Broncos pin their hopes on Lynch
Siemian out with an injured foot, so rookie QB gets another shot
Paxton Lynch tried. He really did. But he couldn’t hide the wide grin. The Broncos’ rookie quarterback knew early last week there was a good chance he would be called upon to start Sunday at Jacksonville, and his excitement was obvious.
Cornered by a crowd of reporters at his locker, Lynch said he felt confident. He said he was ready for a redo after his first start, against the Falcons in Denver in Week 5, didn’t go as he had hoped.
He said he was eager to earn his first win, and boy, do the Broncos need him to get one.
Sunday, Lynch will take the reins of the offense as the Broncos hit a critical point in their season. After last weekend’s overtime loss to the Chiefs — the one that left Trevor Siemian with a sprained left foot — Denver (7-4) sits in seventh place in the AFC playoff race.
Room for error has been eliminated. The time for Lynch to learn the offense, to become comfortable with the verbiage and schemes, to get adjusted to the speed of the NFL game, ended last week.
“It seems like two years ago when he played the last game,” Broncos coach Gary Kubiak said with a laugh. “I’m just watching him grow and come along as a player. It’s Game 12, and those young guys have been a part of it for a long time. He’s been good. He is confident. I’m watching him work and I thought his practice (Friday) was really good, very focused.”
Lynch made his NFL debut in the second half of the Broncos’ win over Tampa Bay in
Week 4, throwing for 170 yards and a touchdown in place of an injured Siemian. Lynch made his first start the next week, against Atlanta, but failed to replicate the success. He threw an interception and was sacked six times as the Broncos lost for the first time this season.
Improvement is harder to gauge with limited game repetitions and closed practices. But the Broncos say their first-round draft pick from Memphis keeps progressing.
“He’s like any new player in any team’s offense. You’re seeing growth every day,” quarterbacks coach Greg Knapp said of Lynch. “You’re seeing improvement each and every day, so it’s exciting to see his development. He’s seeing the defense a bit bet- ter. He’s understanding defensive schemes, from blitz pickups to coverage indicators. And that’s good, because sometimes that’s awfully hard for a rookie to get through that first year, with not just mastering your side of the ball, but also learning some defense. He’s done a good job with that.”
The Broncos moved up in the draft to select Lynch, knowing his arm strength and ability to scramble would be assets in Kubiak’s offense. Although their playbook doesn’t change with whoever is playing quarterback, the play calls Sunday could be geared more toward Lynch’s strengths — especially his mobility.
“I think they have tried to make it more comfortable for me, moved the pocket and let me run around a little bit,” Lynch said. “We also have some of their stuff with the drop-backs and throwing it down the field.”
The transition for any rookie quarterback can be difficult, but especially one coming from Memphis’ spread offense, where Lynch did not operate under center.
In training camp and the preseason, Denver coaches had Lynch work on the fundamentals. Footwork was a focus. Learning the verbiage of the playbook was one too. Same with simply transitioning to taking snaps under center.
“When I first got here, it was weird because I was in the gun so much,” Lynch said. “But like everything, the more that you get repetition of it, the more comfortable you feel. You watch yourself on film and you correct it. It just gets easier.”
But applying the teachings in the classroom to the field would come only with time and repetition. “There’s no replacement for experience,” said Austin Davis, the Broncos’ third-string quarterback. “You have to go through it. He’s definitely getting better every week. But the only thing that will make him better now is playing.”