Broncos sticking with Osweiler but Manning may still practice

Peyton Manning will return to practice this week with the Denver Broncos, but Brock Osweiler will remain the starting quarterback for Sunday’s game against the Pittsburgh Steelers, the team announced Tuesday night.

“That’s what we’re trying to get done this week, and we’ll just [move] a day at a time; but that’s the plan the rest of this week”, said Gary Kubiak, Denver Broncos head coach.

“Peyton’s got plenty of sense, so when everything’s done at the end of the year he’ll sit down and make a decision”, Archie Manning said.

Denver Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning had a slight setback Friday because of soreness in his left foot after two straight days of practice. It was his first on-field work with teammates since he left the Chiefs game November 15 because of a plantar fascia tear.

“He came in this morning and was a little sore, so we just said, “OK, we’ll stop for the weekend and we’ll go from there”, so we’ll pick back up on Monday”, Kubiak said.

“I’ve got to see where [Manning] is at”, Kubiak said, via the Broncos official website. However, in recent weeks Osweiler and the Denver offense have grown stale, failing to score an offensive touchdown in the past seven quarters.

Manning was not going to dress Sunday against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

There have been rumors dating back months that the Denver Broncos were ready to move on to Brock Osweiler on a full-time basis.

Prior to the injury, Manning struggled mightily, throwing just nine touchdowns and a league-leading 17 interceptions through eight-plus games. Manning returned to practice for the first time in a month earlier this week.

Osweiler has gone 3-1 since being named the Broncos starting quarterback before Week 11. I don’t need to rehash how un-Manning-like No. 18 has looked all season, but it would make a lot of sense that he was dealing with a, at least partially, debilitating injury.

Manning had played the role of scout-team quarterback this week as Brock Osweiler continued to get the first-team reps with the offense. “We have to talk through his situation and see where we are”.

Osweiler is coming off his first loss, to Oakland at home, even though he completed a career-best 35 throws and posted his first 300-yard passing game.

Mallett said that “the best thing, probably, was for me to be cut” after missing a team flight to Miami.