Things are suddenly moving "a lot slower" for Broncos' Paxton Lynch

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — Paxton Lynch has grown up. His teammates see it, his coaches see it, and you can feel it when he talks.

Yes, believe it or not, the 23-year-old kid has matured in his first year since leaving college, and frankly, he needed to.

On Tuesday, a much more comfortable Lynch took to the field for the first time as a second-year player, and he felt like a vet.

“It was a lot slower,” he said with a smile that rarely leaves his face. “I knew my way around a little bit more compared to last year. I got here, and everything was moving a million miles an hour, really. I kind of got out there now. I’ve been around the guys for a year. It’s a new coaching staff, it’s a new playbook. But the fact that you have been around your teammates for a year and you have a chance to get to know them on and off the field, it is a little easier.”

Often times, adjusting to a new scheme, a new playbook, a new offense can be tough on a young quarterback. For Lynch, though, it appears to be an advantage. Suddenly, the extra year of experience that counterpart Trevor Siemian has isn’t quite as valuable as it once was. Suddenly, the playing field has leveled out.

That’s pretty cool to the ever-cool Lynch.

“It’s definitely cool in the aspect that we’re all learning it together,” he said, sort of sounding like a kid describing his favorite thing about class. “It’s really cool to me because you kind of get an idea of how other people see it and how they are learning it. You kind of find ways to learn it and see how other guys find it easy to learn and take notes from them. You discuss and make your way through it as a team.”

That’s all nice, but it’s really “cool” for ol’ Paxton because he has a far better chance at winning the starting job. A year older means the former first-round pick is a year wiser, but most importantly he’s more comfortable. With a year under his belt—and the pressure of competing for a starting job as a rookie while trying to learn a complex offense behind him—Paxton Lynch can just be Paxton Lynch.

“The more you get reps, and the more you see the plays against the real defense, you kind of have that in the back of your mind, and you can tuck it down and run a little bit more,” he explained. “When you first get here, you just try to learn the reads and make sure your footwork is on time while you’re trying to get the ball out on time. I think the more you feel the pocket presence, the more you get comfortable in there and can run around a little bit.”

Paxton Lynch has a clean slate, a fresh start and a lot of factors in his favor when it comes to the quarterback competition at hand, that may play a small part in why the “offense looks very exciting” to the second-year man.