ENGLEWOOD, Colo. (AP) — When Sean Payton called the half-dozen Denver Broncos players who were selected to the Pro Bowl, he had a surprise awaiting from ninth-year left tackle Garett Bolles.

“When I called each one of those guys, I did not know it was his first,” Payton said Tuesday of Bolles' Pro Bowl nod.

Bolles, a second-team All-Pro selection in 2020, didn't mind.

“It was a pretty special moment,” Bolles said. “I'm the type of guy that I work in the shadows. That's how I've been my whole life.”

Quarterback Bo Nix said Bolles, who hasn't surrendered a sack in 2025, called his shot back in the offseason.

“We talked about how he was going to be a dominant player this year and you're not voted to go to the Pro Bowl without having a dominant year,” Nix said. “He called it, he answered the bell, it was something that he really wanted this year and he went out and got it.

“And it just speaks to how good of a player he is," Nix added. “He's earned it. We're all proud of him. He's had a tough nine years but the way he's playing right now you would say he's had a great nine years. So, I think he's learned a lot along the way and that's probably why he's playing the way he is in year nine.”

Payton figured this had to be a repeat honor for Bolles, the blind-side protector who's blocked for 13 quarterbacks since his rookie season with Denver in 2017.

“You love being able to call players and give them that news,” Payton said. “And then in the team meeting we recognized them all. And then I told them how their union and the management council screwed it all up because that used to be a pretty good game in Hawaii and now we're doing sack races and other stuff.”

Not that any of the Broncos plan on participating. They hope to be preparing for the Super Bowl instead.

The Broncos (12-3) had an NFL-high six players selected to the Pro Bowl — tied with the Ravens, 49ers and Seahawks. CB Patrick Surtain II (fourth), LB Nik Bonitto (second) and WR Courtland Sutton (second) are repeat Pro Bowlers.

RG Quinn Meinerz and DE Zach Allen each earned their first Pro Bowl nod, like Bolles.

“Pretty amazing, man,” Bolles said. “We're having a hell of a season, we're having obviously the best season we've had since I've been here. So, having all my teammates with me, seeing everybody get the rewards they deserve is a special moment for all of us.”

Bolles knows what it's like to get snubbed from the Pro Bowl, so his excitement was tempered knowing some teammates such as safety Talanoa Hufanga didn't make it.

“We have a lot of guys in this locker room that deserve it and didn't get it,” he said. “And our season, there's a reason why we're winning. A lot of guys are dominating their positions, they're top at their positions in the league and a lot of players respect us, coaches respect us, teams respect us.”

The Broncos visit the Kansas City Chiefs (6-9) on Christmas night.

How the Jaguars used a 'small market' comment as a catalyst to end the Broncos' 11-game win streak

DENVER (AP) — One man's flowers are apparently another man's sours.

“Great team effort. Just thankful that a small market team like us can come into a place like Mile High and get it done,” Jaguars coach Liam Coen cracked after Jacksonville's statement 34-20 win in Denver on Sunday that snapped the Broncos' 11-game winning streak and tightened the AFC playoff race before the holidays.

Coen used an innocuous comment — or attempted compliment — from Broncos coach Sean Payton earlier in the week as a rallying cry for his upstart team, which has won six straight games, vaulting into the mix for the AFC's top playoff seed at 11-4, a game behind both the Broncos and Patriots.

Several of his players repeated some form of what they considered Denver's diss in the aftermath of Jacksonville's signature win. But Payton insisted he meant no disrespect last Wednesday when he mentioned the Jaguars hailing from a “smaller market.”

Asked last Wednesday about the challenge of facing Jacksonville, Payton praised Coen and his staff as well as the Jaguars' offense, defense and special teams in trying to make the point that they had closed in on the playoff field and seemingly weren’t getting their proper respect nationally.

He ended his windy list of obstacles the Broncos were facing in the Jaguars with this summation: "As you look at them and you watch the tape, it’s a smaller market but you see a real good team.”

Which, in fact, are the facts.

The Jaguars are third in the AFC playoff positioning heading into Week 17, and like the Green Bay Packers, Buffalo Bills, New Orleans Saints and Tennessee Titans, they operate in one of the league's smaller metro areas and television markets.

Payton didn't seem bothered by the way the Jaguars had taken this words out of context to use as a motivational tool. He actually admired Coen for doing so.

“My press conference, it was very complimentary and those guys are playing outstanding football," Payton said Monday. “That topic came up strictly because, ‘Hey, not enough of the country has seen how good these guys are playing.’

“The point is though, listen, that was a good job by Liam," Payton added. "He was looking for a rallying cry. Obviously, if you were listening to the press conference, the intention was strictly, ‘Hey, quietly, these guys are sitting here right near the top of the AFC, they’re ready to win their division.’

“I spent 16 years at a small market. It was just a way for a coach to take it and use it to his advantage.”

After Sunday’s performance in Denver, nobody should be dismissing or dissing Jacksonville now.

Yet, Jaguars cornerback Jarrian Jones would just as soon everybody keep overlooking them and keep their compliments to themselves.

“I don’t even want it. Keep doubting us,” Jones said. "We want to show up every Sunday and you have to play us no matter where we’re at. We play in the snow, we play in the rain, whatever you want to do. I think the Jags are going to be ready to play.”

Which was sort of Payton's point all along.