Virus disruptions hit Broncos, other teams as NFL crisis grows

After bobbing and weaving around the coronavirus pandemic for much of the fall, the NFL nears the end of the third quarter of its regular season facing crises on teams from coast to coast.

On Saturday, health officials in Santa Clara County threw the 49ers’ season into turmoil when they temporarily banned all contact sports at the high school, college and professional levels and required anyone traveling into the region from more than 150 miles away to quarantine.

In Baltimore, six more members of the Ravens have tested positive for the virus, including four key defenders, as the outbreak in the team’s locker room expanded to 18 players, including quarterback Lamar Jackson, meaning a game now set for Tuesday after two delays might not be played at all.

But the most unusual development was with Denver, which might play Sunday against the Saints without any of its quarterbacks.

Blake Bortles, Drew Lock and Brett Rypien were forced to quarantine after coming in contact with a fourth quarterback, Jeff Driskel, who tested positive for the virus Thursday, according to a person familiar with the situation. All four players are ineligible to play Sunday.

Without any of their four QBs, the Broncos were prepared to run a lot of wildcat sets and have backup running back Royce Freeman play quarterback along with rookie practice squad receiver Kendall Hinton, who played QB for three seasons at Wake Forest.

Denver tight end Noah Fant tweeted, “Anyone know if Peyton Manning is busy tomorrow? Laughing but serious.”

For much of the season, the NFL had only one full-fledged outbreak, when two dozen players and other personnel tested positive on the Tennessee Titans. The league got through that crisis by postponing a handful of games and moving a few others around. But every...