If Sean Payton knows who the Broncos’ No. 2 quarterback is going to be, he’s not saying so yet.
The big decision’s been made for a couple of weeks now. Rookie Bo Nix is starting Sunday in Denver’s season opener at Seattle.
Whether Jarrett Stidham or Zach Wilson is the next man up, however, is not something Payton was willing to divulge at the outset of the work week.
“I’ll settle it and keep you guys posted,” he said.
Each had their moments in training camp. Stidham is in his second year playing for Payton here and was steady through training camp. Wilson started slow and saw his snaps cut well before Stidham or Nix, but he finished with a strong kick and played his way safely onto the 53-man roster.
Whoever is No. 3 can still suit up for the games without counting against the 46-man active roster thanks to a rule the NFL tweaked last year. He would be designated an emergency third quarterback, however, and could enter the game only if each of the first two were injured.
“He’s out there and he’s doing everything,” Payton said of the third quarterback on game days. “My understanding is he can enter the game when the other two are hurt. … Last year, I think 13 or 14 teams had three (on the roster), and then the remaining teams had two and one on the practice squad. The exercise in your 53-man roster and your practice squad is really holding onto your assets. Guys you really feel that are talented. Certainly, that applies to ‘Stiddy’ and Zach.”
Griffith settlement. Jonas Griffith and the Broncos are working on an injury settlement after the former linebacker was found to have damage to his ACL in a physical after he went through the process of being released last week.
Head coach Sean Payton called the timeline and outcome “a little bit unusual” on Monday, saying that Griffith was released but that afterward he was deemed to need surgery. The injury isn’t a clean tear of the same ACL that held Griffith out all of last year, but rather damage.
“They discovered more of an issue with his ACL. It wasn’t one event specifically,” Payton said. “In the end, there will be an injury settlement, which is pretty common. What isn’t common is finishing the preseason playing like he did and then discovering that this is a little bit more significant than we thought.”
Players who are injured can’t be cut or released without compensation. Payton, though, confirmed the Broncos will come to a settlement amount with Griffith and that he will not be retroactively added back to the roster on injured reserve.
“We’re going to certainly do right by the player and take care of him,” Payton said. “He’s someone that’s busted his tail here for the better part of two years trying to stay healthy.”
Welch impressed. The Broncos signed linebacker Kristian Welch late last week and on Monday finalized the addition of Levelle Bailey back to their practice squad.
Payton said Welch, who spent training camp with Green Bay, jumped out when the Broncos staff watched him on tape and in person.
“We still felt like inside linebacker was an area of need for us,” Payton said. “We went into kind of the final 53 cutdown looking at that position. He was someone that stood out on film. Obviously, we had practice tape together with him, but more importantly just the body of work for that player.”
Welch has played sparingly on defense in his first four seasons in the NFL, but is a special teams stalwart.
Healthy group. Denver had everybody present and accounted for at the portion of Monday’s practice open to reporters.
The team’s first injury report of the regular season is due out Wednesday.
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