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.
He deserves all the respect. pic.twitter.com/C4UpkPTZBQ
— Denver Broncos (@Broncos) November 29, 2020
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.
