DENVER, COLORADO – OCTOBER 15: Bo Nix #10 of the Denver Broncos walks off the field after an overtime win against the Seattle Seahawks at Empower Field At Mile High on October 15, 2026 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Justin Edmonds/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Good morning, Broncos Nation!
Everyone, just relax on the QB play, will you? The second question in yesterday’s presser to Sean Payton was wondering if the head coach had considered replacing Bo Nix.
What are you talking about?
I’m a big fan of Jarrett Stidham as our backup. If Nix goes down, he’s a very good QB who knows Payton’s system (and that’s one thing!) and has enough experience to not be a total shocker.
But okay.
Benching your starter when the entire offense (and the offensive coaching staff, mind you) is underperforming, is as close to knee-jerk as you can get. Nix is the starter, and struggling against a top defense is no reason to put in a backup who probably won’t be better, probably worse, and will kill any morale left in an offense that knows it should do better and that one player isn’t the problem.
It’s not the only problem.
Payton has more patience than I do with the benching question.
“To answer your question, no. He’s going to be the byproduct of all the finer things that get better,” Payton said, noting that better play from the O-line, better run-pass balance and better game performance in general will help Nix. “That’s our jobs as coaches here. We talked after the game that we were excited to get that win, and at the same time we knew we needed improvement in all areas. So, it starts with all of us.”
Payton also downplayed Nix suffering any mental setbacks after returning from injury.
“It’s a tough league. We hit every facet, and I think that’s one of the things that attracted us to Bo in the beginning was we saw his ability to rise through adversity,” Payton added. “Bo is not the only one who feels that. Right now, offensively, I feel that, our players feel that and we’ll improve.”
Immediately after the Broncos’ win over the Seahawks — and the subsequent fall from Ryan Fitzpatrick that provided great TV drama for a day — Tim Jenkins told the real truth.
If anything, Broncos Country should encouraged that this team won despite its poor performance. And he also pointed out some instances where just because a play didn’t go according to plan or design, doesn’t mean it was due to poor play by the QB.
And in response to Fitzpatrick’s main criticism that Nix wasn’t “playing competitive football” because he couldn’t get a first down one-on-one against a 250-pound linebacker, Jenkins was all over it.
“Do I like Nix seeing the linebacker miss one-on-one and get a first down? Sure. Who doesn’t? Do I think it’s a fair criticism of the National Football League that a quarterback doesn’t make a linebacker miss one-on-one? No,” he said. “That’s potentially the dumbest thing I’ve heard all day. And I have five kids 9 and under, so I hear dumb things all day.”
Rest easy, Broncos Nation. There is a lot to fix, but they will do it.