Bo Nix spun a football in his hand.
He tossed a ball lightly to receivers running routes.
He moved around the Broncos’ OTA practice Thursday engaged in what was happening around him.
He just wasn’t participating in the actual practice.
The Broncos third-year quarterback instead watched, talked with new quarterbacks coach Logan Kilgore, chatted with receivers about routes and plays they’d just run, pointed out where the ball was about to be delivered and did it all wearing white tennis shoes, a ball cap and hoodie.
Head coach Sean Payton says Nix will be swapping that apparel for a uniform and helmet soon.
“You don’t see pre-practice, but he’s been throwing,” Payton said. “I do think in our third week, (for minicamp), I think you’ll see more of a role.”
Denver wrapped up its first of two OTA weeks and had reporters in attendance for the first time. The club will have a second week of OTAs Tuesday through Thursday next week and then a three-day, mandatory minicamp June 16-18.
Somewhere in that final week Nix is expected to be back on the field in a more formal, practicing capacity. Whether he practices all three days or does every drill remains to be seen.
Still, Nix doesn’t like standing around doing nothing. Payton in January said he’d find Nix roaming the Broncos’ facility on a scooter after his first of two ankle surgeries.
“You have to know him,” Payton said. “He’s fidgety to begin with.”
Nix, then, will be happy to be back on the football field in a non-observing capacity in the coming weeks, even if itap only for a day or two before the team breaks for the summer. He got a taste through his initial rehab after a late-January surgery to repair a fractured ankle, but then had another operation in late April.
Now, he’s getting closer to being back on the field.
“Bo is definitely a competitor. He loves talking ball,” said wide receiver Jaylen Waddle, Nix’s new top target. “He loves just being around the guys. I think he’s going to be a great leader. I can see the traits from him, just day-to-day and everything. If he sees something, he’s going to tell me about it. We just kind of pick each other’s brains and get on the same page the best we can.”
There’s plenty to do for the Broncos, who came within a game of the Super Bowl last year — and may well have made it without Nix’s ankle breaking in overtime against Buffalo. On the list for Nix: Building a rapport with Waddle.
Waddle on Thursday said Nix had been instrumental in helping him feel comfortable in Denver right off the bat. He doesn’t think it’ll take long for the football part to click once Nix is back on the field.
“Bo’s a tremendous player; he’s a playmaker,” Waddle said. “He makes a lot of plays. When you’ve got a guy like that slinging the ball, I don’t think itap going to take that much time.”
The Broncos opted not to sign a quarterback for these OTA weeks despite Nix’s absence, so both Jarrett Stidham and Sam Ehlinger are getting a ton of work.
Stidham is going into his fourth season with Payton in Denver, while Ehlinger is trying to make a jump in his second year.
“I think considerably,” Payton said when asked about Ehlinger improving in his command of Denver’s offense. “Just today there were a handful of plays that, maybe a year ago at this time (he doesn’t make), just from a terminology standpoint or rhythm. You can see it. Itap encouraging.”
