The Denver Broncos will be without a quarterback against New Orleans.
Sitting at 4-6, the Denver Broncos are likely playing more of a spoiler role this late in the 2020 season. With the New Orleans Saints now without Drew Brees, the thinking was that perhaps Drew Lock the offense could capitalize early on Sunday, forcing Taysom Hill to win against Denver’s sound defense.
There’s a slight problem there, since Lock will not be playing. In fact, none of the Broncos quarterbacks will be active on Sunday after a slew of recent positive COVID-19 tests.
As Mike Klis of 9News in Denver first reported, Lock, Brett Rypien and practice squad quarterback Blake Bortles were all pulled by the team at practice on Saturday due to contact tracing concerns with Jeff Driskel. Driskel was one of several Denver members who tested positive Friday.
Now, ESPN’s Adam Schefter is reporting all of Denver’s quarterbacks have been deemed ineligible by the league.
How will this even work for the Broncos without a quarterback?
The Broncos were apparently working with the NFL to figure out if there was any chance for at least one quarterback to be cleared. Now, they’ll be without a legitimate quarterback on the roster.
So what are Denver’s options now? Will Philip Lindsay and Melvin Gordon split reps in a Wildcat formation? Can Jerry Jeudy maybe show off his arm on reverses deep downfield? Pat Shurmur is in for a long day on offense if they have to basically run it 50 times against the Saints’ stalwart defense.
After last week’s regression from Tua Tagovailoa, altitude could factor into the throwing motion for quarterbacks with little experience. Hill, who made his first career start last week against the Atlanta Falcons, threw for 223 yards and rushed for another 49 with two scores. The Saints offense was also going to be limited with Terron Armstead testing positive for COVID-19 earlier this week.
Even with Lock’s struggles this season, having a quarterback who understands the offense would’ve been better than not having one at all. It’s going to be a long day in Denver now that all four options will be forced to miss out on the action.