Privately, who knows. But publicly, Broncos head coach Sean Payton treated news of Justin Herbert’s Sunday absence with a waved hand and a shrug.
“Doesn’t — our focus is, this is a playoff game,” Payton told reporters Wednesday. “I just finished telling the team.”
Vegas certainly isn’t treating this Broncos-Chargers Week 18 matchup as a playoff game: Oddsmakers now favor Denver by 12.5 points Sunday, after Los Angeles head coach Jim Harbaugh announced Monday that the Chargers would rest star quarterback Herbert.
And the gap may widen even further in the coming days, as Los Angeles also rested wide receiver Keenan Allen, safety Derwin James and star outside linebackers Khalil Mack and Tuli Tuipulotu at the team’s practice Wednesday.