Quarterback Bo Nix Breaks His Ankle, Will Miss Remainder of NFL Season as Denver Broncos Try to Secure Spot in 2026 Super Bowl

NEED TO KNOW

• Bo Nix injured his ankle during the Denver Broncos game against the Buffalo Bills on Saturday, Jan. 17
• “There will be a lot of emotions, and then the refocus takes place,” said Broncos coach Sean Payton in a postgame press conference
• Payton revealed that Jarrett Stidham will replace Nix as the starting quarterback

Bo Nix is saying goodbye to the NFL playoffs after an unexpected injury. 

Denver Broncos coach Sean Payton announced that the team’s 25-year-old quarterback would be having surgery to repair a fractured bone in his ankle after sustaining an injury during the game against the Buffalo Bills on Saturday, Jan. 17, according to the team’s official X account. 

The athlete suffered the injury on a first-and-10 play from the Bills’ 36-yard line with just over six minutes left in overtime, per ESPN.  After being tackled by Buffalo safety Cole Bishop, Nix could be seen walking with a slight limp as he made his way toward the team huddle.

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During the following kneel-down play, however, Nix’s right ankle seemed to twist awkwardly, after which the athlete's limp became more apparent as he moved to the sideline before Will Lutz led the team to victory with his game-winning field goal. The second-year quarterback will be sidelined for the rest of the season. 

"There will be a lot of emotions, and then the refocus takes place,” Payton told reporters during a postgame press conference. “We celebrate the season for him.”

Dr. Norman Waldrop, an orthopedic surgeon who previously operated on Joe Burrow’s turf toe earlier in the season, will allegedly perform the procedure on Nix’s ankle on Jan. 20, according to NFL insider Ian Rapoport.

Jarrett Stidham will replace Nix as the starting quarterback for the remainder of the playoffs.

"Stiddy’s ready to go,” Payton said of Stidham in the press conference. “I’ve said this at the beginning of the season, I feel like I have a [No.] 2 [quarterback] that’s capable of starting for a handful of, a number of teams.”

“I know he feels the same way,” he continued. “So watch out. Just watch. He is experienced. He’s played in games. They’re different-type players to some degree, and yet they’re both… They’re very close friends, as with [QB] Sam [Ehlinger]. It’s a tight room. Sam will be our [No.] 2, and here we go."

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