QB BATTLE HAS COACH KUBIAK’S ATTENTION

Battle at quarterback has Kubiak’s attention, especially with two young players

The spotlight that has hovered over the Broncos’ trio of quarterbacks since April has only become brighter, as coach Gary Kubiak continues his search for the regular-season starter.

Sure, the quarterback quagmire with Mark Sanchez, Trevor Siemian and Paxton Lynch is the biggest issue for the reigning Super Bowl champions. But it’s hardly the only one.

There are other positional battles. There are new faces and young faces and an offense that is similar, but different enough to require adjustments from all.

Striking a balance with giving his quarterbacks the necessary attention, as well as all the other players, is a delicate one — one for which Kubiak arguably is the most qualified coach to navigate after last season’s ups and downs.

“There is always going to be something,” Kubiak said. “This is different. I’ve been doing this a long time, and this is different with the situation and two very young players.”

As Broncos Country awaits the appointment of a new starter, the players wait, too.

“To find out who is going to start is really going to help so we can have that connection come Week 1,” wide receiver Demaryius Thomas said. “To tell you the truth, it’s not frustrating to us because the quarterbacks are not bad. All of them could potentially

go play for any team in the NFL. … It’s a tossup. It’s tough right now, because any given day you can go out and both of them can have a great day. As a receiver group, the running backs and the rest of us guys, we’re going to go out and do what we can to get better as far as getting open for the guys so we can make plays for them.”

For now, the starter is Siemian, a second-year player who was in for only one snap as a rookie last year. On Tuesday, Siemian participated partially in individual and team drills but was unable to throw because of shoulder soreness that stemmed from when he attempted to make a tackle in Saturday’s preseason loss to San Francisco.

Kubiak said Siemian is day to day, but the fact he will get his second consecutive start gives him an edge in the quarterback race.

But other signs await. By the end of the week, Kubiak plans to decide the order of quarterbacks behind Siemian for Saturday’s test. And by next week, he plans to select his Week 1 starter so that player can get the necessary reps with the No. 1 offense.

Which means for seven months, the Broncos will have operated on faith.

Thomas, the most veteran Bronco on offense who has transitioned from Tim Tebow to Peyton Manning to Brock Osweiler and now the current competition, said years past have offered perspective. Dealing with the lowest lows of last season, which included his own struggle with drops and the highest high of winning it all, has helped to temper the difficulty of this one. Tight end Virgil Green concurred. “We’ve been through some things here. We’ve weathered a lot of storms,” Green said. “A lot of guys that were here last year are here now. We dealt with the situation last year. We dealt with Peyton and Brock. We just did what we had to do and made it work. … It prepared a lot of guys for the unknown. At the end of the day, you have to go out there and do your job. You can’t go focus on any job but your own. That’s a mind-set that everybody has in the locker room.”

On the other side of the ball, where the Broncos stamped their identity and retained many of their core leaders, the focus on the quarterbacks has brought a bit of peace.

“It actually gives us time to focus on what we need to get done,” safety T.J. Ward said. “The attention is off of us for the most part. We can really focus on being better than we were last year.”

But this season picks up where last season ended for the Broncos. Their first test will be among their biggest — a Super Bowl rematch with the Carolina Panthers.

“I really doesn’t matter to us. I wish we didn’t have to play them the first game of the season,’” said Thomas, thinking of the Broncos’ transition and remaining unknowns ahead of the opener. “It’s a great team. Every team is going to be good. It is what it is. We’re going to be ready to go once it’s time.”