Denver Broncos quarterback Bo Nix wants to correct the record, one day after his head coach, Sean Payton, said he was “predisposed” to ankle injuries like the one he suffered during the divisional round of the NFL Playoffs.
“Nothing predisposed, nothing that was there originally,” Nix, 25, said on a conference call on Wednesday, January 28. “That might have gotten confused. Just a simple step with my foot up in the air, my body weight came down on it, sort of got twisted up.
Nix added, “I don’t think he really should share how many surgeries I’ve had in the past, to be honest with you — he doesn’t even really know that. But it’s going to be good to get back, get back to work. … Nothing really that concerns me, nothing that scares me moving forward.”
Nix’s comments came after Payton, 62, told the media in a press conference on Wednesday, January 28 that his quarterback’s surgery, which he underwent in the days following the injury, revealed that an injury was inevitable.
“What was found was a condition that was predisposed — they always find a little more when they go in,” Payton said. “It wasn’t a matter of if, it was a matter of when. When you look at the play and you’re trying to evaluate it — the operating surgeon said that this was going to happen sooner than later.”
Nix’s injury occurred during the final drive of the Broncos’ 33-30 victory over the Buffalo Bills on January 17, moments before Wil Lutz hit a 23-yard field goal to win the game.
Around an hour after the game ended, Payton announced that Nix was finished for the season.
“We celebrate the season for him,” he said at the time. “And listen, the city’s ready and we’ll be ready for the next challenge.”
Payton continued, “I’ll tell you what, the one thing about it. He’s such a strong, faith-based guy. He was sitting in the hallway with his family, and I went over, and we’re all talking to him. He knows that God has a plan for him. He said he had one in high school, and then he said he had one at Auburn. I said, ‘I didn’t realize that.’ I [jokingly] said, ‘If I would have known that, I wouldn’t have drafted you.’”
After the injury, Bo’s wife, Izzy Nix, shared a photo via her Instagram Story of her husband sitting on the floor after the game, leg extended, still in his uniform and pads.
“The joy, followed by the heartbreak, followed by watching each teammate and coach come to this little corner and sit by Bo’s side,” Izzy wrote over the slide. “God could have placed us anywhere, and I’m so grateful He chose Denver. He is the perfect Author of Bo’s story and we cannot wait to see what HE has in store for this team — We’ll be on the front row, cheering the loudest!!!”
The Broncos’ win sent Denver to the AFC Championship game where they fell, 10-7, to the New England Patriots on Sunday, January 25. The Patriots advanced to the Super Bowl, where they will play the Seattle Seahawks on February 8.
