Denver Broncos rookie quarterback Bo Nix looked sharp in the team’s preseason opener. Broncos veteran Jarrett Stidham looked fine, but that uninspiring description is no fault of his own.
Stidham’s first drive was stalled by three penalties committed by his teammates. Denver was driving within field goal range between Tim Patrick (taunting), Courtland Sutton (false start) and Mike McGlinchey (false start) committed penalties that stalled the offense’s progress.
“I thought we moved the ball really well,” Stidham said after the game. “We kind of shot ourselves in the foot, mainly those first two drives with penalties and that sort of thing. …
“Obviously, we’ll take a look at the film and get better from it, and obviously clean up the penalties,” Stidham said. “Like I said, that was probably the biggest thing, but thought we were pretty efficient there, pretty early on. Obviously, just the penalties, we’ve got to figure that out for sure.”
On the team’s next drive, the Broncos started at their own 20 and they were approaching midfield when Stidham threw an accurate pass to running back Samaje Perine. The usually-sure-handed running back bobbled the pass and tipped it into Kenny Moore, giving an assist on an interception.
That went down as an interception for Stidham and another failed drive, but it certainly wasn’t his fault.
Stidham finished the game 4-of-7 passing for 37 yards. Through no fault of his own, it was not a memorable performance. The 28-year-old quarterback will look to bounce back when Denver hosts the Green Bay Packers in Week 2 of preseason.
