Lynch disappointed after season finale, but hopeful to build on rookie season

Gathering his belongings from his locker before departing UCHealth Training Center and beginning the offseason, rookie quarterback Paxton Lynch expressed some of his disappointment with not playing in Sunday's season finale, but also said he understood Gary Kubiak's decision in his final game as the Broncos' head coach.

"Being a competitor, you want to go out there, and being a young guy, take all the reps that you can," Lynch said. "Preparing through the week, you want to get out there and play. But like I said, I understood the situation and I'm just glad we came out with a win."

He added that Kubiak apologized for not substituting him into the game, but Lynch acknowledged that the circumstances weren't what he had expected.

"I kind of understood where he was coming from because, like he said, it was a little different than he had anticipated, and Trevor [Siemian] was playing great in the first half," Lynch said. "So I wasn't that upset that he kept him in. Trevor was playing well, so he wanted Trevor to finish the season off right and he did."

Turning to the future, Lynch said that he would join the prospective offseason training sessions that Emmanuel Sanders and Trevor Siemian have talked about hosting to foster chemistry in the following season.

But the coaching change throws a curveball into Lynch's preparation for his second season. What verbiage or offensive concepts that will be retained or changed remain to be seen, but the young quarterback is taking that in stride.

"I'm sure that [Quarterbacks] Coach [Greg] Knapp will have some things for us," Lynch said. "I know I talked to him earlier, and I'm sure I'm going to stay in touch with him. But I think he's going to put together something for us, all individually, to work out on.

"As a quarterback, you can always work on your footwork and accuracy. That's always been a big thing for me. If there's one thing I can point out, it's probably one of those."

With a couple starts in three showings in his rookie season, Lynch had opportunities to grow as a player, and he came away pleased with the progress he made and has in front of him.

"Having the opportunity to go out there and play and kind of play against NFL defenses for the first time and get your start and get your first win," Lynch said of his major takeaways from his rookie season. "I'm excited about all that, and I'm excited for the offseason, too."

Miller confident in Elway's leadership

Von Miller summed up the 2016 season and the way it ended as best as anyone could Monday, saying, "It's a weird year, just in general. It's all weird and it's all new."

"I think that we're all doing our best. We're all trying our best to handle it all. We've just got to take it one day at a time. Everything will be all right. We've got a championship organization."

Miller has seen the effects of previous moves that Executive Vice President of Football Operations/General Manager John Elway has been a part of, from the hiring of John Fox in 2011 that began the Broncos' ascendancy, to Gary Kubiak's arrival in 2015, and all the personnel moves in between. With those experiences in mind, Miller has supreme confidence in the Broncos' future.

"[Elway's] done it every single time, right?" Miller said. "I don't see why it would change. He's the king of the comeback, on and off the football field. After we lost in 2013, he went and got the No Fly Zone and DeMarcus. And when we missed the playoffs before I got here, we built up the defense. Mr. Elway was here and made a lot of changes to the organization, won the division, went to the playoffs and won five straight since. He's the king of the comeback. I don't know how he does it. I never really want to get into that, I just know it's going to continue to happen."