by Although he successfully led the Denver Broncos to the playoffs, quarterback Bo Nix revealed Monday that he had to overcome a number of minor back fractures to do it.
Nix, fresh off the team’s 31-7 loss to the Buffalo Bills in the first round of the playoffs on Sunday, said he suffered a series of transverse process fractures in his back. That injury cleared up in time for the playoffs, but he picked up a few key wins as he fought through it.
Nix said he went down during their win over the Las Vegas Raiders on Nov. 24. Nix was sacked by Raiders’ defenseman Tyree Wilson in the second quarter of that game, according to 9News, and suffered a sore back as he went down. The transverse process is the bony protrusion on either side of your vertebrae, and the bones extend perpendicular to their length when broken, according to the Cleveland Clinic.
After the injury, Nix threw a pair of touchdowns in the second half of their win against the Raiders. He then returned the following week to lead them past the Browns in a Monday night game. Nix then had a bye week to recover.
“I wouldn’t miss the first game on Monday night,” he said, via 9News. “I got treatment for it and then we were lucky enough to have a week off the following week and then it more or less disappeared. That moment was annoying, but we are all playing with something.”
Nix, who the Broncos took with the No. 12 overall pick in last year’s draft, threw for 3,775 yards with 29 touchdowns and 12 interceptions this season. He went 13 of 22 for 144 yards with a touchdown in Sunday’s loss to the Bills. He also led the team on the ground with 43 rushing yards and four carries. Although they were bounced from the playoffs in the first round, it was the team’s first postseason appearance since their Super Bowl run during the 2015 campaign.
