Denver Broncos: Trevor Siemian wrongfully blamed for struggle?
Denver Broncos quarterback Trevor Siemian struggled after throwing an interception for a touchdown in a preseason game, but there’s more to the story…
In the world of instant gratification, it was easy after the Denver Broncos’ second preseason game — and the first start of Trevor Siemian’s career — to just say, ‘To heck with it…start Paxton Lynch!”
Siemian was efficient in the early goings, completing all but one pass and leading a touchdown drive on the first possession of the game prior to throwing an interception that was returned for a touchdown.
Siemian’s interception came on a bad read. There’s no doubt about that. Eric Reid watched Siemian’s eyes locked on to Demaryius Thomas and it was game over. During the play, Siemian was the last line of defense and he made an attempt to dive at Reid, who avoided the tackle and scored anyway.
Siemian re-entered the game on the next possession, and looked ‘rattled’ but there’s more to the story than meets the eye.
As we’ve seen and heard all week long, Siemian hasn’t been able to go 100 percent at practices due to a shoulder injury sustained on the tackle attempt. That would explain the errant passes thrown after the fact during the game, seeing as Siemian hasn’t been able to fully participate in team drills yet on a week where he has been named the starter.
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Perhaps some of this is up to interpretation, but with Siemian’s typical demeanor it would be out of character for him to come out ‘rattled’ in any sort of way after throwing an interception. It’s not that he’s incapable of getting flustered after such a play, but the more likely explanation for his inaccuracy after starting off so well would be an injury rather than a mental hurdle he was unable to overcome.
The storyline of a young quarterback being rattled is going to draw more viewership, and it would have made sense, except for the fact that Siemian was pretty significantly hurt.
Perhaps this is the reason why the Broncos and head coach Gary Kubiak were so quick to name Siemian the starter for the team’s third preseason game against the Los Angeles Rams. There’s no doubt that he has the best command of the offense and the huddle of any of the quarterbacks on the roster to this point, and despite his conservative play in the second preseason game, this is a guy that is capable of making some big throws down the field.
In the Gary Kubiak offense, there’s nothing wrong with a dink-and-dunk style, and Siemian has the ability to be more than just a game manager. We’ll get another pretty significant look at what he brings to the table against a very good defensive line in a major launching point for this Broncos quarterback competition.