As mandatory minicamp opens today, all eyes will be on quarterback Bo Nix, who is set to make his appearance on the field for the first time since his season-ending injury during the playoffs.
It will be the last week of team practices until training camp officially begins next month, and head coach Sean Payton said during OTAs last week that fans can expect to see Nix slinging the ball some this week in anticipation of his full return for camp in late July.
And Payton is expecting Nix to pick up where he left off — both physically as he returns from injury and mentally as he begins a crucial third-year campaign to lead this team back to the playoffs.
“He’s going to be completely clean mobility-wise,” Payton said last week. “He’s young, and one of his great assets is his ability to avoid sacks and escape from the pocket. I don’t think you’ll see that hindered at all. I think Year 3, personnel carry over, a lot of those things will continue to help him. We love how he’s played in the first two years.”
And if you like to read into short videos at a player’s summertime youth camp, then all signs point to a healthy and motivated Nix for this season.
But Nix is not the only key offensive weapon with eyes on his return.
JK Dobbins, back with a renewed contract and a repaired foot following his Lisfranc injury, is also looking to a strong 2026.
And he has a promise for Broncos Country — no injuries.
That’s a big declaration for a standout player whose career has been defined by strong starts that end with injury. He has yet to finish a full NFL season healthy.
But Dobbins told Denver Post’s Luca Evans he’s planning on a different story this season.
“Well, what I’m going to show is that last year wasn’t a fluke,” Dobbins said in answer to a question during his last day of youth camp on Sunday about what he wanted to show Broncos Country.
And by “fluke” he was referring to being one of the top five running backs in the league before suffering a Lisfranc injury that ended his season.
“Like instead of being No. 3 in the NFL, I’ll be No. 1 this year,” he said. “And there won’t be any injuries.”
Before the Week 10 season-ending injury, Dobbins was fifth overall in the NFL for rushing yards (772), and the team’s offense averaged 4.8 yards per carry when he was playing (and 3.8 yards per carry after he went out). And perhaps the more telling stat of the Broncos’ reliance on Dobbins when healthy last year was the fact that Nix had to rush 12 times in the playoff win over the Bills to keep the ground game humming.
The Broncos’ season mantra is “Go The Distance” as the team strives for an even deeper playoff run. But it has extra meaning for players like Dobbins trying to finish the season healthy.
