Sad Photo of Bo Nix Sitting in a Hallway With Broncos Teammates Loved by NFL Fans

Bo Nix didn’t get the storybook ending to his 2025 campaign that he would have wanted after suffering a season-ending ankle injury late in Saturday’s divisional round victory over the Bills. But, at least the Broncos quarterback knows he won’t have to go through his grief alone.

Days after Nix fractured a bone in his right ankle on the penultimate play in the Broncos’ thrilling 33-30 overtime win, a new photo of him crouched in a corner in a hallway in Denver’s locker room has surfaced. Nix’s wife, Izzy, shared the original pic to her Instagram Stories, giving fans a tender behind-the-scenes portrait of a young quarterback who lost out on his Super Bowl dreams but hasn’t at all lost his desire to compete.

“I snuck this picture because I wanted to remember this moment forever,” Izzy wrote in the caption. “The joy, followed by the heartbreak, followed by watching each teammate and coach come to this little corner and sit by Bo’s side.”

Powerful stuff. Here’s that emotional photo, which showed a grim Nix sitting on the ground—with his injured right ankle in view—surrounded by fellow quarterbacks Jarrett Stidham and Sam Ehlinger:

Bo Nix’s wife, Izzy, with a photo of the hallway scene Sean Payton talked about Saturday night.

Nix, his dad, Davis Webb and fellow QBs Jarrett Stidham and Sam Ehlinger. pic.twitter.com/4kEDOpfLPs
— Parker Gabriel (@ParkerJGabriel) January 19, 2026

NFL fans found the photo both heartbreaking and inspiring at the same time:

Stidham right there too

This has the chance to be the toughest picture in Broncos history https://t.co/BWQVrgLL4n
— Michael🇲🇽 (@RespectMyCos) January 19, 2026

This is heartbreaking https://t.co/ht4jX5Mixo
— skip d (@skipdefabry) January 19, 2026

Do It For Bo! https://t.co/pTWvCVFbx0
— Christopher Orris (@chrisorris24) January 19, 2026

I always love a good human moment in football https://t.co/N8tdzNIWvA
— First Church of Goff (@1stChurchofGoff) January 19, 2026

Payton briefly mentioned the somber hallway scene in his press conference in which he told reporters the message he gave to Nix in the wake of his devastating injury:

“I’ll tell you what, the one thing about it, he’s such a strong, faith-based guy," Payton said. "He was sitting in the hallway with his family, and I went over, and we’re all talking to him. He knows that God has a plan for him.

“He said he had one in high school, and then he said he had one at Auburn. ... I said, ‘Listen. I believe you’re the second quarterback in Year 2 to take your team to a championship game, and the first is [Patrick] Mahomes. This team all year has lost key players, and we’ll rise up for the next challenge and we’ll go from there.’”

Nix put together an impressive season in his second year in the league, leading Denver to a first-place finish in the AFC West and the No. 1 seed before toppling Josh Allen and the Bills in the biggest game of his NFL career—thus far. As Payton stated, the 25-year-old has every reason to be hopeful for the future after he and a hungry and talented Broncos squad defied expectations with their astonishing Cinderella run this winter. And they’re not quite done yet, with backup quarterback Jarrett Stidham preparing for his big-time start in the AFC title game against the Patriots next Sunday.

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