ENGLEWOOD – Bo Nix threw his first touchdown pass Wednesday against a defense since Jan. 17.

OK, so it was during a 7-on-7 drill at a minicamp at Broncos Park. Still, it was encouraging for the Broncos that their quarterback did so for the first time in exactly five months after having suffered a broken right ankle in a divisional playoff game against Buffalo.

Since then, Nix had surgery Jan. 20 and a clean-up procedure in late April. With there being plenty of talk about his ankle, he returned to practice Tuesday but only did individual drills. Wednesday’s highlight was a short touchdown pass to running back RJ Harvey, who just made it over the goal line, prompting a big celebration from teammates on offense.

“I said to (Nix), ‘I’m glad we got that nice clip to RJ,’’’ said Broncos coach Sean Payton. “We can throw that on our social media B-roll for the next month and then calm the group. (Nix is) doing well.”

Nix said after Tuesday’s practice he “could go full go right now if they wanted me to.” The Broncos didn’t want Nix to do so Wednesday since he didn’t take part in team drills.

Payton canceled Thursday’s last scheduled day of the mandatory minicamp, so the next time Nix will face a defense is in late July during training camp. Payton said Tuesday that Nix will “clearly be ready in time for training camp.”

Nix completed three of the four passes he threw in 7-on-7 drills. His other two completions were short balls over the middle to Marvin Mims Jr. and Troy Franklin.

Nix’s teammates are plenty happy to have him back on the field. He sat out the previous two weeks of organized team activities, although Payton said he did take some snaps during walkthroughs not open to the media.

“Obviously, it was a really hard situation for all of us,” tackle Mike McGlinchey said in looking back at Nix being hurt in the 33-30 overtime win over the Bills and not being able to play in the 10-7 loss to New England in the AFC championship game. “You work so hard to achieve the opportunity to play late in the year, and he didn’t get to participate and that stinks.

“A bunch of us live (in the Denver area) full time, and we train here all year and he’s been here every single day grinding and grinding and grinding to make sure he is ready to go. Watching him and his work ethic and his spirit as he’s gone through this has been awesome. I’m really excited to see what he’s going to do moving forward and it gives us a lot of juice seeing (Nix) in the huddle.”

As for Nix’s next official touchdown pass, the earliest that might come is in the Sept. 13 regular-season opener at Kansas City.

Battling at safety

The Broncos lost their top reserve safety in March when P.J. Locke signed as a free agent with Dallas. As to how the battle is going to replace Locke, Payton is holding off on judgment.

In the mix to be the primary backup behind starters Talanoa Hufanga and Brandon Jones, are Devon Key, JL Skinner, Tycen Alexander and rookie Miles Scott.

“I think it will be easier to answer that as we get into camp,’’ Payton said. “It’s an important piece in our defense relative to what we ask them to do. I’m anxious to see.”

Jones missed the final four regular-season games and the two playoff games last season with a pectoral injury, and Locke filled in well. Payton said the “immediate impact” of losing Jones fell on special teams coordinator Darren Rizzi since such an injury resulted in a player used mostly on special teams having a bigger role on defense.

The leading candidate to be the top reserve perhaps is Key, a first-team All-Pro last season on special teams. He started two games at safety in 2024 and got 73 snaps on defense in 2025.

Payton said Key “has real good instincts” and it’s something that can transfer to defense.

Payton on ‘the Broncos’ offense

With Payton having relinquished play-calling to Davis Webb, the first-year offensive coordinator was asked last week about Denver’s offensive attack.

“It’s the same offense for the most part, just little tweaks here and there,’’ he said. “But this is a Sean Payton-coached football team with a Sean Payton offensive philosophy.”

So what did Payton have to say Wednesday about the offense?

“It’s the Broncos’ (offense),’’ Payton, 62, said of giving up play-calling to Davis, Denver’s quarterbacks coach the previous three seasons. “I said this at the beginning, and I mean it. I’m fully supportive of wanting us to be successful, because when you get older, you just want to win. You always want to win, but you recognize maybe some of the things, maybe mistakes that you made when you were younger where you paid too much attention to other things.”

Payton talked about discussions he has had with Webb on what the new coordinator wants to bring to the offense. Payton made note of the importance of “improving the run game consistency-wise from a year ago.” The run game fell off significantly after J.K. Dobbins was lost for the season after 10 games due to foot surgery.

“Obviously, there’s a different guy calling the plays, so that’s going to be different,’’ McGlinchey said. “And I think that’ll be an advantage, especially early for us when we open up with (an AFC West) opponent and they don’t have any tape on you.”

No week of player bonding

In 2024, Payton took the Broncos to West Virginia for a week between games at Tampa Bay and the New York Jets. Last season, they played at Philadelphia and practiced for a week in London before a game there against the Jets.

But there will be no week away from home this season.

“I just don’t know how we can do it,’’ Payton said. “I don’t see it in the schedule the way it shapes up. … We just finished doing the hotels for the away games and the travel logistics for the away games.”

In each of the past two seasons, the Broncos went 2-0 during a week away from Denver. Players have talked about such a week being a good bonding experience.

Briefly

With second-year man Jahdae Barron playing some at outside cornerback and perhaps battling Riley Moss to start, Payton called him an “instinctual player” and stressed the importance of him “getting the reps and the practice work.” … Payton said fourth-year man Drew Sanders, who has had an injury-riddled career so far, is “really talented” and “doing well” at outside linebacker after also having been used at inside linebacker. … Payton said quarterback Sam Ehlinger, battling Jarrett Stidham to be Nix’s backup, is “doing well with the system.” … While the Broncos won’t have a joint practice in August, Payton expects starters “to play the same” amount as in previous Denver seasons. Starters have seen some action in the first two preseason games but not the third. … After being waived Tuesday with an injury designation, WR Michael Woods II reverted Wednesday to Denver’s injured reserve list.