Sean Payton on New Broncos Starting QB: 'Watch Out'

Denver Broncos head coach Sean Payton sent ripples through the NFL fabric upon announcing that starting quarterback Bo Nix would miss the rest of the postseason after fracturing his ankle in the waning moments of Saturday's Divisional Round playoff win over the Buffalo Bills.

In one breath, sadness. Exasperation. Disbelief.

His hand-curated quarterback, who engineered the most comebacks in the league this season (including against Buffalo), won''t be available for next week's AFC Championship game at Empower Field at Mile High.

In another, however, there was hope. Resolve. Even some unabashed confidence.

That his hand-curated backup quarterback, seventh-year veteran Jarrett Stidham, can right the ship to its intended Super Bowl 60 course.

"In fairness to what you’ve seen, which is very limited, he’s ready.

He’s ready," Payton told reporters in his postgame press conference.

"I’ve said this at the beginning of the season, I feel like I have a [No.] 2 [quarterback] that’s capable of starting for a handful of, a number of teams.

I know he feels the same way. So watch out. Just watch. He’s experienced, he’s played in games. They’re different-type players to some degree, and yet they’re both…

They’re very close friends, as with [QB] Sam [Ehlinger].

It’s a tight room. Sam will be our [No.] 2, and here we go.”