Cody Barton is battling to start at inside linebacker for the Broncos, but he’s plenty used to competition.

That includes at the dinner table.

When Barton was growing up in Brighton, Utah, with three siblings, they battled plenty.

“Growing up, everything was competitive from walking into the door first or who’s going to eat their dinner first,” said Barton, 27.

And, of course, the siblings competed in sports. His older brother, Jackson Barton, 28, is now an offensive lineman for the Arizona Cardinals. His sister, Dani, 25, is a top volleyball player who has been on Team USA. His younger brother, Landon, 20, is a linebacker at the University of Utah, where his three older siblings also went to college.

“We played a lot of sports, so we would turn anything into games,’’ Barton said. “We played Wiffle ball in the basement or football or basketball or mini hoops on the door. We would roughhouse and wrestle. Even my sister got in there.”

It’s quite apparent where the Barton kids got their athletic genes. Mother Mikki Kane-Barton played college basketball and volleyball, becoming one of the greatest female athletes ever at Utah. Father Paul Barton played football and baseball for the Utes and in 1991 pitched for the Toronto Blue Jays’ Class A team in St. Catharines, Ontario.

Now, Barton is competing with Jonas Griffith to be a Denver starting linebacker.

“It’s going well right now,’’ said Barton, entering his sixth season after four years with Seattle and spending 2023 with Washington. “Jonas and I are competing every day, switching reps. Good competition brings out the best in people. It’s necessary to heighten your game.’’

Griffith said Barton “brings a lot of leadership” and the competition has been intense on the field. It even has extended to card games.

“He’s really competitive,” Griffith said. “We were actually playing cards, me and (safety Devon Key) against (Barton and defensive lineman Matt Henningsen). We were playing some Euchre and spaces and we were competitive and they won three and we won one game. I was ticked off and (Barton) was talking smack to me.”

Barton in March signed a one-year, $2.5 million contract after the Broncos lost starting inside linebacker Josey Jewell after six seasons in free agency to Carolina. But Barton had cast his eyes on the Broncos and their 3-4 scheme before Jewell left.

“During free agency, I told my agent (David Canter) I wanted to go somewhere that was similar in scheme to Denver with aggressive linebacker play and at that time I didn’t know Josey was going to leave,’’ Barton said.

After the Broncos showed interest, Barton reached out to good friend Garett Bolles, the Broncos’ left tackle who was his teammate at Utah for two seasons.

“I asked him about the Denver coaching staff, how things are,’’ Barton said. “He’s like, ‘Dude, you got to come here.'”

Barton’s most notable audition for the Broncos came in Week 2 last season, when the Commanders won 35-33 at Denver. He had one of the best games of his career, getting 10 tackles, two quarterback hits and recovering a fumble.

“It helped a little bit,” Barton said of landing the deal with the Broncos.

The Broncos, who blew a 21-3 lead in that game and fell behind 35-24, nearly forced overtime when Russell Wilson threw a 50-yard Hail Mary touchdown pass to Brandon Johnson on the final play to cut the deficit to 35-33. But a two-point conversion failed.

“We just watched that clip (last Friday),’’ said Barton, who was on the field for the Hail Mary and the two-point attempt. “We were watching clips on Hail Marys. The guys were kind of pointing to me and saying, ‘There’s Cody.’”

Barton this season hopes to show up on lots of game film for the Broncos as he looks to remain an NFL starter. In his first three seasons with the Seahawks, Barton started just five games while playing mostly on special teams. But he started 11 games for Seattle in 2022 and then all 13 he played last season for the Commanders.

Barton in 2022 was second on the Seahawks with 136 tackles. He led Washington last season in tackles with 121, a strong average of 9.3 per game.

“He’s smart,’’ said Broncos coach Sean Payton. “We have good competition there at that linebacker position. … He’s taking advantage of those reps. He plays with a real good intensity. … He is someone that is very competitive.”

It’s no secret how Barton learned to be so competitive.