Bo Nix has a glitch. He thinks too much.
His greatest strength — a quick processor — is mental hardware that causes his athletic software to malfunction.
He is hard on himself. Too hard. He wants to be right on every play, in every drill. In interviews, he provides glimpses of his competitive spirit and unbending expectations.
He doesn’t hide behind his inexperience, and coach Sean Payton offers no grace. He knows Nix can digest a playbook that is more Tolstoy than Toy Story. So, he coaches Nix hard. But the enemy of good can be great.
Watching Nix the first three weeks of training camp showed the dangers of chasing perfection. At times, Nix looked tentative, reluctant to make a mistake. In baseball parlance, they call it aiming the pitch. You throw a dart, instead of winding up and letting it eat.
There were two underthrown passes against the 49ers in the first preseason game — one to Troy Franklin and another in the end zone that prevented Courtland Sutton from high-pointing a touchdown.
Context and the calendar screamed that there was no reason for concern. And yet, it gnawed at the gut.
Was Nix feeling the pressure of leading a contender? Was all this too much, too soon, making him the leader of a team whose coach has replaced the numbers on the back of jerseys with concentric circles?
Based on Thursday’s joint practice against the Arizona Cardinals, the answer is no.
Relax, Broncos Country. Bo Nix is not Chex Mix. He is still closer to Peyton than Paxton. Breathe easy.
All the reasons to Bo-lieve were on full display against the Cardinals starters. He hit Devaughn Vele on a touchdown strike in the middle of the field against busted coverage. He threw a corner lob to Sutton for a score that was smoother than left-out butter. There were comeback routes to Franklin. And sideline dimes to Marvin Mims.
Big deal? Yeah, it was. At some point, we needed to see it. The Broncos featured a carousel of incompetent quarterbacks after Peyton Manning retired. It’s OK to admit we needed a reminder of the bright future, a trailer teasing why the 2025 season will be special.
Here’s what Cardinals linebacker Mack Wilsonsaid about Nix’s first-to-second-year progression:
“You can definitely tell he made the leap,” Wilson said. “Just comparing what I saw last year with him as a rookie — he was out there (Thursday) making the no-look throws and stuff.”
There will be cover-your-eyes passes in August. You don’t want Nix with a 100% completion rate. That would signal he has morphed into Checkdown Charlie, a dismissive nickname defenders yell at quarterbacks afraid to take chances. So Nix threw a few picks. Who cares?
That wasn’t the issue for me. It was whether Nix was trying too hard to please a coach who is demanding brilliance.
Nix is the ideal pupil because he takes instruction and embraces the process. But Nix is not Drew Brees in his prime.
Payton was spinning yarn in the blazing sun during a 37-minute news conference, and told the story about how Brees took over the kitchen as a quarterback by making all the calls at the line of scrimmage. In other words, he prepared the meal, cooked it and served it. When he got hurt in 2019 and Teddy Bridgewater replaced him, Payton told the offensive players it was time for them to boil the water and chop the vegetables.
Bo is not Brees. And the NFL is not a breeze for him. It’s OK to treat him more like Bridgewater, to paint the perfect picture with the personnel around him, while leaning on a solid run game.
Payton will never say it, but Nix and the No. 1 offense needed this. A practice when 800 members of Broncos Country roared and the Cardinals defenders offered glowing praise.
“He has what it takes. The poise, the quick decisions. He doesn’t hold on long to the ball. He has a pretty good hard count,” said 18-year NFL vet and Denver South High legend Calais Campbell. “All the stuff I look for in a quarterback, he is pretty good at.”
This is what Nix needs to hear. As Payton reminds us, confidence is gained through demonstrated ability. You don’t have to witness it every day. But you need to know it is there. And Nix provided a steady stream of accurate throws after a handful of clunky practices and an underwhelming exhibition opener.
“There’s an ebb and flow (to training camp),” Payton said. “We will watch it together as a group, and it’s all relevant to what the comparison is. We can reference 2013, 2014 Peyton. So what are we referencing? What do we aspire to? It’s all relative that way.”
So is the preseason. It doesn’t count. But it matters. Nix can be unforgiving of himself and his performance. He criticized himself Tuesday for not creating more energy at practice.
Bo doesn’t have to be perfect. He has time. We just need to see it sometimes. And Thursday will do just fine.
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