“Nobody has a higher expectation than myself”

At his first NFL training camp, Bo Nix is juggling a quarterback competition and the equipment of his competitors.

“He’s gotta carry our pads. That’s a mandatory,” Jarrett Stidham said Wednesday, outlining Nix’s rookie chores after the Broncos completed practice.

“Pretty much anything that goes wrong, I just blame him. I had a rookie haircut from Tom (Brady) my rookie year. I think that’s against the rules nowadays. … Sometimes if I forget something in my locker, I make him go get it. At whatever point we decide to do his rookie dinner, I’ll be getting a nice bottle of wine or something that he’s gonna be paying for. I’ll make sure that’s a really, really nice dinner, and I leave very happy and not hungry. It’ll be great.”

The lighthearted joshing from Stidham, who shares an alma mater and first-team reps with Nix, suffuses Denver’s preseason proceedings with a healthy measure of levity at a time when teammates are battling each other for opportunities. Sean Payton’s QB competition is entering its next stage as the Broncos prepare for their preseason opener Sunday (11 a.m. MT) at Indianapolis.

“Their personalities are all a little different, and yet, it’s attentive right now,” Payton said. “They’re focused on today’s defensive install. … They’re grinding on the learning process.”

Since the beginning of last week, Nix and Stidham have been practicing with the starters on alternating days. Former Jets starter Zach Wilson has existed largely on the third-team periphery.

“Haven’t talked to them about this game,” Payton said. “But each day, obviously they understand how the reps are gonna go.”

Payton expects to have more information Thursday about personnel for the Colts game. There was already a semi-misleading development earlier in the week when Denver released a depth chart listing Stidham as the starter — and Nix absent from the two-deep entirely, despite the reps indicating otherwise. Perhaps cleverly designed as a temporary out, that was the case with all rookies.

“I just didn’t want to make a big deal over the rookies all being at the end of the line, and you guys went into a tizzy,” Payton further explained Wednesday. “So alright, they’re all at the end of the line, and obviously that’ll change.”

All three quarterbacks spoke with reporters after Wednesday’s practice, offering their perspectives on the state of the race. A businesslike Nix shrugged off the depth chart format — “Couldn’t care less,” he said — and expressed confidence that the game is slowing down for him. He also insisted on the equal importance of his rotating roles at training camp between the first- and second-strings.

Asked about keeping the same focus on his days with the 2’s, Nix said, “I’d better, or I’m not gonna be running with the 1’s anymore.”

Nix’s lack of NFL film, as well as Denver’s boldness in drafting him 12th, naturally make him the starting candidate whose every throw at camp attracts the most intrigue — and scrutiny.

His method of maintaining sanity is to avoid it at all costs.

“It’s not looking at it. Not seeing what everybody says. And not trying to go out there and find it,” the 24-year-old 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. I think that’s just kind of the most important thing. You’re not falling back on those (people) that are just seeing parts of it. You’re truly internally challenging yourself and trying to be the best that you can be. Most of the time, they can see a throw, and they may know about 25% of what was actually going into that throw.”

The mental strain on Wilson might be even more challenging. His status seems the most unambiguous at this point. He’s below Stidham on the depth chart and below both of his contemporaries on the reps chart, spending his time with the 3’s (though Payton insists that’s not set in stone).

“When you really sit down and think about it, right, I’ve got no control over that,” Wilson said. “I think the worst you can do is let it affect you. And so the best you can do is just say, ‘OK. I’m gonna take what I’ve got, and go out there and do the best that I can. Put my best foot forward, try my best, and try to help this team do the best they can getting down the field.”