Close-knit Broncos QB Bo Nix and Buccaneers WR Tez Johnson lean on each other during NFL trips

When they all trickle back under the Nix family’s roof in Alabama for board game marathons, the goal is simple. Defeat Bo. Because Bo Nix is ​​trying to beat them.

Monopoly. The Chameleon. It doesn’t matter. It goes further than traditional games: first reading a book or tying the shoe. When Tez Johnson was 15 years old and a receiver at Pinson Valley High in Alabama, he was introduced to this family by Patrick and Krista Nix, the parents who took Johnson in and came to call him another son.

Johnson got to know their way of life: passionate about faith, family, football. About something. And he also met his quarterback at Pinson Valley, the quarterback who soon became his brother: Nix, who struggled so intensely with each version of failure that Johnson watched him obsessively play with a broken remote while they tried to watch Netflix.

“We don’t take losses lightly,” Johnson said. “And he won’t. Ever.”

From Alabama to what Nix called a “dream season” in Oregon, from Oregon now to pro ball, their shared horror of losing has kept the two adoptive brothers bonded together even 2,000 miles apart. Their paths have split again in the last two years, with Nix playing quarterback for a second year with the Broncos and Johnson in the middle of his rookie year with the Buccaneers. Yet they are the rock in each other’s corner, a steadfast belief in each other that never wanes no matter the turbulence of life in the NFL.

Johnson, a seventh-round pick, has impressed in his first season in Tampa Bay: 24 catches, 287 yards, five touchdowns in 13 games. Still, Nix has had to remind him every now and then that a jump doesn’t happen overnight.

But every time Johnson’s team loses a game — the Buccaneers are 7-7 and 1-5 in their last six games — he calls Nix.

“It’s like that’s the only person I can hang out with,” Johnson told The Denver Post last week.

Nix has also helped his brother understand the ins and outs of NFL football in recent months — if he could. He obviously doesn’t know Tampa Bay’s plan or principles. But he’ll force Johnson to maximize the opportunities in front of him, and Johnson will pick the 25-year-old Nix’s brain.

“How you look at film, how you look at a cornerback or a DB,” Johnson said. “And you understand that from a quarterback’s perspective, not just a receiver coach… I understand it like, ‘Okay, this is how the quarterback sees this DB. How can I see this DB the same way?’ (With) him helping me with stuff like that… I feel like I have an advantage.

In turn, Johnson has feverish confidence in Nix. Maybe it’s embellished. He will always be partial. But Johnson told The Post he believes Nix is ​​the best quarterback in the NFL.

Then he stopped – and corrected himself.

“Well, actually the world,” Johnson continued. “Because I don’t see a quarterback that’s better than him. Anyone can get around Bo and they can have success because of how hard he’s going to push them, and just because he’s willing to get better.”

When told about Johnson’s comments Wednesday — and reminded that Johnson has a pretty good quarterback himself right now in Baker Mayfield in Tampa Bay — Nix smiled wryly.

He treats Johnson like his other brother, Caleb, who is currently a safety at Jacksonville State. They all push each other, Nix said.

“I would say all three of us believe each other is the best at what we do,” Nix told The Post. “Regardless of whether that’s true, it’s just about how important it is that someone has your back and believes in them.”