Brock Osweiler to replace Trevor Siemian at QB for Broncos
— -- ENGLEWOOD, Colo. -- With a growing pile of turnovers and a three-game losing streak in hand, the Denver Broncos made a change at quarterback Wednesday as Brock Osweiler was named the starter over Trevor Siemian for Sunday's game against the Philadelphia Eagles.
Broncos coach Vance Joseph met with Siemian and Osweiler on Wednesday morning before informing other players at the morning team meeting. Osweiler was slated to work with the first-teamers at practice, while Siemian, a team captain, has been benched.
It will be Osweiler's first start for the Broncos since 2015, when he started seven games while Peyton Manning was injured. Osweiler was pulled in the regular-season finale after the Broncos had four first-half turnovers, and Manning started every game thereafter in the run to the Super Bowl 50 title.
Osweiler then left in free agency for Houston. After throwing 15 touchdowns and 16 interceptions as the Texans' starter in 2016, Osweiler was traded to the Browns, who released him this preseason.
Joseph hinted at a change Tuesday after the Broncos' five-turnover loss to the Kansas City Chiefs on Monday night.
"When you lose three in a row and how we've lost the football games, again [Monday] on offense with four turnovers, I think everything is for discussion,'' Joseph said. "It's fair to say, right now, everything is being discussed. ... It's unfair to your team if you're not discussing that position.''
The Broncos are on a short week and will leave for Philadelphia after Friday's practice.
Siemian, who had won the job in back-to-back training camp battles, threw three interceptions in Monday night's loss to the Chiefs. Only Cam Newton and Cleveland Browns rookie DeShone Kizer -- each have 11 interceptions -- have thrown more than Siemian (10) this season.
Siemian is 29th in the league in passer rating (76.8), and he's been sacked 25 times -- tied for the second-highest total among the league's starters. And the Broncos, despite the league's No. 1 defense, have lost four of their past five to drop to 3-5.
"I just turned it over, couple of bad decisions, tough to win, tough to beat good teams when you turn it over,'' Siemian said after Monday's loss to the Chiefs.
Asked whether he was pressing, Siemian added: "at times, yeah, yeah, for sure. You can't do that.''
The Broncos re-acquired Osweiler after Paxton Lynch suffered a right (throwing) shoulder injury in a preseason game against the Green Bay Packers. Lynch just returned to practice last week.
Osweiler, after struggling in Houston and Cleveland, said he would have returned to the Broncos "for a dollar.''
Broncos president of football operations/general manager John Elway said then that Osweiler needed some "football rehab.'' On Tuesday, during a radio appearance, Elway said the team would "be fine'' if Osweiler were named the starter.
The biggest question moving forward is what the Broncos will do if they are mathematically eliminated from the playoff race. Lynch was the team's first-round pick in 2016, and the Broncos have seen him work in just two regular-season games to this point.
Joseph left open the possibility of putting Lynch in the lineup at some point as his shoulder improves and he gets more practice reps.
"He could be [in the mix]. Again, whatever's best for your football team, we're going to do,'' Joseph said Tuesday. "Obviously, Paxton is still healing up. He's getting better day to day, but it would be unfair to put Paxton out there right now. He hasn't played since Week 3 of the preseason and he's only practiced four days, on a short week. It wouldn't be fair to our football team or to Paxton.''
