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Sean Payton details Bo Nix’s reaction: 'He’s such a strong, faith-based guy'
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- Sean Payton details Bo Nix’s reaction: 'He’s such a strong, faith-based guy'
Denver Broncos quarterback Bo Nix suffered a season-ending ankle fracture on the third-to-last play of overtime, and it seems like Nix knew exactly what happened.
Head coach Sean Payton detailed the moments after Nix's injury, which occurred on the third-to-last play of overtime. "He gets hurt on the running play, then we call the stutter spears," said Payton. "We get the big pass interference , the penalty. Then we center the ball, so he actually technically got hurt on his third-to-last play. He centers the ball for us, and then as he comes over, I kind of chest bump him, jab him like, 'Freaking A!' and he's like, 'Careful.'
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"I'm like, 'You all right?' He said, 'Yes, but it's hurting.' I said, 'What do you got?' He said, 'My ankle.' I said, 'All right, you'll be fine,' and I jabbed him in the chest again. I said, 'Just enjoy this field goal.'"
After the game-winning field goal, Nix did a postgame interview with CBS, then he immediately went into the X-ray room at Empower Field at Mile High, where the fracture was confirmed, according to ESPN's Sal Paolantonio .
"At that point, everyone's in there in (the locker room) celebrating," Payton said during Sunday's conference call with reporters. "Then I came and did the presser with you all. When I came back from that press conference, Beau [Lowery], our medical trainer, George [Paton], there was a group in my office and I knew. They didn't say anything, but I knew there was something. We always meet after the game and discuss injuries but that was early. They said, 'Look, there's a fracture.' [They] showed me the X-ray. Immediately, I walked down the hall. Bo was kind of sitting outside the locker room, leaning up against the wall. His wife, his parents, family there, I think 'Stiddy' ( Jarrett Stidham ), a few others. I just asked him how he was doing."
After his initial postgame press conference, Payton learned of the significance of the injury and then returned to the podium to announce the news. He noted the QB's faith in response to the injury.
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"I'll tell you what, the one thing about it, he's such a strong, faith-based guy," Payton said. "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."
Nix has a history of ankle injuries, and Payton lightened the mood in the aftermath of his latest injury.
"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 said, 'If I would have known that, I wouldn't have drafted you,'" Payton quipped. "He's a tough cookie. I said, 'Listen. I believe you're the second quarterback in Year 2 to take your team to a Championship game, and the first is [Patrick] Mahomes . This team all year has lost key players, and we'll rise up for the next challenge and we'll go from there."
Jarrett Stidham is the next man up for the Broncos , and he will start the AFC Championship game next Sunday, against either the New England Patriots or the Houston Texans . The one thing we do know at this moment? That game will be played at Empower Field at Mile High, regardless of the opponent.
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This article originally appeared on Broncos Wire: Denver Broncos: Sean Payton details Bo Nix's injury reaction
