Why the Broncos are calm as Stidham’s moment nears: ‘There isn’t a single person in this locker room that’s worried about the situation’

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — With some teams, the ascension of a backup quarterback into the top role would lead to warmed-over sentiments about the supporting cast digging down and giving a little bit extra to support the understudy suddenly nudged into the unforgiving limelight.

Not the Broncos.

Yeah, they’ve got Jarrett Stidham’s back. They love the guy. Right tackle Mike McGlinchey will tell you that Stidham is “one of the best human beings ever,” and “showed me the ropes” of fatherhood when he and his wife welcomed a son. An aura of good vibes follows Stidham around the Broncos locker room like the flowing, curly dark hair that spills out from the back of his helmet.

But what they give Stidham won’t be anything different than any other game day. For the Broncos, it’s business as usual.

All McGlinchey is focused on, for example, is simple:

“Block my guy. That’s about all I can do,” he said. “Everything else is: Everybody else has to do their job.

“[Broncos special teams coordinator Darren] Rizzi has a thing that’s called 1/11th. He breaks the team down on, ‘1/11th.’ In all three phases, all I have to do, all Stiddy has to do, all Garett Bolles has to do be 1/11th of the operation and do your job to the best of your ability, and that’s all you can do, and we’ll be successful if we can do that.”

Different quarterback. Different stakes. For the Broncos, it’s the same routine.

“It’s just another game. If you think other than that, then you’re not gonna be ready to go,” Bolles said.

“You gotta focus on the now and what’s in front of you every single day. Preparing the same way. Nothing changes. Eat the same food, dress the same way, work out the same way, get the same body care the same way, drink the same water every day. It’s all the same, man.”

And perhaps because Sean Payton’s teams have had this approach is why they’ve had a decent amount of success when turning to the backup quarterback.

CAN THE BRONCOS DO WHAT PAYTON’S SAINTS DID WITH BACKUP QUARTERBACKS?

This will be the 21st time Payton turned to a reserve quarterback because of injury. His teams are 12-8 in those previous games:

• Luke McCown, 2015: 0-1
• Teddy Bridgewater, 2019: 5-0
• Taysom Hill, 2020-21: 7-2
• Trevor Siemian, 2021: 0-4
• Ian Book, 2021: 0-1

This doesn’t include season-ending fill-in games for Bridgewater in 2018 and Mark Brunell at the close of the 2009 campaign, as well as the two games in the 2023 Broncos season that saw Stidham replace the benched Russell Wilson, as that wasn’t for injury-related reasons.

Only the 2021 struggles with Siemian and Book mar this ledger. McCown’s single start in 2015 saw a Saints team that finished 7-9 march into Carolina to face a Panthers side that finished 15-1 and come within a end-zone interception of a win in the final two minutes; McCown finished that game with 310 yards on 31-of-38 passing.

Bridgewater parlayed his five 2019 starts into a starter’s contract with the Panthers a year later. Hill’s fill-in work helped extend a versatile career that continues to this day.

So, what’s Payton’s secret to being better than most coaches when forced to a backup plan?

“I think it’s a clear message. I think it’s a clear plan,” McGlinchey said. “I think it’s the culture — as cliched as that word has become — it means a lot to us, and it means a lot to what we’ve accomplished.

“And all of Sean’s teams have always had that. I mean, I remember when I was playing in San Francisco, playing against the Saints, you always knew that if you’re going to play the New Orleans Saints, there’s going to be a rough day and you’re going to have to battle your butt off to play. And we’re a part of that team now. And, so I think it’s just the complete buy-in of the program.

“And then on a week to week basis, it’s a clear plan, it’s a clear message and supporting the guy that’s in the helm.”

And that message to his Broncos remains the same: Stick to your task.

“I don’t think there’s ever been a time where that wasn’t the message,” McGlinchey said. “I think everybody has to do their job. Obviously the quarterback has been romanticized, if that’s a word, for this league, and rightfully so. It’s the most stressful, it’s the most on your plate, all that stuff.

“But at the end of the day, the quarterback can’t do his job without everybody else. Nor can a quarterback play well without a great defense. A quarterback can’t play well without a great offensive, or receivers or running back. So, again, it’s all of our job to do our part. And there isn’t a single person in this locker room that’s worried about the situation this weekend.”

What they expect is Stidham to be able to play to what he does well — which, if his four starts are any indication, could mean plenty of play-fake work, as Stidham has a blistering 113.4 rating on play-action passes in his previous four starts compared with an 80.9 figure on all other passes, per data collected via Pro Football Focus.

“[Payton] is very good at working things out to people’s strengths,” McGlinchey said.

“I think Sean’s greatest gift as an offensive play caller and coach is, is that he finds the matchups, he finds the strengths of the players because, because he’s such a great evaluator of talent and, he knows exactly what he needs to do.”

That, plus three years in the scheme and a supporting cast filled with experience — including five starting offensive linemen who have been around for the entire Payton era — gives the Broncos a chance.

“Sure enough, those three years [for Stidham] are probably going to pay off here because it’s happening at a pretty big moment,” McGlinchey said. “But he’s got a lot of help and we’re all excited for him and excited for what we are capable of doing as a team this weekend.”

Even if that help is just the same as the Broncos provide Bo Nix in any other week.

“We don’t have to step outside of who we are,” Broncos tight end Evan Engram added. “I think you just gotta show up and continue to be who we are and make the plays when they come to you.”

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