Vic Fangio did not hold back on Sunday when talking about his team’s quarterback situation.
The Broncos did not have any of their four quarterbacks available for their 31-3 loss to the New Orleans Saints. Quarterback Jeff Driskel tested positive for COVID-19 on Thursday, and the NFL ruled the other three quarterbacks ineligible to play because they were deemed high-risk contacts.
The Broncos had to use practice squad wide receiver Kendall Hinton, who played quarterback in college, at quarterback for the game. Hinton was put into a terrible situation on short notice and did his best, but the team predictably struggled. Hinton went 1/9 for 13 yards and two interceptions. The offense did rush for 100 yards.
After the game, Fangio said he was “disappointed” in the team’s quarterbacks.
“I was disappointed on several levels, that our QBs put us in that position, that our QBs put the league in that position. We count on them to be the leaders of our team, the leaders of our offense, and those guys made a mistake,” Fangio said, via Lindsay Jones.
Fangio also blamed himself for not emphasizing the importance of following protocols when players are on their own. Fangio believes the close contact happened when the players came in on their own to watch some film.
Fangio said his understanding is the QB exposure came when the four QBs came in on their own on Tuesday, the player off day, to watch film together. It was during that session that they were lax with masks/distancing, Fangio said.
This should be a big reminder to teams to make sure they are following the league’s rules. Teams should also consider signing an extra quarterback who mostly remains apart from the rest of the team in order to avoid this type of situation in the future.
The Denver Broncos’ quarterback situation made life very difficult for the team’s offense on Sunday, but the team’s Twitter account wants to see the temporary signal-caller hold his head high.
Due to all four of the team’s quarterbacks being unable to play due to COVID-19 protocols, undrafted rookie Kendall Hinton was pressed into temporary quarterback duty against the New Orleans Saints. Hinton was originally a college quarterback before becoming a wide receiver, which is also his NFL position.
Unsurprisingly, Hinton struggled mightily. Playing on short notice against one of the NFL’s top defenses, Hinton went just 1/9 with his lone completion going for 13 yards. He also threw two interceptions, and the Broncos lost 31-3.
Despite all that, the team’s official Twitter account had nothing but praise for the stand-in quarterback.
There was a game today.
The final score is what it is.
Undrafted rookie WIDE RECEIVER @Kendall_Hinton2 came off the practice squad, had zero practice reps and competed in his first NFL game as the Broncos’ QUARTERBACK—an unprecedented situation.
This is the correct take. Hinton was thrown into an impossible situation. He’d never faced an NFL defense before, even as a wide receiver, much less as a quarterback. He hadn’t been able to take any practice reps either due to the fact that the situation only unfolded on Saturday. The Broncos could not have asked him to do any better than he did.
That said, in light of how Sunday went for them, it’s easy to see in retrospect why the Broncos wanted to follow this other plan instead of forcing Hinton into duty.
Tyreek Hill had a monster game for the Kansas City Chiefs against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday and enjoyed himself during the contest.
After his second touchdown catch, Hill did a backflip into the end zone. Then with his team up 27-10 in the third quarter, Hill decided to channel Shannon Sharpe.
Hill picked up a phone on the Chiefs’ sideline and said help was on the way.
Sharpe was the originator of that move. He did it during a Denver Broncos 34-8 win over the New England Patriots in 1996. Only Sharpe’s trash talk was much better.
Hill may have been enjoying himself a little too much in the game. You don’t want to get too carried away and end up having it backfire.
Chiefs fans, you’ll love this Andy Reid cheeseburger shirt. Reid loves his cheeseburgers, and you can wear it. This makes a perfect gift for you or a friend. You can buy it here.
Tom Brady is not exactly known for getting in the faces of opponents and jawing at them, but Kansas City Chiefs defensive lineman Chris Jones seems to bring that out of the six-time Super Bowl champion.
Brady and Jones got into a heated exchange during the second half of Sunday’s game between the Chiefs and Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The trash talking led to some shoving among other players.
That may not have seemed like much, and on the surface it wasn’t. Neither player was flagged and the situation didn’t escalate. What makes it noteworthy is that Brady and Jones have a history of butting heads — literally.
Brady and Chris Jones did the exact same thing last year. Jones loves trash talking. pic.twitter.com/Zk1Xo7nYsw
The New York Mets have a new owner and will be on a mission to improve the club. Those improvements are more likely to come via free agency than the trade market.
Mets executive Sandy Alderson, who remains with the team despite Steve Cohen cleaning house, said on MLB Network Radio that the Mets are committed to their farm system. That explains why free agency is likely to be their path to improving.
