Sean Payton roasts FS1’s Geoff Schwartz for Bo Nix take

If you’re going to be critical of Denver Broncos quarterback Bo Nix, just know Sean Payton will be there to fact-check you.

Geoff Schwartz has been filling in on FS1’s First Things First this week, and Payton doesn’t seem to believe he was prepared for the task. At least not when it came to talking about Bo Nix.

Asked whether Nix is more likely to take a step forward or back as he enters the third season of his NFL career, Schwartz picked “step back” before providing his explanation.

“I do think he just is what he is at this point. He looks like the same quarterback he was in college… He’s consistent. He’s not gonna make mistakes. But he’s not gonna push the ball down the field all that often.”@geoffschwartz says Bo Nix is who he is: pic.twitter.com/n8QL2op2k8

— First Things First (@FTFonFS1) August 26, 2026

“I do think he just is what he is at this point. He looks like the same quarterback he was in college,” Schwartz said, noting he watched every one of Nix’s college snaps. “He’s consistent. He’s not gonna make mistakes. But he’s not gonna push the ball down the field all that often. We know his aerial yards are short; his sort of advanced stats kind of put him right in the middle of the NFL… Sean Payton needs to get him to throw the ball in-between the hashes.”

Schwartz proceeded to credit Payton for building an offense around what Nix is capable of doing, noting Denver has done a good job of maximizing their quarterback’s talents. But Payton had no interest in giving Schwartz credit for doing his job as an analyst.

After First Things First posted the show clip about Nix on social media, it was quickly community noted, with comments pointing out that he has thrown more touchdown passes of at least 20 yards than any other quarterback in the NFL since the start of the 2024 season. The stat directly contradicts Schwartz downplaying Nix’s aerial yards. But even worse than being community-noted was being Sean Payton-noted. Because Payton jumped into the replies to call Schwartz out as well.

Always easy to tell who works at it and who doesn’t.

— Sean Payton (@SeanPayton) August 27, 2026

“Always easy to tell who works at it and who doesn’t,” Payton replied to First Things First’s video.

Credit Schwartz for making the most of his fill-in opportunity by getting Payton’s attention, even if the Broncos head coach implied his analysis was lazy.

Payton worked at Fox for one season between NFL head-coaching jobs before joining the Broncos. Maybe he likes keeping up to date on his former employer by watching their social media clips. But if Payton was going to take the time to defend his quarterback by replying to a First Things First fill-in on X, you have to wonder how he handled Colin Cowherd claiming he was on the verge of dumping Nix last season.