The Denver Broncos are expected to start undrafted rookie practice squad wide receiver Kendall Hinton at quarterback Sunday against the New Orleans Saints, but the team wanted their starting QB to be Rob Calabrese, their offensive quality control coach for the past two years, sources said.
Denver felt that Calabrese had the strongest command of its offense and he could run the system better than anybody, according to sources. The league denied those requests that were made throughout the day Saturday, saying that the Broncos could not activate a coach to their active roster. The NFL doesn’t want coaching staffs being storage areas for potential players.
The Broncos also repeatedly asked the NFL to push Sunday’s game back to Tuesday to allow some of their quarterbacks to come off the reserve/COVID-19 list, per sources. Commissioner Roger Goodell denied those requests, much to the chagrin of the Broncos, who felt the league was being unreasonable.
Adding further insult to injury, the Broncos are also bracing to be fined and have a draft pick taken away for not adhering to COVID-19 safety protocols, a source said.