Broncos’ Osweiler named starter against Bengals

Peyton Manning has missed five games since leaving the Denver Broncos November 15th game against the Kansas City Chiefs due to plantar fasciatis.

Manning’s health has been a major concern for the Broncos this season and after resuming limited practice last week, he had to miss all of Friday’s practice after suffering a setback physically.

On Wednesday, Manning returned to practicing on his own at the team’s indoor facility, something he did two weeks ago and what he’ll do the rest of this week.

Manning will go through morning workouts and not participate in practice.

Kubiak will meet with both QBs and “have a plan in place when we get to Wednesday”.

Letting Manning continue to heal is the smart move.

“I think he’s doing a really good job. We’ll start the process again”.

Monday night’s game will be Osweiler’s sixth start and comes after the team’s loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers.

“It’s OK”, Osweiler said. He’s seen what it’s like to be a starting player every single game, how you prepare, how you take care of your body, how you study all that stuff – the rigors of it all, being out on the field every play.

This marked the second consecutive week, however, that there was a delay in naming Osweiler the starter. The fourth-year quarterback, who is getting the first starts of his career, completed 14 of 18 passes, with three touchdowns, plus a rushing touchdown, in the first two quarters against Pittsburgh, as Denver was 8-for-8 on third downs and held a 27-13 halftime lead.

After the game, Kubiak was asked if Manning had made any declarations about being the backup and he replied: “That’s sad to hear. That’s been the plan all along”, Kubiak said.