Broncos quarterback Bo Nix will be ready to go in about 12 weeks after the injury he suffered at the end of the divisional round playoff win over the Bills.
Nix had surgery last week on his broken right ankle and can return to activity in 12 weeks, according to ESPN.
That would put Nix on track to be ready when the offseason program starts, which is typically in late April.
Although Nix’s injury late in overtime didn’t look bad in the moment and Nix stayed in the game for the last couple plays, Broncos coach Sean Payton announced almost immediately after the win that Nix could not play in the AFC Championship Game or, if the Broncos make it, Super Bowl LX.
Nix previously suffered a season-ending broken ankle when he was in high school, and another season-ending broken ankle at Auburn in 2021. But reports indicate that the Broncos’ medical team thinks the repeated injuries are more a matter of bad luck than anything about Nix’s physiology that would suggest he’ll be susceptible to the same injury again.
Jarrett Stidham takes Nix’s place as the Broncos’ starting quarterback today.
Bo Nix’s season ended on a run for a 2-yard loss in overtime against the Bills. He stayed in the game for two more plays despite a fractured ankle.
Nix, though, will not play again this season.
The Broncos placed Nix on injured reserve on Saturday, making official the premature end of his season. Jarrett Stidham will start the AFC Championship Game on Sunday.
The Broncos used the roster spot to activate starting center Luke Wattenberg from injured reserve. He is expected to start against the Patriots.
Wattenberg went on injured reserve on Christmas Day with a shoulder injury and missed three games and the required four weeks. He had started the first 15 games, playing every snap, before his injury.
The Broncos also elevated receivers Elijah Moore and Michael Bandy from the practice squad for Sunday’s game. It is an indication that Troy Franklin, the team’s second-leading receiver, won’t play.
Franklin is listed as questionable with a hamstring injury.
The Patriots activated wide receiver Mack Hollins from injured reserve on Saturday, the team announced.
Hollins returned to practice on Thursday as a limited participant before being a full participant on Friday. He was listed as questionable but will return after missing the past four games with an abdominal injury.
The Patriots placed defensive tackle Eric Gregory on injured reserve in a corresponding move, ending Gregory’s season.
Running back Terrell Jennings (concussion protocol) and defensive tackle Joshua Farmer (hamstring) will remain on injured reserve. But the Patriots did elevate running back D’Ernest Johnson and defensive end Leonard Taylor III from the practice squad for Sunday’s game against the Broncos.
Hollins caught 46 passes for 550 yards and two touchdowns in the regular season and is a strong run blocker.
On Sunday, the New England Patriots will play in the AFC Championship for the 16th time.
That ties them for the second most appearances since the 1970 AFL-NFL merger, with the Steelers. The 49ers, who fell one game short last weekend of their 20th NFC title game, lead the way with 19.
New England has an 11-4 record in conference championships. That’s the second-highest winning percentage for teams with more than five appearances. (The Giants are a perfect 5-0.)
The highest winning percentage for teams with more than five conference championship games is New England’s opponent on Sunday. The Broncos, who’ll be playing in their 11th AFC Championship, are 8-2.
New England has been to 14 conference championship games since 1996. Which dovetails nicely with the Cowboys, who went to 14 post-merger conference championship games before 1996. In the 30 years since then, the Cowboys have zero.
The only teams who haven’t been to at least one since 1996 are the Dolphins (1992) and the Browns (1989) — if, of course, we ignore that the franchise that was the Browns moved to Baltimore and became the Ravens, which have been there five times since 1996.
The Texans, who lost to the Patriots last Sunday, are the only NFL team to never play for the right to play in the Super Bowl.
Denver practice squad wide receiver Elijah Moore hasn’t played in a game for the Broncos yet. But he has already helped the Broncos get to the AFC Championship Game. And he might get on the field in that game on Sunday.
Moore signed with the Broncos’ practice squad last month after the Bills cut him, and when the Broncos were preparing to face the Bills last week, Moore said he helped prepare his new team with everything relevant he could tell about his old team.
“I did all I can in meetings. They asked me questions. Whatever they asked, I gave it to them,” Moore told Chris Tomasson of the Denver Gazette.
Now Tomasson reports that the Broncos may elevate Moore from the practice squad to play against the Patriots. Broncos wide receiver Troy Franklin has a hamstring injury, and Moore could take Franklin’s place.
Moore is undeniably talented, and was the 34th overall pick in the 2021 NFL draft. But in stints with the Jets, Browns and Bills, he never produced to the level of his talent. The Broncos would love to see Moore show what he can do tomorrow against the Patriots.
