Former Broncos WR believes in Jarrett Stidham heading into the AFC championship game

Cameron Belcher

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Former Broncos WR believes in Jarrett Stidham heading into the AFC championship game image

Although the Denver Broncos won an exhilarating divisional-round game against the Buffalo Bills on Saturday night, the celebration quickly turned to panic for many Broncos fans when they learned that standout quarterback Bo Nix would miss the remainder of the postseason with a broken right ankle.

With that unfortunate news, the team has quickly had to begin their preparation for the AFC championship game, knowing backup and former New England Patriot QB Jarrett Stidham will serve as the starter, in which Stidham will get the chance to play against the Patriots, the team that drafted him in 2019.

More: Who is Jarrett Stidham? Broncos backup QB who will take over for Bo Nix

While others have practically written Denver off, to the surprise of none, former Broncos wide receiver and Super Bowl champion Emmanuel Sanders made it clear he still believes the team can get it done at Mile High Stadium.

"I have the utmost confidence in Stidham, because of Sean (Payton)," Sanders stated on the 'DNVR Broncos' podcast. The champion furthered his statement by saying, "I went to training camp with my son, and I saw both Stidham and Bo, and you can see the zip on the ball from both guys," and closed with saying, "I also think we got the defense to back it up... I still believe we can do it."

Sanders' belief in Payton likely stems from the receiver's one-year stint with the New Orleans Saints in 2020, where he served as the head coach for 15 seasons. In fact, Sanders also mentioned an example of Payton adjusting to injuries during that 2020 season.

Payton will, without a doubt, have Stidham and the Broncos ready for gametime as he is one of the best coaches in league history, but only time will tell if it will be enough to get Denver back to the Super Bowl.

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Staff Writer