Report: Siemian to start for Broncos vs. Raiders, Lynch to play

Call it a compromise. Trevor Siemian gets to lead his team onto the field one last time against the Oakland Raiders on Sunday, a role he earned in the preseason, while the team can get rookie Paxton Lynch some much-needed game reps.

According to a report, sources tell 9News Broncos Insider Mike Klis that Siemian will start Sunday in the team’s season finale, but Paxton Lynch will play.

Trevor Siemian will start vs. Raiders this Sunday, but Paxton Lynch will play, per player source. #9sports

— Mike Klis (@MikeKlis) December 28, 2016

The news comes on the heels of Siemian’s worst outing of the season in the Broncos most important game of the year, one in which a 33-10 result eliminated the club from playoff contention.

Filling in as a guest host on Sports Radio 104.3 The Fan’s “The Drive” on Tuesday, Klis said that in light of the poor outing — 17-of-43 for 183 yards, no touchdowns and a pick — that he believes the Broncos may be wanting Lynch to win the starting role sooner rather than later.

“They want him to develop and pass up Trevor Siemian, even if he will never quite have the command of the offense, even if he will not be ready to read the progression, all that stuff that quarterbacks have to do when they’re back in the pocket,” Klis said. “Somehow, some way they want Paxton to be No. 1 because I think there might be a sense now that as good as Trevor played this year, it’s not quite enough.”

The second-year quarterback, however, has by most accounts exceeded expectation in his first season under center, going 7-6 while throwing for 3,195 yards, 16 touchdowns, and 9 interceptions.

Should Lynch play Sunday, the rookie quarterback will have seen action in four games during the 2016 campaign.

Denver’s first-round draft pick took over for an injured Siemian in Week 4 and helped the Broncos to a 27-7 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in arguably his best outing of his short career (14-of-24 for 170 yards, 1 touchdown in just more than a half of play).

However, Lynch struggled in two starts — also in relief of an injured Siemian — including a Week 5 loss to the Atlanta Falcons and a Week 13 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars. In the latter, the rookie threw for just 104 yards and no touchdowns on 12-of-24 passing but did not surrender a turnover.

Follow digital content producer Johnny Hart on Twitter: @JohnnyHart7.