Ferris Bueller isn’t getting a day off, but he isn’t in trouble either.

Broncos head coach Sean Payton reiterated Monday what seemed clear from Sunday’s 34-18 win over Las Vegas: The heated exchange he and rookie quarterback Bo Nix had after a third-down incompletion along the sideline by Troy Franklin is rooted in respect.

Payton even said Monday that he likes that his 24-year-old is willing to bark back.

The quick reset: Nix threw a deep ball down the left sideline for Franklin, a fellow rookie and former Oregon teammate, and Franklin dropped it. Nix says he overthrew the pass, but he was clearly upset after the play and Payton stopped him as he left the field to tell him he also made a mistake by reversing the play from the direction it originally was was intended.

Sparks flew.

Payton doesn’t mind that, though. In fact, when asked if he liked Nix’s willingness to return fire, the coach quickly responded, “Absolutely. Absolute.”

“Everthing okay. It’s the heat of the moment, it’s the game, it’s competitive, he’s fiery,” Payton continued. ‘Look, we are in the business of passion. We are looking for passion and we are looking for people with passion for the game. Not other things.

“It’s so important to him. Again, I loved his reaction and, shoot, we’re on to the next part. It’s nothing.”

What followed was of course something. Nix led touchdown drives on the Broncos’ next two possessions to start the fourth quarter and totaled three scores in the second half.

“He played well,” Payton said. “Standed his ground, went through his progressions, threw the ball well. I got it on the field, took the bottom throws and again covered the two minutes. That has happened a number of times now, where we were able to get some points at the end of the half.

“We had good control over what we did. I was satisfied.”

Nix warmed up as the game progressed. He had 60 of his 105 yards in the top half of the first half — first a drive that lifted the Broncos out of the shadows of their own goal line and then a quick two-minute drive that set up a Wil Lutz. field goal for a 13-10 lead going into halftime.