The biggest news coming out of this weekend of NFL postseason action was the season-ending injury to Denver Broncos starting quarterback Bo Nix. Now, it looks like the Broncos are moving forward with contingency plans.
After the overtime win over the Buffalo Bills, Broncos head coach Sean Payton broke the news that Nix had broken a bone in his ankle late in the game and would now miss the remainder of the postseason.
As a result of Nix’s injury, the Broncos are turning to backup quarterback Jarrett Stidham, who will serve as the team’s starting quarterback for this week’s AFC title game against the New England Patriots and the Super Bowl, if they win. However, the team added another quarterback to the roster to add some depth behind him.
As first reported by NFL insider Jonathan Jones of CBS Sports, the Denver Broncos decided to sign veteran quarterback Ben DiNucci to fill out their roster.
“DiNucci was on the Broncos practice squad in 2023 and knows Denver’s offense well. Denver gets some help behind Jarrett Stidham and Sam Ehlinger for the AFC title game,” Jones wrote in a post on X.
While DiNucci obviously is not expected to be the team’s starter and will likely only see the field in an emergency situation, such a situation is not at all unprecedented.
During the NFC Championship game in 2023, San Francisco 49ers starting quarterback Brock Purdy tore his UCL in his throwing elbow early in the game. Veteran backup Josh Johnson replaced him, but he left the game with a concussion, forcing Purdy back into the game even though he was physically unable to throw a football.
If such a situation happens this week, DiNucci would be available as the emergency third quarterback. While a longtime veteran in the league, DiNucci has started just one game in his career for the Dallas Cowboys in 2020.
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