SEAN PAYTON REVEALS CHAOS IN DENVER BRONCOS LOCKER ROOM BEFORE BOMBSHELL BO NIX INJURY ANNOUNCEMENT

Denver Broncos coach Sean Payton had no clue quarterback Bo Nix suffered an ankle injury near the end of Saturday's playoff win over the Buffalo Bills.

When the second-year passer returned to the sideline after getting Denver in position for the game-winning field goal, Payton offered him a playful, celebratory jab to the chest.

'I kind of chest bump him, jab him,' Payton said during Sunday's conference call with reporters. 'He's like, "Oh, careful." I'm like, "You all right?" And he said, "Yeah… but it's hurting."'

Payton went on to reveal how he learned about Nix's devastating season-ending ankle fracture and his reasoning for sharing that news with the media as his own players were still celebrating their AFC Championship berth.

'We come in [to the locker room] afterwards and at that point everyone's in there and celebrating,' Payton said. 'Then I came and did the presser with [the media]. When I came back from that press conference, Bo, our medical trainer, [general manager George Paton], there was there was a group in my office and they didn't say anything, but I knew there was something. We always meet after the game and discuss injuries… and they said: 'Look, there's a fracture.'

Payton saw the X-ray confirming the injury and then turned to his devastated quarterback.

'Bo was kind of sitting outside the locker room leaning up against the wall, his wife, his parents, his family there, I think [backup quarterback Jarrett Stidham], a few others,' Payton continued. 'And I just asked him how he was doing. 'Are you hanging in there?' And I said to you guys last night, this is a strong-minded individual. Obviously it was disappointing right at that moment.'

Payton has 18 years of head-coaching experience, so he knew the news would leak out before he was obligated to give a new injury report on Wednesday. Rather than wait for his players to learn that their quarterback's season was over from a reporter, Payton opted instead to simply address the media directly one more time.

'I would've liked to talk to the team first, but like half of the locker room had left,' said the normally tight-lipped Payton. 'There's no way that story survives until Monday when I talk to the team.

'I don't want the team to hear it from you all first or any national media first because that story is going to break in 24 hours. If we were meeting this morning at 9am, I wouldn't have come back to see you. I would've addressed it after the team meeting.

'We just discussed it, and I said, 'Well, why don't I just go in and tell everyone what happened?' And that seems to me like the smartest and easiest thing to do and just be straightforward with it. At least then the players are going to hear that from me on the podium and not from some national insider that gets it from an agent or that gets it from a doctor.'

As for Stidham, the journeyman quarterback stepping up against the visiting New England Patriots in the AFC Championship, Payton says he's an accurate passer. Referring to him as 'Stiddy,' Payton explained that Stidham's practice reps with the first team have been limited, but he's paid close attention and given himself mental reps while primarily working as the scout-team quarterback.

'Stiddy's great strength is his mental aptitude and his progressions in understanding plays,' Payton said. 'Like, there'd be practices where I'm looking at [defensive coordinator Vance Joseph] getting pissed off because Stiddy's making our defense look bad.

'He's very accurate. He's got a lot to his ball.'

The AFC Championship will be played on Sunday at 3pm EST on CBS.

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2026-01-19T16:31:15Z