ENGLEWOOD – Bo is back.

That’s the main attraction for fans at the Broncos’ second preseason game Friday night against Green Bay at Empower Field.

Quarterback Bo Nix will play in a game for the first time in 216 days. He suffered a broken right ankle late in a 33-30 overtime home win over Buffalo in a divisional playoff Jan. 17. He then sat out a 10-7 home loss to New England in the AFC Championship Game eight days later, denying the Broncos a trip to the Super Bowl.

“I’m super excited,’’ Nix said after a training camp practice Tuesday at Broncos Park. “It’s always a blast to play at home. It’s great to get in front of our fans. It’ll be fun to get out there for the first time this year, put the pads on, and go out and play a game.”

Nix had two surgeries on the ankle, one Jan. 20 and another in late April. He wanted to go all out in June at a mandatory minicamp, but the Broncos opted to be cautious and he was limited.

Denver opened the preseason with a 27-7 win Friday at Atlanta. But the Broncos, perhaps to keep him off the artificial turf at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, elected to push his return back another week.

“He’s excited,’’ offensive coordinator Davis Webb said of Nix returning to game action. “I think you could feel that last week when he couldn’t play. Just was down. But I know he’s excited, but hopefully there’s a lot more games in his career. So he’ll be just fine.”

With Packers coach Matt LaFleur saying Tuesday that he will use starters, Nix will take the field for the first time in a game with Webb calling plays. Webb was promoted in February after three years as Denver’s quarterbacks coach, and head coach Sean Payton turned those duties over to him.

Webb called plays in Denver’s 27-7 preseason win over Arizona on Aug. 16, 2025, but Nix didn’t play. Webb then made his debut as the regular play-caller against the Falcons.

“This will be my first time in a game with him in my helmet, and I think it’ll be fun,” Nix said. “Get out there, something new, something to get used to.”

Webb joked that for Nix “some plays are like reading the ‘Green Eggs and Ham’ book like he knows it like the back of his hand” but that others “are like ‘Harry Potter’ the fourth book.” So Webb said there will be a “few reminders” on more complex plays.

Nix got a reminder of being hit in Tuesday’s practice when Malcolm Roach, Nik Bonitto and Jonathon Cooper collapsed the pocket and knocked him down. Nix then threw the ball at Roach. Soon, there was a melee on the field, and Nix grabbed Bonitto’s leg to pull him off a pile. Teammates then held an animated Nix back from Bonitto.

“I love it,’’ Nix said. “It’s football. It’s getting me ready for the games coming up, and it’s a physical practice out there played by physical people.”

Defensive coordinator Vance Joseph, though, was unamused, saying, “We don’t want anyone near Bo.”

On Friday, job one of the offensive linemen will be to keep Nix’s jersey clean.

“It will be good for him to just get the feel of the game back and just get out there throwing to his guys,’’ wide receiver Troy Franklin told The Denver Gazette about returning to game action.

Franklin is in his fifth season of being Nix’s teammate, having spent two years with him at Oregon before both came to Denver in 2024. He kept in close touch with Nix following his injury.

“I knew he was going to do his best to get back to be even better than he was before,’’ Franklin said.

In his second season of 2025, Nix threw for 3,931 yards with 25 touchdown passes. The Broncos have given him another weapon in star wide receiver Jaylen Waddle, acquired in March from Miami.

Nix hasn’t worked with Waddle a lot in training camp since the receiver left a practice Aug. 5 with muscle tightness in his leg. He returned to practice Monday and Tuesday was a full participant in the padded workout. Nix hit Waddle for several nifty completions, including an impressive one down the left sideline.

“It’s been great,’’ Nix said of working with Waddle. “He’s an elite player, and he makes our (receiver) room better. With him on the field, (Waddle) adds a different level of explosiveness and just allows other guys to be better.”

Davis said Nix worked out with Waddle earlier in the summer in Austin, Texas, and that was productive. As for Friday’s game, Webb outlined what he wants to see from his quarterback.

“Just a clean operation,’’ Webb said. “He hasn’t played in a while obviously. Just kind of get all the feels back, whether that be pregame warmups, to running out with the team, getting your first completion, getting hit for the first time, getting the first down and hopefully a touchdown.”

While Nix won’t play a lot, Franklin expects fans to be excited seeing Nix back healthy at Empower Field.

“It’s great that it’s a home game,’’ Franklin said. “The last time (the fans) saw him, he wasn’t playing. So, yeah, it’ll be great.”