ENGLEWOOD, Colo. (AP) — Ja'Quan McMillian knows his Christmas will be filled with references to the biggest play of his career: the overtime interception of Josh Allen's heave to Brandin Cooks that set up the Denver Broncos' 33-30 victory in the AFC playoffs last January.
The teams play again in Denver on Dec. 25, but really, his whole offseason was filled with reminders of his much-debated pick at the Broncos' 20-yard line that ultimately ended Buffalo's season and Sean McDermott's time as the Bills' head coach.
“It was different” being so recognized by Broncos fans this offseason, McMillian said. “I'd be in random spots out here and people would come up to me and ask me about the pick, the interception. But it's a great feeling, you know?”
He also couldn't get away from the bitterness from Bills fans.
“Yeah, I can be randomly scrolling on social media and I'll see it and I'll click on it and go through the comments and see people all ‘It was a catch!’ or ‘It was an interception!'" McMillian said. "But it's all good. It's all competitive and I love it.”
Cooks had a step on his defender and was hauling in Allen's 44-yard pass well within field goal range when McMillian caught up and wrested the ball from the wide receiver's grasp as the pair tumbled to the ground.
That led to Wil Lutz’s 23-yard field goal that ended Buffalo’s season short of the Super Bowl once again, and within 24 hours McDermott was out of a job.
He had gone down fighting, arguing after the game that it was “a catch all the way.”
Except, it wasn't.
As referee Carl Cheffers explained, "The receiver has to complete the process of a catch. He was going to the ground as part of the process of the catch and he lost possession of the ball when he hit the ground. The defender gained possession of it at that point. The defender is the one that completed the process of the catch, so the defender was awarded the ball.”
The call was immediately debated across the country with ESPN analyst and former NFL QB Dan Orlovsky arguing it was a definitely catch and Hall of Fame tight end Sterling Sharpe countering on his podcast that it was certainly an interception, explaining the receiver needs to get up “and hand the ball to the officials.”
Which Cook couldn't do because McMillian was already running away with the prize held high. Denver ball.
Undrafted out of East Carolina in 2022, McMillian has carved a niche in Denver's stingy defense, so much so that defensive end Zach Allen suggested earlier in the week that “he makes the whole thing go. The fact that he’s able to cover, blitz, the whole nine. He’s incredible. We were literally just talking about it in the locker room that we’re definitely really lucky to have him.”
Hearing that from his teammate “means a lot,” McMillian said. “It just shows all the work that I’ve put in and the love that the team has for me.”
That feeling is the same upstairs.
“He’s one of our core players,” general manager George Paton said at the NFL scouting combine in February, “and we love having him here.”
McMillian is set to play this season on the one-year, $5.76 million restricted free agent tender he signed in March, a nice bump from the $880,000 he averaged during his first four years in the league but just a taste of what he might command with a long-term contract in the near future.
McMillian said Friday that he's focused on the present, not the future. “Obviously, I would love to be here. But you know how it is in the league," he said.
Notes: A person with knowledge of the situation told The Associated Press that the team believes DE Matt Henningsen tore an Achilles on Friday, exactly one year after he tore his other Achilles in a joint practice against the 49ers. The person spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the severity of the injury, which the team was not discussing publicly. Also Friday, WR Marvin Mims Jr. suffered an upper leg injury and TE Nate Adkins suffered an unspecified injury and both left practice and didn't return.
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Denver Broncos cornerback Ja'quan McMillian, center, waits to take part in drills as cornerbacks Reese Taylor, left, and rookie defensive back Sean Fresch Jr., right, look on during a practice at the NFL team's training camp Monday, Aug. 3, 2026, in Centennial, Colo. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
CHICAGO (AP) — The remains of 56 people were found improperly stored and decomposing Thursday at a Chicago funeral home run by a couple who previously operated a crematory that was similarly shut down because of mishandled remains, authorities said.
Illinois state officials, meanwhile, suspended the license of one of the funeral home's directors, alleging bodies were being kept in an unrefrigerated area in “deplorable conditions."
The discovery came months after neighborhood residents began noticing a “stench” emanating from the funeral home, which led some to complain to the city.
The Cook County Medical Examiner's Office said it was notified by state and local officials that bodies were being stored improperly at South Chicago Chapel, and investigators and forensic pathologists were dispatched Thursday. The remains were in various states of decomposition, officials said.
“Staff is assessing the conditions of the remains, searching for documentation regarding identification of the decedents as well as death certificates. This process could take several days to ensure proper disposition,” the medical examiner's office said in a statement, adding that family notifications will be made following the identifications.
