Denver Broncos quarterback Bo Nix said preparing for his second NFL season has been “kind of weird” – not because of what he doesn’t know, but because of what he does.
For the first time since he starred at Pinson Valley High School, Nix is heading toward a season with the same play-caller working from the same playbook as he had the previous season.
“It’s kind of weird, going back to first install,” Nix said on Thursday. “It’s not new verbiage and not new things, so it made it a lot easier this year. Now it was tough to learn last year, but just being in a system and just kind of getting right back to where we were, just being able to call plays and understanding what it’s like. So going longer than 365 days, just hearing the same thing, I think it’s going to be really beneficial. And honestly, it felt weird because it hadn’t been since high school. And so I’m just used to learning different things. And so it’s good not to have to learn an entire new system this year, have the same play-caller and have the same quarterback coach, and honestly, the same guys you’re throwing it to, the same center, same O- line.
“I mean, being the same, it’s going to be -- it’s hard to even explain. You’re going to see it in ways that you can’t even understand. And it’s just a natural thing to go out there and just pick up right where you left off and not have to restart.”
Broncos coach Sean Payton did not use that same terminology, but he noted the difference between rookie QB Nix and second-year QB Nix.
“It’s a lot different,” Payton said on Thursday. “We don’t use that term ‘pick up where we left off.’ But just the processing, understanding of what we’re doing, in and out of the huddle, these three days, as you’re watching each decision, where you want the ball to go, it’s entirely different. …
“I think it’s a positive. Just the stability with what we’re doing offensively, his overall understanding. It kind of goes to the earlier question of him just out here taking the script, going through it and feeling almost like the plays can run off his tongue where a year ago, you were having to repeat it twice. It’s a lot different.”
Nix had the same sentiment about calling the plays in the huddle.
“I feel like I’m a lot further,” Nix said. “You know, just spitting out play calls a lot easier, just processing, being around (defensive coordinator Vance Joseph) for a year, understanding the defense that I’m going to get, so it’s a lot better. It’s a lot more enjoyable not thinking right now as opposed to what I was doing last year. So it’s fun. It’s fun to be in the know. It’s fun to have a little bit more of an understanding of what’s going on, so I can kind of be a little bit more beneficial to others and kind of help them out along the way. But I feel good. We’re in a good spot. …
“I’m not thinking about what the offense is doing. And usually that’s the case. When you go up to the line of scrimmage, you want to be only thinking about the defense, only processing and reacting to the defense, not maybe the footwork or the motion or the timing or whatever that I’m doing.”
After three seasons at Auburn and two at Oregon, Nix joined Denver as the 12th pick in last year’s NFL Draft. With the rookie starting every game at quarterback, the Broncos won 10 games and made their first playoff appearance since 2015 last season.
Nix passed for 3,775 yards and 29 touchdowns – the eighth-most yards and second-most TD passes for a rookie in NFL history – and ran for 430 yards and four touchdowns on 92 carries.
“I got a buddy on the team,” Nix said. “We tell each other: You’re still a nobody. You haven’t done anything yet. And so we got a lot to prove, and we got a lot to go out there and do. And it’s people like that that keep you in check. It’s guys like, you know, teammates that got your back and continue to motivate you, because he’s right. I haven’t done anything up until this point, and I got a lot to prove, a lot to show.
“So every day, it’s working every day. It’s finding a way to get better because you don’t want to get to Year 2 or go down the road and, all of a sudden, you got stuck and didn’t get any better. So that’s my focus right now is just not even worried about what people are saying, just internally. I know I got a long way to go.”
Denver completed the first week of the final portion of its offseason program on Thursday. The Broncos have two weeks of practice remaining before breaking until training camp.
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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on X at@AMarkG1.