It was only day one of the Denver Broncos’ offseason training activities, but the quarterback competition was already front and center. Last year’s starter Trevor Siemian worked predominantly with the first team, but new head coach Vance Joseph made it clear that those reps will be split up day by day.
Joseph, Siemian and Paxton Lynch each met with the gathered media after Tuesday’s practice and didn’t shy away from questions about how reps will be split, or about their expectations for the year.
“It’ll be day-by-day,” Joseph said about the splits. “Today it was Trevor’s turn to be with the first unit. Tomorrow it will be Paxton’s. It will be day-by-day. There are 10 OTAs, so it will be five and five, very even.”
About their performance, Joseph said he was very happy overall.
“It was OK. It was the first day, obviously. They both threw the ball well. They both commanded the huddle really well today. So, it was a good day,” he said.
Lynch, who will get his chance with the first team on Wednesday, wasn’t fazed by having to wait for his opportunity.
“I think [Coach Joseph] has done a good job of letting us know when you are going to get your reps with the ones and who is going first or second with the ones,” Lynch said. “Like I said from the beginning, I think every rep is important whether you are with the ones or you’re with the twos. You’re still throwing the ball. You’ve still got make completions. You’ve got to make the right checks. Whatever rep you can get is very valuable.”
Lynch appeared far more relaxed now in his second year as a pro, and acknowledged that this year’s quarterback competition already feels different.
“Last year, I kind of came in knowing that I was going to have a little bit of a setback just because of Mark [Sanchez’s] experience in the league and Trevor only having one year under his belt, but that rookie year is kind of a big year. You kind of learn everything and you go through everything. The second year, you come back and you try to get a little bit more comfortable with everybody. For me, it was just every day something new that I had to figure out compared to this year. I can kind of relax a little bit and just go out there and have fun,” he said.
As for the incumbent starter, Siemian, he’s not reading too much into the fact that he earned the first reps of OTAs.
“It’s Day One of OTAs, Phase 3, so we have some long ways to go. We split the reps up and I’m sure we’ll continue to do that. I’m not looking too much into that,” Siemian said. “It was good to get out here regardless of what group you’re with, one, two, or three. We’re just making the most of our reps.”
This approach is old hat for Siemian, who says splitting reps is nothing new.
“That’s kind of normal to me. I think it was something like that last OTAs. So you just make the most of your reps, right? You only get so many, and we don’t have a whole lot of time to practice out here, in the grand scheme of things, so whatever group you’re with, you’ve got to make the most of your reps,” he reinforced.
Featured Image Credit: Ryan Greene, 5280 Sports Network
