ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — Sean Payton played along nicely with the first positive-bent question on Bo Nix.
And the Broncos’ head coach said nice things again about his rookie quarterback when the second question came in that more or less praised Bo. When the fourth of five questions came in regarding how great Nix has been playing, Payton hit the brakes.
"Let's not send this kid to Canton quite yet, please,’’ said Payton, the Broncos head coach, in his day-after-game media conference call Monday. “All right? We're sitting here middle of the season, he's playing well, I'm excited. The film showed he's playing well. The film showed a few things, though, that I wanted to scream at him about. We’ll keep correcting those things.
“But I like the way he prepares. I love the way he comes to work. I love his enthusiasm – I think it’s naturally contagious. I think he’s a winner. It’s interesting because you guys real time are seeing it just like we are. I’m real encouraged by that.”
The next question was about how Nix tied Marlin Briscoe for the team record for touchdown passes by a rookie in a season (14). After the seventh question, sixth that was offense/Bo-related, that was it for the 11 ½-minute conference call with the coach.
"Nothing on the defense and holding Falcons rushing attack down?’’ Payton said. “It's a Bo Nix day, huh?"
In defense of the media, Nix had a game worth gushing about. He led the Broncos to a 38-6 rout of the NFC South Division-leading Atlanta Falcons on Sunday by completing 28 of 33 passes for 307 yards and four touchdowns against zero interceptions. His passer rating was a near-perfect 145.0.
After a slow start (0-2 with zero touchdown passes and four interceptions through his first two games), Nix in his next nine games has gone 6-3 with 14 TDs against just 2 picks.
The other topic presented to Payton on Monday? Mike Shanahan’s coaching candidacy for the Pro Football Hall of Fame. A HOF subcommittee will narrow the coaching candidates from nine semifinalists to one finalist on Tuesday, though the announcement won't come until Dec. 10 or 11.
A two-time Super Bowl winner as Broncos’ head coach, Shanahan also left strong legacies with his offense ingenuity and coaching tree. Payton is not only an offensive-rooted head coach as Shanahan was, the two were Chicago-area raised and former quarterbacks, at different times, at Eastern Illinois University.
“Forget that he’s from Illinois or we went to the same college or any of those things, I’ve had a long friendship with him,’’ Payton said. “What he’s accomplished, though, in our game – he’s got two Super Bowl championships, he’s been behind the minds of so many coaches working right now. I would say a third of the league at one point has been impacted by Mike.
“And not only the coaching tree, I’m talking about the offensive tree. When I got into the league (in 1997) there were two or three teams that you studied and Denver was one of them.
“We’re sitting here in 2024 and we’re looking at a guy, a candidate, who quite honestly has a lot better credentials than maybe some others who have gone before him as coaches," Payton said. "He was one of the guys. Extremely intelligent, and then the Super Bowls (1994 as 49ers’ offensive coordinator; 1997-98 as Broncos head coach), the quarterbacks (Steve Young, John Elway). I don’t know when the vote is or how that all unfolds, but his candidacy for someone like myself, it’s easy. And it’s all there right in front of you.”
