Why Sean Payton made this Bo Nix decision after Broncos' playoff win over Bills

Denver Broncos head coach Sean Payton stunned members of the NFL community when he confirmed shortly after his team's 33-30 overtime win over the Buffalo Bills on Saturday that Denver starting quarterback Bo Nix suffered a broken ankle late in that contest. 

Payton could have kept Nix's status quiet until an injury report for the upcoming AFC Championship Game would have been due during the week. While speaking with reporters on Sunday, Payton shared why he revealed the Nix news when he did. 

Sean Payton didn't think Bo Nix news would stay quiet through the weekend

"I wasn’t trying to send you guys cakes or flowers," Payton explained, per Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk. "Here’s what I thought. I would’ve liked to talk to the team first, but like half of the locker room had left. There’s no way that story survives until Monday when I talk to the team. I don’t want the team to hear it from you all first or any national media first because that story is going to break in 24 hours."

With Nix sidelined through the remainder of the playoffs, Payton is turning to backup Jarrett Stidham for the conference championship game versus the New England Patriots on Jan. 25. As of Monday morning, DraftKings Sportsbook had Denver as a 5.5-point home underdog for that matchup. 

Stidham hasn't attempted a regular-season pass since he last made a start during the 2023 campaign. The Patriots made him a fourth-round draft pick in 2019, and he was with New England for the first three seasons of his pro career. 

Sean Payton wanted to deliver the bad Bo Nix news to his players

"If we were meeting [Sunday] morning at 9 a.m., I wouldn’t have come back to see you," Payton added. "I would’ve addressed it after the team meeting. We just discussed it, and I said, 'Well, why don’t I just go in and tell everyone what happened?' That seems to me like the smartest and easiest thing to do, and just be straightforward with it. At least then the players are going to hear that from me on the podium and not some national insider that gets it from an agent or that gets it from a doctor."

For better or for worse, Payton's players must now rally around Stidham as the 29-year-old prepares for the biggest game, to date, of his career. The previously mentioned line indicates plenty of insiders believe Stidham won't produce a heroic performance against the Patriots in Denver on the final Sunday of January.