and said, “Couldn’t care less.”
It’s a rookie thing. Payton put all the rookies, even the first-rounder Nix, at the end of each listed position.
“And you guys went into a tizzy,’’ Payton said of the media. “So, all right, they’re all at the end of the line and obviously that’ll change.”
>>Video below: Bo Nix 'couldn't care less' about Broncos first depth chart
While there have been signs on the practice field, if not paper, pointing to Nix becoming the starting quarterback by the time the Broncos play their first game for keeps on Sept. 8 at Seattle, he will have to go through a few other paces of a freshman rush.
After more than one practice he has carried in the helmets, jerseys and shoulder pads of veteran quarterbacks Zach Wilson and Stidham from the practice field. It is a rookie ritual that may go back to Walter Camp and Pop Warner for all anyone knows. And that’s not the half of it for Nix.
“Pretty much anything that goes wrong, I just blame him,’’ said Stidham, who got the rookie treatment from none other than Tom Brady with the Patriots in 2019. “I had a rookie haircut from Tom my rookie year. I think that’s against the (NFL rookie hazing) rules nowadays.
“We’re not much of a snacking group so we don’t make him get snacks or anything. Sometimes, I’ll forget something in my locker and I’ll make him get it.
“And, whatever point we decide to do his rookie dinner, I will be getting a nice bottle of wine or something. He’s going to be paying for it. I’ll make sure that’s a really, really nice dinner and I’ll be very happy and not hungry.’’
Is Nix receptive to these rookie pranks? There is an edge to him, after all.
“Whether he is or isn’t, he doesn’t have a choice,’’ Stidham said. “Sometimes he’ll bicker back at me a little bit and I’ll be like, ‘Bo, we’ve literally all done this before.’ So I make sure he gets his rookie duty.
“Especially being a first-round pick. I actually make fun of Zach and him all the time because in their rookie contracts they’ve made more money than I have my entire career. So I’m like, ‘You two are not off the hook.’’
There’s a time to have fun in the quarterback room and a time to buckle up the chin straps and get serious. The Great Quarterback Competition has shifted to where Wilson has been clearly the No. 3 quarterback, regardless of where Payton put him on the depth chart (No. 2).
“Obviously I don’t have control over that situation,’’ said Wilson, the No. 2 overall draft pick in 2021 who had three disappointing seasons with the New York Jets before he was traded to the Broncos three days before Nix was drafted on April 25. “I just want to do my best every day. I enjoy playing football. Just trying to keep stacking good days.”
That positive outlook may explain how Wilson was able to end the Broncos’ 13th training camp practice Wednesday with a beautifully thrown 23-yard touchdown pass to rookie Troy Franklin, who went up and snagged it at the back of the end zone.
Otherwise, the QB race has been Stidham and Nix, Nix and Stidham.
“Every day, whoever’s out there, it’s a competition every day,’’ Stidham said. “I speak for myself but my goal is to go out there and execute at the highest level and no matter who I’m playing with out there, that’s my job. It’s definitely been a lot of fun.”
There is the competition between Nix and Stidham. And there is the singular battle between Nix and himself. When Payton determines Nix is ready, the rookie will become the No. 1 QB.
“I think the game is starting to slow down a little bit,’’ Nix said. “I’m starting to feel very comfortable with the base install (of the offense) and there’s a lot more plays that I’m comfortable with than not.
“That definitely helps and then the more I see on defense, the better it’s going to get for me moving forward.”
There is the razzing from the vets. And there are the high expectations and subsequent critiques that come from outside the players’ lair for any first-round draft pick. Nix can handle it, in part by ignoring it.
“One, is not looking at it, not seeing what everybody says and not try and go out there and find it,’’ Nix said. “At the end of the day, nobody has a higher expectation than myself. Nobody has a higher standard for how I play than me. …
“Most of the time, they can see a throw and know about 25% what went into that throw. I don’t necessarily want to put too much into the outside noise. … I think I’ve learned along the way you’re going to miss one, often. So you’ve just got to move on and I feel like I’ve been better about moving on and not letting it bother me and not let it affect the next play.’’