ARVADA — Oregon Ducks make up a flock that looks to stay together.

So when former Oregon and Broncos running back Reuben Droughns heard ex-Ducks and current Denver quarterback Bo Nix was having a youth football camp Saturday at the North Area Athletic Complex in Arvada, he jumped at the opportunity to be a volunteer coach.

“I’m an Oregon Duck, so I wanted to come out and lend my hand,’’ said Droughns, who played for the Broncos from 2002 to 2004 and rushed for 1,240 yards in 2004. “I love to volunteer and I love to get a chance to work out with the kids. We ran some 7-on-7 drills, did a little footwork but most of the time I was the hype man just trying to yell as loud as I could.”

Nix contributed to the yelling. He arrived on the field at 10:15 a.m., shortly after the kids at the camp had been chanting, “We want Bo. We want Bo. We want Bo.”

“Good morning, how are you doing?’’ Nix told the attendees, who didn’t immediately cheer as much as he apparently sought. “Man. I hope you have a little more fun than that today. Make a little more noise. How we doing? Thank you so much for being here today. I ask you to do one thing. OK, just one thing. Have as much fun as possible. OK, can we do that? All right. Thank you all for being here.”

A Broncos official said Nix would not be talking to the media at the camp. Nix hasn’t spoken to reporters since Jan. 28, three days after Denver’s season ended with a 10-7 loss to New England in the AFC championship game. Nix sat out that game after he suffered a broken right ankle in a 33-30 overtime win over Buffalo in a divisional playoff game Jan. 17 and had surgery Jan. 20.

Nix, entering his third Denver season, had a cleanup procedure in late April. His camp, put on by FlexWork Sports, was originally scheduled for May 16 at Valor Christian High School in Highlands Ranch before being rescheduled for Saturday. His first camp in May 2025 was held at Valor Christian.

Nix didn’t participate in the Broncos’ two weeks of organized team activities, but head coach Sean Payton has said he expects him to take part in a mandatory minicamp Tuesday through Thursday.

Nix walked around the field Saturday with his usual stride and didn’t appear to be wearing anything on his ankle. Droughns spoke to Nix during the camp but didn’t ask about his ankle.

“I hope he can get well,’’ said Droughns, who brought along Le-Lo Lang, a Broncos cornerback from 1990 to 1993, to also serve as a volunteer coach. “I have no concerns. I know it’s going to take a couple of games to get back. I think he’s going to come out fresh and I think he’s not going to come out until he’s ready, to be honest with you. He’s smart, and I think the Broncos have a smart organization and they’re going to bring him out and they’re going to ease him into it.”

Several hundred kids ages 6 through 16 took part and there were several hundred onlookers, the great majority being family members of the attendees. Avid Broncos fan Jackson Lanyon expressed concern about Nix’s ankle.

“It’s more serious than I think the Broncos are letting on,’’ said Lanyon, 40, of Frederick, Colo., the father of camper Jackson, 8. “It’s going to be interesting to see in (training) camp how he looks, how he plants and steps off his foot and tries to scramble. That’s the number one part of his game is mobility, being able to escape the rush. He’s got to be able to run outside the pocket.”

Payton said Thursday he has no qualms about Nix’s mobility being affected in 2026. Two other Broncos fans on hand agreed with that assessment.

“I’m not worried about (Nix’s ankle),’’ Damien Archuleta, 21, of Cheyenne, Wyo., the brother of camp attendee Derrick, 12, said while wearing a Nix jersey.

“I’m in the no-big-deal camp,’’ said Marshall Perkins, 41, of Centennial, Colo., the father of camper Jack, 10. “I think he’s tough enough. If they got to put a wrap on it or put a brace on it, he’ll be all right.”

Perkins said his son, a quarterback at St. Mary Catholic Virtue School in Littleton, is a huge Nix fan and was “pumped” for the camp. He has several Nix jerseys and a lot of Broncos items in his bedroom.

Perkins treated his son to the camp as a birthday present, and it wasn’t cheap. He said it cost “like $900” for an “MVP package” that included enrollment, a picture taken with Nix, an autographed Nix photo and being able to do a “one-on-one competition” with the quarterback.

Lanyon’s wife and Jackson’s mother, Christy Lanyon, broke down the costs for their son to attend. She said the original enrollment fee for the camp was $220 but that it initially sold out before she was able to get a spot for $320. The family added an individual photo of Jackson with Nix for $125 and an autographed photo of Nix for $80 for a total of $525.

“He’s a sports nut,’’ Justin Lanyon, decked out in a Nix No. 10 jersey, said of it being worth it for his son. “He loves every team, so in football Bo’s his guy.”

Damien Archuleta said he paid an enrollment fee of $280 for his brother, while the parents of the boys paid for a photo taken with Nix and for an autographed photo of the quarterback.

“We all grew up in a Broncos family,’’ he said. “(Derrick is) a pretty big fan. It’s funny. He’s done a bunch of edits of Bo Nix and put them on TikTok.”

The family shot cellphone video of Derrick at the camp. Stay tuned to see if that footage also makes it onto TikTok.