DENVER – Those who played for him, coached alongside him or have known him for some time say Denver Broncos coach Sean Payton had a fiery, needle-in-the-red “game-day Sean” personality.

If Broncos rookie quarterback Bo Nix wasn’t introduced to “game-day Sean” before Sunday, he certainly was with 1 minute, 39 seconds left in the third quarter of the Broncos’ 34-18 victory over the Las Vegas Raiders at Empower Field at Mile High.

The two had a heated argument after a potential touchdown pass from Nix to rookie Troy Franklin fell incomplete on a third-down play, an exchange that heated up again on the bench and eventually included Franklin at wide receiver. Courtland Sutton tried to get everyone to their neutral corners.

“It’s part of the deal,” Payton said. “…There’s still a little Ferris Bueller in this player that we need to get rid of, speaking of Bo, and I love him to death. Sometimes it’s my love language.”

In “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off,” the 1986 John Hughes-directed comedy, Matthew Broderick plays the main character: a snarky and rebellious high school student from suburban Chicago who skips school to have one last adventure before graduation.

Asked to explain why Nix reminded him of the film’s protagonist, Payton added:

“Ferris was kind of headstrong and would do his own thing at times,” Payton said. ‘Have you seen the movie? Have you ever seen it? He’s still got a little bit of Ferris Bueller in him… look, there are times when you send something out and I don’t want it to get turned around, and then it gets turned around, and so it’s all good. He’s working his tail off and I’ll be right there. It just is what it is.”

Asked for his opinion, Nix said with a smile: “He turned around and looked at me and said ‘I love you’ and I turned around and said ‘I love you’ back.”

It was the most visible sideline interaction Payton has had with a Broncos quarterback since his rape of Russell Wilson during the team’s loss in Detroit last December was caught on camera.

With 1:46 left in the third quarter, the Broncos had a third-and-3 at the Raiders’ 45-yard line. Nix evaded the Raiders’ rush on the play and saw Franklin sprint to the right sideline without a defender within five yards.

Nix said his pass was knocked over slightly because the diving Franklin couldn’t get on it. Nix and Payton had words as Nix ran to the sideline and moments later on the Broncos bench, Nix, Franklin and Payton all fired missions and waved their hands.

Sutton appeared to try to separate everyone involved and later went over to shake hands with Nix before the Broncos’ next possession.

“Simple play, (Payton) wanted it to the boundary and it just got a little confused in the group and I tried to get things right and in the end we got it and we had a chance and I knocked it over but that’s part of the game sometimes,” Nix said. “With the huddle operation, sometimes with the play clock moving, you just have to make the best of it and luckily it didn’t bite us.”

Nix later threw his second touchdown pass of the game and ran for a touchdown in the fourth quarter. The rookie had one touchdown pass in the first four games of the season.

“I watched the film, I think that’s funny… we’re just out there with great competitiveness and fire and we can have those conversations and go right back on and score a few more touchdowns and it doesn’t bother us,” Nix said, “I think that movie is funny… I’ve only seen it a few times because it’s kind of old.”

Nix wore a throwback John Elway jersey after the game. The Broncos also had their alumni weekend, honoring the 1977 Orange Crush defense. The Broncos wore throwback uniforms with the ’77 colors and logo during Sunday’s game.

“Growing up, he was my dad’s favorite quarterback,” Nix said of Elway. “… Because that was my dad’s favorite player, just two guys that put me in a situation where I could go out there and have success. … I had him in the closet and wanted to start using him.” ‘