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The Denver Broncos are finally coming into their own under head coach Sean Payton. Denver is 8-5 heading into Week 15 and is still alive in the AFC playoff picture. One reason for Denver's recent success has been the solid quarterback play of rookie Bo Nix.
Nix spoke with reporters on Wednesday about his leadership style during his rookie season.
“That's a great question. My role right now is simply I have to go out there and perform on Sundays so that I can help these guys win games and keep these guys going,” Nix said per Zac Stevens of DNVR Sports. “That's my job as a quarterback right now. You have to honestly take the rookie out of it — it doesn't matter. They're looking at you like a starting quarterback in the league, so I just have to treat it that way.”
Nix is very aware that he has not accomplished anything yet in the NFL, so he won't pretend that he has. It seems that has earned the respect of veterans on the team.
“Right now being young, I can't talk a whole lot. There's not much I can say,” Nix continued. “I haven't really proven anything, so I just have to go out there and work. They want to see teh work, and they want to see how hard I'm preparing and what I'm doing off the field. Do I show up the same every day? I think when they see that, they have a form of respect and trust.”
Ultimately, Nix seems to understand that putting in the hard work is the best thing he can do as a rookie.
“It's all about putting my head down and working hard,” Nix concluded. “I think they respect that.”
Bo Nix sent urgent message to Broncos heading into bye week
Nix understands that even if he isn't trying to be the leader of the Broncos, he is still expected to be a franchise quarterback.
One thing that comes along with being QB1 is setting the expectations for the team. Nix did just that back in Week 13 right before the Broncos headed into their bye week.
“Finish strong,” Nix said after beating the Browns in Week 13. “We're going for a playoff spot.”
The Broncos currently hold the No. 7 seed in the AFC heading into Week 15. They should be relatively safe as long as they can string together a win or two down the stretch. The Broncos are two games ahead of the Colts and Dolphins, who are the winningest teams still in the playoff hunt.
Denver has games against Indianapolis, Los Angeles, Cincinnati, and Kansas City coming up. Those games against the Colts and Chargers could be the two most important games on the schedule for clinching a playoff berth.
It will be interesting to see what happens over the final four weeks of the regular season.
Next up for the Broncos is a Week 15 matchup against the Colts.
