Broncos could have bypassed QB quagmire
DENVER » The Denver Broncos could have avoided the quarterback quagmire they got stuck in over the weekend had they only embraced the notion of a “quarantined QB” that was championed by the likes of the Buffalo Bills and Philadelphia Eagles last summer.
Coach Vic Fangio deemed as overkill that pandemic precaution back in training camp.
So, after the NFL disqualified all of his quarterbacks over coronavirus concerns, Fangio had to turn to a rookie receiver on his practice squad who played quarterback in college but hadn’t taken any snaps at practice in the pros.
It was no surprise then that Kendall Hinton completed more passes to the Saints (two) than to the Broncos (one) in Denver’s 31-3 loss to New Orleans in which he posted a passer rating of zero.
“I don’t think it’s necessary, to be honest with you,” Fangio said back on Sept. 3 when asked about the concept of a quarantined quarterback in case his QB room got wiped out by COVID-19.
“Plus, it has to be with the right guy, somebody that has experience in your system that if the emergency happens you have them there,” Fangio continued. “Our quarterbacks have been meeting together all camp. They’re socially distanced like they should be. I think most teams are doing that. There hasn’t been an issue so far, knock on wood.”
That good fortune ran out Saturday when the NFL disqualified Drew Lock, his backup Brett Rypien and practice squad veteran Blake Bortles for having been maskless around No. 3 QB Jeff Driskel before he tested positive for COVID-19 on Thanksgiving morning.
The Broncos’ pleas to have their game against New Orleans pushed back a day or two to give them a fighting chance were rejected by the league. The NFL’s medical team deemed the COVID-19 exposure in Denver was contained to the team’s quarterbacks room, unlike the Baltimore Ravens’ roster- wide virus outbreak that’s led the NFL to postpone their trip to Pittsburgh three times.
The Ravens are now scheduled to play their game against the Steelers on Wednesday afternoon, six days after it was supposed to the main course of the NFL’s Thanksgiving triple-header.
Denied a 48- hour reprieve and the chance to prepare a new passer or even to get Lock, Rypien and/or Bortles back in time to make it a fair fight, the Broncos turned to Hinton, who played quarterback at Wake Forest before switching to wide receiver last year.
Hinton was cut by the Broncos after training camp and a month ago was spending his days pitching products, not passing or catching footballs. He’d taken a job selling candy bars and other merchandise to high schools for fundraisers when he was summoned back to Denver for a $ 4,447 weekly practice squad paycheck.
This week, he’ll get a $ 35,882 game check for taking it on the chin for the Broncos, completing just one of nine passes for 13 yards against the Saints.
Still, it didn’t have to come to this had any of their quarterbacks worn their masks around Driskel last week or if the Broncos had just isolated one of their quarterbacks early on, especially after they’d signed Bortles in September when Lock was sidelined with a sprained shoulder.