Siemian takes strides in return to action at Broncos walkthrough
Dec 8, 2016, 12:00 AM | Updated: 4:33 am
The Denver Broncos resumed practice on Wednesday at UCHealth Training Center — kind of. Instead of the normal Wednesday routine, the Broncos conducted a walkthrough indoors at the Pat Bowlen Fieldhouse.
Because the Broncos did a walkthrough, quarterback Trevor Siemian was able to participate in practice. While Paxton Lynch jogged onto the field, Siemian walked out to get some work in with his teammates.
Head coach Gary Kubiak said after practice that Siemian did what was expected in participating Wednesday.
“He did basically everything we asked him to do today,” Kubiak said. “We took a day off to the legs. We were just doing walkthrough things today. He did everything we asked him to.”
And after practice, Siemain showed cautious optimism about his status after practice.
“I’m feeling better. I’m still taking it one day at a time. I think today went well. I feel like I’ve been getting better every day. I’m just going from there,” Siemian said.
Siemian missed the matchup against the Jacksonville Jaguars in Week 13, and the Broncos offense struggled because of it. Lynch started against the NFL’s second-ranked pass defense and barely put up more than 100 yards through the air on 24 attempts.
Lynch’s outing was in stark contrast to Siemian’s performance a week before against the Kansas City Chiefs, when he posted a career-high 368 yards in a 30-27 loss.
Kubiak said multiple times leading up to that game that he wanted Siemian to “play huge,” and that’s what his quarterback did.
He also got hurt — again — his third injury of the year. Siemian was known to be an injury-prone quarterback in college at Northwestern, and that injury bug has certainly followed him to Denver.
When asked if he was running or cutting yet, Siemian declined to go into specifics on Wednesday.
“Just on some stuff that (head athletic trainer Steven Antonopulos) ‘Greek’ has asked me to do, and everything has gone well so far,” Siemian said. “I have my fingers crossed moving forward. I’m taking it one day at a time.”
If Siemian can’t play again this week, then the team will turn to Lynch once again. Lynch had a poor performance against the Jaguars, but the rookie did not turn the ball over against a very good pass defense in only his second start.
Kubiak said both quarterbacks are preparing to start this week.
“We’re going to get them both ready to play as we watch Trevor go through the week,” Kubiak said. “(Lynch) came out of the game well. He learned a lot, and he learned a lot from the film. It’s time to let it go and move on to the next one. He got a lot of reps today.”
It would be good for the Broncos to get Siemian back this week, but it may be better to have him closer to full strength for the last three games of the season.
If that means resting Siemian again and going with Lynch, so be it.