Road To Playoffs Can Be Long, Brutal Grind _ Or Rapid Ride

Fatherly advice? As it’s in Buffalo, Von Miller Sr. figured, he’s probably just going to wing it. “Of course, he and I had conversations about it,” the father of Broncos icon — and current Bills pass-rushing ace — Von Miller told me Tuesday by phone from Texas. “I know how he feels.

Before Bo Nix took a victory lap around Empower Field to celebrate the Broncos’ first playoff berth in nine years, the rookie quarterback first had to earn his teammates’ trust. That was earned on a Friday morning in August during a joint practice with the Packers. And Nix only needed four plays during a two-minute drill to do it. The first-round pick quickly led Denver down the field, put his team in scoring position, and created more separation between him and Jarrett Stidham and Zach Wilson in the team’s starting quarterback competition. “We got within five yards of scoring, and (Green Bay) said, ‘Let’s start it over,’” wide receiver Courtland Sutton recalled after the Broncos beat Kansas City, 38-0, on Sunday to clinch a playoff spot. “Seeing a young guy like Bo — this was probably three weeks into training camp — to go out there and orchestrate a two-minute drill against a defense of that caliber was definitely encouraging.” Green Bay arrived in Denver as one of the best teams in the NFC, led by star quarterback Jordan Love.

Nuggets center Nikola Jokic will not play against the Boston Celtics on Tuesday night, the team announced. Jokic is dealing with a non-COVID illness and did not warm up on the main floor at Ball Arena before the game, which will be broadcast on TNT with an 8 p.m. tip. It’s the fourth game he has missed this season.

Colorado left town earlier than usual for a business trip, getting ahead of the winter storm to relocate to Orlando, Fla., where even Tuesday’s temperature in the high 50s probably was a welcome relief. Before the Buffaloes vacated Boulder, though, they battled through some frustrations. The CU men’s basketball team went through a tough practice on Monday before flying to Orlando, where they will visit the Central Florida Knights for the first time as Big 12 Conference rivals on Wednesday night. The Buffs are coming off arguably their most frustrating effort of the season, losing by 20 points at Arizona State against a Sun Devils squad missing its leading scorer.

Colorado guard Kindyll Wetta, left, talks with head coach JR Payne during a game against Baylor on Jan. 4, 2025, at Foster Pavilion in Waco, Texas. (CU Athletics) Losing both games on a road trip to Texas didn’t damage the confidence of the Colorado women’s basketball team. It did, however, spotlight some of the areas in which the Buffaloes have to improve. “We’re good; 100 percent we’re good,” Buffs junior Jade Masogayo said.

More experience is joining the herd on the defensive line. On Tuesday, former Texas State defensive lineman Tavian Coleman announced that he plans to transfer to Colorado and play his final season of college football for head coach Deion Sanders and the Buffaloes. In two seasons at Texas State, the 6-foot-1, 300-pound Coleman started all 26 games for the Bobcats.