Denver Broncos general manager John Elway called the team’s quarterback situation ‘not settled’ and talked about Paxton Lynch…
John Elway has a difficult battle ahead of him with the Broncos struggling to a 3-6 record after five straight losses, and seemingly no answer in sight at the quarterback position.
What of Paxton Lynch? When will he get his shot?
Elway himself apparently doesn’t know the answer to that question, either.
In an interview with Dave Logan on Orange & Blue 760, Elway talked about the future of the quarterback position. What he had to say was very interesting…
So, a couple of notes from this one — somewhat loaded — statement from Elway himself:
1. The QB position is ‘obviously not a settled position’
The greatest fear of an organization in the NFL is to not have a settled quarterback position. The good news in this is, Elway realizes it. He doesn’t seem to be in denial or think we’ve seen enough from any one guy to make any sort of future declarations about the position.
The quarterback position is unsettled, and the guy at the top of the team knows it.
2. Trevor started…
That’s about it.
3. Brock’s in there now…
And that’s also about it…
4. We believe in Paxton.
The question here is, who is ‘we’? Is it Elway and a couple of guys in the front office? Are Elway and the coaching staff united on the Paxton Lynch front? His next comment seems to indicate there may be a difference of opinion there.
5. …’if there’s an opportunity to play.’
What does this even really mean?
The opportunity to play is there for the taking. Consider the strength of schedule remaining for the Broncos at this point:
Easiest remaining NFL schedules: 1. Jaguars 2. Chiefs 3. Ravens 4. Broncos 5. Redskins 6. Patriots 7. Steelers 8. Lions 9. Texans 10. Titans
— Mike Clay (@MikeClayNFL) November 14, 2017
Not only that, but the Broncos have lost five straight games. The quarterback position has been ‘unsettled’ to this point, and while Brock Osweiler is ‘in there now’ it doesn’t make sense for Paxton Lynch to be on the bench much longer.
Except for the fact that Vance Joseph announced on Monday there was ‘no timetable’ for Lynch’s return to the field.
The Broncos need to figure out who it is in the organization that believes in Paxton Lynch, and whether or not they’re willing to get him out onto the field. Perhaps Vance Joseph is afraid that if he puts Paxton Lynch out on the field and loses a bunch more games, he will be fired from his first head coaching job after one season.
I have no idea what the reason could be.
All I know is that Lynch is not on the Broncos’ injury report (as of the past couple of weeks) and he’s still considered to be injured by the head coach.
Someone in this case is a horrible liar.
Next: How should the QB position be addressed?
Vance Joseph said that Lynch is still only throwing the ball to the short-intermediate part of the field, and not fully to the point of slinging the ball around. You don’t want to mess around with a shoulder injury, but Lynch was not placed on IR because there was obviously hope that he would play, and I guarantee you Elway would have liked to have seen it much sooner than this.
With this season all but lost for the Broncos, the time is now for Lynch to get onto the field. Hopefully, for the sake of everyone involved, the Broncos fast-track his return so we can all see what they’ve got.