Starting QB a mystery

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — The Denver Broncos’ protracted quarterback competition last summer cost them cohesion as Trevor Siemian never really found a good rhythm with his receivers.

Now the Broncos aren’t going to name their starting QB until later in the week, another oddity in a strange season in Denver for a franchise still reeling from Peyton Manning’s retirement 21 months ago.

“Who’s the starting quarterback on Sunday?” Coach Vance Joseph asked Wednesday, repeating the question. “We’re not there yet.”

Joseph said Brock Osweiler, coming off his best game as a pro, and Paxton Lynch, coming back from a sprained left ankle, split snaps Wednesday “exactly down the middle, half and half.”

Joseph said Lynch “looked OK. You know he hadn’t practiced in three weeks. His ankle looked OK, not perfect. But he practiced. He started and finished practice.”

Joseph said the decision is a complicated one with several factors playing into it, “and I won’t share most of those.”

The Broncos (5-9) play Sunday at Washington (6-8), where they’ll face quarterback Kirk Cousins, whom many Broncos fans would like to see sign with Denver in the offseason.

The Broncos have juggled quarterbacks all year. Siemian started the first seven games before being benched for Osweiler, who started three before being supplanted by Lynch last month.