Maybe it was a shot. Maybe it was a tip of the cap. Only Jeffrey Simmons knows.
On Tuesday, in the Titans’ locker room, Tennessee’s three-time Pro Bowl defensive tackle was asked about playing a quarterback in Bo Nix who doesn’t take many sacks. The reason Nix doesn’t take many sacks, Simmons noted, is because of his ability to take off and run.
He made that point. And then he made it again. And a few more times, too.
“His first read not there,” Simmons told local Titans media, for a second time, “he’s gonna take off running with the football. So, we gotta make sure we’re on the same page, we gotta make sure we balance the rush.
“Not trying to be robots out there,” Simmons continued, “but at the same time, we know that if it’s not there, Bo Nix gonna take off running.”
Indeed, Nix took off running 92 times in 2024, the fifth-most rushing attempts of any NFL quarterback (according to StatMuse). His wheels surprised opposing franchises — and even his own — in his debut season. He also, however, had the 26th-fastest average time to throw of 32 quarterbacks with at least 300 drop-backs last season.
Sean Payton, for one, resoundingly disagreed with Simmons’ assessment this week.
“I would disagree that he’s just a first-read. I know for a fact that that’s not the case,” Payton responded when asked about Simmons’ comments and teams planning for Nix’s speed. “Now, is he confident in his movement skills? Yeah. And we’ll get a chance to see ‘em on Sunday.”
Simmons’ comments, accurate or not, revealed one clear reality: the Titans’ defense has game-planned hard for Nix’s ability to scamper come Sunday afternoon. It is one of the “great strengths” of Nix’s game, as Payton referenced Monday — the ability to make split-second decisions with his legs when he feels clutter around him. But no NFL team will be surprised by that same ability in his second season, with a full offseason to digest tape behind them.
Payton has largely dismissed the notion that the Broncos would have to game-plan at all for teams adjusting to Nix’s legs. Nix’s camp, though, has had those thoughts in offseason training. One of Nix’s quarterback coaches, Ben Neill, told The Denver Post back in the spring that Nix is anticipating defenses will “have a spy there” more often to keep him from escaping for long gains.
“I think, in one sense, he has a lot of confidence in his legs and that he knows he can create and extend plays when he needs to,” Neill said. “But, yeah, I think he’s aware that defenses will start being aware of that. And so he’s going to have to play smart.
“There are a few times where he could’ve gotten the ball out a little quicker, probably. And there are a few times that he’s going to learn — just like everybody else — that sometimes throwing it away is not a bad play.”
The Titans allowed the second-fewest passing yards per game of any NFL team in a three-win season in 2024 — but simultaneously recorded the second-lowest pressure rate of any NFL team.
It’s a fairly simple formula: Great coverage plus weak pass-rush often equals quarterbacks tucking and running.
“That’s what we talked about, being on the same plan,” Simmons said. “Same rush plans, being on the same page up front. We have to make sure that we don’t give him no escape lanes.”
Nix now has a mental “bank of reps” to pull from when facing pressure, the quarterback said this week. And the quarterback will face his first test Sunday of countering a defense’s offseason counters.
“The game is definitely slower,” Nix said Wednesday. “It’s Game 1, so they’re going to give us some things that we haven’t seen on tape.
“We just have to adjust, follow our rules, and make it happen.”
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