QB Scoreboard: The defense stuffs Bo Nix and the Denver Broncos quarterbacks on Day 10 of training camp

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — Sean Payton spiced practice up on the final day of Week 2.

Instead of their normal schedule—walkthrough then stretches then individual drills then group drills then competitive drills then full-team work—the Denver Broncos skipped ahead to full-team drills early.

“Over the years, the Hall of Fame weekend historically used to be a scrimmage weekend,” Payton said. “I feel like [today] we got a lot of the things that we used to get when we had a scrimmage.”

The Broncos didn’t have a full scrimmage, but they held a number of competitive team periods and ran more plays than they have in any practice up to this point. The highlight was a short-clock drill that forced the offense to push the ball down the field.

“Any time you have a drill like that or a practice like that, there is a lot of good on both sides of the ball, a lot of things to clean up,” Payton said. “I thought they handled it well. No scuffles or anything. Everything was about mental focus, from this morning when they got up to coming out here like it was a game.”

While practices are ramping up, and some surprise stars are emerging, there’s a long way to go.

“We’re still in that stage of camp where there’s no light at the end of the tunnel,” Payton said. “It’s pitch black. That’s just the truth. We’re early in camp.”

Quarterback Scoreboard

Saturday’s practice granted extensive work in team drills to all three of the Broncos’ quarterbacks.

The periods built to red zone and then short-clock drills.

Here’s the scenario for the final period…

The offense has the ball 44 yards from the end zone with 53 seconds left in the game. The defense has a six-point lead. It’s first down. Both sides have one timeout.

Bo Nix: B

Bo Nix‘s last-minute drive began with a bang… almost.

Nix rolled out of the pocket and hit Lil’Jordan Humphrey 20 yards downfield after he beat Kris Abrams-Draine. Humphrey had room to run for more after the catch, but dropped the ball. It was on target.

Jaleel McLaughlin gained eight yards on a screen, which set up 3rd & 2.

Nix dropped back and fired a ball to Nate Adkins on a curl. But Adkins peeked upfield before he caught the ball, and it bounced off his chest.

Now, Nix was stuck with a 4th & 2 with 25 seconds remaining on the clock. He tried for Humphrey on a slant but Abrams-Draine dove for the breakup, ending the drive.

In red zone drills, Nix’s touchdown came on a rollout when he hit Courtland Sutton at the front pylon from three yards out. He also completed a couple of short passes.

Earlier in practice, Nix had two nice throws. One was to Humphrey for 20 yards in the middle of the field. The other was to Lucas Krull for 17 yards on an out route.

Zach Wilson: C

Zach Wilson‘s two-minute drive came the closest to scoring.

Pressure from Elijah Garcia forced him to throw the ball away on the first play, but he bounced back with a 31-yard completion to Troy Franklin up the middle of the field on the next play.

Wilson’s 1st & 10 pass was batted at the line of scrimmage. I couldn’t tell if Garcia or Jaylon Allen got the swat.

With 21 seconds left, the offensive line didn’t pick up Andre Smith blitzing off the left side and Wilson had to throw the ball away.

Pressure got through again on third down and Wilson tossed a ball toward Tyler Badie that fell incomplete behind the line of scrimmage.

Wilson faced 4th & 10 with 13 seconds on the clock and a timeout. He rifled a ball to Jalen Virgil up the middle on the goal line, but Art Green had good coverage and the pass fell incomplete.

Wilson’s best pass of red zone drills was from the five-yard line. Keidron Smith was face guarding Brandon Johnson in the back of the end zone. Wilson drove a ball to the back of the end zone and Johnson jumped and reached over Smith to snag the ball off of his back.

Wilson’s worst pass was a screen to Michael Bandy that hit the receiver in the feet.

Jarrett Stidham: C-

Like the others, Jarrett Stidham‘s short-clock drill started slowly.

On first down, Stidham scrambled for two yards. On second, he tried for Courtland Sutton in the middle of the field, but PJ Locke broke the pass up. On 3rd & 8, Thomas Incoom sacked Stidham.

With 23 seconds left, the Broncos faced a 4th & 13. Garett Bolles jumped early and turned it into a 4th & 18.

But Stidham found Marvin Mims breaking toward the middle of the field for a 23-yard gain that moved the sticks. The offense spiked the ball.

Still 29 yards from the end zone, Stidham had seven seconds and a timeout. He threw a post to Josh Reynolds just short of the end zone, but Damarri Mathis swatted the pass away. The clock expired.

Earlier in practice, Stidham threw a beautiful pass to Troy Franklin. The rookie was free up the sideline and Stidham laid the ball perfectly over his shoulder and into his hands. But Franklin dropped it.

Another deep pass, this time to Marvin Mims on a cross, was a little too far out of the second-year receiver, who had to dive to get his fingertips on the ball.

GPAs
Average of daily grades.

Jarrett Stidham: 2.61 (B-)
Bo Nix: 2.51 (B-)
Zach Wilson: 1.94 (C)

Audric Estime

The Broncos’ rookie fifth-round pick had a few nice runs on Saturday.

The most notable was when Audric Estime caught a toss on the left side and stiff-armed Thomas Incoom to the ground as he went out of bounds. Incoom was restrained by teammates after the play.

Notes

Cornerback Levi Wallace left practice with a hamstring injury. Payton did not no the extent of the injury when he spoke to reporters.
Zach Allen and Nik Bonitto didn’t practice for the second consecutive day. Payton called Friday’s absences rest days.
Not only did Tremon Smith have the best return of kickoff drills, he also made a tackle inside the 20-yard line while working on the coverage team.
The Broncos have their second off day of camp on Sunday. They’ll return to the practice field Monday. Their attention will turn to the Colts starting on Friday before playing their first preseason game in Indianapolis on Sunday.