Stidham, Broncos keep prep as normal as possible

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. -- Denver Broncos quarterback Jarrett Stidham, set to make his first start since the last two games of the 2023 season in Sunday's AFC Championship Game, has still tried to make this week as normal as possible.

That included a Monday trip to Target with his kids. Asked whether anybody recognized or approached the player suddenly thrust front and center for a team with a Super Bowl trip on the line, Stidham gave a wry smile and said, "No, incognito, nobody noticed."

The 29-year-old Stidham, who is in his third season with the Broncos, will start Sunday against the New England Patriots in place of Bo Nix, who fractured his right ankle on the game-winning drive in Saturday's 33-30 overtime victory over the Buffalo Bills. In the span of an hour, the Broncos players went from the euphoria of the win to the crushing news that Nix would not play for the remainder of the postseason.

In the days that have followed, the Broncos coaches, players and Stidham have tried to stick as closely as possible to the team's usual routines as they go about the business of preparing to play for a Super Bowl chance.

"We wouldn't be in this position without Bo," Stidham said Wednesday. "I know all of us on offense, I know the whole team, we want to go out there on Sunday and make him proud."

Stidham's teammates have expressed plenty of confidence in his readiness for Sunday's game, which will be the Broncos' first AFC Championship Game appearance since they won the conference title game to close out the 2015 season on the way to Super Bowl 50. Cornerback Pat Surtain II said Stidham "has got a type of mojo with him, a type of confidence with him, that you rarely see.''

Broncos coach Sean Payton said Wednesday there are differences in the types of players Nix and Stidham are so the game plan will be adjusted accordingly, but he had no doubt about Stidham's readiness.

"He's going to rip it, and that'll be our approach,'' Payton said. "He's got this calm demeanor that suits him well. ... I felt like our [No.] 2 [quarterback] was inside the best 32 [in the league]."

Stidham's last starts came over the last two weeks of the 2023 season when he replaced a benched Russell Wilson. He has played four snaps in just one game this season, the Broncos' 44-24 victory over the Dallas Cowboys in Week 8.

Stidham signed a two-year deal to return to the Broncos this past offseason even as the Patriots, who drafted him in 2019, tried to sign him as well. He was asked Wednesday whether he had taken a moment to think about what a win Sunday and a Super Bowl trip would do for his personal NFL résumé.

"At the end of the day, I'm not focused on anything but Sunday, what is my job on each and every play," Stidham said. "How can I help my teammates succeed on Sunday? I don't care about anything else other than the next five days and what my job is."

Stidham did say several people had sent him photos of a meme that has made the social media rounds in recent days. It takes a repurposed LeBron James meme and instead shows Stidham in sunglasses and earphones.

Many of the team's faithful have used the picture in their social media profiles with "#StiddyParty.''

"I'm not on social media at the moment, but I have had multiple people with the LeBron meme with the headphones, the sunglasses, it's pretty funny," Stidham said.

Payton also said Wednesday that Nix's surgery Tuesday in Alabama "went well'' and that as soon as the doctors would allow it, Nix would return to Denver to be among his teammates.

"We look forward to seeing him soon, absolutely,'' Payton said. "All of our guys that have been injured are part of this team, so yeah, the sooner the better."