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ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — Denver Broncos quarterback Bo Nix made his first appearance in a full offseason practice Tuesday and said he remains on track to be ready for training camp next month.
He also revealed that the April surgery he underwent on the right ankle he fractured in the AFC divisional round was for bone spurs.
Nix did limited work in the Broncos' first mandatory minicamp practice of the week, throwing in individual drills in the early portion of the practice. He did not take part in team drills and is expected to have limited duty for the remainder of minicamp this week, but it was the most on-field work he has done with his teammates in the offseason program.
"He's doing well, he's doing really well,'' Broncos coach Sean Payton said after practice. "He'll clearly be ready in time for training camp … it's good to have him out here in uniform.''
Nix fractured his right ankle on Jan. 17 during a game-winning drive in overtime against Buffalo. He had surgery two days later in Birmingham at the Andrews Sports Medicine and Orthopedics Clinic.
Nix then returned to Birmingham for a follow-up surgery in April to alleviate pain from bone spurs.
On Tuesday, Nix explained that he was ahead of schedule in his recovery from the fracture, but he was experiencing pain from the bone spurs.
"[I] felt pretty good, was still having a little bit of an issue with bone spurs,'' Nix said. "What we did was — even though I probably could've gone again and [played] the whole season again — it was just aggravating me for too long. So, what we did was, since I was a little bit ahead, thought it best to go ahead and decompress it a little bit. Then [I] still had plenty of time to get back for the summer and to prepare for the season.''
Nix's recovery has been one of the most talked about elements of the team's offseason in the Rocky Mountain region.
He joked Tuesday: "I have little kids at the park asking me if my legs are crooked and all that.''
"I asked him, 'Does it look like my ankles are crooked?' He sort of gave me a good 'no,'" Nix said. "Thank God he didn't say 'yes.' I think it's funny. The kid was probably 12, and that's just the life that he lives. He thought it was cool to ask, but it is part of it. I learned a long time ago, when you live this life and when you are thrown into the center of attention, you carry a lot of burdens, good and bad, and you just have to roll with all of them.''
Nix said he believes he could have participated fully in this week's minicamp if the team's medical staff and coaches would have let him. Nix has been rehabbing daily at the Broncos' complex during the offseason.
He has had multiple ankle surgeries and ankle fractures dating back to high school. But he reaffirmed his belief that his mobility and style of play would not be affected.
"It was hard because I wanted to be full speed so fast, but that's just unfortunately not how post-surgery goes. [I've] been there, had an ankle fracture in college, so knew sort of what the rehab was,'' Nix said. "Just wanted to go ahead and get (the spurs) out of the way for good. … the doctors told me that the ankle looks good as new. We're right back to normal.''
Both Payton and Nix expect the quarterback to be fully cleared medically to participate as soon as training camp opens during the last week of July.
