Russell Wilson has been ruled out for Sunday’s game against Arizona and Brett Rypien will start at quarterback for Denver.

The Broncos announced Friday that Wilson had cleared concussion protocol but will be given more time to recover.

Denver coach Nathaniel Hackett said Wilson wasn’t happy with that decision.

“He wants to be out there and play. He’s very, very competitive, as we all know and wants to compete for this team and be out there,” Hackett said.

“And we as an organization after discussing and talking throughout this entire week have decided it’s best for our organization. It’s best for Russell. We talked about this from top all the way to the bottom. So we looked at every single thing and just wanted to give him another week to get ready.”

Denver (3-10) has lost five straight and has been eliminated from the AFC playoff picture.

The team is targeting the Christmas Day road game against the Los Angeles Rams for Wilson’s return.

Wilson, 34, sustained a concussion in the fourth quarter of last Sunday’s 34-28 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs.

Wilson has completed a career-low 60.4 percent of his passes for 2,805 yards with 11 touchdowns and six interceptions in 12 games in his first season with the Broncos.

Rypien, 26, relieved Wilson and completed 4 of 8 passes for 16 yards, one touchdown and one interception against the Chiefs in relief of Wilson.

Rypien has made two NFL starts with one coming in Week 7 when Wilson was sidelined with a hamstring injury. Rypien was 24 of 46 for 225 yards and one interception in a 16-9 loss to the New York Jets. His other start came in 2020, a 37-28 win — also against the Jets.

It will be a Week 15 battle of backup quarterbacks with Colt McCoy starting for the visiting Cardinals (4-9) on Sunday in the absence of injured starter Kyler Murray.

–Field Level Media