Through the first five weeks of the season, Denver Broncos quarterback Bo Nix has been uncharacteristically not himself. Through the first five games, Nix is 97-of-162 passing for 942 yards with six touchdowns and three interceptions. Nix has a career-low completion percentage thus far, which has begun to concern fans and experts.
While multiple factors could contribute to Nix's performance, including his surgically repaired ankle (although Nix has said his ankle is healthy). Another factor could be the mental element, and the quarterback has admitted that.
“I think just making it simple," Nix said on Tuesday when asked about what he can do better. "Making things, ‘One, two, three.’ Let’s play fast, and let’s roll. I think sometimes I can have
a tendency of overanalyzing and overthinking things, and that’s when I’m not at my best. I want to have all the answers and get everything right, and it’s too difficult. Eleven guys moving on defense, it’s tough to always figure it out. I do think I can make the game simpler and just get back to, ‘One, two, checkdown,’ that sort of thing and making sure my reads are on point.”
Nix was backed up by one of his favorite targets, wide receiver Courtland Sutton. Sutton sympathized with his quarterback and acknowledged the weight that comes with being the face of the team.
"(Nix) gets a lot of flak for just being the starting quarterback, and we all have certain things that come with our job description," Sutton said on Tuesday. "For him, he has a lot of weight on his shoulders. So if it’s not even just myself, I think you ask all the guys in that locker room, offense guys, special teams, everyone has his back. We all know that for us to have success, we need [No.] 10 to be able to have that success. We’re going to always have his back no matter what. … I think that we all have that mentality of wanting to make sure that he feels comfortable, confident to be able to go out there and play fast.”
Nix also admitted that he's been holding back at times in fear of making mistakes.
"That's honestly and truly the biggest battle right now," Nix said on Tuesday. "(I) wanna be aggressive, wanna be aggressive, wanna be aggressive, and then you see stats, and this team is causing the most turnovers in the league, and you're like, 'OK, I can't put my team in a situation where I'm turning the football over and putting our defense in a bad spot and giving them a short field. At the end of the day, it's like, who cares? Why would I go out there worried about throwing an interception? Why would I go out there trying to throw every football 50 yards down the field? Just play the play. If the play is there, hit it. If it's not, check it down, run, throw it away... I just have to remind myself not to play hero ball. It's just one play at a time. Do exactly what I'm supposed to do."
Bo Nix seems like he's embracing the let it rip mindset:
— Romi Bean (@Romi_Bean) October 13, 2026
"at the end of the day, it's like, who cares? Why would I go out there worried about throwing an interception? Why would I go out there trying to throw every football 50 yards down the field? Just play the play. If the… pic.twitter.com/Bw3oyThVFO
Nix has a great chance to follow coach Sean Payton's advice and "let it rip" when the Broncos host the Seattle Seahawks on Thursday Night Football this evening.
Let's hope he can pull things together and have his first great performance of the season.
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This article originally appeared on Broncos Wire: Broncos QB Bo Nix aims to play more free: ‘Who cares?’
