Sparks were flying on the Broncos’ sideline on Sunday. But this time, Sean Payton wasn’t the one doing the yelling.
In the third quarter of Denver’s 34-18 win over the Raiders, rookie quarterback Bo Nix was seen arguing with the Broncos head coach after a potential touchdown pass slipped through the hands of wide receiver Troy Franklin.
Following the win, Payton shed light on his exchange with Nix, saying, “It’s part of the deal. … Sometimes it’s my love language.”
Nix jokingly downplayed the discussion between him and Payton.
“He turned and looked at me and said ‘I love you,’ and I said ‘I love you back,’” Nix said.
The exchange stemmed from Nix’s decision to flip Payton’s play call. Nix said Payton originally wanted him to throw the ball in the boundary (short side of the field). However, there was confusion in the huddle, leading Nix to switch the play and throw an incompletion to Franklin on third-and-3 with under two minutes to go in the quarter.
“There’s still a little bit of Ferris Bueller in this player that we got to get rid of,” Payton said, comparing Nix to the main character of the 1986 film “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.”
“Ferris (was) kind of quirky, doing his own thing once in a while.”
With the play clock winding down, Nix knew he had to think of something quick to avoid a delay of game penalty. So he turned to Franklin — his teammate at Oregon.
Nix slightly overthrew the ball to a wide-open Franklin streaking down the sideline. Had the latter been able to reel the throw in, it would’ve been the play of the afternoon. Instead, it slipped through Franklin’s outstretched hands, and the Broncos were forced to punt.
Knowing he missed on the throw only added more fuel to Nix’s frustration.
“I wouldn’t put that drop on him,” Nix said. “I think I can help him a lot more than I am. He was very close (to catching the ball). We’d love to have it back.”
Franklin said Nix’s fiery demeanor on the sideline was nothing he hadn’t seen before.
“That’s just a part of the game right there,” he said. “That’s good. He’s gonna speak his mind and let coach know what he sees, and things like that, and let him know what happened. And we’ll all get it fixed after.”
In the midst of Nix and Payton’s heated conversation, veteran wide receiver Courtland Sutton tried to play the role of peacemaker. He was seen getting in between Payton and Nix, trying to diffuse the tension. Since training camp, Sutton has watched the work Nix put in to understand the offense and win the starting job.
Sutton has been the ultimate supporter of Nix and wanted to show his teammates that he had his back.
“I’ve seen the progress that he’s made. So my role in that situation is to encourage,” the 28-year-old wideout said. “My role is to know that he knows we have his back. We all have these shortcomings throughout the game that may happen. None of us are perfect.”
Following Nix’s sideline outburst, the former Oregon standout elevated his play to wash away the Raiders. On Denver’s next possession, Nix scrambled 11 yards for a first down. A few players later, he completed a 19-yard pass to tight end Adam Trautman before powering into the end zone for his third rushing touchdown of the season.
With 8:44 to go in the fourth, Nix completed a 24-yard pass near the sideline to Sutton, then found wide receiver Josh Reynolds in the back of the end zone for a 9-yard touchdown, extending Denver’s lead to 34-10.
Nix was 9 for 11 with 101 passing yards and three total touchdowns in the second half. He was a perfect 5 for 5 for 54 passing yards and two scores in the fourth quarter — all coming after the dustup with Payton.
“He works his tail off and I am that way (too),” Payton said.
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