Back in April, if you would have asked just about anybody in Denver when first-round pick Paxton Lynch would take the reins for the Broncos, the latest answer you likely would have heard is, “after the bye week.”
Well, here we sit at the bye and the team is 7-3, with Trevor Siemian, not Lynch, at the helm. Lynch has made one start out of necessity but, as things stand, it does not appear he will be taking over the huddle on a full-time basis any time this season.
On Tuesday, though, before the team left for their vacations, they had one final practice and taking the lion’s share of the work under center was the rookie.
“He took practice today. He took it all,” head coach Gary Kubiak said following the practice. “Paxton shows amazing talent throwing the ball and making plays. There are inconsistencies in doing the right thing. That’s why he’s young. It was good work for him today. He was in control of the football team, for the most part, today. It was a really good day for him to get some work in.”
The timing matched up to give Lynch the opportunity with many of the vets taking the day off and the regular starter dealing with a very sore shoulder.
“We gave Trevor the day off from throwing. He’s been throwing enough,” the coach said. “It’s good just to watch [Lynch] take over, too. There’s a lot of guys that did not practice today. If you’re repping and have 700, 800 plays under your belt, you probably weren’t doing much today. We practiced the young guys.”
Within the fanbase, there has been endless infighting as to when the rookie should get his chance. Many believe that Siemian has not done enough to hold off the potential greatness so many want to see from Lynch. The discussion has created a divide in a fanbase that is so used to seeing only the best from the man under center.
Inside the team, though, it’s all just that, teamwork.
“They work very well together,” Kubiak explained. “[QB] Austin [Davis] has been a very positive influence on them. He’s been on some teams. He’s a veteran. He knows how to prepare. It’s a good group. It’s a good room. A lot of times in quarterback rooms there’s a disparity between a Hall of Famer and a young kid. How you coach them and how you get them to hear, these guys are all right here, so it’s nice watching ‘Knapper’ (Quarterbacks/Passing Game Coordinator Greg Knap), ‘Rico’ [Offensive Coordinator Rick Dennison] and [Offensive Assistant/QBs] Klint [Kubiak] work with them. I think they’re doing a good job.”
In the end, while the fans see it as one man versus the other, the man in charge of things just sees the potential for the organization.
“I think they’ve done really well. The thing I’m excited about is I see growth every day,” Kubiak said. “I see growth every game from Trevor and watching Paxton run our team today; the future is very bright for this organization because we have two good, young players. I think the key is we want them to be great quickly. I want Trevor to play at the highest level he can possibly play at down the stretch because that’s important for our team.
“One thing about it, when you get in positions, regardless of who is in there, whether they’ve played seven games or they’ve played 70 games, it’s time to be at your best,” the head coach concluded. “That’s what we’re trying to get to.”
