The Broncos used a first-round draft pick on quarterback Paxton Lynch, then told him to wait. They put Trevor Siemian and Mark Sanchez through a ringer to decide on a starting quarterback. But the competition will not stop when the season starts.

Lynch is on a fast track, Broncos coach Gary Kubiak said Tuesday. And Denver is pressing the 22-year-old rookie from Memphis as much as he can be pushed.

“As fast as we can get it,” Kubiak said. “You never know what’s going to happen.”

Lynch will likely play the first snap to last Thursday in the Broncos’ final preseason game, at Arizona against the Cardinals. Siemian, who will start when the season opens Sept. 8 against the Carolina Panthers, will not play. If there’s a moment when Lynch can’t go Thursday, Sanchez would be his backup, Kubiak said.

The author senses the team is in a hurry to get Lynch up to speed, and rushing toward their future. Kubiak says he wants to seem consistent improvement from Lynch. Another issue is getting too deep in the gun, due to his height. The story added the team is impressed with his internal clock.

Denver Broncos quarterback Mark Sanchez said Tuesday that he’d like to stay with the Broncos even though he did not win the team’s starting job and intends to keep working as if he will be with the team, at least until he is told he is not.

Coach Gary Kubiak formally named Trevor Siemian the Broncos’ starting quarterback Monday and now has to decide who the team’s No. 2 quarterback will be -- rookie Paxton Lynch or Sanchez. That leaves Sanchez, who did not play in this past Saturday’s preseason game against the Los Angeles Rams and will not play Thursday night in Arizona unless Lynch needs to come out of the preseason finale for some reason, with an uncertain future after he had arrived in Denver calling his place with the Broncos "an opportunity of a lifetime."

Needless to say, Sanchez's fate is in limbo, the story said. There have been reports the team is offering him up in trade talks, specifically to the Cowboys. He's an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season.

Broncos announce Trevor Siemian will be their Week 1 starting quarterback.

We just posted a news item today that said it was possible the Broncos would roll with Siemian and Paxton Lynch as their top-two QBs this season, leaving Mark Sanchez's roster spot up in the air. Sanchez would count $4.5 million against the salary cap, and the Broncos don't have to surrender a conditional draft pick to the Philadelphia Eagles if Sanchez is not on the roster to open the season.

As for Siemian, he doesn't have any game experience but certainly has the weapons on offense to work with in Demaryius Thomas and Emmanuel Sanders at wide receiver. In the preseason, Siemian has completed 27 of 43 passes for 285 yards (6.63 YPA). He looked confident and comfortable running the offense this past weekend, according to reports. He's a low-end starter playing in a good situation, but the Broncos may end up taking a run-first approach with C.J. Anderson, and what is a competitive battle for the RB spots behind him.

Trevor Siemian looked confident and comfortable running the offense. And the Broncos will like the touchdown drive Siemian led, as well as the drive for a field goal just before halftime that featured a 43-yard completion to Demaryius Thomas. They won't be as thrilled with his near interception -- it was dropped by Rams’ safety Christian Bryant and was a far worse decision than his actual interception -- when Siemian tried to jam a pass into tight quarters to wide receiver Emmanuel Sanders.

Overall, Siemian looked like the guy who believes he can -- and will -- be the team's starter.

Paxton Lynch's entry into the game came at halftime.

All this means Mark Sanchez's roster spot could be tenuous. Sanchez did not play on Saturday. On the business side, he would count $4.5 million against the salary cap and the Broncos don't have to surrender a conditional draft pick to the Philadelphia Eagles if Sanchez is not on the roster to open the season. The story added the team wants to name a starting QB this week.

Saturday night, it was for the offense, led by Trevor Siemian. And after a deep attempt up the right sideline for Cody Latimer was ruled an interception, it was absolutely necessary to extract some momentum from what will be the starters' final work of the preseason.

"I thought it was huge. I thought it was really huge," said running back C.J. Anderson, who galloped through some wide holes for 35 yards on three consecutive carries that pushed the Broncos to the 1-yard line, setting up Siemian's 1-yard play-action touchdown pass to Virgil Green en route to a 17-9 win.

