Previewing Bo Nix’s long-awaited return to the field against the Packers

The wait is almost over. After months of ankle rehab, two surgeries, an offseason full of speculation and a preseason opener spent watching from the sideline, Bo Nix is finally expected to take the field this weekend when the Denver Broncos host the Green Bay Packers in their second preseason game of the year.

On a recent edition of “Stokley and Evans, with Mark Schlereth” on 104.3 The Fan, 9News Broncos insider Mike Klis joined the show to break down what the Broncos’ plan looks like for the quarterback’s return, and more importantly, how much of him we should expect to see.

Brandon Stokley asked the question the entire fan base has been waiting to hear answered.

“What are you expecting to see from the starters and Bo Nix? How many plays do you think we’ll see from them out there?” Stokley asked.

Klis started with the broader picture.

“I think you’ll see all the starters with Bo Nix and Jaylen Waddle,” Klis said.

That alone is significant. The first preseason game against the Falcons was a backups-and-roster-hopefuls affair. This weekend will be the first time Broncos Country gets to see the real offense, Nix to Waddle, Nix to Sutton, the first-team offensive line, the full complement of weapons Sean Payton and Davis Webb have been installing throughout training camp. It will be the first glimpse of what this team actually looks like when the starters are on the field together.

But the snap count for Nix is going to be managed carefully. Klis laid out the reasoning.

“Usually in game two, it’s a quarter and a half. But this is game one for Bo, who usually goes 10-15 plays,” Klis said.

That distinction matters. The rest of the starters are on their normal preseason trajectory, game two typically means roughly a quarter and a half of work. But Nix missed the first preseason game entirely, which means his ramp-up timeline is one week behind everyone else’s. Treating this as his personal game one, with the abbreviated snap count that comes with it, is the smart, cautious approach.

Klis summarized the expected split cleanly.

“So my guess would be Bo, 10-15 plays, and the rest of the starters would be a quarter and a half,” Klis said.

Ten to 15 plays. That is all Broncos Country is going to get. And honestly, that should be enough.

This isn’t about evaluating whether Nix can still play quarterback at an elite level, two full seasons of evidence have already answered that question. This is about seeing him move. Seeing him plant on the ankle. Seeing him drop back, scan the field and deliver the football the way he did before the injury changed the trajectory of last season.

It’s a proof-of-concept outing, not a performance evaluation.

The real test comes in September, under the lights at Arrowhead against the Chiefs. Saturday against the Packers is simply the first step back. But after everything this fan base has been through since that divisional round game against Buffalo, the injury, the surgeries, the endless rehab updates, the minicamp return, the training camp progression, seeing No. 10 take a snap in a game setting again is going to mean more than any stat line could capture.

Ten to 15 plays. That is all anyone needs to see. And for the first time since January, Bo Nix will be back on a football field. That alone makes Saturday appointment viewing for every Broncos fan in the state.

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