BRONCOS STILL HAVEN’T SAID WHO WILL BE QB SUNDAY
Broncos still haven’t announced Lynch or Osweiler as starter
The Broncos don’t have a name just yet. After a week of practice and evaluation of quarterback Paxton Lynch, coach Vance Joseph said Friday morning that the team wasn’t ready to declare the starting QB for Sunday’s game at Washington.
The decision, he said, was expected to be made later in the day after meetings with the staff.
“We had a good day today,” Joseph said. “I think Paxton is about 90 percent. He’s practiced all week, so we’ll see. We’re close.”
The Broncos have dragged out the decision to give Lynch ample time to test out his injured ankle, which sidelined him for the last three weeks and limited him in practice this week. He’s listed as questionable to play Sunday against the Redskins but will be active no matter what; if the team names Brock Osweiler the starter, Lynch is said to be healthy enough to serve as his backup.
“It’s tougher to throw with a lower-body injury then it is an upper-body injury for quarterbacks,” offensive coordinator Bill Musgrave said. “Really, if you have a (dent) in your foundation, that affects you more than just being able to buddy tape a finger or getting a shot for a cracked rib or something. When your footwork is affected — whether it’s stride length, left foot placement or balance — that’s tougher on QBs.
“We as coaches have to put those guys in position to be successful, can’t ask them to do something that they couldn’t do physically. That’s where we can use quarter-turn adjustments in our play-calling to give them a fighting chance.”
The Broncos have stressed that the “complicated” decision in naming their starting QB is rooted in the fact that they want Lynch to play before the season ends and they’re faced with the bigger question of what to do at the position for the future.
As Joseph and his staff mulled the starter for Week 16, general manager John Elway was at the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl in Boise on Friday watching Wyoming quarterback Josh Allen, a projected top-10 draft selection. Sunday, Elway will get a close-up of potential free agent Kirk Cousins. And in January, it was just announced, Elway will get a good look at Heisman Trophy winner Baker Mayfield of Oklahoma at the Senior Bowl in Alabama.
The list of candidates to poten-
tially help the Broncos in 2018 and beyond is significant, and their time to view Lynch once more this season is dwindling.
“I’ll say this, our goal is to see him play before the year is out,” Joseph said Thurs- day. “We have two more games to do that. My concern is making sure he’s healthy enough to play at a high level. He has an ankle injury and he hasn’t practiced in three weeks. He’s a quarterback that can use his legs when he’s in danger, so I want to make sure he’s right. That’s about it.”
Lynch suffered an ankle sprain in his first and only start this season, in Week 12 at Oakland, and returned to the practice field for the first time this week. He appeared to still be dealing with lingering pain, which may prompt Joseph to stick with Osweiler and reassess Lynch’s health for the season finale.
“Paxton’s done a nice job of working through his injury,” Musgrave said. “He’s working through it. He had some plays that I don’t know if he could have made on Wednesday with his balance or his footwork — working through an ankle injury. I think we’re just looking for him to get more and more healthy and working through it.”