Sean Payton and quarterback Bo Nix quickly made headlines after their game against the Raiders last season for one moment where the two appeared to be arguing. Something similar happened again this week. The two went viral for another moment from the game against the Colts, where the QB appeared to be yelling at the coach. However, that is not what happened. Coach Payton explained it to be an “affirmation.”

“It wasn’t what it appeared,” Payton said. “It was an affirmation of, ‘This is what we’re wanting to do.’ I was looking at it and trying to think — I don’t recall — I think it was more about excitement. I saw it, and it was following, I think, a series where we ran it pretty well.” This exchange took place in the third quarter after a failed drive caused by a miscommunication between Bo Nix and rookie running back RJ Harvey.

As the quarterback walked past Payton, who was speaking to him, the coach had to call him to turn around. Now, Bo Nix recalls the exchange somewhat differently. “That was just something as simple as, he asked me what happened on a play, I told him,” the QB recalled. “I turned, and he couldn’t quite hear, so I turned back and told him again. There was no issue. Yeah, it was just a quick conversation with the head coach. Nothing pressing.”

As this exchange is getting viral, the 25-year-old believes that people or the media are making too big a deal out of a normal sideline chat. In a loud stadium, with so many people talking, players often have to raise their voice so their coach or teammates can hear them. That doesn’t mean it was an argument. But still, many believed it to be an argument since the Broncos had already made a few mistakes, including penalties, turnovers, and missed assignments, in their 29-28 loss to the Colts in Lucas Oil Stadium.

And those failed plays are the ones that have Bo Nix’s focus “because that’s how you learn and get better and find ways to improve.” But the idea of argument could have also formed due to Payton’s previous arguments with Nix, as well as quarterback Russell Wilson. During Wilson’s time with the Broncos, the coach once yelled at the QB. That took place during a game against the Detroit Lions. Later, the coach explained that he was simply upset over an offside penalty that stopped the Broncos from cutting the deficit. When asked about it, he responded to the reporter, “Listen, what I talk to Russell about is none of your business.”

That wasn’t even an exchange with Wilson, as the QB was quietly listening to the coach as Payton screamed. But things do look hopeful with Nix, who is vocal about the issues. Nevertheless, the two are more open about what had happened.

A past argument between Bo Nix and Sean Payton has hit the internet, too!

So, was that serious? Perhaps, not. The two people have different opinions and approaches to the game, and clashes are common, maybe even healthy for relationships. The QB knows better who said that their exchange in the 34-18 win against the Raiders last year was all love. “Yeah, well, he turned and looked at me and said, ‘I love you,'” Nix joked. “And I turned and said, ‘I love you’ back.”

That time, the two arguably had a heated exchange after a touchdown pass from the QB to Troy Franklin fell incomplete in the end zone. Sure, Nix can be right. But there was something more than that. The coach later revealed that Nix had flipped a play that he didn’t want him to. But Payton, for his part, also gave an amusing response.

He went on to drag Ferris Bueller into the conversation. “There’s still a little Ferris Bueller in this player that we’ve got to get rid of, talking about Bo, and I love him to death,” he said. So, he wasn’t lying. When asked about why he feels Nix resembled Bueller from the 1986 John Hughes-directed comedy, he explained that the character is “quirky” and does his “own thing once in a while.”

So, overall, there have been several such instances in the past, and there will likely be more. But that should be all good as long as their relationship doesn’t take a hit.