Just a day after he passionately criticized the team's coaching staff for overly-conservative decision-making, the Denver Broncos announced that quarterback Joe Flacco will be out for the team's Week 9 game against the Cleveland Browns. According to multiple reports, Flacco has a herniated disc in his neck and will be re-evaluated during the bye week, at which point it is possible that he could be placed on injured reserve.

Backup quarterback Brandon Allen will make the Week 9 start in Flacco's place. It's possible that rookie second-rounder Drew Lock could step into the lineup if and when he comes off injured reserve later this season.

Following the Broncos' Week 8 loss to the Indianapolis Colts, Flacco used his postgame press conference to call into question the team's decision to play conservatively down the stretch, which ultimately contributed to their allowing the Colts to drive for a game-winning field goal.

"We're now a 2-6 football team and we're like, afraid to go for it in a two-minute drill, you know?" Flacco said, per Lindsay Joy of Fox 31 Denver. "Like, who cares if you give the ball back to the guys with a minute, 40 seconds left? They obviously got the field goal, anyway."

Flacco was asked to elaborate on what he meant, and he doubled down.

"Once again, we're a 2-6 football team," he said. "It feels like we're kinda afraid to lose a game. It's third and 5 at the end of the game, who care if they have a time out or not. Getting in field goal range isn't that tough. So you're just putting your defense in bad situations. I just felt like, what do we have to lose, like, why can't we be aggressive in some of these situations. That's kinda how I feel about a lot of the game today."

Broncos coach Vic Fangio was asked about Flacco's comments on Monday.

"Well, I'm sure he was expressing his frustrations at the time," Fangio said during a radio appearance, per Nicki Jhabvala of The Athletic. "We all were. And in some ways he's right. We probably should've been more aggressive with some throws, and I'm really not even talking about the last possession. I'm talking about all throughout the second half there that we probably could have thrown some more times. But we didn't, and it didn't work out, so you expect this type of stuff."

Perhaps the team will be more aggressive with Allen under center this week, but it's possible they could swing in the other direction. The Broncos are heavily rumored to be sellers at Tuesday's trade deadline, with players such as Chris Harris and Derek Wolfe potentially on the block. If the defense takes a step backward, the Broncos may get even more conservative offensively in an effort to slow games down.