ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — The Broncos believe in their quarterback.
As tackle Mike McGlinchey and defensive lineman Zach Allen began to look ahead to their AFC Championship Game matchup against the New England Patriots, they didn't downplay the loss of Bo Nix.
"I wouldn't say it's just another test," McGlinchey said Monday. "You don't ever say that about guys getting hurt, especially when it's the leader and the quarterback of your team. Obviously, there's a little bit more of a nuance to that."
But while McGlinchey said Nix's season-ending injury is "incredibly heartbreaking," he and Allen also expressed their full belief in quarterback Jarrett Stidham's ability to lead the team in Nix's place.
"I also am going to hammer home the confidence that [Head Coach] Sean [Payton] portrayed out there," McGlinchey said. "Being around 'Stiddy' for the last three years now, one, he's one of my best friends, and two, the guy just loves football. He's been absorbing everything that we've been doing. He's [been] ready for his opportunity, whenever that may come. He stays in his routine every single day for three years straight, not knowing when that opportunity's going to come around.
"I know that our team and our staff and everybody has the utmost confidence in Jarrett to play well and lead our team forward."
Both McGlinchey and Allen specifically credited the consistency of Stidham's preparation, as the veteran player has stayed ready despite not starting a game since the end of the 2023 season.
"He's the first guy in the building every day, and he prepares like a starter," Allen said. "So, we're really excited to see what he does. Obviously, he goes against [our] defense in practice all the time. … [I'm] excited to see what he does this week."
Allen said Stidham's on-field intelligence stands out and that he's "like a second quarterback coach" on the field.
"On top of it, too, he can make every single throw," Allen said. "You've seen in the games he's played, for us and back with the Raiders, he's made some really incredible throws. We're really lucky to have him, and it'll be good on Sunday."
In Stidham's last home start, he completed 20-of-32 passes for 224 yards, a touchdown and a 93.7 quarterback rating in a 2023 win over the Chargers. A year earlier, in his lone season with the Raiders, Stidham went toe-to-toe with the NFC West champion San Francisco 49ers. Stidham threw for 365 yards, three touchdowns, two interceptions and a 108.1 quarterback rating as he nearly led the Raiders to an upset. Most recently, in Denver's 2025 preseason slate, Stidham completed 30-of-38 passes for 376 yards, four touchdowns, no interceptions and a 143.0 quarterback rating across two appearances.
"He's been waiting for this moment for the entirety of his career," McGlinchey said. "He's more prepared than anybody would be in this situation, and he can ball. He flat out can play quarterback. We've seen it every single day at practice. We've seen it in training camp. We've seen it in the preseason. I have no doubts that he's going to go out there and play his butt off.
"I think our team is in a perfect position with 'Stiddy' moving forward. We're lucky to have him, and we're lucky our team and our coaching staff and our front office invests in every situation that can possibly come up on a football field, because not everybody has a quarterback waiting in the wings as talented as Jarrett."
And while the loss of Nix can't be understated, McGlinchey and the Broncos believe in Stidham's ability — combined with the Broncos' season-long resume of responding to adversity.
"Certainly, we are a team that's been battle-tested," McGlinchey said. "We've handled adversity every step of the way that we've come across it, and [I'm] incredibly confident moving forward in our team."
