Denver Broncos rookie quarterback Bo Nix had a heated exchange with coach Sean Payton during the team’s big 34-18 win over the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday afternoon.
Nix and Payton have both downplayed the incident, and former NFL coach Bill Belichick has now chimed in with his take.
“I think that’s just part of coaching,” Belichick said during his Monday appearance on The Pat McAfee Show. “Things happen during the game that are not personal, they’re just reactionary sometimes by the player, sometimes by the coach. I think you’ve got two guys right there that have worked really hard, that are really committed to winning. You can see the progress that they’ve made over the last five weeks and, honestly, these rookie quarterbacks are starting to … make an impression on the league, at least with me.
“Nix got off to a little bit of a slow start [and Payton] hung with him. Sean coaches the players hard and he gets on them and sometimes the players kick back a little bit and sometimes they don’t, but that’s part of it. I think it’s probably in that situation a good healthy exchange.”
"Sean Payton and Bo Nix have worked really hard and they're committed to winning..
Sean coaches the players hard and that's a good healthy exchange there" ~ Bill Belichick #PMSLive #BroncosCountry pic.twitter.com/xrtuVlwweu
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) October 7, 2024
Payton said during his Monday conference call with reporters that he loved Nix’s competitive, fiery response on the sideline.
“We’re in the business of passion,” Payton said, via Andrew Mason of DenverSports.com. “We’re looking for passion, and we’re looking for people that have passion for the game, not other things. And I think that it’s so important to him. And so, yeah, again, I loved his response. And we’re on to the next play, and it’s nothing.”
All good between the coach and quarterback.
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