Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback John Elway likes what he’s seen from Denver Broncos rookie quarterback Bo Nix this season.
“I’m happy for him,” Elway said during a recent interview with Broncos Wire about Dupuytren’s contracture and his treatment. “I’m happy for the Broncos and the Broncos fans out there. It’s kind of been a long dry spell and I think that everybody’s excited about what’s going on there. Obviously, the new ownership group is tremendous, with Sean Payton as a head coach and then obviously we draft Bo Nix, who I think Sean really likes and obviously, everybody likes now because we’ve seen him grow through the first 11 weeks of the season.
“It’s exciting to watch. But I think there’s a combination of both in the fact that Bo Nix has great talent. He’s very mature. He’s got 60 starts in college, which I think has really helped him.
“But I think even more importantly is the way that Sean and (quarterbacks coach) Davis Webb handle him, they’re not putting them in situations he can’t handle. They’re bringing him on slowly, getting him to understand the NFL game, which is a big jump from the college game, and so I think the whole combination of what is going on there is showing up in Bo’s play.
“He’s got the ability; Sean and Davis are putting him in situations that he can handle and those situations keep getting more and more week in and week out. And so, you know, the sky’s the limit for him. He’s just going to continue to get better and better.
“And as long as Vance Joseph keeps that defense going and keeps (Nix) in games week in and week out, then that allows the quarterback to grow at his own speed too and also win football games.”
Nix has broken multiple franchise (and NFL) records this season, passing several former marks set by Elway in his rookie year. Does Elway feel bad about seeing his records fall?
“I don’t,” Elway said with a laugh. “You know what? I’m glad he’s breaking them because it was my rookie year, we weren’t very good, so it’s nice to see that he’s got out to a better start than I had. And I think that’s a good sign for all the Bronco fans out here to be able to watch that knowing that they’ve really got somebody they can build around right now. Because, you know that quarterback position is so important in the NFL and it looks like they found their guy and [he will] continue to grow and bring back that excitement and start to compete for those world championships again.”
John Elway spoke with Broncos Wire in a three-part interview this week. Elway dicsussed Dupuytren’s contracture in Part 1. Stay tuned for Part 3, featuring Elway’s take on Denver’s playoff chances this season.
