The NFL’s only three-person quarterback battle appears to be down to two. During Tuesday’s training camp practice, Jarrett Stidham took the reps with the first-team offense despite it being Zach Wilson’s turn in a rotation that also includes rookie Bo Nix, who received first-team work on Monday.
While he said he had “no news to announce” regarding his quarterbacks, Broncos head coach Sean Payton ultimately created some when he was asked if Wilson will get any more opportunities with the first-team offense.
“We’ll see,” Payton said, via ESPN.
Wilson’s non-committal comment surely isn’t a good sign for Wilson, but his possible demotion shouldn’t be too much of a surprise. While he may be the most athletic of the three quarterbacks, Wilson isn’t a first-round pick like Nix is and doesn’t have the experience inside Denver’s offense like Stidham does.
Acquired by Denver via a trade with the Jets this offseason, Wilson went just 12-21 as a starter during his three seasons with the Jets. He did go 5-4 as the Jets’ starter in 2022 but was just 4-7 last year after starter Aaron Rodgers went down with a season-ending Achilles injury in Week 1.
Still just 24, Wilson was surely hoping to compete with Nix and Stidham to be the Broncos’ starter. But it appears that he has fallen behind pace with the start of the preseason on the horizon.