Renck: Siemian shoulder surgery needed to get ‘bigger,’ ‘stronger’

Depending on recovery time, Denver Broncos quarterback Trevor Siemian might miss no time and participate in all team activities this offseason or he might be out all the way until training camp.

Sports Radio 104.3 The Fan’s Brandon Stokley said sources told him Siemian’s surgery in early January to repair a Grade 5 AC joint injury would keep him sidelined through OTAs.

“What I heard was he had a Grade 5 AC sprain, which is a very, very significant injury. He played through a lot of pain, had surgery on that, and it’s going to be a five- to six-month rehab,” Stokley said Friday. “If you go six months, that puts you into June. And you might not see Trevor Siemian this offseason.

“He might not take a snap until training camp.”

Following the report, Broncos vice president of public relations Patrick Smyth tweeted Siemian should be ready by OTAs, which are set to kick off in early April.

The plan remains for Trevor to be ready to go for the start of OTAs as he recovers from a procedure on his non-throwing shoulder. https://t.co/Vnk2NPhnYw

— Patrick Smyth (@psmyth12) February 24, 2017

But in either case, or somewhere in between as Denver 7 Broncos Insider Troy Renck speculated on Friday, the surgery was reportedly well worth it in Siemian’s mind.

Renck told “The Drive” that he had spoken with the young quarterback, who said everything was going well with the recovery process and was out of the sling.

But more importantly, Renck said Siemian explained that he needed to, in his mind, undergo the “elective” surgery so that he can better protect himself in the future.

“The way Trevor has explained it to me was he needed the surgery, in his mind, so he could lift and get stronger because if he didn’t, then he was always going to be limited in how much he could work out,” Renck said. “You take the risk that you’re going to need some recovery time, but, for him, the big picture of, ‘Hey, I’ve got to be able to get bigger and stronger.’

“Because what is one of the main questions about him? Durability. Well, it’s hard to get more durable if you can’t get stronger.”

Renck said the only reason the recovery would become an issue is if it somehow lasted until training camp, which he said “doesn’t appear to be the case.”

“If he misses April, I really see that as no big deal given his ability to study,” Renck said. “Now, if he’s going to miss everything until training camp, that’s a different animal. But he’s not thinking along those terms right now.”

And, certainly, Paxton Lynch, the team’s first-round draft pick in 2016, could certainly earn an edge up with Siemian out, but not only by virtue of Siemian being.

People, I think, are under the impression that they’re going to just hand Paxton the job. That is not going to happen,” Renck said. “If it’s not Tony Romo, it’s going to be a competition. And Paxton has to take a step forward.”

And in the end, the big picture for Siemian was he didn’t want to continue playing with severe discomfort like he did toward the end of the 2016 season.

“The thing that was revealing was … he admitted he was playing in discomfort until the last three weeks of the season. And, so, I’m sure that played into it,” Renck said, “but you know what (he doesn’t) want to play like that again because he’s compromised. And that’s not right for him. He’s not that type of athlete where he can play compromised.”

Follow digital content producer Johnny Hart on Twitter: @JohnnyHart7.