Dear Broncos Country: Chill out... For just one month

DENVER, Colo. — This week, the Denver Broncos will take the field for three consecutive practices—Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday—all open to the media.

Each and every eye that is allowed through the big blue door with “AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY” plastered across it will be fixated on two men—Trevor Siemian and Paxton Lynch.

After those oh-so-fateful (not really) three days, residents of the great state of Colorado will be trapped in a month-long wasteland of Broncos talk. With nothing on the field to report, fans of the Orange & Blue will be forced to hear, see and talk about those three practices, five hours and 15 minutes, less than that in live action, for over a month.

Based on the patterns we’ve seen up to this point, there are two possible narratives to come out of these three days:

1. PAXTON LYNCH HAS DONE IT; HE’S ON HIS WAY TO THE STARTING JOB
2. MINI-CAMP DOESN’T MATTER, THE REAL RACE STARTS IN JULY

Let’s face it, the majority of Broncos Country wants to see the first-round gunslinger win the job, and who can blame them? The team made a very significant investment in No. 12 and the people want to see that ROI start rolling in.

The reality is, neither of the above narratives will be the truth, but the second one is the closest, regardless of who plays better. No player is going to win the job in the next three days, nor can they take a commanding lead.

“Right now, it’s a learning process with a new offense going in,” Vance Joseph explained at the end of May. “Right now, everyone is learning. It is tough to evaluate the quarterbacks when everyone is learning. Sometimes the receiver’s mistake can fall back on the quarterback’s mistake. Right now, everyone is learning. Obviously, in the fall, it would ramp up as far as decision making and who’s playing the best at each position.”

That was a popular quote on a day when Trevor Siemian was the better quarterback.

Here’s the point: These upcoming three days matter, but they are going to be blown out of proportion by just about everybody—it’s the natural reaction with nothing else to talk about. Take it all with a grain of salt. Last season at this time, people still thought the job was going to be handed to Mark Sanchez, those who said Trevor Siemian was a legit candidate were said to be reaching for angles, etc.

Training camp is like a season of its own, players who looked to be roster locks find themselves without a job, guys nobody has ever heard of become fan favorites and position battles across the board seesaw back and forth all the way through.

Everybody wants to declare a winner in the great quarterback battle because nobody likes the unknown, but the reality is until the middle of camp when Mark Sanchez kneels down on the goal line when he’s supposed to spike it, nothing can really be decided.

Whether you want to see Paxton Lynch or Trevor Siemian win the starting job, don’t get caught in the wave of overreaction that will come out of the next three days, it’s three days.

So chill out for a month, no matter how hard you lobby, you can’t win your favorite quarterback the starting job from your keyboard in the middle of June. Then get your saddle ready for the last week of July when the gloves come off for real.