Broncos rookie QB Nix had ‘pretty good practice’

Jeff Legwold, ESPN Senior WriterMay 11, 2024, 05:33 PM ET
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ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — As first-round draft pick Bo Nix worked through his first rookie minicamp with the Denver Broncos this weekend, coach Sean Payton said Saturday he already gave the No. 12 pick of the draft a little welcome to the NFL ribbing.

“I went into the quarterback meeting and I was just having fun with Bo and I said I want to talk to the quarterback that’s got 160 touchdown passes and he rushed for 30 — 190 total,” Payton said. “So we Wikipediaed him.”

That quarterback was not Nix, but rather Colorado School of Mines’ John Matocha, who is at the Broncos’ rookie minicamp as a tryout player this weekend. Matocha finished his four-year career with the Division II Orediggers as college football’s all-time touchdown leader when he threw for 162 touchdowns and rushed for 29 more.

It was a first day of school moment for Nix, who went through the second of three full practices with the team’s other rookies Saturday. The expectations for Nix, who the Broncos made the sixth quarterback selected in the first round of the draft last month, — 12th pick overall — are already swirling.

But Nix said at the moment, he’s just trying to get through the playbook and find all of the meeting rooms he needs to find.

“Everything’s new, you’re learning a new offense, new teammates, new coaches, new practice style, everything’s new,” Nix said. “Everything’s new, you don’t really know where to go, you have to kind of follow your position coach around.”

⚠️ Rooks at work ⚠️ pic.twitter.com/ABsaO91vUI

— Denver Broncos (@Broncos) May 11, 2024

“So much of it is huddle, snap count, break the huddle, under center, shotgun, it’s a process,” Payton said after Saturday’s practice. ” … He’s handling the install well, he had a pretty good practice today, he’s grinding through it, he’s doing good with it.”

The rookies will go through another minicamp practice Sunday before they all are folded into the Broncos’ offseason workouts with the rest of the players. Payton said Saturday he saw, in the early going, many of the same qualities he saw when the Broncos made Nix the team’s highest quarterback selection since they picked Jay Cutler at No. 11 in 2006.

“He had two or three down the field throws [Saturday],” Payton said. “It’s almost like watching a good golfer when you watch his game … there’s a patience to how he plays, the ball comes out.”

“[You] learn as much as you can, and not make the same mistake twice,” Nix said.

Payton, in what is likely a preview of the team’s OTAs, mandatory minicamp and training camp, was asked Saturday about how the quarterback competition will unfold in the weeks ahead. And he simply said:

“We’ll figure it out, we’ll figure it out … We’ll have a rotation and we’ll go from there.”