{"id":867186,"date":"2026-08-22T08:32:18","date_gmt":"2026-08-22T08:32:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/867186\/"},"modified":"2026-08-22T08:32:18","modified_gmt":"2026-08-22T08:32:18","slug":"bo-nix-shines-in-return-from-broken-ankle-but-broncos-fall-to-packers-33-13","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/867186\/","title":{"rendered":"Bo Nix shines in return from broken ankle, but Broncos fall to Packers 33-13"},"content":{"rendered":"

DENVER (AP) Bo Nix ‘s 21-yard touchdown toss to R.J. Harvey two plays after hooking up with new speedster Jaylen Waddle for 35 yards highlighted the Denver quarterback’s return successful return from a broken ankle in the Broncos<\/a>‘ 33-13 loss to the Green Bay Packers<\/a> on Friday night.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt felt great,\u201d Nix said after working with new play-caller Davis Webb for the first time in a game. \u201cJust like any typical year, going out for the first drive, there’s going to be some different things that you can grow from. But I felt like for the first drive of the season it was solid.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the strongest emotion was when I got out there it was just like riding a bike; nothing really changed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nix’s second and final series ended with a 53-yard field goal from Wil Lutz, but Pierre Strong Jr. returned the ensuing kickoff 68 yards, setting up Trey Smack’s first of four field goals, a 51-yarder that tied it at 10.<\/p>\n

The Nix-Waddle connection is a work in progress as Nix missed most of the offseason and Waddle missed a week of training camp.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s coming along,” Waddle said. “We\u2019ve got a lot of work to do. But it was a good time. It\u2019s good to get back out there with all the guys.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nix completed 6 of 9 passes for 76 yards and the touchdown in his first live action for the Broncos (1-1) since breaking his right ankle against Buffalo in the playoffs seven months ago. He underwent surgery in January and had a follow-up procedure to remove bone spurs in the spring.<\/p>\n

The Packers (1-1) dominated every phase in snapping Denver’s eight-game winning streak in the preseason.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can’t think of one area we outplayed them,\u201d lamented Broncos coach Sean Payton.<\/p>\n

Jordan Love drove Green Bay on a 12-play, 63-yard touchdown drive in his only series, which he capped with an 11-yard touchdown throw to Lloyd for a 7-0 lead.<\/p>\n

That series looked short-lived when cornerback Riley Moss recovered Christian Watson’s fumble on the second play of the game, but a review determined Watson’s knee was down just as the Pat Surtain II was ripping the ball out of Watson’s arms.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe’s definitely one of the best corners in the game,\u201d Love said about Surtain. \u201cAnd he does a great job just everything he does. So, definitely got a lot of respect for him. He made a great play trying to get the ball out, but that’s just what he does. He’s a sticky corner. He does a lot of good things. I’m excited for him, the year he’s going to have.\u201d<\/p>\n

Moss, who’s had a terrific training camp and had an interception in Denver’s 27-7 win over Atlanta in the Broncos’ preseason opener, left the game with a rib injury later in that drive and didn’t return.<\/p>\n

Former University of Colorado receiver Will Sheppard’s toe-dragging 2-yard touchdown catch from Tyrod Taylor gave Green Bay a 17-10 lead and Smack kicked field goals of 59 and 44 yards sandwiched around Mark Perry’s interception of Broncos backup Jarrett Stidham’s pass to send Green Bay into halftime with a 23-10 lead.<\/p>\n

Jaden Nixon’s 3-yard TD run made it 30-13 and Smack added a 38-yard field goal with 1:05 remaining.<\/p>\n

The Broncos were upset about their performance but happy to see Nix back.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought he did a great job,\u201d said Broncos QB Sam Ehlinger, who is vying for the backup job with Stidham. \u201cIt was right back to post-season form, really. Didn’t miss a beat. Really happy for him. He’s in a great spot. He’s been looking good and clearly he’s feeling good.\u201d<\/p>\n

Packers: Host Arizona on Friday night.<\/p>\n

Broncos: Host Minnesota on Friday night.<\/p>\n

—<\/p>\n

See AP\u2019s full NFL coverage here<\/p>\n

\n Copyright 2026 STATS LLC and Associated Press. Any commercial use or distribution without the express written consent of STATS LLC and Associated Press is strictly prohibited.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"DENVER (AP) Bo Nix ‘s 21-yard touchdown toss to R.J. Harvey two plays after hooking up with new…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":847643,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[436],"tags":[49,48,1743,1730,514,82],"class_list":["post-867186","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nfl","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-denver-broncos","tag-green-bay-packers","tag-nfl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/867186","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=867186"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/867186\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/847643"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=867186"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=867186"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=867186"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}