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ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — **Quarterback Paxton Lynch will miss "a couple of games" because of a sprained right shoulder suffered early in the third quarter of Saturday's preseason win over the Green Bay Packers, Head Coach Vance Joseph announced after practice Monday.

Lynch was injured when he was sacked by Packers linebacker Reggie Gilbert and landed hard on his throwing shoulder. He did not return to the game and underwent an MRI examination a day later, which revealed the extent of the injury.

"It's a short-term issue," Joseph said.

Lynch's injury will likely impact the overall roster construction, as it will almost certainly force the Broncos to keep three quarterbacks on their 53-man roster heading into Week 1. The team must pare its roster to 53 players by 2 p.m. MDT on Saturday, Sept. 2.

"Absolutely, it does [impact the roster]," Joseph said after Monday's practice.

Joseph said Aug. 21 he hoped to keep two quarterbacks on the 53-man roster, but he added he thought rookie Kyle Sloter could be the team's third quarterback.

Sloter, who is expected to start and play the entire game Thursday against Arizona, could be an option for the 53-man roster. He replaced Lynch against the Packers and finished the game, going 4-of-7 for 49 yards with a 21-yard touchdown pass to Hunter Sharp.

If Sloter is injured against the Cardinals, Joseph said he will insert Siemian "and we will run the football." Wide receiver Jordan Taylor would be the emergency quarterback in the game.

Sloter has completed 80 percent of his 20 passes this preseason, placing him second in the league among quarterbacks with at least 15 attempts.

"He's played solid," Joseph said. "Right now, he's the backup guy. Moving forward, it's going to be a lot of things happening between Friday and Saturday."

The Broncos could eventually opt to bring in a veteran quarterback at some point to add experience to the depth chart behind starter Trevor Siemian, but that is just one of multiple possibilities.

"Every option is going to be explored. Right now, we're not [going to add a veteran]," Joseph said.

This year's revised cutdown procedure could affect what the Broncos do. There is just one roster deadline, instead of two, which was the case in previous years. "There are going to be 1,100 players released [on one day] for the first time in NFL history, so it can go in a number of ways," Joseph said. "But right now, [Sloter] has played very well, and it's his offense on Thursday night."