Trevor Siemian To Start At QB For Broncos Against Rams In Third Preseason Game

Trevor Siemian will start at quarterback for the Denver Broncos’ third preseason game Saturday night against the Los Angeles Rams, which will be played in Denver.

Trevor Siemian To Start At QB For Broncos Against Rams In Third Preseason Game

Head coach Gary Kubiak made the announcement at a press conference Monday afternoon, adding that he plans to decide on a regular season starting QB next week, before the final preseason game.

Siemian, Mark Sanchez and Paxton Lynch will all play against the Rams– who moved back to L.A. from St. Louis just this year– on Saturday, and Kubiak said he expects the repetitions to be equally distributed. Nonetheless, Kubiak added he has not decided whether Sanchez or Lynch would immediately follow Siemian on Saturday night.

“I’ve got to sit here and think about how much I’m going to play the starters. That will have a lot to do with how much I play [the quarterbacks],” Kubiak said.

In the past, Broncos starters have played into the third quarter of the third preseason game. Lynch was selected by the Broncos in the first round of the 2016 NFL Draft out of Memphis.

Siemian, 24, was also receiving treatment on his right shoulder Monday after falling hard attempting to tackle San Francisco 49ers safety Eric Reid, who returned an interception 44 yards for a touchdown this past weekend. That throw, incidentally, was Siemian’s only mistake, as he finished 10-of-14 for 75 yards and was 10-of-11 passing at one point.

He also led the offense on a 10-play, 86-yard touchdown drive to open the game.

“I think Trevor did a good job the other night. Obviously he has one play he’d like to have back, or it probably would, it would have, been as good as it could be,” Kubiak said. “So, I’m going to go back and give him a chance to do that again.”

Siemian was drafted by the Broncos in the seventh round of the 2015 NFL Draft out of Northwestern. He made his professional debut against the Pittsburgh Steelers on December 20, 2015.

Siemian also commented on the interception. “I just can’t turn the ball over, I made a bad decision,” he said. “I want that one back. That one bad play, unfortunately you can’t have one bad play.”

Sanchez was 10-of-17 for 120 yards with two lost fumbles — both in a four-play span just before halftime. Sanchez was emotional after the game, saying that he had “squandered” the opportunity to win the starting job.

“Going into my eighth year I know better, I know I’ve got to get the ball out,” Sanchez, 29, said after the game. “I know I can play this game and I know I’m better than I showed. Two really bad plays that took away from a great performance and potentially winning a job, so that’s really too bad.”

The Broncos, the defending Super Bowl champions, close out the preseason Sept. 1 in Arizona. Veteran quarterback Peyton Manning retired shortly after the title victory.

When asked whether he envisioned a scenario in which all three of the quarterbacks would be forced to play in the final preseason game, Kubiak simply said: “I don’t envision that,” which suggests that whoever is named the starter for the season would probably sit that one out.

“I’m proud of all three of them,” Kubiak said of Siemian, Sanchez and Lynch. “They’ve worked their tails off. They’ve all done good stuff. Obviously we’ve got some mistakes that we’ve got to get rid of, but we’ve made some mistakes in the past, and you find a way to overcome them. That’s part of football.”

DENVER, CO – AUGUST 20: Quarterback Trevor Siemian of the Denver Broncos throws as he warms up before a preseason NFL game at Sports Authority Field at Mile High on August 20, 2016 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Dustin Bradford/Getty Images)