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Denver Broncos News & Rumors

Broncos To Start Drew Lock In Week 16

December 22nd, 2021 at 1:06pm CST by Sam Robinson

The concussion that hospitalized Teddy Bridgewater will sideline him for the Broncos’ Week 16 game. Vic Fangio confirmed Drew Lock will start against the Raiders.

While the third-year coach said Bridgewater remains Denver’s starter when healthy, via 9News’ Mike Klis (on Twitter), Lock will make his first start since facing the Raiders in Week 17 of last season. The third-year passer has made multiple relief appearances this year but will be asked to start in what amounts to an elimination game for the Broncos.

Demoted after being Denver’s starter for a season and change, Lock has been erratic in his relief outings. He lost a crucial fumble in the red zone in Sunday’s 15-10 loss to the Bengals and threw an interception late in the first half against the Chargers last month. Lock also did not play earlier this season against the Browns, when the Broncos deployed a hobbled Bridgewater. The Mizzou product has ties to this coaching staff but not GM George Paton, who took over this year.

Fangio left the door open to Bridgewater returning for the Broncos’ final two games, but the resilient passer has suffered two concussions this season. The Broncos’ Week 15 loss to the Bengals reduced their playoff odds to 5%, per FiveThirtyEight.com. The team falling out of the race could open the door to more Lock starts, but beyond that, its quarterback situation will be murky going into another offseason.

The Broncos’ actions this year do not present much confidence in Lock, though the strong-armed QB has shown flashes. He also led the NFL with 15 interceptions last season, despite missing three games. One year remains on the ex-second-rounder’s contract. With the team expected to chase another quarterback upgrade in 2022, Lock stands to be in limbo going into a contract year.

NFL COVID List Updates: 12/21/21

December 21st, 2021 at 10:49pm CST by Ely Allen

Once again, we’ve had a busy day of moves on and off the reserve/COVID-19 list. Here are the players who were placed on the list or activated off of it today:

Atlanta Falcons

Baltimore Ravens

Buffalo Bills

Chicago Bears

Cincinnati Bengals

Denver Broncos

Green Bay Packers

Houston Texans

Kansas City Chiefs

Los Angeles Chargers

Los Angeles Rams

Minnesota Vikings

New England Patriots

  • Activated from reserve/COVID-19 list: TE Dalton Keene (remains on IR)

New Orleans Saints

New York Jets

Washington Football Team

Updated 2022 NFL Draft Order

December 21st, 2021 at 1:17pm CST by Zachary Links

Have you been waiting all day for Tuesday night? Thanks to COVID rescheduling, we still have two games to go in Week 15. While the Eagles, Rams, and the Washington Football Team are all jockeying for postseason berths/positioning, the Seahawks are — for all intents and purposes — out of playoff contention.

If the season ended today, the Seahawks would own a top ten pick…that is, if they owned it. The Jets, who hold the Seahawks’ 2022 first-round pick by way of the Jamal Adams trade, will be cheering for the Rams tonight.

For non-playoff teams, the draft order will be determined by the inverted 2021 standings, plus a series of tiebreakers, starting with strength of schedule. For playoff teams, the order is determined by their postseason outcome and regular season record.

Before the games begin, here’s a look at the currently projected 2022 NFL Draft Order:

  1. Jacksonville Jaguars (2-12)
  2. Detroit Lions (2-11-1)
  3. Houston Texans (3-11)
  4. New York Jets (3-11)
  5. New York Giants (via Bears)
  6. New York Giants (4-10)
  7. Carolina Panthers (5-9)
  8. New York Jets (via Seahawks)
  9. Atlanta Falcons (6-8)
  10. Philadelphia Eagles (6-7)
  11. Washington Football Team (6-7)
  12. Philadelphia Eagles (via Dolphins)
  13. Denver Broncos (7-7)
  14. New Orleans Saints (7-7)
  15. Cleveland Browns (7-7)
  16. Las Vegas Raiders (7-7)
  17. Pittsburgh Steelers (7-6-1)
  18. Baltimore Ravens (8-6)
  19. Minnesota Vikings (7-7)*
  20. Buffalo Bills (8-6)*
  21. Miami Dolphins (via 49ers)*
  22. Los Angeles Chargers (8-6)*
  23. Philadelphia Eagles (via Colts)*
  24. Detroit Lions (via Rams)*
  25. Cincinnati Bengals (8-6)*
  26. Tennessee Titans (9-5)*
  27. Arizona Cardinals (10-4)*
  28. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (10-4)*
  29. New England Patriots (9-5)*
  30. Dallas Cowboys (10-4)*
  31. Kansas City Chiefs (10-4)*
  32. Green Bay Packers (11-3)*

