Broncos cornerback Aqib Talib moved to 2-0 when it comes to taking chains from Raiders wide receiver Michael Crabtree on Sunday, but his team dropped to 3-8 in a 21-14 loss after playing most of the way without the veteran defensive back.
Talib was ejected along with Crabtree after a first quarter fight that saw both men throwing punches as they renewed hostilities that first spilled over in a late season game last year and Derek Carr would go on to throw for two touchdowns in Oakland’s win. Talib’s presence may not have stopped that from happening, but Broncos coach Vance Joseph knows he doesn’t want to be playing without a starter for those reasons.
“I don’t like it,” Joseph said, via Mike Klis of KUSA. “And it’s unacceptable. We can’t lose our best players because of a personal battle. That’s a personal battle. This is about the Broncos so it’s unacceptable. We can’t have it. It’s non-negotiable. Obviously, losing one of our best players and playing a young guy, it hurt us tonight. We can’t have it.”
Talib was suspended for one game in 2015 for poking then-Colts tight end Dwayne Allen in the eye and there’s a chance that he could come up for further discipline as a result of the fight. That wouldn’t make Joseph any happier and it wouldn’t do much to help the Broncos’ chances of ending a seven-game losing streak.