ENGLEWOOD, Colo. – Heading into Sunday’s game in Tampa Bay, the storyline well in Broncos Country was running pretty dry. The team was rolling, the quarterback had settled in and so on. The main narratives all surrounded the fact that the team was just darn good.
As always seems to be the case, though, just when things seem to get quiet, something arises. This time is was reigning AFC Offensive Player of the Week, Trevor Siemian, going down with a shoulder injury in the second quarter of the game.
Insert first-round pick Paxton Lynch, stamp down an impressive performance and boom, quarterback controversy in Denver, trouble in paradise.
Not so fast.
On Monday, head coach Gary Kubiak addressed the media and quickly stamped out any fires surrounding his quarterbacks.
“Trevor is our starting quarterback, and hopefully he is going to be okay,” the coach explained. “I’m really proud of Paxton [Lynch] and how he came in and played yesterday. We felt fortunate with Trevor, and like I said, hopefully we’ll be day-to-day here and get him to next week.
“We’re going to approach every week to get our best players on the field,” he added. “Trevor is our starter, so we’re going to give him every opportunity to get there on Sunday. I was asked, ‘Could he play without a lot of practice?’ That would never be a problem with him because he is very bright in what we’re doing. We’ll push to get there and be as good as we can be against Atlanta. We’ll make decisions once we get to the end of the week.”
There you have it. No controversy. Gary Kubiak put a plan in place, that plan was to make Trevor Siemian the starter and continue to develop Paxton Lynch. The plan has worked to the tune of a 4-0 record, and he isn’t about to change anything.
“It’s exciting,” he said of the talent between the two. “Obviously they are both good players but making that decision and kind of watching them grow up together and go through this. We’re probably going to need them both. It’s just kind of the nature of the business now a day. Here we are, four weeks into the season, and we’ve used them both to get to where we’re at. It’s exciting to watch both of them grow, and both of them prepare each week. I think they both have bright futures. That’s great for our organization.”
As for Siemian’s health, he’s still day-to-day but the non-throwing arm injury does seem to pave a path to a quicker recovery. After all, the second-year man was actually ready to go back in on Sunday if the team needed him.
“He’s just really sore, just going through that motion and going through the throwing motion. Throwing the ball is not going to be a problem, it’s how does it feel when he moves his whole trunk. We’ll have to see.”
Siemian will use the off day on Tuesday to continue getting treatment on his shoulder; the team will return to practice Wednesday as they prepare to take on the Atlanta Falcons.
