The Denver Broncos are in search of quarterbacks again.
On Saturday, the Broncos placed rookie signal-caller Drew Lock on injured reserve and waived Kevin Hogan and Brett Rypien. After the transactions, Joe Flacco is the last man standing in the QB room.
"We] needed the [roster] spot," [Broncos general manager John Elway said. "With Drew being out six to eight weeks, [we] figured the best thing for us as a team was to use that spot."
The team will explore all options while searching for a backup for Flacco.
"Wide open," Elway said Saturday of the possible additions at quarterback. "We'll just see what happens. Obviously, the wire is going to come out in about three or four hours, so we'll see what's there. We are exploring all options at this point in time."
Lock suffered a thumb injury on his throwing hand during Denver's preseason tilt with the San Francisco 49ers. But, Elway is optimistic that the rookie will only be sidelined six to eight weeks and not the entire 2019 campaign. The team can designate two players to return from IR during the season.
"My discussion with him today [was] it's not a year off for him," Elway said. "He's going to be able to do everything other than be on the football field. And then he'll be able to work on his own and do some different things too. [I] expect him to continue to work hard and get a good feel with everything and keep learning with the offense, understand what he's doing there and be right in the middle of everything."
This is familiar territory for the Broncos -- who have dealt with QB woes since Peyton Manning retired. With the season opener against the Oakland Raiders days away, Elway will obviously need to add Flacco's understudy soon.