The Broncos are walking into Monday night with a little extra bite, and it starts with Bo Nix.
After an offseason defined by recovery from two ankle surgeries, Nix is finally set to get back under the lights against the Chiefs in Week 1. Courtland Sutton has been around him through the grind, and the veteran wideout said Wednesday that the quarterback’s energy has been impossible to miss.
“I’m excited. I’m a little nervous for everybody else just because he’s a competitor," Sutton said of Nix on Wednesday.
"You guys may not have gotten to see it because a lot of it was behind the scenes, but seeing the way that things ended last year and understanding the type of player he is and the competitor that he is, I was just excited to see him get out there and go throw the ball around a little bit in the preseason. But to see where his mindset is already, transitioning it into our bonus day and then rolling into today, and then knowing just how he is, I’m looking forward to watching him go out there and shake on Monday night."
Sutton took the comparison even further, describing Nix as a trapped predator waiting to break loose.
"He’s like a- I don’t know -like a mountain lion that’s in the zoo that’s just pacing," Sutton said of Nix. "I saw a mountain lion at the Colorado Zoo.
He was just pacing back and forth, and I was like, 'Y’all don’t want that boy to get out. It’s not going to be good.'
But that’s what Bo reminds me of. Mentally, you can tell that he’s just like, 'I’m ready to go do this.'"
Nix didn’t push back on the imagery. He said the comparison fit.
“I guess that is a good comparison and one that I will take," Nix said on Wednesday. "I definitely think the thing about mountain lions is usually that when you notice them, it’s because they noticed you a long time ago. I’m just excited to get out there."
That urgency makes sense. Denver got only a small preseason sample of its quarterback, with Nix appearing in Game 2 and leading the first-team offense on two drives that produced points on both possessions, for 10 total. Outside of that, it’s been rehab and practice, and Nix said he feels the pull to get back into real competition.
“I feel like I’m pacing, and feel like I’ve been in this practice schedule for a long time. It’s exciting to go out there and play another team," Nix said.
"It’s really exciting, and I know that our guys are going to respond well. I feel like I have a great group with me that I’m going in here with.
I can’t wait.”
The Broncos also made it official this week that Nix and Sutton will both wear the captain’s label again in 2026. Nix has now been chosen as a team captain for the third straight year, while Sutton is set for his sixth consecutive season with the honor.
Monday night gives Nix more than a chance to shake off the rust. It also puts him in position to climb a few Broncos record-book ladders if the passing game catches fire.
Two touchdown passes would tie the late Craig Morton and Jay Cutler for the fifth-most games with multiple passing scores in team history. Three would move him into sole possession of fourth place.
Still, the bigger picture is much simpler: beat Kansas City.
Nix is 3-1 against the Chiefs all-time, and he earned his first win at Arrowhead Stadium late last season. But that came without Patrick Mahomes. The Broncos have never beaten the Chiefs at Arrowhead with Mahomes in the lineup, and Monday night brings Mahomes back after his multi-ligament knee injury in Week 15 last season.
That’s the hurdle in front of Denver, and Nix knows exactly what the stage means. The Broncos spent eight years stuck in football obscurity after Super Bowl 50, and Monday Night Football in Week 1 is a very different kind of spotlight.
“Absolutely, it doesn’t get old. It’s very exciting," Nix said of playing on Monday night.
"It means that you are in a really good spot as an organization, but it’s also a great responsibility. You get put on Monday Night Football in Week 1, it means you have something to go out there and prove."
If Denver can knock off Mahomes and the Chiefs, it would land as an early statement from the AFC West champs. The Broncos dethroned Kansas City last season, and a season-opening win would reinforce that last year wasn’t a one-off.
“We’re excited as a team," Nix said. "It’s going to be a really big challenge, but one that we are going to respond well to. We just have to go out there and play really hard.”
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