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Denver Broncos General Manager John Elway and Head Coach Gary Kubiak met with the media prior to the start of Training Camp and provided an update on the quarterback battle.
Elway -- QB competiton "is going to be wide open, as Gary said."
— Andrew Mason (@MaseDenver) July 27, 2016
Both Elway and Kubiak said that the battle between the three quarterbacks will be "wide open" and that all three will get equal reps. Kubiak also confirmed the pecking order at quarterback for day one. The veteran Mark Sanchez will go first, Trevor Siemian will go second, and first round pick Paxton Lynch will go third. Kubiak did say that this order figures to change on a daily basis.
"That is a tricky situation. We’ll see. The bottom line is we’re going to give them equal reps. It’s an open competition. We’ve laid out our plan of how we’re going to rep them so that we’re getting an equal look at all of them. I think right now when we line up tomorrow, Mark is going to go first, Trevor is going to go second and Paxton is going to go third. That will change on a day-to-day basis. We just want to give them all an equal opportunity. As far as making a decision, I don’t have a timeline on it right now. I want to get to work and have as good of days as we can possible have. We’ll go from there."
I like how Kubiak is doing this. Early on give them all equal reps and see how they do and go from there. They are looking for one of them to stand out and take the lead in the battle. Until then I expect them to continue the equal reps.
Probably one of the more interesting quotes from Kubiak came when he was asked about how he plans on splitting the reps "equally" among the three quarterbacks. He said that Sanchez and Siemian will probably end up with more snaps with the 1's, but Lynch will end up with double the amount of reps as the other two.
"It’ll probably work out more with Trevor and Mark splitting the first team reps more than Paxton. I will also say this, we came out of the offseason with Paxton probably getting twice the amount of reps as our two other quarterbacks got. When it’s all said and done, we believe in developing young players and it’ll probably play out the same way."
I interpreted this quote like three different ways.
So Kubiak is saying Trevor and Sanchez will end up splitting the first team reps more than Lynch, but Lynch will likely end up with double the amount of reps as the other two?
Usually, the starting quarterback ends up with the most amount of reps in Training Camp, and Sanchez and Siemian probably need as many reps as they can get. Obviously, I'm biased here, but I found this quote interesting for all three quarterbacks.
Kubiak says he's "interested" to see how Sanchez and Siemian look after the break. Is pleased with Lynch's play since he returned.
— Andrew Mason (@MaseDenver) July 27, 2016
Speaking of Lynch, Kubiak was able to get a look at the rookie quarterback's progress the past few days and he came away impressed with what he saw.
"I think I’ve already seen something. He went away for a month, basically all of us have, and we’ve had him for a couple of days. I think Paxton’s struggles in the offseason were verbiage, huddle and all of those type of things. I’ve seen him improve already. His talent is exceptional, we all know that. I think he’s more comfortable right now just watching him bounce around and call plays. We’ll see how far he’s come."
It's great that Lynch has progressed since he first hit the field back in May with the Broncos. If he wants to push for the starting quarterback job he will need to progress and learn all the mental side of the game and let his talent do the rest.
One of the other things Lynch had to work on was his footwork and Kubiak believes it is becoming "second nature" to him.
"I think that’s something that we continuously have to work on, but I think it is getting to be second nature for him. I think he’s made a lot of improvement. I do not think that’s going to be that big of a deal. It is something that we are going to have to continue to grind on."
Footwork is something quarterbacks work on all throughout their career. A guy like Lynch will be on the move a lot, so he will need to continue to work on his footwork and make sure it isn't getting sloppy and affecting his passes in a negative way.
Kubiak genuinely seemed happy about Lynch's progress and starting today he will get to see how much Mark Sanchez and Trevor Siemian have progressed since they last hit the field with the Broncos back in June.
Kubiak, on finding a timeline to determine the starting QB: "I don't really have one."
— Andrew Mason (@MaseDenver) July 27, 2016
Kubiak was asked if he or the team has a timeline in which they will officially name a starter at quarterback and he said that he doesn't really have one and they will take it one day at a time.
"I don’t really have one. We are just going to go to work every day. Camp is a long grind. We’ve got a lot to get done each day and a lot of practices to get under our belts. We’ll take it a day at a time."
Kubiak said it, this battle will take one day at a time. Everything he said on Wednesday could change a week from now. Someone may step up in the battle, someone may struggle, all three may struggle, and so on and so on.
Thankfully camp officially opens today and we will finally get some answers to our questions.