Bo Nix contradicts Sean Payton, provides good news on injury

Denver Broncos quarterback Bo Nix unexpectedly held an end-of-season conference call with reporters on Wednesday despite his season ending one and a half weeks earlier.

Nix's reason for doing the call seems clear — he wanted to set the record straight.

Following the QB's season-ending ankle surgery, ESPN's Adam Schefter (and others) reported that Nix would be sidelined for about 12 weeks. Nix started his conference call by debunking that.

"It was a very quick procedure, very easy operation," Nix said. "Just a simple bone break, got that fixed up. Great surgeon, great care, just right back on my road to recovery. So a typical, bone break — four to six weeks, to be back training, ready to roll.

"Had a lot of different — you hear a lot of different weeks and speculation out there when something like this happens and unfortunately, you don't get to hear from me for a while, but it'll be absolutely no issue this offseason. I'll be able to actually start training back a the same time I was going to start training, so don't miss any time there."

Nix reiterated multiple times that it was an "clean break" with an "easy operation" and "easy recovery" with no lingering issues.

🗣️ Bo Nix

"It'll be absolutely no issue this offseason. I'll be able to actually start training back at the same time I was going to start training"#BroncosCountrypic.twitter.com/TmfAWuxiOh

— Guerilla Sports (@guerillasports) January 29, 2026

Nix also contradicted coach Sean Payton, who apparently misspoke when he told reporters on Tuesday that Nix was "predisposed" to the injury that was only a matter of time.

"Yeah, nothing predisposed, nothing that was there originally," Nix said. "That might've gotten confused. ... didn't have any predisposed issues."

It seems to have been a word choice mix-up more than anything. Doctors discovered "pre-existing stress" to the bone that ended up breaking, according to the Denver Post's Luca Evans. That's what Payton meant with his "predisposed" comment, but Nix clarified that it's not a chronic issue that makes him injury-prone.

"[N]othing that really concerns me, nothing that scares me going forward, like I'm injury-prone or anything," Nix said. "This is one of those, just inconvenient football plays."

So, a much shorter recovery timeframe than initially reported, and after surgery, Nix's ankle is not a lingering concern (at least not to him). Consider the narrative corrected.

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This article originally appeared on Broncos Wire: NFL news: Bo Nix contradicts Sean Payton, provides good news on injury