Police said Friday that their preliminary statement on the case incorrectly said that fire department officials declared the scene a hazardous materials incident.
No arrests have been announced, but city police said detectives are investigating.
Messages for the funeral home were left by phone and through its website Friday.
Later Friday, a small number of residents and people seeking information about their deceased loved ones gathered in front of the brick-walled funeral home, which is on a South Chicago street lined with trees, homes and businesses.
Latasha Johnson, 55, said her mother's funeral was held at South Chicago Chapel on Thursday before authorities arrived and she later heard of their gruesome discovery. She said authorities told her that her mother's body would have to undergo an autopsy and she would have to identify the remains in a day or two.
“I’m discombobulated,” she said. “My heart is broken.”
Blaise Von Bruchhaeuser, who described herself as a community advocate for the neighborhood, said it was upsetting that complaints about a terrible odor had been made for months before the decomposing bodies were found.
State business records show that funeral director Johanna Morgan incorporated South Chicago Chapel Inc. in 2022 and her funeral director's license was temporarily suspended on Wednesday.
The state Department of Financial and Professional Regulation said the license suspension was due to “a finding that Respondent’s continued practice is a danger to the public safety, interest and welfare due to Respondent allowing multiple decedents to be kept in an unrefrigerated area with deplorable conditions including rodent infestation, causing decomposition and maggot infestation of the bodies.”
The state business records also list Clark Morgan, who state officials say is Johanna Morgan's husband, as the funeral home's president. The Department of Financial and Professional Regulation said Clark Morgan's funeral director license was revoked in 2024 for practicing with an expired license and “unprofessional conduct” that it did not specify.
State Comptroller Susana Mendoza said Friday that Johanna and Clark Morgan previously ran a crematory in Chicago Heights, south of Chicago, which had its license revoked last year after authorities discovered improperly stored bodies and hundreds of cremated remains that had never been returned to their families.
“Horrified. Again,” Mendoza said in a statement. “The discovery of decomposing remains waiting to be laid to rest this week at a South Side funeral home is heartbreaking and an abomination. These are people – someone’s mother, father, sister, brother, child or friend, and they deserve better.”
Both Johanna and Clark Morgan are listed in Cook County court records as defendants in connection with lawsuits involving Heights Crematory in Chicago Heights, south of Chicago.
Messages were left Friday at phone listings for the Clarks and an attorney listed in records as their business agent. Public records indicate the Clarks live in the Chicago suburb of Evergreen Park.
The case is the latest in a series of incidents involving mishandled remains over the past three years.
Last month, police arrested two men in Pueblo, Colorado, for allegedly mishandling at least two dozen decomposing bodies and other remains found behind a hidden door in a funeral home.
That followed the discovery of 18 bodies in various stages of decomposition at a funeral home in Georgia in 2024. In 2023, nearly 200 decomposing bodies were found in a building in Colorado, and another 31 decomposing bodies were discovered at an Indiana funeral home.
Collins reported from Hartford, Connecticut. Mayes-Osterman is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues.
Chicago police investigate South Chicago Chapel after authorities discovered dozens of decomposing bodies in the funeral home's basement on Friday, Aug. 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Cybele Mayes-Osterman)
Workers load bodies into an SUV outside South Chicago Chapel on Friday, Aug. 7, 2026, after authorities found more than 50 bodies improperly stored at the funeral home during an investigation the previous night in Chicago. (Pat Nabong /Chicago Sun-Times via AP)
Chicago police investigate South Chicago Chapel after authorities discovered dozens of decomposing bodies in the funeral home's basement on Thursday, Aug. 6, 2026. (Tyler Pasciak LaRiviere /Chicago Sun-Times via AP)
Chicago police investigate South Chicago Chapel after authorities discovered dozens of decomposing bodies in the funeral home's basement on Thursday, Aug. 6, 2026. (Tyler Pasciak /Chicago Sun-Times via AP)
A row of hearses sit parked outside the South Chicago Chapel while Chicago police investigate after authorities discovered dozens of decomposing bodies in the funeral home's basement on Thursday, Aug. 6, 2026. (Tyler Pasciak LaRiviere/Chicago Sun-Times via AP)
Chicago police investigate South Chicago Chapel after authorities discovered dozens of decomposing bodies in the funeral home's basement on Thursday, Aug. 6, 2026. (Tyler Pasciak LaRiviere/Chicago Sun-Times via AP)
Chicago police investigate South Chicago Chapel after authorities discovered dozens of decomposing bodies in the funeral home's basement on Thursday, Aug. 6, 2026. (Tyler Pasciak LaRiviere/Chicago Sun-Times via AP)