What set up the series was Siemian's unruffled demeanor. He didn't mope. He didn't panic. He simply stepped into the huddle and oozed confidence. The offense responded from there, the story said. Keep in mind this is a story from the team's official web site, but HC Gary Kubiak was quoted as saying Siemian was calm and had control of the huddle. There hasn't been an official announcement yet, but some feel Siemian has a leg up in this battle for starting QB.

Trevor Siemian did not throw in Tuesday's practice due to what coach Gary Kubiak described as a bruised right (throwing) shoulder.

Siemian was in uniform for the workout, but he only took part in individual drills and was with the starting offense for its run-game work. He did not throw in any of the other practice periods.

"He just couldn't throw,'' Kubiak said following practice.

"He's got a very sore shoulder ... he did take run game and stuff in practice and took individual. We'll see where we're at (Wednesday)."

Many feel Siemian has an inside track to the starting job in Denver. He's expected to start on Saturday despite the shoulder issues on Tuesday, Kubiak said in the story.

If Trevor Siemian holds serve and is named the regular-season starter and if, after Saturday's game, the Broncos think they've seen enough from Paxton Lynch to make him the No. 2 quarterback, it's unclear what it would mean for Mark Sanchez. If he was the No. 3 and remained on the roster he would be the team's highest paid quarterback and a game-day inactive.

Sanchez is the highest paid of the three, counting $4.5 million against the cap. If the Broncos were to decide to release Sanchez because they believe Lynch could be the team's backup, the Broncos would take a $1 million dead money hit against their salary cap and would have to pay the $1 million that is fully guaranteed in Sanchez's contract. If the Broncos decide on a Siemian-Lynch depth chart, they could also try to trade the 29-year-old Sanchez. He is set to be an unrestricted free agent at season's end, so teams would only be taking on the last year of his current contract.

Trevor Siemian will get another chance to start a preseason game for the Broncos.

Coach Gary Kubiak announced Monday that Siemian will be the first man under center against the Rams.

As you know, that game is traditionally a dress rehearsal for the regular season. That would suggest that Siemian has some edge in the starting quarterback competition. But, there are some complications, according to the story. Kubiak said that Siemian has a sore shoulder as a result of an attempted tackle he made after throwing an interception against the 49ers and that it’s not clear yet whether he’ll be able to practice on Tuesday. Kubiak also said that he wants Siemian, Mark Sanchez and Paxton Lynch to play the same amount of time on Saturday night, but didn’t say whether Lynch or Sanchez would be the second quarterback into the game. Kubiak didn’t rule out any of the three winding up as the starter following the Rams game. The way this competition is going, this news may not have told us much of anything.

Conventional wisdom said all along that the Broncos starting quarterback job would come down to whoever made the fewest mistakes between Mark Sanchez and Trevor Siemian. Sanchez was the heavy favorite before the preseason, but two weeks in Siemian has probably pulled ahead, especially after some costly mistakes from Sanchez Saturday night.

Better not rule out rookie Paxton Lynch. Gary Kubiak confirmed as much Sunday, telling reporters Lynch has "always been in the mix" even though he's inherently behind because he's a rookie.

"He's always been in the mix," Kubiak said. "I just told you guys that he's behind the other two from a knowledge standpoint, but we've been out there competing every day. Everybody is in competition to play."

In his immediate postgame interview on television, Kubiak only referenced "two" different quarterbacks, appearing to indicate the starting gig would come down to Siemian and Sanchez. But once he got in front of the podium, Kubiak continued to reference three different players and said the guy who is best for the team will start at quarterback, the story said.

One of the biggest position battles of the offseason has been that of the Denver Broncos’ quarterback situation. Mark Sanchez, Trevor Siemian and Paxton Lynch have been duking it out all summer, and while it hasn’t been completely sorted out just yet, we’re getting closer to finding out who will start in Week 1.

On Tuesday, the Broncos revealed that Mark Sanchez will be the starting quarterback Thursday when they take on the Chicago Bears in the preseason opener. Sanchez will play the first quarter with Siemian taking over in the second quarter. The second half will be owned by the rookie Lynch.

Broncos players said that they expected Sanchez to start the preseason opener, and they were right in that regard, the story said. This is obviously a positive sign for Sanchez’s chances of being under center in Week 1, but it’s far from a declaration by Kubiak.