The three quarterbacks selected for the Pro Bowl in the AFC were Tom Brady, Derek Carr and Ben Roethlisberger, but none of them are going to be in Orlando.
Brady’s going to the Super Bowl, Carr is recovering from a fractured fibula and Roethlisberger has opted out of the game. Andy Dalton and Alex Smith are in as replacements, but a third is getting hard to find. Marcus Mariota and Ryan Tannehill were injured to end the year and Colts quarterback Andrew Luck just had shoulder surgery.
Bills quarterback Tyrod Taylor turned down an invite after groin surgery and Broncos quarterback Trevor Siemian has done the same after a shoulder operation of his own.
“When I first heard about it, I thought they must know I’m originally from Orlando and it would be easy to plug me in for the game,’' Siemian said, via KUSA. “But obviously, it was really cool and a huge honor. It would have been cool to play with everyone I respect, especially our own guys who are going to be there. It was still an awesome honor.”
The other regular starting AFC quarterbacks that haven’t been mentioned are Philip Rivers, Joe Flacco, Blake Bortles, Brock Osweiler, Ryan Fitzpatrick and whichever Browns quarterback you’d like to include. Rivers and Flacco had the best years of that group, but the label Pro Bowl quarterback is getting stretched pretty far in the AFC.