* = Playoffs

NFL Practice Squad Updates: 12/21/21

December 21st, 2021 at 11:05am CST by Zachary Links

Today’s taxi squad moves:

Arizona Cardinals

Atlanta Falcons

Baltimore Ravens

Buffalo Bills

Carolina Panthers

Cincinnati Bengals

Denver Broncos

Detroit Lions

Houston Texans

Indianapolis Colts

Los Angeles Rams

New Orleans Saints

New York Jets

Pittsburgh Steelers

  • Signed: G Nathan Gilliam

Minor NFL Transactions:  12/21/21

December 21st, 2021 at 10:02am CST by Zachary Links

Today’s minor moves:

Arizona Cardinals

Atlanta Falcons

Carolina Panthers

Chicago Bears

Cincinnati Bengals

Cleveland Browns

Denver Broncos

Detroit Lions

Houston Texans

Jacksonville Jaguars

Los Angeles Rams

Minnesota Vikings

New York Giants

New York Jets

Philadelphia Eagles

San Francisco 49ers

Seattle Seahawk

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Washington Football Team

Minor NFL Transactions:  12/20/21

December 20th, 2021 at 8:15am CST by Zachary Links

Today’s minor moves:

Arizona Cardinals

Baltimore Ravens

Buffalo Bills

  • Promoted: OL Jacob Capra

Chicago Bears

Cincinnati Bengals

Cleveland Browns

Dallas Cowboys

Kansas City Chiefs

Las Vegas Raiders

Los Angeles Chargers

Los Angeles Rams

Miami Dolphins

Minnesota Vikings

New York Giants

Washington Football Team

  • Promoted: OT Sam Cosmi

Teddy Bridgewater Suffers Head Injury

December 19th, 2021 at 8:46pm CST by Ely Allen

Late in the third quarter of the Broncos’ loss to Cincinnati, quarterback Teddy Bridgewater was carted off the field when he appeared to lose consciousness following a hard impact with the ground on a diving play. Bengals defensive tackle B.J. Hill applied a hit from behind mid-dive in an attempt to tackle the quarterback. The hit didn’t appear to be dirty or malicious in any way, but some combination of the dive, the hit, and the landing made for a scary scene in the Mile High Stadium.

Medical staff brought out a stretcher to stabilize Bridgewater and removed his facemask from his helmet. Bridgewater left strapped down on the cart and was taken to a hospital. The Denver Broncos have announced that these were all precautionary measures and that Bridgewater will stay overnight for further evaluation, but that everything has checked out well so far.

Bridgewater suffered a concussion earlier this year in a Week 4 loss to the Ravens, so taking every precaution to ensure his safety only makes sense. In the meantime, Bridgewater was immediately replaced by former starter Drew Lock and they have second-year quarterback Brett Rypien on the roster, as well.

The Broncos are surely hoping for a quick recovery from Bridgewater as they still find themselves firmly in the running for a wildcard spot in a wild AFC.

NFL COVID List Updates

December 18th, 2021 at 7:37pm CST by Zachary Links

We are trying our best here at Pro Football Rumors to keep up with all of the updates throughout the league concerning players on the reserve/COVID-19 list. A lot of teams had high hopes during today’s testing as they were trying to get players activated in time for Sunday’s slate of games.

