ENGLEWOOD – For the first time since he was in the eighth grade in 2014, Bo Nix will play in a football game he doesn’t start.

Head coach Sean Payton said after Friday’s training camp practice at Broncos Park that Jarrett Stidham will be the starting quarterback for Sunday’s preseason opener at Indianapolis. But he said Nix, a rookie from Oregon, will start the second preseason game Aug. 18 against Green Bay at Empower Field at Mile High.

“I just think right now, certainly he’s been here, his experience,” Payton said of his decision to start Stidham against the Colts.

Stidham is in his sixth NFL season, his second with the Broncos.

Payton said he will divide his rotation of players into three phases for Sunday’s game, with starters in for between 15 and 20 reps. However, he said Nix, who will be the second quarterback in the game, could get some reps with the first team.

“Nix might get the final series in phase one,” Payton said. “We just got to see where we’re at rep wise.”

Payton said the third quarterback in the game will be Zach Wilson. He has all but fallen out of the battle to be the starter for Denver’s Sept. 8 opener at Seattle, leaving Stidham and Nix in the race.

Nix was asked Wednesday when he last didn’t start a football game.

“I started playing football in the seventh grade,’’ said Nix, the No. 12 pick in the April draft. “I played in middle school and eighth grade that year. In eighth grade, I was the backup on varsity and the (junior varsity) quarterback. Midway through the year, I started playing on varsity. Ninth grade on till now I guess I’ve started in every game I’ve been available.”

With his father Patrick Nix as the head coach at both stops, Nix started in the ninth and 10th grades at Scottsboro (Ala.) High School and in the 11th and 12th grades at Pinson Valley (Ala.) High School. He then started at Auburn from 2019-21 and at Oregon from 2022-23.

Next Friday, the Broncos will have a joint practice with the Packers before their preseason game. It remains to be seen how Payton will handle the reps at quarterback that day.

With Stidham and Nix each getting a preseason start, it appears Payton won’t announce a starter until at least after the Green Bay game. The Broncos close the preseason Aug. 25 against Arizona at home but it’s unclear if any starters will play. Starters didn’t play in last year’s final preseason game.

Payton said the flow of the game will dictate whether Nix ends up getting reps Sunday with the first team.

“There’s a little trick to it,’’ he said. “Are we at play 14 and the ones are still out there? It really depends on how the game unfolds. We could be in phase two on defense and still be in phase one on offense because of the pitch count. So, we just have to see where we’re at.”

Payton was disappointed with the Broncos last year losing their first two preseason games in the waning seconds. He said the word “win” entering Sunday’s game at Lucas Oil Stadium will be “underlined twice, exclamation point.”

“I just think it’s something that we’re training to do each week,’ Payton said. “Now, we’re going to have our subs. Obviously, the most important thing is (getting to the 53-man roster with cuts on Aug. 27) and trying to get that right, but also the mindset of winning anything we do.”

Payton wants to keep his players as focused as possible Sunday. He plans to restrict in-game sideline television interviews, which are common around the NFL during preseason games.

“This is where guys have a chance to make an impression and kind of take what they’ve been working on and apply it in a game-like matter,’’ Payton said.

Most of the eyes Sunday will be on what kind of impression Stidham and Nix make.