It was a good day for the Denver Broncos on Sunday after they beat the Indianapolis Colts 34-30 to open up the NFL preseason, and rookie quarterback Bo Nix himself had a good day as he got his first look inside Sean Payton’s offense.
Denver Broncos rookie QB Bo Nix reflects on first NFL game
Nix has steadily climbed the ladder over the course of the last week and a half of training camp, looking more and more comfortable as each day came. He got the first-team QB reps during six of Denver’s last nine practices, and much of what we have seen during camp translated well in his first NFL game since being drafted 12th overall.
Nix saw five drives under center, with four of them ending up as scoring drives that equated to 20 total points. For an offensive unit that struggled mightily in 2023, Sunday’s win and Nix’s performance was enough to give Broncos fans some hope that things could be better this season.
Nix finished 15-of-21 passing for 125 yards, one passing touchdown, and 17 yards on the ground on three rushing attempts.
“It was a good day,” Nix said. “I thought we ran the ball efficiently, made some good plays in the pass game, converted some third downs, got points when we needed to. It was a good job going into half with points and coming out with points. I felt like that was a good point in the game. But overall, I felt like we did a good job. Huge team win.”
Overall, Nix looked comfortable in his first NFL action and made good decisions for the most part. His performance drew some praise from some of his veteran teammates, including Mike McGlinchey.
“I thought he did great,” McGlinchey said. “Just like he has been all training camp. I think he’s incredibly mature, collected, and understands his role — I think he’s done a great job with the way he’s handled everything. He’s shown gradual improvement and, at times, really great improvement all throughout training camp, and today was no exception. He played his balls off out there, and I’m proud of him and excited to see where he can go.”
Now, Bo Nix will get the start this Sunday against the Green Bay Packers for Week 2 of the NFL preseason, even though the Packers won’t play a lot of their starters. It will be a good opportunity for him to get reps in front of a raucous crowd who is excited about his potential going forward.
