If you think that represents gross incompetence and they should have held their backup backup backup quarterback in reserve like a designated survivor if they had no fifth option, you’d be right, but they did not think about that at the time.
The quarterback who got covid was their 3rd stringer (I think); he definitely wasn’t their primary quarterback. Lock is their starter, Driskel is the one who got sick, and I believe their depth chart went Lock-Rypien-Driskel-Bortles. This is a downside of having 4 quarterbacks rather than 2 or 3 - more vectors into the quarterback room.
Also, the Broncos presumably did at least come across the idea of having a designated survivor reserve QB. They just decided not to do it. Some NFL teams have been keeping one of their quarterbacks apart—there have been news articles all year about the Buffalo Bills using Jake Fromm as their quarantined quarterback—and that news must’ve reached Denver.
Two minor corrections on the Denver Broncos section:
The quarterback who got covid was their 3rd stringer (I think); he definitely wasn’t their primary quarterback. Lock is their starter, Driskel is the one who got sick, and I believe their depth chart went Lock-Rypien-Driskel-Bortles. This is a downside of having 4 quarterbacks rather than 2 or 3 - more vectors into the quarterback room.
Also, the Broncos presumably did at least come across the idea of having a designated survivor reserve QB. They just decided not to do it. Some NFL teams have been keeping one of their quarterbacks apart—there have been news articles all year about the Buffalo Bills using Jake Fromm as their quarantined quarterback—and that news must’ve reached Denver.
Good catch, thanks.