Hinton’s effort no laughing matter
Everybody, it seemed, was good for a joke.
After Brandon Mcmanus booted a 58-yard field goal in the third quarter to provide the Denver Broncos a measure of dignity in that they avoided being shut out, the kicker celebrated by dropping back like a quarterback and feigning a pass.
One day earlier, when news spread that the other three quarterbacks on Denver roster would join No. 3 man Jeff Driskel on the COVID-19 list and be ineligible for Sunday’s game against the New Orleans Saints, the Broncos’ Twitter account directed a message at the NBA’S Denver Nuggets: “Is Jokic available? Asking for a friend.”
That would be Nikola Jokic, a big man with such a gift for deft passing that he has been hailed by area fans as “the best passer in Denver.”
And it seemed like a joke that, according to ESPN, the Broncos pondered the possibility of activating an entrylevel coaching staff member, Rob Calabrese, who played quarterback at Central Florida.
The NFL didn’t find that idea a bit funny. No, stashing potential players on the coaching staff is not going to fly.
Of course, the Broncos’ mess of a quarterback situation was no laughing matter as the Saints rolled to a 31-3 victory at Empower Field at Mile High.
That’s no fault of Kendall Hinton, the rookie receiver elevated from the practice squad to work as the emergency quarterback. Hinton, who last played quarterback full-time in 2017 for Wake Forest, had about 24 hours to prepare for the impossible assignment.
Here’s a trivia question: Who snagged Hinton’s only completion?
Noah Fant, on an inside tight end screen in the third quarter that was good for 13 yards.
Hinton’s next throw, though, was a bit high for the intended target and was intercepted by C.J. Gardner-johnson. No shame there. The 23-year-old, undrafted rookie threw under much duress, running for his life with Marcus Davenport in hot pursuit.
No, Hinton didn’t make Broncos fans swear that they just saw the next John Elway. Let’s just say the Broncos haven’t seen the type of numbers that Hinton had since the Tim Tebow years.
Hinton finished 1-of-9 for 13 yards with two interceptions.
His passer rating was an even 0.0. Yet the numbers kind of lied.
Hinton was placed in an impossible situation while facing one of the best defenses in the NFL. He was way better than 0.0, given the circumstances that unfolded on Saturday afternoon when Broncos quarterback Vic Fangio found out that Drew Lock, Blake Bortles and Brett Rypien were ruled ineligible because they were deemed to be in close contact with Driskel, who tested positive for the novel coronavirus on Thursday.
It was a bizarre episode from the NFL’S seemingly worst week yet on the COVID-19 front. During the course of a week, 43 players across the league were added to the COVID-19 reserve list – some due to positive test results, some because of contact tracing – including some very big NFL names.
Consider the roll call of players now on the list: Lamar Jackson. Larry Fitzgerald. Adam Thielen. Deforest Buckner. James Conner. Calais Campbell. Mark Andrews.
The Ravens-steelers game, now set for Tuesday night in Pittsburgh, was rescheduled twice since the original play date of Thanksgiving night, with a Ravens outbreak putting 22 players on the COVID-19 list.
Why didn’t the Broncos get a postponement?
Maybe it was a form of punishment, as Lock acknowledged the quarterbacks had “let our masking slip” during a meeting together, which would be a violation of the NFL’S pandemic protocols.
In any event, the Broncos were forced to try, with offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur, quarterbacks coach Mike Shula and others on the staff pressed to creatively come up with a semblance of an offense.
Hinton actually began the game wearing a cape on the sideline as the Broncos employed a Wildcat formation that had running back Phillip Lindsay taking the initial snaps. Hinton entered the game on the team’s first third down, then played much of the game running from a pistol formation. Two other running backs, Royce Freeman and Melvin Gordon, also took Wildcat snaps.
It was hardly the answer. The Broncos managed a paltry 112 net yards and six first downs. They were 1-for-10 on third downs.
The lone scoring drive, set up by an interception, went like this: 4 plays, 1 yard.
And when Lindsay was ruled out during the second half with a knee injury, the Broncos’ Wildcat option took a major blow.
Bottom line: Hinton still deserves a game ball.
And that’s no joke.