The Denver Broncos did not have a good time against the New Orleans Saints because they did not have a proper quarterback. The Broncos had to utilize practice squad wide receiver, Kendall Hilton, as their quarterback.
Denver was put in this position because their starting quarterback Jeff Driskel tested positive for COVID-19 on Thursday. Denver had three backup quarterbacks in Drew Lock, Brett Rypien and Blake Bortles, who were on the practice squad were all removed during Saturday’s practice. They were all told to isolate themselves after being designated as “high risk” due to close contact with Driskel.
Coach Vic Fangio showed his frustration with his quarterbacks. “I was disappointed on a couple of levels: that our quarterbacks put us in this position, that our quarterbacks put the league in that position. We count on them to be the leaders of the team, the leaders of the offense, and those guys made a mistake, and that is disappointing. Obviously, I haven’t done a good enough job of selling the protocols to them when they’re on their own … There was a failing there, and that’s disappointing.”
The quarterbacks broke protocol Tuesday when they did not social distance or wear their masks when they came to the team’s facility. Denver asked the league to move the game by a day or postpone it, to allow them time to have a quarterback be available. However, the league denied their request and their subsequent request for two additional assistant coaches.
Bronco’s safety Kareem Jackson spoke about the situation showing his disappointment in his teammates and in the league. “Obviously, it’s our guys’ fault for not wearing their masks, but at least maybe move the game to the next day or whenever so we’re given a fighting chance,” Jackson said. “[It’s] obviously disappointing. I’m not sure why it wasn’t moved. I have no clue … as a competitor, [it is] definitely frustrating.”
Jackson thought that the league was using his team as an example of what will happen if they break protocols. “Obviously, the guys didn’t follow their protocols, and for [the NFL] to see that I guess they felt like they had to make an example, so at the end of [the] day, it is what it is,” he said.
Hinton played as the emergency quarterback and finished the game going one of nine passes, 13 yards with two interceptions in a blowout loss. Denver only managed just 112 total yards with 100 coming from rushing yards and just 12 passing yards.
The Saints took advantage of Denver’s situation and used a rushing oriented offense. The Saints finished the game with 229 rushing yards and total yards of 292. The Saints won 31-3.
