Nix led scoring drives on six of his seven drives in the preseason, totaling 30 points, and showed he could overcome a first-and-20 on his second drive of the game.

“I think we were sitting there on first-and-20 and Mike McGlinchey said something great,” Nix said. “He said, ‘Just one play at a time.’ That kind of reset us all and got us focused on one play. Once again, we were able to get back to second-and-10 and then get a first down. It took us two plays to overcome that penalty. … It’s just good to see our offense do that. Sometimes you’re faced with a setback and you want to overcome it because it’s not always pretty. The fact that we were able to do that was really good for us.”

Wide receivers Courtland Sutton and Tim Patrick both spoke very positively about Nix’s play after the performance, and Patrick said his consistency since the start of OTAs has been outstanding.

“He was just Bo Nix,” Patrick said of Sunday’s performance. “He doesn’t try to be someone he’s not. He’s always himself and that worked for him today.”

Even after Nix left the field after two runs, the Broncos continued to score. With 37 seconds left in the first half, Jarrett Stidham fought his way into the end zone and scored a 9-yard touchdown.

“Everyone on the sidelines called me Lamar Jackson,” joked Stidham. “I still have a long way to go for that.”

Stidham completed 7 of 11 passes for 65 yards, but also had a pass intercepted in the third quarter after the throw was deflected at the line of scrimmage. After the game, Stidham said he wasn’t focused on the outcome of the quarterback competition and would instead work on improving himself.

“Look, I can control what I can control, and that’s my daily preparation, my effort and my mindset, and going out there and executing it,” Stidham said. “That’s all I can do. I’ve always said competition is super healthy. I think it’s really good. I’m not going to get caught up in what’s what or what it is or what it isn’t. I’m just focused on what I can do every day to be the best.”

Zach Wilson, who recovered from a sack for a safety to lead a late touchdown drive, said he needs to “find a way to start better” when he gets reps.

“I think sometimes just getting a finish helps,” Wilson said of finding a rhythm. “I think I missed a couple easy ones. I just felt a little out of rhythm, and sometimes just getting a drive going always helps. You’ve felt that before when you’re three-and-out, a penalty, a negative play, getting a sack — those things don’t help. Just getting a drive going and going in the right direction will help.”

As a group, the Broncos quarterbacks managed to lead Denver to 27 points – and Payton said the focus was on helping all three players succeed.

“Look, we try to develop them, teach them and coach them,” Payton said. “We try to teach these guys things that they’re good at. I think part of our job is to understand their strengths and then try to build on those.”