Stidham passed practice test against Broncos’ No. 2 defense: ‘He’s had a lot of success against us’

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — Broncos defensive players and coaches have the best idea of what the New England Patriots will see on Sunday — better than anyone else, perhaps, since they’ve seen Jarrett Stidham at work on a regular basis over the last two years in which he hasn’t started a regular-season game.

So, they know the Stidham of today, not the quarterback whose last start came when the Broncos were wrapping up their seventh-consecutive losing season, a desultory end that seems like yesterday and ages ago all at once.

That Stidham — the one who has three years of experience in this offense instead of the single campaign that he carried into his two season-ending starts back in the conclusion of the 2023 season — is the one who, as Sean Payton pointed out Sunday, has developed a habit of wrecking defensive plans in practice.

“One of Stiddy’s great strengths is his mental aptitude and his progressions and understanding plays. Like, there’d be practices where I’m looking at Vance [Joseph] getting pissed off because Stiddy’s making our defense look bad,” Broncos coach Sean Payton said.

That’s no small accomplishment.

“He’s had a lot of success against us at times,” edge rusher Nik Bonitto said.

“If he can do it against us, he can do it against anybody, for sure.”

 

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BRONCOS DEFENDERS DRAW CONFIDENCE FROM STIDHAM

They see it when they face him in practice, and as Bonitto noted, Stidham’s self-confidence rubs off on teammates and is the source of others’ belief in the understudy quarterback.

“‘Cause he got the most confidence in himself. I mean, he’ll be out there throwing no-look passes, talking crap to the defense and stuff like that,” Bonitto said.

But as Payton mentioned, it’s the cerebral side of Stidham that puts the most stress on Broncos defenders when they line up against him.

“He knows what he’s doing. He understands why the coaches are calling certain calls. And that’s what makes him so good,” defensive end John Franklin-Myers said.

“Sometimes you get out there and you play football, you run what’s called, you’re not understanding where you want the ball to go, how fast, when and everything, and Stiddy, man, he’s running scout-team plays and he’s running the [plays] better than their starting quarterback.”

Added Zach Allen: “He’s really, really smart. He studies it and he’s like second quarterback coach out there.

“And then on top of it, too, he can make every single throw. I think you see in the games he’s played for us and back with the Raiders, he’s made some really incredible throws.”

The Broncos’ defensive players have seen it.

Sunday, they want the rest of the world to witness what they’ve glimpsed.

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