Sean Payton refusing to rule out Wilson is a disservice to other QBs

Denver Broncos head coach Sean Payton isn’t doing his QBs any favors.

Not when he refuses to rule Zach Wilson out of the three-man competition, even though it’s abundantly clear to fans and media members alike that’s what happened on Tuesday.

Wilson’s turn to run the No. 1 unit at Broncos training camp was skipped. Instead, it went to Jarrett Stidham, with Wilson playing primarily with the threes. Wilson was also with those guys on Monday, despite Payton saying after practice he was with the twos.

Yes, Denver’s QB competition now being a two-horse race to start Week 1 in Seattle is obvious. It’ll either be Stidham or Bo Nix on the field that day against the Seahawks.

But Payton not saying that out loud is a disservice to Stidham and Nix. They should know their head coach has confidence one of the two of them can be the guy. A little bit of validation never hurt anyone.

This isn’t the chess move that Payton thinks it is. The rest of the NFL isn’t waiting with bated breath for Payton to declare his QB competition has gone from three guys to two. The Broncos are an afterthought around the league, with arguably the worst quarterback room in the NFL.

No, Payton is just being stubborn, because he can get away with it. He showed up in a surly mood at his season-opening press conference a week ago, clearly indicating it was football season. All of those warm and fuzzy Payton moments from the spring and early summer were gone.

That’s not necessarily a bad thing, the Broncos need a coach with a little edge. Vance Joseph didn’t have the confidence in his stint. Vic Fangio was just a grouch. And Nathaniel Hackett wanted everyone to like him.

However, Payton not sharing the information with the media will get back to Stidham and Nix. Rather than focus on leading the team and seizing the job, they’re still wondering if they’re in a three-man race with no end in sight.

At some point, Payton needs to see how those two guys act when the job is there for the taking. Like the final two contestants on a season of “Survivor,” with the one million dollars dangling in front of them.

Instead, perhaps Payton wants Stidham and Nix to think Wilson still has a chance. That through a week of training camp neither of them has done enough to rule the former Jets QB out.

There’s mind games, and then there’s getting ready for the season. Anyone who’s watched knows Wilson is lost right now, he needs football rehab and isn’t a viable candidate to help Denver win this year. Payton saying that out loud, just so the other two know it, would be beneficial.

It can instill a confidence in Stidham and Nix that they’re very close to earning an NFL starting QB job. Neither has done it before. Stidham’s only started four career games in several years in the league. Nix, of course, is a rookie.

“We’ll see,” Payton said on Tuesday when asked if Wilson will get to work with the first team again.

So instead of Stidham and Nix knowing it’s down to the two of them, they’ll wonder before each practice if Wilson is back in the race. It would’ve been a lot easier for Payton to simply rule him out.

Training camp QB competitions rarely produce a winner in the regular season. They didn’t in Denver when it was Drew Lock versus Teddy Bridgewater or Trevor Siemian versus Paxton Lynch.

But a three-man showdown? That’s virtually unheard of.

Payton had a chance to end all of that on Tuesday, and he didn’t do it. In the end, he’s only hurting the QBs that actually have a shot to start against the Seahawks.