Bo Nix ‘Pissed’ at Sean Payton for Publicly Disclosing Ankle Surgery Details

In the divisional game, Broncos' Bo Nix went down with an ankle injury.

Bo Nix ‘Pissed’ at Sean Payton for Publicly Disclosing Ankle Surgery Details

Bo Nix, Sean Payton (Image via Bleacher Report)

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The Denver Broncos were hot favorites to win the Super Bowl before their starting quarterback, Bo Nix, went down with a broken ankle injury in the divisional game. The New England Patriots edged them out in the following AFC Conference game, eliminating their hopes to end a decade-long drought.

In the wake of the injury, the Broncos’ head coach Sean Payton made a striking comment that raised some eyebrows. He held that Nix’s injury was inevitable, that it was a question of when rather than if. Though Payton had no ill intentions, he made a couple of Nix’s injury details public while he was on the podium. He said, while laughing:

He said he had one [ankle injury] in high school, and then he said he had one at Auburn. I said, ‘I didn’t realize that.’ I joked, ‘If I would have known that, I wouldn’t have drafted you.

Nix wasn’t happy with Payton revealing the details. In a heated rant, he fired away that Payton had no job, revealing his past injury history. He had also shot down the notion that there was a predisposed injury that might have led to the broken ankle against the Buffalo Bills.

Yeah, nothing predisposed – nothing that was there originally. That might’ve gotten confused… I don’t think you really should share how many surgeries I’ve had in the past, to be honest with you, because he doesn’t even really know that.

He didn’t seem happy about the fact that Payton laid it all out. It hasn’t been a day since the outrage following Bill Belichick’s exclusion from a first-ballot HOF induction, before another headline has completely taken over. The public disagreement between the head coach and a franchise quarterback has sent shockwaves across the National Football League. The intentions weren’t ill, but their rift is now online and well-known.

Broncos owner Greg Penner is optimistic about Bo Nix and the team’s future

The Denver Broncos co-owner and Chief Operating Officer, Greg Penner, addressed the media as they entered the 2026 offseason. The Walmart chairman admitted that while he was happy with the progress they had made, he made it clear they weren’t satisfied yet.

Bo Nix
Bo Nix (Image via Getty Images)

However, he’s quite optimistic about the team’s future. Penner announced that Bo Nix has successfully undergone surgery on his ankle, with no postoperative concerns.

He expressed his belief in Nix, claiming that he was a huge part of their 15-win campaign this season. Additionally, Penner touched on the fourth-quarter wins and highlighted that they proved his mettle. Penner said:

He showed his mettle in the fourth quarter a lot of times, bringing us back. He would say the same thing. It’s only his second year in the league, and he has room to grow. Fortunately, Bo has a terrific approach of studying and working. He loves the game. I look forward to watching his continued improvement over the coming years.

He echoed Sean Payton’s message from a few days ago about starting a new season from scratch. The success of the 2025 season doesn’t necessarily translate to a victory in the following year, and Penner and Payton understand that.

The goal is to start with winning the division, making the playoffs, and going from there. The AFC West has become very competitive in the past two seasons, with the Los Angeles Chargers and Denver Broncos making back-to-back postseasons.

The Chiefs might have missed a postseason this year, but with a two-time MVP like Patrick Mahomes on their roster, they hold a fear factor. Even with Mahomes’ production numbers going down in the last season.

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