After month of honing up on playbook, QB Bo Nix to report to Broncos training camp with other rookies

Rookie quarterback Bo Nix got a crash course during the spring at Broncos Park. Now he figures to be a more seasoned student.

The Broncos selected Nix with the No. 12 pick in the NFL draft on April 25 and soon after that he spent a month taking part in three rookie minicamp practices, 10 organized team activities and two mandatory minicamp practices. All of that was done while trying to learn the playbook at other times.

On Wednesday, Nix will report with other Broncos rookies to training camp at Broncos Park. He has spent the last month studying and earlier this month in the Dallas area worked out with fellow Denver quarterbacks Jarrett Stidham and Zach Wilson and some receivers.

When head coach Sean Payton last spoke to the media June 12, he mentioned how Nix and Wilson, a three-year veteran acquired April 23 from the New York Jets, had done well in learning the system in a “short period of time” and it was “encouraging.”

Broncos offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi said then that Nix, 24, having played 61 college games at Auburn for three seasons and at Oregon for two played a key role in him being able to pick things up quickly.

“He certainly doesn’t feel like a rookie,’’ Lombardi said. “He’s learning a brand-new system, so whether you’re a veteran or a rookie coming in, that’s common to all these people. He has seen a lot and doesn’t make the same mistake twice very often. There is a maturity level. I think when you draft a guy who is a little bit older, you hope that that comes with it, but he’s certainly shown that.”

How much additional progress Nix made over the past month, the Broncos soon will find out. With veterans set to report next Tuesday, he will be battle in training camp Stidham and Wilson for the starting job.

Stidham appeared to be the best of the three quarterbacks during spring drills, but he came in with a year under his belt in Denver’s system and five years overall of NFL experience.

During spring drills, Payton divided first-team reps between the three quarterbacks. He said as drills were winding down that he would have a plan in place for training camp but didn’t provide any details.

If Nix wins the job for Denver’s Sept. 8 opener at Seattle, it will mark just the second time in the team’s 65-year history a rookie quarterback has started in Week 1. John Elway, after being selected No. 1 in the 1983 draft by the Baltimore Colts and then traded to the Broncos, started the opener that season at Pittsburgh.

It didn’t go well. Elway completed just 1 of 8 passes for 14 yards with an interception and was sacked four times. He was replaced during the game by Steve DeBerg, who led the Broncos to a 14-10 win.

The future Hall of Famer eventually got more comfortable that season and ended up starting 10 games, a team record for a Broncos rookie quarterback.

The Broncos in their history have had 13 rookie quarterbacks start games. After Elway, the most starts in a season by a rookie have been Mickey Slaughter getting seven in 1963 and Max Choboian seven in 1966.

Payton has declined to speculate on the chances Nix could end up starting as a rookie. But he figures to know more about how he will approach things when he sees how Nix looks after an additional month of studying up.