The Denver Broncos found themselves in a situation last week without a quarterback on the roster who was able to play. Because of a positive coronavirus test combined with a lack of compliance with COVID protocols, all the quarterbacks on their roster were on the COVID list for Week 12.
They used practice squad receiver Kendall Hinton at quarterback. He played quarterback three years in college.
What if the Arizona Cardinals had a situation like that and needed an emergency quarterback?
Head coach Kliff Kingsbury is a former NFL quarterback. He would not be able to play, even if signed to a player contract.
The Broncos tried that and were told no.
They didn’t try to have head coach Vic Fangio do it. The Broncos asked if assistant coaches Rob Calabrese and Justin Rascati could be signed as players, according to KUSA-TV’s Mike Klis.
That apparently is not allowed. The league doesn’t want teams hiding players among coaches.
“The Broncos request to sign quality control coach Rob Calabrese to the roster as a quarterback that was denied by the NFL was rooted in a longtime league rule that prevents teams from stashing players on their coaching staff,” ESPN’s Chris Mortensen tweeted on Sunday morning.
Kingsbury told media members the team has considered situations like this and there are a “number of contingency plans as far as the emergency goes.”
He would not reveal any of those options, but we know that he would not be one of them.
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