The last time Jarrett Stidham received significant regular-season action was back in 2023. That’s largely because over the last two years, Bo Nix has stayed healthy and given the team no reason to make a change. Considering there’s very limited recent film to study on Sitdham, the Patriots’ defense will need to be ready, even with limited insight into what’s coming. Ahead of the game, Patriots defensive lineman Milton Williams was asked how well he knows Stidham. And let’s just say, Williams got a bit too honest about this.

“Nothing,” Williams said, via CLNS Media Boston Sports Network. “I ain’t gonna lie, nothing. We’re going to watch the tape on him and figure out what he likes to do. But no. They didn’t like him over the Bo [Nix], so.”

He’s right. If you think about it, the 29-year-old hasn’t even thrown a pass since Bo Nix’s selection in the first round of the 2024 NFL Draft. The Patriots will mostly have to look at his preseason games to figure out how he plays. But as Williams pressed, the Broncos chose Nix over Stidham for a reason, so neither Williams nor his team seem worried.

From a contract standpoint, the Broncos were generous in handing him a two-year, $12 million contract this offseason in free agency. In that stretch, the New England Patriots were also just as interested in signing their former fourth-round pick.

Now, as Bo Nix broke his ankle in the Broncos’ divisional-round win over the Bills, Jarrett Stidham has an opportunity to thrust into action on Sunday against his former team in the AFC Championship Game.

In fact, Sean Payton has already placed trust in Stidham’s abilities.

“He will be ready to go and ready for the moment,” Payton said while speaking with reporters earlier this week. “One of Stiddy’s great strengths is his mental aptitude and his progression and understanding of plays. There would be practices where I’m looking at [defensive coordinator] Vance [Joseph] getting [mad], because Stiddy’s making our defense look bad. He’s very accurate.”

In all, the Broncos will hope Stidham can regain his 2023 form, where he led the team to a win over the Los Angeles Chargers and threw for nearly 500 yards in limited action. While the Patriots are focused on decoding Denver’s new-look offense before Sunday’s high-stakes game.

Sean Payton’s blueprint to transition Jarrett Stidham into the starting QB

With a trip to Super Bowl LX on the line, Coach Sean Payton is tasked with rallying his locker room and convincing the world that Jarrett Stidham is the right man to lead them against the New England Patriots.

It’s a challenge for Sean Payton to send his Denver Broncos to topple the 16-3 New England Patriots without Bo Nix. However, he isn’t seeing it as a setback.

“It’s happened to me a number of times,” he said.

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He has faced situations like this in the past. After all, Payton holds 18 years of experience as an NFL coach to his name. It’s not the first time he’s built a game plan around a backup QB before. Back in 2019, Hall-of-Fame quarterback Drew Brees was knocked out of five games early in the season. Consequently, Teddy Bridgewater filled the void and won all five games.

This time, if Stidham manages to lead the Broncos to a win, he will be trusted in games like these moving forward. It is very rare for a player to step off the bench after not playing for so long and still win such a huge game.