Alderson told us that the Mets are more likely to “be more active on the free agent market than trade market” because of their “commitment to our farm system and our patience “ to see them help the major league team #mets@MLBNetworkRadio
Cohen is extremely rich and says he is committed to winning. If he doesn’t mind using part of his estimated $14 billion fortune on signing free agents, the Mets will be a team to watch.
J.T. Realmuto and Yadier Molina are already a few of the free agents the Mets have been connected to. They could also add an infielder following Robinson Cano’s suspension.
If many teams are financially strapped this offseason, this could be a great time for the Mets to build via free agency.
There is a growing expectation that the New York Jets will happily draft Trevor Lawrence next April and move on from Sam Darnold as their quarterback. Could it be possible, however, that the Jets might part ways with Darnold even if they don’t land Lawrence?
ESPN’s Rich Cimini wrote Sunday that it is “fair to wonder” if the Jets will look to replace Darnold no matter what happens at the end of the season. Darnold has struggled this season, and the Jets offense has actually looked more capable with veteran Joe Flacco under center. Cimini writes that the organization “must take a hard look at the alternatives” no matter where they end up drafting next April.
As it stands, the 0-11 Jets would draft first next April, giving them the opportunity to make Lawrence their new franchise quarterback. However, the Jacksonville Jaguars are lurking at 1-10, and could still land the top pick if the Jets find a way to win a game or two.
The Jets selected Darnold third overall in 2018, and he showed initial promise, throwing for over 3,000 yards in 2019. He has taken a step back in every way in 2020. Hindered by injuries, he hasn’t been any good when healthy, throwing just three touchdowns against eight interceptions in seven games. It’s bad enough that the Jets may have to confront this surprising reality about his possible trade value.
Tony Romo delivered some criticism of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ coaches while calling Sunday’s game between the Bucs and Kansas City Chiefs.
Tampa Bay got off to a slow start and trailed Kansas City 17-0 in the first quarter. Romo lamented how Tom Brady kept getting knocked down and wasn’t being put into optimal situations.
“Where’s the play action stuff to give him time? Everything’s a dropback. Screen game hasn’t been great. It’s like all this stuff that’s easy for quarterbacks … they don’t have much of it,” Romo said on the broadcast.
Brady’s play in his first season under Arians has led some to believe the coach is not using the future Hall of Famer properly. It seems like Romo feels similarly, or at least like the Bucs could be doing a lot more to optimize things for Brady.
Graham Gano returned to action Sunday after spending over a week on the COVID/Reserve list, and it sounds like it was a pretty impressive feat to get back as quickly as he did.
Gano converted all four of his field goal attempts in Sunday’s 19-17 win over the Cincinnati Bengals. After the game, he went into detail about his battle with COVID-19, in which he experienced a number of symptoms.
Wow, Graham Gano was symptomatic. He had a high fever, body aches, fatigue, lost taste and smell for a bit, and felt "pretty beat" today and was still perfect on field goals. #Giants
The Jacksonville Jaguars made a major organizational change following Sunday’s tough loss to the Cleveland Browns, as they have fired general manager Dave Caldwell.
Jaguars owner Shad Khan released a statement announcing the move. Khan praised Caldwell for his commitment to winning but said “his efforts were not rewarded with the results our fans deserve and our organization expects.”
Caldwell had been the GM of the Jaguars since 2013. One of his most noteworthy moves was drafting Blake Bortles with the third overall pick in 2014, and that pick ultimately did not work out. Jacksonville has struggled to find consistency at quarterback for years, and that held them back when they had one of the best defenses in the NFL.
The Jags were accused of tanking coming into the 2020 season, but Caldwell adamantly denied that.
The Jaguars are 1-10 this year and have had just one winning season since 2013. Firing Caldwell may have been the first move of many, as head coach Doug Marrone is also on the hot seat.
Nate Robinson shared his first public comments on Sunday since his embarrassing knockout loss against Jake Paul on Saturday.
Robinson made his professional boxing debut and lost to Paul on the undercard to the Mike Tyson-Roy Jones Jr. fight at Staples Center in Los Angeles. He was knocked down three times, including this brutal KO to finish things off in the second round.
Robinson, a former NBA player, had the support of the basketball community and let them down. He even was the victim of social media jokes after his loss.
Despite all the jokes, Robinson expressed gratitude for all the support he received.
Robinson may have let down the NBA community with the embarrassing result, but he had the courage to step in the ring, and he has the toughness to face the jokes. That is the kind of resiliency that makes him a fun character.
