QBs Bo Nix, Jarrett Stidham ramp up situational work

Attendance

Did not practice: Physically Unable to Perform list — S Delarrin Turner-Yell (knee) and LB Drew Sanders (Achilles). Injured reserve – OL Quinn Bailey (ankle/leg).  Out – S Brandon Jones (hamstring), OLB Nik Bonitto (back), ILB Justin Strnad (groin), DL Zach Allen (rest), RB Audric Estime (rest), S Caden Sterns (knee/rest).

Payton said that the team has hit the point in camp at which veteran players and those returning from injury are starting to get slated days off. That was the case Friday for Allen, Estime and Sterns.

QB Race Today

Rookie Bo Nix took the No. 1 reps Friday as the alternating days roll on between him and Jarrett Stidham. Payton earlier this week said that the current setup isn’t “etched in stone,” though it continued Friday. During an extended two-minute period to end practice, Nix and Stidham each got a drive but Wilson did not.

Top Play

Neither quarterback engineered much in the way of eye-popping plays Friday, but Nix did squeeze an in-breaker to Courtland Sutton past tight coverage from Pat Surtain II during a team period. That’s good-on-good, and Sutton did a nice job using his body to keep Surtain, who has tremendous length, away from the ball. Another candidate: a 31-yard connection from Stidham to Brandon Johnson in the two-minute period late in practice.

Thumbs Up

A young OLB. It’s hard to play near the line of scrimmage as a rookie and excel. Time will tell if third-round draft pick Jonah Elliss is ready for that kind of duty. But he showed some of his pass-rush arsenal in one-on-ones Friday, ripping past fellow rookie tackle Frank Crum twice — once around him and once on an inside move. Elliss has physical tools aplenty.

Vet in the middle. Much is made about the defensive line additions of John Franklin-Myers and Malcolm Roach this offseason for the Broncos, and so far in camp rightfully so. Don’t forget about Angelo Blackson, though. He had a disruptive day Friday and has consistently looked solid. Blackson’s played in 128 career games, making him one of the most experienced players on the roster. He should help Denver’s defensive line quite a bit this fall.

Thumbs Down

Frustrating day. Payton said receiver Marvin Mims Jr. is having a solid camp overall. Friday, however, was just not his day. He showed visible frustration from the early stages of practice and it lasted throughout, including throwing his helmet on the ground multiple times after reps. Rough sequences and rough days happen — particularly in the middle of six straight practice days, perhaps — but Mims now will have to show he can bounce back.

Coincidentally or not, Payton described a charge to the coaching staff for Friday: “We really wanted to harp on all the details today. Even as a staff, I met with them and I’m not going to use the word, but I want to be on their (butts) about everything. Today was that stone-in-the-shoe day coaching. It’s part of the discipline of playing. If we’re finding the right 53, it’s not just physically the talent, it’s the mental toughness, the fortitude, can you be challenged? Can you be coached hard? Can you react? That was part of today.”

Penalties. The Broncos had three penalties in the two-minute drill engineered by Nix — two on the offense and one on the defense. There are a lot of situations to work through, Payton said, but that’s a brutal sequence even for the first live end-of-half situational work of camp.

“We were off the field defensively but we had a neutral zone infraction,” Payton lamented. “Not only does it extend the drive but it stops the clock, too. So that’s a three-point penalty, essentially. Then we’re in field goal range and a foul takes us out of it. So a lot today to coach off of.”

Odds and Ends

• The two-minute segments at the end of the half ended with Nix and Stidham getting their offenses into field goal range. The staff reset the downs during Nix’s turn after the spate of penalties. Stidham’s drive ended when the offense got to fourth-and-2 with 50 seconds still on the clock at the defense’s 31-yard line.

• The quarterbacks early in practice work with centers on exchanges. Normally not particularly interesting. The past two days, though, it has been. They’ve been playing the cadence back over a speaker so that the quarterbacks and centers hear it again after each rep. Payton said it’s part of the challenge of not having a surefire starter at this point because there’s no one quarterback’s cadence for the others to emulate.