Broncos HC Sean Payton Comments on Bo Nix Sideline Exchange

According to Payton, the interaction looked worse to the public than it was in private.

“I saw what you guys saw. That wasn’t what it appeared, though," he told reporters Wednesday. "It was an affirmation of, ‘This is what we’re wanting to do.’ I was looking at it and trying to think, ‘Did we ever…’ and I don’t recall. I think it was more about excitement, but I saw it. It was following I think a series where we ran it pretty well. I don’t recall it ever being—I would know if there was ever one of those moments, but I guess what I’m saying is I don’t think it was what it appeared. In fact, I know it wasn’t.”

Compared to Payton's "animated" 2023 moment with Russell Wilson, his exchange with Nix on Sunday was quite tame. What exactly was said between the two remains unclear, but Nix also did his best to play it down.

“I think for whatever reason we’re allowing conversations to become bigger than what they are. We oftentimes forget that it’s a big stadium and a lot of people are talking at the same time, so you have to be a little bit louder and more vocal. So that was just something as simple as he asked me what happened on a play, I told him, I turned, he couldn’t quite hear, turned back and told him again. There were no issues. It’s just a quick conversation with the head coach. Nothing pressing.”

The nature of the conversation aside, Nix turned in a solid performance against the Colts, finishing 22-of-30 for 206 yards, three touchdowns, and an interception amid the 29-28 defeat. It was his 11th career game with multiple passing scores, tying for sixth-most among all NFL QBs.

The 1-1 Broncos will aim to wipe the bad taste — and words — out of their collective mouth in Week 3, taking on the 2-0 Los Angeles Chargers with first place in the AFC West at stake.

"We’re going to have to play well in all three phases to get the job done, but we feel confident, especially after going there last year and not being able to finish," Nix said Wednesday. "We want to go out over there and start the same way we did, and this time just finish the football game.”