ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — Denver Broncos quarterback Paxton Lynch said Tuesday his future is on his mind and he’s trying to hang on to his roster spot after falling to No. 3 on the depth chart headed into Thursday’s preseason finale against the Arizona Cardinals.
Lynch, whom the Broncos traded up to select in the first round of the 2016 draft (26th overall), had lost back-to-back training camp battles with Trevor Siemian in the previous two summers. And this time around he has slid to No. 3 on the depth chart, behind Case Keenum and Chad Kelly, as the Broncos approach Saturday’s deadline to reduce rosters from 90 to 53 players.
“Obviously you think about it, you’re not happy about it, but I’ve got to do what I’ve got to do with the hand that’s been dealt to me,” Lynch said. “And that’s what I’m doing, I’m working my tail off.”
Broncos president of football operations/general manager John Elway has often professed his preference to use just two roster spots at quarterback. However, Siemian played well enough in the preseason in 2015 for the Broncos to keep him as a rookie No. 3 behind Peyton Manning and Brock Osweiler.
The Broncos also kept three quarterbacks, after Siemian was injured, on the roster for much of last season.
Also, neither Elway nor coach Vance Joseph has ruled out bringing in a veteran quarterback as Keenum’s backup. Elway said when training camp opened he would consider it if neither Kelly nor Lynch showed he was ready. However, Kelly has played so well in the preseason the Broncos would likely now, at minimum, have to keep him as the No. 3 if they did sign another veteran passer because the seventh-round pick, who missed his rookie year in 2017 on injured reserve, might not clear waivers if they tried to get him to the practice squad.
For his part Lynch said he is trying to simply focus on Thursday’s game.
“I’m not worried about anything past the next day, which is (Wednesday), we come out here and have our practice and then travel to Arizona and then have our meetings there,” Lynch said. “That’s what I’m focused on. I’m focused on going out and playing well on Thursday.”
Kelly is 28-of-41 passing in three preseason games (68.3 percent) for 340 yards to go with three touchdowns and an interception. Lynch has struggled much of the time in his three outings — two of those against largely third-string defenses with largely the Broncos’ third-teamers in the formation around him — and is 14-of-29 passing (48.3 percent) for 102 yards to go with one interception.
Lynch was asked after Tuesday’s practice if he would like to remain with the Broncos, even if it meant he was the team’s No. 3.
“Absolutely, I love it here, I’ve said that since day one, I wanted to be the guy here,” Lynch said. “I’ve gone through some things, I’ve struggled, haven’t played well at times and at times I have played well. I’ve just got to find that consistency, constantly playing well and I know I can get there.”
Joseph said this week Kelly would play at least a half Thursday against the Cardinals and that Lynch would finish out the game.
Lynch also addressed what was a bit of a social media frenzy from this past weekend when he posted a photo of a “For Sale” sign posted in a yard. Many presumed it was a sign in front of Lynch’s house and an indication of what he thought of his future.
However, Lynch said his girlfriend is a realtor and he took the picture because her name was on the sign.
“I was proud of her, I posted a picture of it,” Lynch said. ” … I didn’t know about (the attention) until my parents had called me and said something about it — ‘Did you post a picture of a “For Sale” sign or something like that’ and I said ‘Yeah I did’ and I seen all these articles start popping up.”