“Big play” expected of Trevor Siemian

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — After coming off of one of the most exciting, and improbable, victories against the New Orleans Saints on Sunday the Denver Broncos enter their bye week with one focus: improvement.

On Monday, head coach Gary Kubiak mentioned many areas where the Broncos could improve, however, none was talked about more than the offensive signal caller, Trevor Siemian.

It isn’t that Siemian has been the weakest link on the team; it’s that Kubiak knows his quarterback has the chance to succeed at a high level, this season.

“What I’ve seen with Trevor is I’ve seen some really good, I’ve seen some inconsistencies and I’m trying to get him to be more consistent in what he’s doing,” Kubiak said. “I would rate him like a lot of guys—got to get better, want to see him continue to lead better and better with this football team.”

During Kubiak’s usual press conference the day after the game he reminded everyone that this is still Siemian’s first year playing. While the head coach gave Siemian a pass for some things because of his inexperience, he wasn’t afraid to point out major areas that need improvement.

“Right now sometimes his depth is bad in the shotgun and it’s something we got to work on,” he said. “When it’s good he’s stepping up, sometimes he’s drifting and getting hit when he shouldn’t be getting hit.”

In Sunday’s 25-23 victory over the Saints Siemian was sacked six times, partially due to the offensive line and partially Siemian’s pocket presence. Kubiak also pointed to one other major area of concern.

“I don’t like the fact that we’ve turned the ball over the last few weeks,” the head coach said. “He’s in charge of the football, whether you’re getting hit or not, you are in charge of the football…we are addressing those things as we speak.”

The coach’s constructive criticism of his quarterback wasn’t a sign of a future quarterback change to come, but rather his confidence in Siemian as the quarterback for the rest of the season. Kubiak quickly shut down the possibility that rookie Paxton Lynch would take over for Siemian at any point during the season.

“No, no, not al all. I think every player should be driven to be at your best all of the time, hell Trevor is no different,” Kubiak said.

Through the first 10 games of the season, Siemian has put up pedestrian statistical numbers: 60.1 completion percentage, 12 touchdowns, seven interceptions and a quarterback rating of 85. Although a seventh round pick just a year and a half ago, Kubiak expects his quarterback to be a central part of the Broncos’ success down the stretch.

“I want Trevor to play big, I don’t want Trevor to play okay or good, I want Trevor to play big for this football team,” he said. “And if he can do that and get the ball in the right spots and protect the ball, with the formula we had going yesterday, I think some really good things can happen for this team. I have some big expectations for him, and he knows that.”

It wasn’t all doom and gloom for the quarterback. After only missing one game due to a shoulder injury Kubiak talked highly of Siemian’s toughness.

“The reason he does make a lot of plays is he will sit in there and get hit right in the mouth and make a play,” he said. “That is a great characteristic of a quarterback and you have to do that sometime.”

While Kubiak wasn’t easy on his quarterback entering the bye week, there was no doubt that No. 13 will be under center for the rest of the season.