Around the league week 12

Adam Schefter@AdamSchefter
Ravens players were told today by their HC John Harbaugh that, for everyone’s safety, they will not be allowed back in the training facility until Monday at the earliest, sources tell ESPN.

Ravens are scheduled to play Steelers on Sunday, so that game doesn’t seem possible.

Brett Kollmann@BrettKollmann
I gotta think the league is considering adding a week 18 before the playoffs now, right?

Pittsburgh already lost their bye week. At this point, the only two options here seem to be extending the season, or just having the Ravens forfeit?

Ross Tucker@RossTuckerNFL
Which means not only that they won’t play Sunday but that they likely won’t be able to play Dallas on Thursday which means that NFL will have to add Week 18 AND 8 playoff teams in each conference contingency plan.

8th seed in the AFC right now? The Baltimore Ravens

The #broncos have canceled practice today because of multiple positive COVID tests. My report on @nflnetwork pic.twitter.com/WgQ43da1ez

— James Palmer (@JamesPalmerTV) November 27, 2020

Adam Schefter@AdamSchefter
All the QBs on the Broncos’ roster are ineligible to play Sunday against the Saints after being deemed high-risk, close contacts, sources tell ESPN.

Here’s how Denver got wiped out at the QB position in a 72-hour span:

QB Jeff Driskel tested positive for COVID on Thursday.

Drew Lock, Brett Rypien and Blake Bortles did not wear masks, per a source, and were deemed high-risk close contacts today. They now are out Sunday.

Jason La Canfora@JasonLaCanfora
NFL will not call off Broncos game due to personnel issues. Their lack of QBs will require them to play RBs and WRs and adapt as necessary. Teams run out of positions in games at times and have to adapt. Forfeiting games opens up fight w/NFLPA and takes away checks in real time

Bucky Brooks@BuckyBrooks
Before you count out the #Broncos due to their QB situation, I was with the #Panthers when DeAngelo Willams played Wildcat QB for most of the game (12/24/06) in a 10-3 win vs. ATL. We ran 52x with Williams (20/82) and DeShaun Foster (28/102) help team rush for 183. It can work..

The Saints are being fined $500K and losing a 7th-round pick for their mask-less celebrations after beating the Bucs in Week 9, per @AdamSchefterpic.twitter.com/KdygzOVzE3

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) November 29, 2020

Michael Silver@MikeSilver
I’ve been doing a lot of thinking the past few hours. Yes, it’s a global pandemic. No, this season was never going to be fair. Yes, they could have been more careful. But the league is putting the Broncos in a horrible position and diluting its product…

Playing a game with no QB and zero prep? That’s bad for business, in my opinion. League should consider pushing the game to Tuesday, when 3 of the Broncos QBs could theoretically be cleared.

Mike Koehler@MK_uselessinfo
teams actually following the protocols are able to manage everything well and have isolated cases.

Geoff Schwartz@geoffschwartz
Correct. The Broncos could have avoided this if their QB room had just worn masks like the protocols say to do. It’s simple.

Rich Eisen@richeisen
One month ago, he worked in sales. One day ago, he woke up a practice squad player with no idea he was about to play in his first #NFL game. Today, @Kendall_Hinton2 woke up as a @Broncos starting quarterback.

Even though undrafted rookie practice squad WR Kendall Hinton is expected to start at QB today vs. the Saints, the Broncos wanted their starting QB to be Rob Calabrese, their offensive quality control coach for the past two years, per sources.https://t.co/w51G6rvIr6

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) November 29, 2020