Attendance
Physically Unable to Perform list — OL Nick Gargiulo. Non-football injury list — ILB Jordan Turner. Did not practice — OLB Drew Sanders (unknown), TE Caleb Lohner (lower-body injury), WR Joseph Manjack IV (back)
Still no sign of the oft-injured Sanders, who’s been absent for unclear reasons through the first couple days of training camp. Lohner, meanwhile, hasn’t actually taken the field since Denver’s rookie minicamp in May, while rehabbing surgery for a lower-body injury.
Manjack IV, an undrafted rookie receiver out of TCU, is dealing with a back issue and could be back in camp as early as Monday, a source told The Denver Post.
The Jarrett Stidham-Sam Ehlinger QB2 competition has officially arrived. Maybe.
A day after Broncos head coach Sean Payton dodged a question about an impending backup-quarterback competition — “There’s competition at all these spots,” Payton said — Denver’s second-and-third-team offenses saw a massive shift in operation on the second full day of camp Saturday.
For the first time in any camp practice, since Denver first signed their erstwhile QB3 in March 2025, Sam Ehlinger took the second-team reps during every team period Saturday. Jarrett Stidham, who has served as the Broncos’ QB2 for three straight seasons, ran with the third-team offense.
Payton, for his part, again tempered any notion Saturday that Ehlinger has supplanted Stidham or is even challenging him for the backup job behind Bo Nix.
“There was nothing remarkable, or anything we discussed in meeting,” Payton said, asked about the reasoning for the change in reps. “So maybe they just unfolded where, yeah … but I wouldn’t make anything into it.”
Still, there’s something to be made of it, given that Ehlinger largely outplayed Stidham by eye test during Denver’s summer offseason program and has had a strong start to this year’s camp. The 27-year-old former Texas star acquitted himself well in the Broncos’ quarterback room last season, and turned down multiple contract offers throughout 2025 to continue developing in Denver’s system — and, in particular, to attach himself to now-Broncos play-caller Davis Webb.
“I think we just sold our program, and the offense,” Payton said, asked Saturday about Ehlinger choosing to stay in Denver. “You can never promise anything other than, I would say this – we saw immediate growth. And you’d have to ask him, but I think he felt like, ‘I want to continue with this offense and continue where I’m going.’”
Ehlinger re-signed with Denver on a one-year deal worth $2 million in March, and would be considerably less expensive as a QB2 option if he were to win a backup job in camp. Stidham will cost $8 million against Denver’s cap in 2026, playing out the final season of a two-year, $12 million deal. Despite a shaky performance in relief of Nix in last year’s AFC Championship loss to New England, though, Stidham still has considerable goodwill in Denver’s building, as Payton said multiple times during that game week in January that he viewed Stidham as a starter-level NFL quarterback.
Top Plays
Denver’s offense largely captured attention for the second straight day of camp, with Nix roaring in excitement after rolling to his right and lofting a touchdown bomb for receiver Pat Bryant early in one team period. Stidham, too, launched a missile later in 11-on-11 work to former UFL product Hakeem Butler, a 6-foot-5 receiver who signed with Denver in June and has received a heap of targets through the first couple days of camp.
The Broncos’ defense didn’t create any turnovers in team period, but outside linebacker Jonah Elliss flashed a remarkable dose of athleticism on one rep, leaping with both hands to knock away an Ehlinger ball at the line of scrimmage. After Denver briefly planned to shift Elliss to inside linebacker this offseason before reneging, the third-year Utah product is continuing to solidify himself as the Broncos’ OLB3 behind Nik Bonitto and Jonathon Cooper.
“All the cut-up tape, his production, his ball disruption, just, for me, felt like, ‘Man, we’re taking a position thatap harder to find and moving him to a position that we think might be a little bit easier to play,'” Payton said on Elliss. “So thatap not to say that we can’t battle a few things, but I think we felt like, ‘Man, he’s really ascending as an edge player,’ and we didn’t want to disrupt that.”
Thumbs Up
Mims rising. Through three seasons in Denver, one-time second-round pick Marvin Mims Jr. had never been able to convince the Broncos’ staff that he was capable of running the full gamut of a stop-and-go route tree. That may be changing under new play-caller Davis Webb, in Mims’ Year Four.
Mims has emerged as perhaps the biggest skill-position winner of Denver’s camp through two days, doing considerable work over the intermediate and deep areas of the field and showcasing a more advanced route package than simply staying in motion. Entering the final year of his rookie deal, the 24-year-old Mims has caught a variety of passes from Nix, Stidham and Ehlinger alike, and Payton notably singled him out when asked Saturday on how a jumbled group of young receivers can separate themselves.
“I’ve said this before about Mims — you’ve kind of seen it every time,” Payton said, noting Mims’ reliability when called upon. “I always feel like, ‘Man, more touches.'”
It remains to be seen, ultimately, if this is finally Mims’ year for more touches.
Thumbs Down
Not-so-happy feet. Yes, Stidham was placed in a completely disadvantageous situation in January’s AFC title game against the Patriots. His margin for success was razor-thin. But the longtime Broncos backup did himself absolutely no favors by often operating with indecision, including a baffling first-half backwards pass that became a damning lost fumble after Stidham backpedaled fruitlessly to avoid a rush.
Stidham’s strengths have popped through a couple days of camp — intermediate and deep-ball accuracy, in particular — but his flaws were prominently on display Saturday. He took two would-be sacks during his last four reps during team period, and at one point again wheeled and sprinted backwards in a near-Looney Tunes sight. He may need a solid camp to maintain his hold on the backup job.
Odds and Ends
* Don’t expect any impending extensions for Broncos like Mims, Riley Moss, Ja’Quan McMillian, Brandon Jones and beyond. Payton — who generally will let slip at the podium if the Broncos are close in contract negotiations with any key players — hinted he hasn’t met yet with Denver’s front office to discuss any of the Broncos’ key pieces on expiring deals.
“I’m gonna be honest — right at this stage of the season, those things are like 179 and 180 on my list of to-do things,” Payton said.
* Broncos running back RJ Harvey again was the primary RB for a situational, hurry-up team period at the end of practice Saturday, which would indicate Denver’s growing confidence in Harvey to handle pressure in third-down passing situations. Payton confirmed Harvey will likely contribute more on third downs in 2026, after reserve Tyler Badie largely served as the Broncos’ de-facto third-down back last season.
* Payton said the Broncos will likely hold their first practice in pads Wednesday next week.
“It’d be a good one to be at,” Payton said.
Fans, mark your calendars.
