BRETT RYPIEN

The Denver Broncos learned a painful lesson last year when they were forced to play a game without a quarterback. Coach Vic Fangio said Friday that he decided to make Rypien the team's “quarantined quarterback” this week. “He was not in the meetings, he was in virtual meetings, and when he was out here on the field, he was under strict orders to not be near anybody,” Fangio said.

The league is pressing forward with its goal of playing the Super Bowl as scheduled in Tampa on Feb. 7. What often seemed improbable during the COVID-10 pandemic has become quite achievable. "Contact tracing is the thing people are not talking the most about, but it is foundational to our success," said Sills. The league presses forward with its goal of playing all 256 scheduled games in 17 weeks and the Super Bowl in Tampa on Feb. 7. The trio works with the league’s three-member team consisting of a contact tracer, an epidemiologist and a physician.

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. – Many viewers cringed at Denver’s ugly loss to the Saints behind a rookie receiver pressed into duty because every Broncos quarterback was barred by the NFL over coronavirus concerns. A three-year starter at Vanderbilt, Shurmur spent last season on the Chiefs’ practice squad. After Driskel’s positive test, a league investigation deemed Lock, Rypien and Bortles as high-risk close contacts and ordered them into quarantine Saturday. Hinton returned to catching passes, not throwing them, when he went back to the practice squad Wednesday. Miller has made it his goal to play this season after a freak ankle injury six days before the opener.

Denver Broncos quarterback Kendall Hinton (2) is hit after the throw by New Orleans Saints defensive end Marcus Davenport during the first half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Nov. 29, 2020, in Denver. The NFL denied Denver's request to push the Saints game back 48 hours, which would have allowed their QBs to return to action. So they turned to Hinton, a former quarterback in college, and sprinkled in some direct snaps to running backs Royce Freeman and Phillip Lindsay. Lock, Rypien and Bortles were removed from the reserve/COVID-19 list after testing negative Tuesday for a fifth consecutive day. Lock and Rypien return to the Broncos’ active roster, and Bortles returns to the practice squad.

It was a victory, though, and Vic Fangio and the Denver Broncos are relieved to finally get one — no matter how it looked. Melvin Gordon sealed the Denver Broncos’ first win of the season with a 43-yard touchdown run with 1:48 remaining, and the defense made just enough plays in the fourth quarter to beat the bumbling — and still winless — New York Jets 37-28 on Thursday night. The Jets couldn’t do anything on their next possession, and Sam Darnold was sacked by Chubb on fourth-and-3 at the two-minute warning. Brian Poole intercepted Rypien, making his first NFL start, on the Broncos’ next possession, giving the Jets the ball at Denver’s 44. Jets: look for their first win when they host Kyler Murray and the Arizona Cardinals on Oct. 11.