Broncos Briefs: By-committee plan minus returner Diontae Spencer

Playing quarterback for the Broncos against New Orleans on Sunday: Practice squad receiver Kendall Hinton and maybe running back Royce Freeman.

The unprecedented 2020 NFL season took a wild turn Saturday afternoon when the league ruled quarterbacks Drew Lock, Brett Rypien and Blake Bortles ineligible to play because of contact tracing concerns following Jeff Driskel’s positive COVID-19 test during the week.

The Broncos, represented by president/CEO Joe Ellis and general manager John Elway, had a conference call with the league office, after which the league benched Lock (starter), Rypien (backup) and Bortles (practice squad).

All the while, New Orleans’ charter flight was en route to Denver.

It does not appear the Broncos were given the option of moving the game to Monday; the Baltimore-Pittsburgh game scheduled for Thanksgiving Night was first moved to Sunday, then moved to Tuesday.

“This is crazy, man,” a Broncos player said in a text message to The Denver Post.

Crazy, indeed.

As practice was getting ready to begin Saturday, Lock, Rypien and Bortles were told to leave the facility.

The NFL did not return an email from The Denver Post seeking clarification on the circumstances of why the Broncos’ quarterbacks were made ineligible and why moving the game — even if the quarterbacks couldn’t play — wasn’t a consideration. In previous instances this year, the league has used video footage from a team’s facility to hand out fines for not following the protocols.

In a statement Saturday night, the Broncos acknowledged that Lock, Rypien and Bortles will have to quarantine for five days.

“The three quarterbacks, who are not experiencing any symptoms, immediately left the practice field and departed (the team facility). All three have consistently tested negative for COVID-19 via both daily PCR (nasal swab) testing and additional POC (point of contact) testing administered as a precaution. …

“We will continue to work closely with the NFL whenever there is a positive COVID-19 case, including sharing all available information in a thorough and timely manner to ensure the safety of our team.”

The league allowed the Broncos to practice Thursday after Driskel’s positive test (which they did) and Friday after returner/receiver Diontae Spencer’s test (which they did not).

“The league on Thursday said it was fine to practice; at that time, we just had the one (positive),” coach Vic Fangio said before Saturday’s practice. “I just felt having two consecutive days with positive tests, we needed to not practice even though the league said we could have.”

If the game is played as scheduled minus their quarterbacks, the Broncos could turn to Freeman and Hinton is also a consideration, a league source said.

Freeman was the Broncos’ emergency option in Week 2 when Lock injured his shoulder in the first quarter and Driskel entered as the lone remaining quarterback. Hinton completed 133-of-253 passes for 1,504 yards and eight touchdowns at Wake Forest while playing quarterback. He switched to wide receiver in 2019 and had 79 catches.

Broncos players took to social media to lambast the NFL.

Typical was tight end Noah Fant’s tweet: “I’m not one to complain but @NFL y’all can’t possibly send us into a game without a QB. We don’t even get a backup.”

Safety Kareem Jackson pointed out that the Broncos lost a bye week when a game against New England was postponed, and moved to the next week due to COVID issues among the Patriots.

By-committee return game. The Broncos won’t have returner Spencer (COVID-19/reserve list) and special teams play-time leader Trey Marshall (shin) Sunday against New Orleans.

Special teams coordinator Tom McMahon said before practice Saturday the candidates to fill in for Spencer will be cornerback Bryce Callahan (likely punts), running back Phillip Lindsay (kicks) and receivers Tyrie Cleveland (kicks) and KJ Hamler (both).

When Spencer missed three games earlier this year with a shoulder injury, Hamler/Callahan returned punts and Hamler/Cleveland handled kicks.

Coach Vic Fangio said Marshall’s injury, sustained against Miami, isn’t long-term. He leads the Broncos with 228 special teams snaps.

“It’s next man up,” McMahon said when asked who will replace Marshall’s snaps. “Josey (Jewell) did a nice job in (punt protection) and (De’Vante) stepped in on kick coverage and punt return. It may not be those same players, but guys have to step up and play.”

Jeudy questionable. During the three minutes that the media was allowed to watch practice, receiver Jerry Jeudy (ankle/Achilles) had a helmet and was doing some light individual drill work. Jeudy is listed as questionable.

Fangio said Callahan (ankle), right guard Graham Glasgow (calf) and right tackle Demar Dotson (calf/hand) will all play.

Footnotes. The Broncos called up tight end Troy Fumagalli, safety Alijah Holder and inside linebacker Josh Watson from the practice squad as COVID-19 replacements. … Saints left tackle Terron Armstead announced Saturday on Twitter he had tested positive for COVID-19 and will miss Sunday’s game along with left guard Andrus Peat (concussion). … The Saints rank among the league’s top 10 in both kick/punt coverage/return and McMahon saluted punter Thomas Morstead (39.7-yard net average). “He’s a directional punter, punts it 45 yards to the edge both sides, he’s done it his whole career, is very, very consistent and in my opinion, he’s one of the top five in the history of the game directional punting,” McMahon said. … Offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur on the Broncos’ run game last week against Miami (season-high 189 yards): “The runs were working and it makes sense in most situations to run the ball. I don’t know many o-linemen that would prefer to pass block over run block. I believe in running the ball and if we can run the ball effectively early, it helps us throughout the game.”