Denver lost its entire QB group ahead of Sunday’s game against New Orleans after Jeff Driskel tested positive for COVID-19 and Drew Lock, Brett Rypien and Blake Bortles were deemed as “high-risk close contacts” because they reportedly interacted with Driskel while not wearing masks. The Broncos were forced to start practice squad wide receiver Kendall Hinton at quarterback, and it went about as well as you would expect. Hinton completed only one of his nine passes for 13 yards and was picked off twice in a 31-3 loss.
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Broncos coach Vic Fangio was understandably upset with his quarterbacks for putting the team in a terrible position. Hinton began his college career as a QB at Wake Forest — his last touchdown pass came on Oct. 7, 2017, against Clemson — but he had never played in an NFL game and was given zero time to properly prepare for the challenge in front of him. Hinton and the Broncos were staring at an insurmountable competitive disadvantage.
Or, if you ask Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, it wasn’t that bad. In Jones’ mind, putting Hinton under center was roughly equivalent to working with rookie Ben DiNucci.
With Dak Prescott and Andy Dalton both sidelined, DiNucci started Dallas’ Week 7 game against Philadelphia, going 21 of 40 for 180 yards with no touchdowns or interceptions in a 23-9 defeat. That predicament was a little different because DiNucci had taken most of the first-team snaps in practice leading up to the game and, you know, he’s a quarterback. (Also an unnecessarily harsh shot at a player the Cowboys chose to select in the seventh round of the 2020 NFL Draft.)
While it’s easy to pile on Jones for such a ridiculous statement, it’s worth noting that comment overshadowed his larger point about the struggles of operating a professional sports team safely amid a pandemic and the importance of following established protocols.
Here’s more context from Jones’ interview with 105.3 The Fan:
Yes, Jones comparing Hinton to DiNucci is silly. We’re not even talking about the same ballpark here. Any NFL team would gladly push out an actual quarterback who had a chance to look over a game plan.
However, Jones isn’t wrong about players needing to keep protocols in mind at all times. Break the rules and your team may be stuck with nothing but bad options.
Hey, if anyone needs an emergency QB, why not call the Cowboys about DiNucci? They don’t seem to think much of him!
