Denver Broncos quarterback Bo Nix helped lead his team to a 41-32 victory over the Cleveland Browns in the rookie's first ever "Monday Night Football" game on Dec. 2, and it turns out he did so through an injury and a lot of pain. After the Broncos' wild-card loss to the Buffalo Bills on Sunday, Nix revealed that he played with a transverse process fracture in his back.
According to the Cleveland Clinic, "Transverse process fractures are a type of spinal fracture. The transverse process is the bony projection on either side of your vertebrae (the bones that make up your spinal column). They're usually caused by traumas like any other type of broken bone. ... Transverse process fractures can happen along any part of your spine, but they're most common in your lower back (your lumbar spine).
Nix revealed that he suffered the injury on Nov. 24 against the Las Vegas Raiders, a 29-19 win in which Nix threw for 273 passing yards and two touchdowns. As you can see in the video below, the injury appeared to bother Nix, though not enough for him to leave the game.
#broncos QB Bo Nix was listed as limited in the estimated injury report today because of a back injury. Against the #raiders you could see times where he was in pain. The medical staff wrapped it on the sideline after his touchdown throw to Courtland Sutton pic.twitter.com/UsvBk7lno8
— James Palmer (@JamesPalmerTV) November 28, 2024
The 24-year-old noted that all players deal with injuries on some level at some point of their career, calling his "annoying." He pushed through and played the next week, in part because he didn't want to miss his "Monday Night Football" debut.
"Obviously, we all play through some bruises and some cuts and scrapes, but the Vegas week … I had a little transverse process fracture in my back but that week got treatment and kinda made it through that week. 'Monday Night Football' was a stretch that we were all kinda banged up, and you know I wasn't gonna miss the first Monday night game, so I got treatment on it. We were fortunate to have an off week that next week and it kind of went away after that."
He added, "For that moment, it was annoying, but we all play with annoying things."
Bo Nix explains playing with three transverse process fractures in his back, which he suffered at Las Vegas on Nov. 24: "I wasn't going to miss the first Monday night game (vs. Cleveland)," he said. "For that moment it was annoying. But we all play with annoying things." pic.twitter.com/HpRqKfR3t7
— Andrew Mason (@MaseDenver) January 13, 2025
Nix did appear on the injury report ahead of their Week 13 prime time game, listed with a back injury and given no game designation. In the win, Nix had 294 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions.
This season, Nix threw for 3,775 yards and 29 touchdowns compared to 12 interceptions to go along with 430 rushing yards with four touchdowns on the ground. The Broncos ended the regular season with a record of 10-7, finishing themselves third in the AFC West behind the Kansas City Chiefs and Los Angeles Chargers and earning the No. 7 seed.
Denver had a tall task going up against the second-seeded Bills, and while it took an early lead, Buffalo responded with 31 unanswered points, taking the win and moving onto the next round. In that loss, Nix went 13 of 22 with 144 yards and one touchdown.
The Broncos took Nix at No. 12 overall in the 2024 NFL Draft. He had a solid rookie season, breaking a few records along the way. He broke the record for touchdown passes at home by a rookie (19), had the second-most passing touchdowns by a rookie in NFL history (29), broke Peyton Manning's franchise record for highest completion percentage in a single game (89.7%) and became the first Broncos quarterback to lead the team to the playoffs in his rookie year since John Elway did it.
