Big test ahead for two QBs
Joseph wants to see players in game situations
Two days before the Broncos were to take the field in Chicago for their preseason opener against the Bears, first-year coach Vance Joseph trotted out the scout team at Dove Valley.
“I’m not going to rescue guys with scheme,” Joseph said after Tuesday’s practice. “But I will give them enough to play well. It’s a difference between putting players out there and not having them ready to play versus helping them with scheme.”
His thinking was this: More time to prepare for an opponent, even in preseason, gives his players a better chance of playing their best. The season before the season is often labeled meaningless, but for the past two years it has been anything but for the Broncos as they continue to search for their starting quarterback and leaders at many other positions.
In preseason, jobs are won and lost even when the games don’t count.
Since April, Trevor Siemian and Paxton Lynch have been battling for the starting quarterback gig while learning offensive coordinator Mike McCoy’s new system. Their work in training camp is weighted heavily in the evaluation, but their performance Thursday and next week at San Francisco will count the most.
“The games matter,” Joseph said. “I want to get to the games so we can get to the bottom of this.”
Siemian will start against the Bears and play no more than a quarter and a half before Lynch takes over. Against the 49ers, they’ll swap, giving each a fair opportunity with the first-team offense and against a defense other than their own.
These games require a balancing act for all as the coaches monitor not only the quarterbacks’ — and every other player’s — performance, but also their snap counts and how much of the offense is revealed before the regular season.
“There’s a fine line there,” McCoy said. “There are certain things every team in this league are not going to show until the opener. You go in there and the big thing, we’re always going to talk is, it’s about us. We have to go out there and do our jobs regardless.”
For the quarterbacks, their jobs will be decided by their complete body of work. The biggest factor? Decision-making without a script.
“I know that during camp, they kind of throw a lot at you to see what we can do and see what we’re good at,” Lynch said. “Now that we’re about to play a team and actually game-plan a little bit
for them, it cuts it down and you can kind of focus in on a little more specific stuff.”
McCoy’s system, which will resemble the one he ran in Denver when he was coordinator from 2009-12, will change — quite often, he said — and is designed to be “explosive” and “uptempo” and put points on the board early and often.
“We want to put pressure on the defense every snap and every play,” Siemian said. “That’s a common theme all over the place; it’s just how well can you do it. I think with the guys we have, receivers, running backs and the way our offensive line is coming together, I think we have a good chance to do that.”
Mastery of the playbook has yet to come for most, but the first preseason game changes the tenor and expectations. It should also provide clarity in the quarterback race.
“You want to see how guys react when they’re tired, when they’re hurt and obviously against a different opponent,” Joseph said. “I’m excited about Thursday to see how the young guys go out and play football so we can find out the best guys for our football team.”