During the Denver Broncos‘ big win over the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday, Fox cameras caught rookie quarterback Bo Nix in a heated exchange with coach Sean Payton on the sideline.
After the game, Nix was asked what happened.
“He turned and looked at me and said, ‘I love you,’ and I turned to him and said, ‘I love you back,'” the quarterback joked.
Funny. But what really happened?
“There are times where you send something in, and I do not want it flipped,” Payton explained after a 34-18 win. “It gets flipped, but it is all good. He works his tail off. I am that way [too]. It just is what it is.”
Payton wanted a play run on one side of the field and Nix switched it to the other, apparently out of confusion. After flipping the play, Nix threw a deep pass to wide receiver Troy Franklin, who dropped it in the end zone. The QB and coach then exchanged pleasantries on the sideline.
Broncos HC Sean Payton and rookie QB Bo Nix had this exchange on the sideline after Denver punted in their last drive.
📺: FOX pic.twitter.com/CxGDEA023i
— FOX Sports: NFL (@NFLonFOX) October 6, 2024
“It was a single play,” Nix said. “We had it flipped. He wanted it to the boundary, and we just kind of got confused there in the huddle. So I tried to get things right. We ended up having it, had a chance and I overthrew it, but that’s a part of the game sometimes. With the huddle operation sometimes you just have to make the most of guys, how it is with the play clock moving. You just make the most of it, and fortunately it didn’t bite us.”
Payton mostly downplayed the incident, but he did compare Nix to “Ferris Bueller,” the character from the hit 1986 comedy film.
“It is part of the deal,” Payton said. “There is still a little bit of Ferris Bueller in this player that we have to get rid of. I’m talking about Bo. I love him to death and sometimes it is my love language.”
What does he mean by the Ferris Bueller reference?
“It is just funny,” Payton explained. “Ferris is kind of quirky and doing his own thing once in a while. Did you watch the movie? Have you ever seen it? He still has some Ferris Bueller in him. He’s got some. Not mischievous, maybe a little bit kind of subtly.”
Payton on Bo and Ferris comparison. #9aports pic.twitter.com/uCVsiQj95D
— MikeKlis9NEWS (@mikeklis9news) October 7, 2024
Has the 24-year-old Nix seen “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off”?
“That movie is funny,” Nix said. “I think it’s a great movie. I’ve only seen it a handful of times because it’s kind of old, but I think it’s good.”
Both coach and quarterback downplayed in the incident, calling it a passionate moment that neither dwelled on.
“That literally I think explains the situation,” Nix said. “We’re just out there with great competitive intensity and fire. We can have those conversations and move right back along and score another few touchdowns. It doesn’t bother us.”
Payton continued to coach Nix up on the sideline.
Sean Payton coaches up Bo Nix on the sideline🤯 https://t.co/lC6HAbksAS pic.twitter.com/R6JlYKI5Pa
— Let’s Talk Broncos & Buffs (@LTB_Muse) October 6, 2024
Nix and the offense went on to score two more touchdowns after that sideline exchange and the rookie had the best game of his career thus far. Clearly, that sideline exchange was not a detriment to Nix’s performance. All good between player and coach. No big deal.
