Bo Nix is doing one of the little things in a big way

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — Bo Nix is ahead of the game in some ways that aren’t apparent from a 35,000-foot view.

But they’re obvious to some who see him — and face him — every day in practice, such as safety P.J. Locke. A veteran in his sixth training camp, Locke has advanced to the point where he’s seen plenty, if not “everything,” as the cliché would go. And that means he’s observed, studied and faced enough quarterbacks to know that there is something different about the Broncos’ first-round pick.

“Right now, man, what I notice from Bo is, he’s a good look-off guy,” Locke said, referring to a quarterback’s ability to look off and manipulate the safeties. “He’s really good looking off.

“Even in OTAs, I was like, ‘Man, I just cannot get a bead off of him.'”

And that’s unusual.

“Because most of the time, rookie quarterbacks, their first read, they’re going to look at it and he’ll look you off real quick,” Locke explained. “I think he studies the safeties and he can tell (that) we’re super instinctive and we try to play games with him, so he try to play games back.”

And then there’s how Nix throws.

“He can throw the field. He can throw it,” Locke said.

Wide receiver Josh Reynolds concurred.

Asked Broncos WR Josh Reynolds about Bo Nix's arm and the passes he throws.

"He's got some zip on it, but he also can throw some touch on it, too. So, I mean, he's versatile. His arm's very versatile, and I think he can make a lot of the throws that coaches are asking for, so I… pic.twitter.com/U3P5xSjvrO

— Andrew Mason (@MaseDenver) August 1, 2024

“He’s got some zip on it, but he also can throw some touch on it, too,” Reynolds said. “So, I mean, he’s versatile. His arm’s very versatile, and I think he can make a lot of the throws that coaches are asking for, so I think it’ll help us a lot.”

Jarrett Stidham opened the proceedings, and his work began with a frustrating red-zone period that saw the Broncos offense merge without a touchdown. He completed a pair of passes in the four-pass sequence short of the end zone, and saw a potential score prevented by an alert Ja’Quan McMillian, who broke up a pass to Lil’Jordan Humphrey.

Stidham and the offense went 2-of-4 in a third-down period, with Stidham completing 2 of his 3 attempts — although one of them was short of the sticks. A Javonte Williams run moved the chains on this-and-2.

Perhaps Stidham’s nicest play was his last one, when he located Tim Patrick cutting across the field to hit him for a touchdown pass. It was a solid day for Patrick.

Zach Wilson remained with the second unit for a second-straight day after three-straight practices with the No. 3 offense. He got off to a rough start in seven-on-seven work, air-mailing one pass out of the end zone on third-and-4 when receivers were covered and failing to threat the needle on a pass to Reynolds in the end zone. A Blake Watson drop in the left flat also stymied Wilson’s efforts in that period, although he did complete a pass to a sliding Lucas Krull.

Wilson and the No. 2 offense went 1-for-4 in the third-down period, converting only when Wilson zipped it to Lil’Jordan Humphrey down the seam. Wilson did throw a pair of touchdown passes during red-zone periods.

Bo Nix saw third-team work Thursday after handling first-team repetitions Wednesday. And it didn’t take long to see the impact of that on the first-round pick’s play, as his first seven-on-seven pass — which was not entirely on target but catchable to Watson in the left flat — skipped off the rookie running back’s hands.

One play later, Nix had Troy Franklin streaking open in the back right corner of the end zone. The pass was on target — but it went through the rookie receiver’s outstretched arms. Two more incompletions followed, one of which was wiped out by a defensive-pass-interference call.

But in subsequent periods, matters improved. During a team period that focused on third downs, Nix completed all four passes, moving the chains each time on distances that ranged from 2 to 6 yards needed for the line to gain. One of those plays saw perfect execution in the right flat, as Nix dumped it off to Lucas Krull, who took advantage of a block by Javonte Williams on Quinton Newsome for what would have been a gain of at least 20 yards under game conditions.

Nix also threw a touchdown pass to Devaughn Vele, who leaped for the grab in the back of the end zone despite coverage from Newsome.