With the Pro Bowl quarterbacks dropping out like flies, Denver Broncos rookie Bo Nix — voted an alternate in December — had the invitation to go fill a spot. Nix declined due to undergoing a “minor” procedure back home.

It would have been nice to have a Pro Bowl on Nix’s resume already. However, according to Peyton Manning, there are other benefits to the Pro Bowl games that Nix unfortunately opted to forgo.

“I wish he could have come down here,” Manning said via Denver Sports‘ Andrew Mason. “I think this would have benefited him to be around pros like Joe Burrow. Anyway, [he had a] great first year, and sky’s the limit for him.”

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In a perfect world, Nix would surely have loved to spend time around ‘Coach’ Manning and the other high-level AFC quarterbacks like Burrow. But delaying the “routine and minor” cleanup procedure this past week would have kicked the can down the road and risked further exacerbating the issue.

Nix suffered a transverse process fracture in his back in Week 12, and played through the injury. While mum’s been the word on exactly what Nix is having “cleaned up,” it doesn’t take Sherlock Holmes to deduce it might have something to do with his back.

Obviously, Nix opted to bite the bullet on the procedure now, despite the cost of declining the Pro Bowl, to allow himself the maximum amount of time possible to recover before OTAs roll around, which is followed by the grueling training camp experience, then the 17-game war of attrition that is the regular season.

Basically, Nix put the Broncos first, before the Pro Bowl accolade, and that should be an encouraging thing to fans. He wasn’t slathering to get the a Pro Bowl next to his name on Wikipedia. He wants to be 100% healthy to help the Broncos take the next step in 2025.

Nix was the first quarterback to lead the Broncos to the playoffs since Manning in 2015. Manning joined the Broncos as a free agent in 2012, and led the team to four straight AFC West crowns, two AFC Championships, and won a Super Bowl.

Manning held the rookie passing touchdown record for 10-plus years before Russell Wilson tied him in 2012 (26). Baker Mayfield broke the record in 2018 with 27, which was followed by Justin Herbert obliterating the mark in 2020.

Nix passed for 29 touchdowns, the second-most in NFL history for a rookie, and just three short of breaking Herbert’s mark. In more ways than one, Nix’s rookie year was historic.

He reset the Broncos rookie record books, and joined John Elway in several distinctions and milestones. Best of all, he finally led the Broncos out of the doldrums, after wandering the quarterback desert for nearly a decade post-Manning.

Something tells me this won’t be Nix’s last chance to rub elbows with the NFL’s top quarterbacks at the Pro Bowl.

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