Broncos QB Peyton Manning’s next step: Active but Brock Osweiler’s backup

In Cleveland, Johnny Manziel was the backup quarterback, until he was the starting quarterback, until that thing made him the backup quarterback, until an injury made him the starting quarterback yet again.

Now, the polarizing, much maligned, second-year quarterback is going to miss the final game of the season on Sunday because he’s been placed into the concussion protocol after showing up to practice with concussion like symptoms, and later being diagnosed with a concussion on Wednesday.

Kubiak said at a news conference Wednesday that Manning will practice. Broncos head coach Gary Kubiak said Ward did not suffer any setbacks and should play this week. He played with confidence, delivering a cold-blooded victory in bone-chilling conditions, securing his job as the starter with Manning as his backup.

“It’s always been about Peyton’s health and getting him back in a position to be available for this football team”, Kubiak said.

“The report wasn’t true Sunday; it’s not true today; it won’t ever be true”. “And I’m still angry about it. And if the league has to do that, I’ll cooperate”. But another suffocating performance against San Diego (4-11) on Sunday could vault them to the top of a list led by Cincinnati (17.4).

While he was sidelined, several unsubstantiated reports painted the league’s only five-time MVP as a bad teammate or a cheat.

“I’m not really going to think about who the backup is this week”, Osweiler said. However, I think this game will be somewhat of an exception when it comes to Rivers’ priorities.

Osweiler has twice led Denver to wins after falling behind by two touchdowns against New England and Cincinnati, both in overtime. Instead, TE Owen Daniels had five catches for 70 yards and Virgil Green one for eight. WRs Demaryius Thomas (1,187) and Emmanuel Sanders (1,036) became 10th tandem in Denver history to eclipse 1,000 yards receiving…. Broncos linebacker Brandon Marshall, who is nursing an ankle injury, would typically cover Woodhead.

As previously reported by the Inquisitr, there is still a lot for the Broncos to play for in Week 17.

Both running backs, Anderson and Ronnie Hillman are looking to make significant impacts in the coming weeks and understand that their role is needed in order for the team to have the success they are seeking. This year the entire AFC North, and three of the four AFC South teams all had to go to their second-string signal caller.

“I put Wilson up for a while”, he said, “but hopefully we can do something big this week and we can get another one”. He is no longer the quarterback who was, statistically speaking, the greatest of all-time holding passing yards and touchdown records.

The alternative scenario is that the Broncos could slide to the No. 6 seed if the team loses to the Chargers and the Kansas City Chiefs beat the Oakland Raiders. In that defensive battle, Osweiler threw for 166 yards – his lowest total as a starter – while Rivers was sacked four times and had a season-low 57.1 passer rating.

At 39 years old, Manning’s best football is behind him. The Chargers insist they will be motivated.

Manning started the first nine games for the Broncos this season but wasn’t putting up very good numbers. “Let’s make this be their last home game, let’s find a way to do that”.