Before suffering a season-ending ankle injury in the divisional round of the NFL playoffs, Denver Broncos quarterback Bo Nix previously suffered serious ankle injuries at the high school and college levels.
After Nix mentioned those previous injuries (and recoveries) to Sean Payton, the coach joked that he wouldn't have drafted the quarterback had he known about his ankle history. Payton reiterated during his end-of-season press conference on Tuesday that his remark was a joke to lighten the mood in the moment (Denver knew about Nix's history leading up to the draft).
"Understand that was in jest, and I'm going to stop trying to be funny," Payton said. "I'm going to stop trying to be funny."
Payton was asked if the team has concerns about Nix's repeated ankle injuries, and he said "no." In his answer, though, Payton also revealed that this type of injury was practically inevitable for Nix.
"No, I think what was found, though, what was a condition that was predisposed, right at that time," Payton explained. "They always find a little bit more when they go in. It wasn't a matter of ‘if,’ it was a matter of ‘when.’ So it wasn't… Because when you look at the play and you're trying to evaluate it, he said, the doctor, operating surgeon, said that this was this was going to happen, sooner than later. Now you go about the rehab, proper orthotics, all those things. He's been one of those players that I would say has been available. There were others in that draft class that weren’t as available.
"I think the rehab coming off of this will be strong, but the news that was something we… The way it was explained that it was coming sooner than later. So listen, he'll rehab his tail off and get ready and get back to being healthy. I think for someone who runs with the ball, I think he's done a pretty good job of protecting himself, not all the time, but for the most part, he's done a pretty good job of sliding and understanding playing for another day.”
Now that the inevitable injury has happened and Nix has undergone surgery, fans in Denver will hope that the issue has been fixed and the QB won't face repeated setbacks going forward. Nix won the most games (24) through a QB's first two seasons in NFL history, and Payton expects him to bounce back with a healthy campaign in 2026.
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This article originally appeared on Broncos Wire: NFL: Broncos QB Bo Nix was 'predisposed' to ankle injury