Here are updates as of 8:30 PM ET, Sat 12/18:

Baltimore Ravens

Carolina Panthers

Chicago Bears

  • Activated from reserve/COVID-19 list: DT Eddie Goldman
  • OC Bill Lazor, DC Sean Desai, STC Chris Tabor in COVID-19 protocols

Cleveland Browns

Dallas Cowboys

Denver Broncos

  • Activated from reserve/COVID-19 list: DB P.J. Locke

Detroit Lions

Houston Texans

Indianapolis Colts

Los Angeles Rams

Miami Dolphins

Minnesota Vikings

  • Four Coaches in COVID-19 protocols

New York Giants

New York Jets

Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Washington Football Team

Updated 2022 NFL Draft Order

December 16th, 2021 at 11:05am CST by Zachary Links

The Chiefs (9-4) and Chargers (8-5) are getting set to kick off Week 15 in a matchup that could decide the AFC West crown. Meanwhile, more than one-quarter of the NFL’s teams have either been mathematically or effectively eliminated from playoff contention.

For non-playoff teams, the draft order will be determined by the inverted 2021 standings, plus a series of tiebreakers, starting with strength of schedule. For playoff teams, the order is determined by their postseason outcome and regular season record. (Ex: Washington would own the No. 19 pick if they were eliminated in the Wild Card round with the worst record of the group.)

With that in mind, here’s a look at the currently projected 2022 NFL Draft Order:

1. Detroit Lions (1-11-1)
2. Jacksonville Jaguars (2-11)
3. Houston Texans (2-11)
4. New York Jets (3-10)
5. New York Giants (via Bears)
6. New York Giants (4-9)
7. New York Jets (via Seahawks)
8. Carolina Panthers (5-8)
9. Atlanta Falcons (6-7)
10. Philadelphia Eagles (via Dolphins)
11. Philadelphia Eagles (6-7)
12. Minnesota Vikings (6-7)
13. New Orleans Saints (6-7)
14. Las Vegas Raiders (6-7)
15. Pittsburgh Steelers (6-6-1)
16. Denver Broncos (7-6)
17. Cincinnati Bengals (7-6)
18. Cleveland Browns (7-6)
19. Washington Football Team (6-7)*
20. Buffalo Bills (7-6)*
21. Philadelphia Eagles (via Colts)*
22. Miami Dolphins (via 49ers)*
23. Los Angeles Chargers (8-5)*
24. Detroit Lions (via Rams)*
25. Baltimore Ravens (8-5)*
26. Dallas Cowboys (9-4)*
27. Kansas City Chiefs (9-4)*
28. Arizona Cardinals (10-3)*
29. Tennessee Titans (9-4)*
30. Tampa Bay Buccaneers (10-3)*
31. New England Patriots (9-4)*
32. Green Bay Packers (10-3)*

* = Playoffs

Broncos Add S Ha Ha Clinton-Dix, WR Travis Fulgham To Practice Squad

December 15th, 2021 at 8:37pm CST by Ben Levine

The Broncos have added two notable names to their practice squad. The team announced that they’ve signed safety Ha Ha Clinton-Dix and wideout Travis Fulgham to the taxi squad.

Clinton-Dix spent much of the offseason and preseason with the 49ers, but he was let go before the start of the regular season. He ended up spending much of the 2021 campaign on the Raiders practice squad, but he managed to get into 13 special teams snaps in two games with the organization. The 28-year-old was cut by the Raiders last week.

The Cowboys signed the former Pro Bowler in 2020 but released him before the start of the regular season. Prior to these struggles landing a steady gig, Clinton-Dix did not miss a game from 2014-19. He worked as a starter throughout that stretch, making the Pro Bowl with the Packers in 2016 and ranking as an upper-echelon safety (per Pro Football Focus) with the Bears in ’19. Clinton-Dix could end up being forced into Denver’s lineup if any of Kareem Jackson, Caden Sterns, and/or P.J. Locke are forced to miss Sunday’s game.

For an Eagles receiving corps decimated by injury last season, Travis Fulgham played a big role. He caught a game-winning touchdown pass to help the depleted Eagles past the 49ers and ended his season with 38 receptions for 539 yards and three touchdowns. Prior to last season, however, Fulgham had never caught a pass as a pro. He was waived by the Eagles back in August, and he’s had brief stints on Philly and the Dolphins practice squad this year.

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