Bo Nix said Tuesday that his surgically repaired right ankle feels healthy enough to handle full work now, a sign the Denver Broncos quarterback believes he is already past the final hurdle in his recovery. He spoke at the start of mandatory minicamp and said he could be “full go right now” if the team wanted him to.
The update matters because Nix was limited at Monday’s practice and is trying to put a fractured ankle behind him before training camp in July. His injury came late in the Broncos’ Divisional Round victory over the Bills in January and kept him out of the AFC Championship Game loss to the Patriots, but he said the concern around the ankle has been overstated.
“It’s a broken bone, for crying out loud,” Nix said, pushing back on the idea that the issue is lingering in a serious way. He said the ankle is “back healthy as good as new,” and added that he had not felt that way in a couple of years, which is why he expects to move around better than before. That is the sharpest sign yet that the third-year quarterback sees himself as ready for the next stage of the offseason program.
There is still a small catch hidden inside the upbeat tone. Nix also said the ankle needed a cleanup procedure after swelling caused by bone spurs following his late January surgery, which explains why the recovery took more than one step even after the original fracture was repaired. The sequence is straightforward: the ankle was broken in January, fixed in late January, then trimmed up again after the swelling problem appeared.
Sean Payton has already said Nix should be good to go well in advance of training camp in July, and that is the practical checkpoint now. The Broncos have reason to want that timeline to hold. Nix said he wants a strong completion percentage, wants to get the ball out quickly and wants very few turnovers, with the larger goal unchanged: win the Super Bowl and MVP. With a strong offensive line and a first-rate defense behind him, his health may be the one thing Denver is watching closest as July approaches.
