Broncos quarterback Bo Nix after surgery: 'This is not how I imagined my season would come to an end'

Parker Gabriel, The Denver Post on Jan 21, 2026

Published in Football

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DENVER — Denver Broncos quarterback Bo Nix’s ankle surgery “went well,” according to head coach Sean Payton.

Nix had the surgery on Tuesday in Birmingham, Ala. It was performed by Dr. Norman E. Waldrop III, a foot and ankle specialist at Andrews Sports Medicine.

Payton, speaking with reporters Wednesday after Denver began its practice preparations for Sunday’s AFC Championship game against New England, provided the first update on Nix since he fractured a bone in his ankle in Denver’s Divisional round win Saturday against the Buffalo Bills.

Payton said he’d love for Nix to be back around the team soon, but didn’t know exactly when that would happen.

“All of our guys that are have been injured are part of this team,” Payton said. “So, yeah, the sooner the better.”

In his first comments since the injury, Nix wrote a lengthy social media post that published just before Denver’s practice ended here.

“The last few days have been hard to put into words,” Nix wrote in a post on Instagram. “What started as one of the most exciting games I’ve ever been a part of ended with some of the most devastating football news I’ve ever received. This is not how I imagined my season would come to an end, but our season has been defined by overcoming adversity and responding to it. …

“I can’t express how much this team and organization mean to me and how much I believe in them. I couldn’t be more proud of our guys. I couldn’t be more confident in (back-up quarterback Jarrett Stidham). And I couldn’t be more excited for what’s next.”

Nix also thanked Denver’s training staff along with Waldrop, saying, the group took “great care of me.”

Waldrop has operated on many high-profile athletes and earlier in the fall surgically repaired a turf toe injury sustained by Cincinnati quarterback Joe Burrow. Waldrop is a team physician and orthopedic consultant for the New Orleans Saints and for the University of Alabama.

Nix, of course, grew up in Alabama. Head coach Sean Payton coached the Saints for 16 years and had now-Denver vice president of player health and performance Beau Lowery with him for nine of them.

Nix was injured right near the end of a 33-30 overtime victory in the AFC divisional round Saturday against Buffalo. He ran to his left and got his right foot stuck in the ground as he landed from trying to leap around Bills safety Cole Bishop.

Nix finished the game but was clearly in pain before and after kicker Wil Lutz’s walk-off field goal.

Payton announced the news of Nix’s fracture himself an hour after the game ended.

“It was devastating,” quarterback Sam Ehlinger said Wednesday. “I would argue we’re the closest quarterback room in the league. We all truly care about each other, and I think that’s rare to find a group that truly cares about each other individually and aren’t just competing. So, we care personally, and when something like that happens, it’s truly devastating.

“We were all distraught. Our wives were distraught for Bo and Izzy. It’s definitely heartbreaking.”

Now begins a lengthy recovery process for the Broncos’ second-year quarterback. Payton and the team have not provided any insight into how long they expect Nix’s rehabilitation to take. Multiple orthopedic surgeons outlined a recovery time of somewhere from 3-6 months for typical ankle fracture surgeries, depending on what other damage is done and if previous injuries – Nix had surgery on his right ankle after a fracture in 2021 — cause any complications.

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