“He’s got more talent than most people give him credit for”

A day after Broncos rookie Bo Nix was named the starting quarterback for Week 1, offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi said the 24-year-old earned it.

Praising his ability to navigate within the pocket and use his mobility, Lombardi called Nix a “quick learner” who doesn’t make the same mistake twice.

“He understands what happened the first time, and he corrects it,” Lombardi said after Thursday’s practice. “He loves football. He studies it and learns every rep he gets.”

As an offensive coordinator for the Chargers, Lombardi heard about Nix through quarterback Justin Herbert — a former Duck. When Lombardi finally turned on Nix’s college film, he was impressed.

“You’re like ‘Wait, that’s not what I expected. Let me go back a year (and) let me watch some Auburn film,’” Lombardi said. “Everything I looked at I liked.”

Nix’s ability to throw the deep ball was one of the concerns coming out of Oregon. Even though he completed 77.4% of his passes for the Ducks in 2023, 38.8% of those attempts were fewer than 10 yards, according to Pro Football Focus. Meanwhile, 19.5% of his passes were between 10-19 yards, and 10.9% were 20-plus yards because of Oregon’s offensive scheme.

Lombardi, on the other hand, believes Nix can let the ball fly.

“He’s got more arm talent than most people give him credit for,” Lombardi said.

Lombardi said it was hard to break the starting quarterback news to Zach Wilson and Jarrett Stidham, but both players have handled it like pros and understand the team’s decision.

As Stidham and Wilson continue to battle for the backup spot, Lombardi has been impressed with the latter’s development in recent weeks. Lombardi said Wilson’s accuracy has improved as he has gotten more comfortable with the wide receivers.

Lombardi mentioned that the former New York Jets quarterback wasn’t pleased with his performance against the Green Bay Packers but thought he responded by putting together a pair of “outstanding” practices.

“I think we’d be comfortable with any of them playing quarterback for us,” Lombardi said.

Punter battle remains “close”: The quarterback battle is over, but the punter competition between Riley Dixon and Trenton Gill remains ongoing.

“It’s still close,” said special teams coordinator Ben Kotwica. “We plan on both players to get an opportunity in the final preseason game, and then we’ll see how it shakes out from there.”