For the second straight NFL season, quarterback Jarrett Stidham is moving into the starting lineup with two games left on the schedule.

Last year, it was with the Las Vegas Raiders. This year, Stidham is going into the lineup for the Denver Broncos. On Wednesday, NFL Network and ESPN reported Denver coach Sean Payton had told his players that Stidham would replace Russell Wilson in the lineup when the Broncos play the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday afternoon.

After losing its first three games of the 2023 season, Denver got its record to 6-5. But the Broncos have lost three of their past four games, including a 26-23 setback on Sunday night, when the New England Patriots earned their fourth victory of the season.

“So many times, when we look at some of that stuff, it’s self-inflicted problems,” Payton said after the game. “That has to get cleaned up. That’s communication. That might be having to reduce — is there too much in? Right now, we’re average to below average in a lot of things offensively, and it’s not good enough.”

A nine-team Pro Bowler, Wilson has completed 297-of-447 passes for 3,070 yards with 26 touchdowns and eight interceptions and run for 341 yards and three touchdowns on 80 carries in 2023.

Among the NFL’s 32 teams, the Denver offense ranks 16th in points and 25th in yards.

A former Auburn standout, Stidham has taken four snaps for the Broncos this season.

In 2022, Stidham started the final two games of the season for the Raiders.

Stidham completed 53-of-83 passes for 656 yards with four touchdowns and three interceptions and ran for 84 yards on 14 carries against two of the NFL’s best teams as the Raiders lost 37-34 to the San Francisco 49ers on Jan. 1 and 31-13 to the Kansas City Chiefs on Jan. 7.

Stidham became the second player in NFL history with at least 350 passing yards and three touchdown passes in his first start.

Stidham took over for Derek Carr, who was sent home for the last two weeks of his ninth season with the Raiders. With a 6-9 record, Las Vegas was trying to keep Carr healthy. With Carr’s 2023 salary of $32.9 million plus $7.5 million of his 2024 salary set to become guaranteed in the offseason, the Raiders needed the quarterback to remain healthy to retain their option to cut him, which they did.

But Las Vegas did not re-sign Stidham in the offseason, turning to Jimmy Garoppolo instead. Stidham joined the Broncos in free agency for a two-year, $10 million contract.

“There were a couple of directions at that position,” Payton said after Stidham joined the team. “There were a handful of No. 2s that either I had worked with or we felt comfortable with. But in this case, I think it’s a No. 2 that his arrow is moving in a direction where we feel like he can become an NFL starter in our league, so the evaluation was pretty crystal clear for all of us. …

“I think there’s upside in this player. I think there’s certain players that we saw in free agency, you know they’re a 2. Can they come in and play and start? Yes. I think you get that with Jarrett. But I also think you get a player who’s still ascending. If you watch the 49er game, that’s impressive against a good defense. And so he was a priority for us, like, quietly, and fortunately it worked out where we were able to get him.”

Wilson’s salary of $37 million for the 2025 season becomes guaranteed if he’s still on the Broncos’ roster after the NFL’s 2024 fiscal year starts in March. It’s already guaranteed against injury.

“I’m just worried about next week and playing great football,” Wilson said when asked about his future in Denver after Sunday night’s loss. “I came here to win and win a championship for us and to find a way to do that. I obviously love being here with these guys, these teammates. I’m excited to keep playing ball and playing hard for us.”

After two seasons at Auburn, Stidham joined the New England Patriots in the fourth round of the 2019 NFL Draft. In his first NFL preseason, Stidham completed 61-of-90 passes for 731 yards with four touchdowns and one interception as he led the AFC in passing yards and beat out veteran Brian Hoyer to serve as Tom Brady’s backup during the three-time NFL MVP’s final season with New England.

Stidham played in three NFL regular-season games in 2019 and five in 2020, when he backed up Cam Newton.

But in 2021, Stidham never got in a game after sustaining an offseason injury as New England went with rookie Mac Jones as its starting quarterback and Hoyer as the backup. Stidham had surgery on July 28, 2021, because of a back injury and spent the first nine weeks of the season on the reserve/physically-unable-to-perform list.

Stidham joined the Raiders in May 2022, when Las Vegas sent a sixth-round choice in the 2023 NFL Draft to the New England Patriots for the quarterback and a seventh-round pick. The trade reunited Stidham with Las Vegas coach Josh McDaniels, his offensive coordinator for three seasons with the Patriots.

In 14 NFL regular-season games, Stidham has completed 77-of-131 passes for 926 yards with six touchdowns and seven interceptions and run for 89 yards on 14 carries.

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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.