Broncos QBs, WRs, RBs, and TEs will be gathered by Jarrett Stidham for additional work.
To the tradition of recent Denver Broncos quarterbacks organizing throwing sessions during the downtime on the football calendar, we can now add Camp Stiddy.
“Stiddy,” of course, is in reference to Jarrett Stidham, who during offseason work represented one-third of the team’s ongoing battle to be the Week 1 starter.
And for a few days early next month, Stidham, will organize a gathering for other quarterbacks — including Bo Nix and Zach Wilson — as well as the team’s running backs, wide receivers and tight ends.
Such excursions aren’t unusual, of course. For Broncos skill-position players, they date back to Peyton Manning a dozen years ago. Russell Wilson held March sessions at his palatial San Diego estate, complete with its own partial-length field.
Camp Stiddy — or Camp Stidham, if you want to be more formal with it — will take place in the Dallas area at some point after July 4 and before the team returns for training camp next month.
And for the players involved, having such sessions without the coaches around yields plenty of benefits.
There is the camaraderie, of course. There’s on-field cohesion.
“Putting in that effort to genuinely care about your teammates — I think that is really important,” Stidham said.
But there’s also a different vibe to work without coaches on the field.
“We talk about things in the meeting room that sometimes may not be able to get voiced out on the practice field at times, so it’s (good to be) able to slow down a little bit, talk about certain things and build that continuity,” Stidham explained during a break at the UCHealth Healthy Swings event at Coors Field on Wednesday night.
Among the players attending the Texas sessions organized by Jarrett Stidham will be running back Jaleel McLaughlin.
“It’s big, because I can actually see what ‘Stiddy’ wants,” McLaughlin said. “‘Stiddy’ is the one out there, and he’s doing his job out there. I want to know how he wants me to react to his play out there without even him having to tell me that when it comes to game-time situations.
“I think that’s where the money is made out there. During the season, as well, but I’m saying, like, during the offseason, when you ask, ‘Hey, ‘Stiddy,’ what do you want right here?’ And me and him just talking, now we’re on the same page.”
Sean Payton wants his players to get some respite, but at the same time, he welcomes the concept of his skill-position players gathering for extra work.
“There is a happy medium there,” Payton said. “It is important that these guys get away. I think these guys will all lift and run. They have their computers, they go to Teamworks and the weight program is there for them.”
And Payton’s expectations for his players are based on them not taking the entirety of the next 40 days to lounge around and watch the world sail past.
“Quite honestly, I said to every one of these guys, ‘At some point, we discussed every one of you guys in depth and it’s not always the discussion for when you are here. It’s also how we feel like you are going to work when you are not here,’” Payton said. “I think they understand that.
“Although it is a young team, I think they are pretty smart.”
