Bo Nix gets NFL Rookie of the Week

There was at least that win for Week 10.

Being named NFL Rookie of the Week for Week 10 wasn’t the “win” Bo Nix would have preferred, but the Broncos’ quarterback certainly deserved it.

Against the Chiefs last week, Nix completed 22-of-30 passes for 215 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions (115 QBR). It was Nix’s third game this season with a passer rating of at least 100 and his fourth game with multiple passing scores.

Head coach Sean Payton reiterated during Wednesday’s presser a common theme about Nix since training camp — he doesn’t act like a rookie.

“They’ll be some more adversity, but there is a poise with him. I think his teammates in the huddle talk about it,” Payton said, highlighting Nix’s third-down conversion at the end of the game against the Chiefs to put the Broncos in a position to win. “That was significant because right at that moment, then we controlled everything — the clock and the game.”

It didn’t work out to plan but that wasn’t Nix’s fault.

But just to prove he’s a natural leader, listen to what Nix said when asked about Alex Forsyth’s role in the blocked field goal that led to the Broncos’ loss.

“I think it’s very unfortunate, very unfair that ultimately a play comes down to one moment… People can say that it falls under one person. Nobody prepares like Alex Forsyth prepares. Nobody goes through the moments throughout the week and gets every set, and every look that he possibly can [to] go out there and put his team in the best possible spot,” Nix said, adding that there is always negative talk when a player messes up but he wants it to be known how much Forsyth prepares.

“It really ticks me off that people can say those things about him and not even see how he works, or how he responds or how he plays,” Nix said of his former Oregon teammate. “I have no doubt that Alex Forsyth’s going to respond probably better than anybody in that situation. …He’s mentally tough. He’s been through tougher life moments than probably any of us. So he knows how to handle adversity. I’m excited to see him grow and respond through this. …I’m happy to be on his team. I’m proud to call him a teammate, and I know he’s going to respond really well.”

And more impressive than Payton’s compliments were those Nix received from his opponents, specifically future Hall of Famer Patrick Mahomes.

“Patrick just turned to me and said, ‘You got one.’ I think he told Bo ‘We’re going to have a lot of good games.’ That’s something coming from him,” Payton noted. “We continue to look at the things that he does well and try to feature those things as he progresses into some of the things that he’s going to need to do. Yeah, we’re really encouraged.”

And the head coach is really enjoying watching this development.

“It’s been energizing, especially with the youth of this team,” Payton said. “I enjoy it.”

On the year so far Nix has completed 206-of-324 passes for 1,968 yards with 10 touchdowns and six interceptions (82.9 QB rating). He also leads all rookie QBs in completions (206) and passing touchdowns (10) and ranks second in passing yards (1,968).

Nix becomes the first Bronco to win the award this season and the first Denver player since cornerback Pat Surtain II won it Week 12 in 2021. He also joins quarterbacks Drew Lock (2019), Tim Tebow (2010) and Jay Cutler (2006) as the only Broncos signal callers to win the award since its inception in 2002.