The Denver Broncos took on the New Orleans Saints this morning in the NFL without an active quarterback on their roster and it went about as well as you probably would have guessed, losing by 28 points.
The entire Broncos quarterback room, Drew Lock, Brett Rypien and Blake Bortles, were unavailable for the game because they were not wearing masks while in the presence of teammate Jeff Driskel, who was placed on the NFL’s COVID-19 list during the week.
This all happened the day before the game, leaving Denver with no ability to sign a free agent and no quarterbacks left on their roster.
Practice squad wide receiver Kendall Hinton, who played some quarterback in college for Wake Forest, ended up being thrown in the fire as the starter.
With no time to practice with his teammates, some of whom didn’t even know who he was 24 hours prior, Hinton’s day was predictably difficult.
The Saints defence swamped the Broncos, holding Hinton to 13 yards passing on nine attempts, two rushes for seven yards and two interceptions.
Hinton threw more interceptions (2) than completed passes (1).
Running backs Phillip Lindsay, who got hurt during the game, and Royce Freeman also took some snaps, but were equally ineffective.
New Orleans won 31-3, with Denver’s three points coming from an interception that put them in long field goal range.
Broncos coach Vic Fangio expressed his disappointment with his quarterback room for putting the team in this position.
Vic Fangio: "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."
— Lindsay Jones (@bylindsayhjones) November 30, 2020
Former NFL players and media members however rallied around Hinton for giving it his best shot, despite the difficult circumstances.
Kendall Hinton's first career completion! #BroncosCountry pic.twitter.com/UJzxirKSJS
— Ryan Greene 📷 (@RyanCBS4) November 29, 2020
Kendall Hinton
— Dan Orlovsky (@danorlovsky7) November 29, 2020
👏👏
Nothing else needs to be said. Good for you man...
Kendall Hinton says in his postgame presser that he memorized 30 plays just last night. What a story!
— Teddy Schleifer (@teddyschleifer) November 30, 2020
Nothing but respect to Kendall Hinton. Clearly not going anywhere as a QB but that was an impossible ask. He has now played in the NFL and a sincere congrats to him.
— Tyler Polumbus (@Tyler_Polumbus) November 30, 2020
Kendall Hinton had never taken a practice rep at QB. Had never been under center once in a practice. Woke up Saturday AM as a practice squad WR with little shot of seeing the field.
— Peter Schrager (@PSchrags) November 30, 2020
By Sunday night, he’d started and played an entire NFL game at QB.
Truly incredible. @gmfb
LISTEN: Senior NFL reporter for The Athletic Lindsay Jones joined SEN Breakfast to discuss the Broncos situation