ENGLEWOOD, Colo. --It's status quo at quarterback, with Brock Osweiler set to make his fourth consecutive start Sunday in place of the injured Peyton Manning.
Head Coach Gary Kubiak announced Monday that Manning will continue to focus on his rehabilitation work, which kept him back in Denver this weekend while the team traveled to San Diego for its 17-3 win over the Chargers.
"Nothing will change this week, as far as Brock's our starter," Kubiak said.
The Broncos have gone 3-0 with Osweiler starting for the injured Manning, and the offense has averaged 20.58 points per 60 minutes with Osweiler filling in, a bit above the 17.60-points-per-60-minutes rate it had when Manning left in Week 9 because of a plantar fascia tear.
But the offense struggled Sunday after a strong opening series, and generated just three points in the final three quarters, with two more scoring chances going astray because of a missed field-goal attempt and an end-zone interception.
This is part of the learning process for the 25-year-old quarterback.
"One thing that he's learned probably more than anything is that you can study film all you want during the week, but on gameday people have a plan," Kubiak said. "When you go out there and it's time to go execute your stuff, this is their plan for the day, so these are things that you have to do, [you say,] 'This is the way that you may have to play today for us to win.'
"I think that's what he's learning because so many times as a player you go practice and practice and say, 'Well, that didn't look the same.' No joke, it doesn't always look the same, so you have to adjust. That's something that he's learning."
But as Osweiler learns, Manning continues to work on recovery. The 18-year veteran could begin some throwing work Wednesday, perhaps off to the side during practice or at another point during the day.
"Depending on how things go, we start to throw, we start to do a little bit on the field, [that] type of stuff, working toward some football things this week," Kubiak said. "But it has been a good weekend for him, and I know he's feeling better."
Manning has been throwing "a little bit," but not to any great extent.
"It's nothing like going out and throwing the out route or those types of things," Kubiak said.
Manning was in a walking cast until last Tuesday evening, and then wore a walking boot until Friday before resuming rehabilitation work Saturday. The cast and boot limited the kind of conditioning work he could do.
"He's been conditioning with [Strength and Conditioning Coach] Luke [Richesson] as best he can," Kubiak said. "Obviously, the running part's been off the charts, but as far as doing some other things, he's been doing a lot of lifting and upper-body stuff, and trying to do all he can to get some type of cardio involved.
"But there's always a process to getting back on that field and running around, so hopefully we can get some of that started this week.
"Right now, the thought we go into a modified type of small workout with him and see where he can be each and every day."
