NFL Rumors: Gary Kubiak Health Forcing Him Away From Denver Broncos
There aren’t a lot of things that would keep Gary Kubiak away from his duties as head coach of the Denver Broncos. Health happens to be one of them. Kubiak will not be able to function as the head coach of the Broncos when they take on the San Diego Chargers this upcoming Thursday, as reported by NFL..
On Sunday, Gary Kubiak was rushed to the hospital because of what was initially said to be flu-like symptoms. It has since been discovered that he has been diagnosed with a complex migraine condition, which causes extreme fatigue and body weakness.
Gary Kubiak was released from the hospital on Monday afternoon. He was said to be feeling much better than he was on Sunday. However, the Denver Broncos did not want to take any chances with his health, especially since he had issues at halftime while serving as the head coach of the Houston Texans a couple of years back.
Gary Kubiak won't coach this week https://t.co/4tcIsA4mTV
— ProFootballTalk (@ProFootballTalk) October 10, 2016
In a rather interesting move, Denver Broncos general manager John Elway announced that special teams coordinator Joe DeCamillis will be taking over as the interim head coach this week. Though he has been a special teams coordinator with several NFL teams, DeCamillis has no head coaching experience.
While Joe DeCamillis does not have head coaching experience on the college or NFL level, he does have a strong connection with Gary Kubiak. The former communicates with the latter during the game and helps make big decisions. DeCamillis is an unofficial assistant head coach for the Denver Broncos.
Offensive coordinator Rick Dennison has been with Gary Kubiak since their days as NFL players. They have been on the same coaching staff for several years. Many believed that Dennison would be one of the top candidates to take over as interim head coach while Kubiak recovers.
Another person that was considered a strong candidate to take over the interim head coaching position for the Denver Broncos is Wade Phillips, who currently serves as the defensive coordinator. Aside from Phillips being with Gary Kubiak on the Houston Texans staff, the former has experience as a head coach in the NFL.
The belief around the NFL is that John Elway chose Joe DeCamillis over Rick Dennison and Wade Phillips because he did not want to burden his offensive and defensive coordinator with head coaching responsibilities in the game against the San Diego Chargers. Dennis and Phillips will each be handling their units.
John Elway seems more concerned with Gary Kubiak on a personal level. His longtime backup quarterback with the Denver Broncos is going to be allowed as much time as he needs away from the team. Elway made sure he headed straight to the hospital to be with Kubiak and his family on Sunday night.
Making things a little easier for the Denver Broncos is the return of Trevor Siemian. He has been a pleasant surprise as the new starting quarterback. Rookie Paxton Lynch was forced to step in last week, and he made plenty of mistakes you would expect from someone who has no experience in the NFL.
It also does not hurt that the Denver Broncos are a much better team than the San Diego Chargers. The Broncos are 4-1, whereas the struggling Chargers are 1-4. A bright spot for San Diego, though, is that rookie defensive end Joey Bosa, who held out until the season started, had a breakout game this past weekend with two sacks.
If there is a team in the NFL that can handle the loss of their head coach for a couple of days, it’s the Denver Broncos. The team should do alright without Gary Kubiak for the week.
[Featured Image by Brian Blanco/Getty Images]
