Broncos' Emmanuel Sanders plans to catch more passes from Brock Osweiler this offseason

Brock Osweiler's coaches and teammates are taking actions now to help his potential transition to starter go smoothly someday down the road.

There's no guarantee that Osweiler will end up replacing Peyton Manning as Denver's next quarterback, but the team is preparing for it to happen.

For his part, receiver Emmanuel Sanders plans to run more routes for Osweiler this summer.

"Last year when we were running routes I was always going with Peyton, but I'm going to try to mix it up and go with Brock a little more, because you never know — we have  a long journey ahead of ourselves. Things happen —injuries occur — and sometimes Brock might have to go into a game if Peyton's not feeling well or if he went down.

"Brock is one of those quarterbacks that works his butt off, and I think when the situation —  if it does occur — he will be prepared for it. "

Coach Gary Kubiak also commended Osweiler for his work ethic.

"I've been very impressed with him. Work is not a problem," Kubiak said. "He loves to play, and he wants to lead. So that's all you can ask of a player. He's very well coached, and he gets to sit there every day and learn from the best. He's getting a chance to grow the right way, and he needs to take advantage of that."

As for Osweiler's playing time, team general manager John Elway said he will get a chance to practice with the first team offense this summer.

"We'll evaluate him through training camp and evaluate him through preseason. I think that he got a lot of reps this offseason and we saw what he could do in practice, so we'll do the best we can to try to evaluate him.

"Brock's done a tremendous job handling the situation and continued to put his nose to the grindstone. He's continued to work and that's all he's done, and I'm sure he'll continue to do that."

For now, all Osweiler can do is be ready. His time will come eventually.