After picking up a victory in his first career start on Sunday, Brock Osweiler will face a tougher test in Week 12. As first reported by Chris Mortensen of ESPN.com (Twitter link) and since confirmed by head coach Gary Kubiak, Osweiler will make another start for the Broncos next Sunday against the undefeated Patriots.
While Osweiler prepares to start a second consecutive game, Peyton Manning is in Charlotte, getting a second opinion on his foot injury, tweets Mike Klis of 9News. Multiple reports on Sunday suggested that the future Hall-of-Famer is considering playing one more season, assuming he can get healthy, but Kubiak denied those rumors, suggesting today that Manning is focused solely on his recovery, rather than on 2016 (Twitter link via Troy Renck of the Denver Post).
Let’s check in on some other items from across the AFC….
- The Bengals‘ fears on cornerback Darqueze Dennard were confirmed by an MRI today, according to Adam Schefter of ESPN.com, who tweets that Dennard requires shoulder surgery and will be out for the rest of the season. Cincinnati should be able to overcome losing the 2014 first-rounder, since he was only serving as the club’s No. 4 corner in recent weeks.
- Schefter also passes along the latest on the Texans‘ quarterback situation, with head coach Bill O’Brien announcing on ESPN’s NFL Insiders that Brian Hoyer will return to action in Week 12 (Twitter link). That may spell the end of Brandon Weeden‘s time in Houston, unless the team moves forward with three quarterbacks on its roster.
- In the wake of Quinton Coples‘ release, Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News tweets that it was “well known around the league” that the Jets had the linebacker on the trade block for most of 2015. Obviously, there were no takers prior to the deadline, which doesn’t bode particularly well for Coples’ odds of being claimed on waivers. Meanwhile, head coach Todd Bowles hinted today that he has a player – possibly a kick returner – in mind for Coples’ old roster spot (Twitter link via Rich Cimini of ESPNNewYork.com).
- It wasn’t that long ago that it seemed like Colts head coach Chuck Pagano could be fired any day. While he’s still no lock to keep his job beyond the 2015 season, Pagano has his team believing in him, as Zak Keefer of the Indianapolis Star details.
It’s never seemed like an issue of players not believing in Pagano; on the contrary, he seems well-liked and well-respected, and although the team has not played as well this year as they had expected, they are still likely to win the division and will be dangerous come playoff time. The issues with Pagano seem to stem more from personal incompatibility with Ryan Grigson and/or Jim Irsay, the latter of which is pretty understandable. If Pagano’s contract is not renewed, he should still get another shot as HC, and will certainly have a bevy of coordinator options to choose from.
The Bengals, you’d think, would be well-equipped to handle an injury at cornerback, given that they have four ex-first-round picks in that corps. But with Dre Kirkpatrick struggling like he is, Dennard’s absence will matter. Cincinnati may finally ask someone who isn’t a Day 1 pick to play significant snaps outside, a step most teams have to take to start seasons.
Adam Jones is injured, Leon Hall pretty much only plays the slot, and as you noted, Kirkpatrick has struggled. The secondary could easily start to become a problem if guys like Josh Shaw are forced into major roles.