McManus unlikely to play against Bills
The Broncos will likely be without kicker Brandon McManus on Saturday as he’s still in the league’s COVID protocols due to an exposure outside the team facility.
“There’s still some question with him and the league as to when his counting of ( the required five days quarantine) should have started, and I don’t know where that stands,” coach Vic Fangio said Thursday morning. “Unless they change ( course), he won’t play. If it had been a Sunday game, he would’ve played.”
Taylor Russolino is scheduled to kick in his place against the Bills. Russolino, 31, most recently played in the XFL for the St. Louis BattleHawks, going 9- of- 10 on field goals, including a 58- yarder that was that league’s longest of the year.
A product of Division- III Millsaps College in Jackson, Miss., Russolino has also played professionally in the Arena Football League, the Canadian Football League and in China. Signed to the practice squad Dec. 7, Russolino originally got on the radar of special teams coordinator Tom McMahon because of a recommendation from ex- NFL kicker Pat McAffee, whom McMahon coached in Indianapolis.
Fangio got his first in- person look at Russolino on Wednesday and said the results were “very encouraging.”
“If he kicks as good in the game as he did ( Wednesday) in practice, we’ll be fine,” Fangio said.
The Broncos’ decision to initially sign Russolino was spurred by their quarterback quandary in Week 12, when Denver had to play New Orleans without any of their four QBs available. Jeff Driskel had tested positive, while Drew Lock, Brett Rypien and Blake Bortles were all ruled ineligible to play against the Saints because they weren’t properly wearing their masks in a positional meeting earlier that week.
Not wanting to have to scramble to find a non- kicker on the
roster who could kick if the status of McManus and/ or punter Sam Martin was affected by COVID protocols, the Broncos brought in Russolino, who also doubles as Martin’s backup. Russolino’s been isolated from the rest of the team, minus McMahon, since he signed.
“He’s the COVID kicker, so naturally I kept ( Martin and long snapper Jacob Bobenmoyer) separate from him,” McMahon said. “You never want those contacts to happen, because he’s here to replace either Sam or Brandon if something were to happen like came up this week. It was just me and him ( on the practice field) together.”
Originally a soccer player, Russolino was called into action during his senior year in high school in Metairie, La., as the football team’s emergency kicker. He’s now on the cusp of making his NFL debut.
McMahon said that the team
has confidence Russolino can convert field goals from distance, an area where McManus has excelled this season. McManus is 8of- 10 on attempts from 50- plus yards this year, and those eight makes are a franchise single- season record and tied for the NFL lead in that category.
Injury updates. Fangio said right guard Graham Glasgow, who missed last week’s game due to a foot injury, is getting closer to returning. The Broncos will see how Glasgow practices Thursday, and how he feels Friday, before making a game- time decision on his availability.
“If he’s only 80 to 85%, we may be better going with ( rookie Netane) Muti than him,” Fangio said. “Or, if Graham can say he’s more 90 to 95% on Saturday, we’ll go with Graham.”
Melvin Gordon ( shoulder), Phillip Lindsay ( hip) and safety Trey Marshall ( shin) are all listed as questionable to play, although Fangio is optimistic his pair of running backs will be available against Buffalo.
Bryce Callahan update. The cornerback’s been on injured reserve with a foot injury for a couple weeks, and Fangio said it’s not looking like Callahan will return to the field in 2020. Callahan played 10 games this year, recording two interceptions, after missing all of 2019 with a different foot injury.
“I had hoped that Bryce could play in the last game or two, but the healing isn’t going as well as we had hoped,” Fangio said.
Shurmur on Lock. Broncos offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur was pleased with quarterback Drew Lock’s career- high performance against Carolina in which he threw for four touchdowns and posted a 149.5 rating.
“We were more efficient, and he
took some check- downs,” Shurmur said. “We were able to hit on some deep balls which got us some points, and we ran the ball effectively. All those things go hand- in- hand.”
In his first year in Denver after taking over the play- calling from Rich Scangarello, Shurmur said one of his main focuses with Lock recently has been taking care of the football after Lock threw an interception in seven consecutive games before ending that streak against the Panthers.
“Nobody likes to hear this, but it takes a little time for a system to kick in, and it takes a little time for a quarterback to learn those things he needs to learn so that he can be efficient, explosive and also stay away from those mistakes that have hurt us,” Shurmur said.