Broncos Will Sit Starter At QB As Backups Battle Instead

The Denver Broncos announced that quarterback Bo Nix will sit out their preseason opener against the Atlanta Falcons tomorrow night, with the game instead featuring a battle of the backups between Jarrett Stidham and Sam Ehlinger, according to a report from Jeff Legwold of ESPN. 

The announcement came from coach Sean Payton, who did note that Nix will see time on the field in subsequent preseason games. 

"Bo won't play in this game; he'll play next week," Payton said after Wednesday's practice. "If we were playing a [regular-season] game -- he wants to play; he'll play the next two weeks."

Part of the decision was probably based on the field at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta, which featured grass for recent World Cup game, but now has artificial turf for the Atlanta Falcons. 

Playing time for the backup quarterbacks will be a 50/50 affair, according to Payton, as Stidham and Ehlinger will each go for a half if all goes as expected. 

The other footnote here is that Broncos linebacker Jonathon Cooper will suit up for this one, and he could get action with the starters expected to get about 15 plays, per Legwold. This is beyond remarkable considering that Cooper was arrested twice in June as part of a domestic violence incident, and his legas status right now is very much in limbo. 

"He'll play," Payton said. "... You have to keep gathering the information."

Cooper is probably facing a suspension after his latest court date occurs at the end of the month, but Nix has been full go since the first day of camp, and Payton said he’s given Nix the same number of snaps he had in camp last summer. 

"If we were playing a [regular-season] game, I would say he would play [and] he'd probably [be] ... 100%," Payton said. "... He's right where we were hoping he'd be."

Nix has already stated that he’s not going to change his game. His mobility is a big part of what makes him successful, and Payton noted that Nix has already made a throw on the move "that was a real good sign, a real good throw."

"I'm going to roll [out]. I'm going to be as athletic as I can be. ... It's a strength of ours, and so we've got to use our strengths," Nix said earlier in camp. "For me, that's when I feel at my best, that's when I feel free. When I'm playing like that, when I'm moving around, it's a good thing."

The game will also feature new offensive coordinator Davis Webb calling plays for the first time this year, although he did do a tryout version of this last year in a preseason game.