INDIANAPOLIS -- Vance Joseph is standing up for his offense.
The new Denver Broncos coach said Wednesday at the NFL Scouting Combine that last season's offense led by young quarterbacks Trevor Siemian and Paxton Lynch was better than the national perception.
"The team won nine games and the perception was the offense wasn't very good, but in my opinion the offense was pretty good," Jospeh said. "They didn't finish well in the red zone, but the quarterbacks played well. Winning nine games is a nice feat in the league and they should have probably won two more games. Offensively I think we're close. Not as far as everyone thinks we are. Offensive line needs some help there, but we're close offensively. That's what I thought watching the film."
The Broncos' offense under former coach Gary Kubiak last season finished 27th in total yards and 22nd in points per game.
"We've got two young guys that combined to win nine games last year as starters -- probably should have won two more games," he said. "We're fine there with those two kids."
The new coach seems to be on the same page as Broncos GM John Elway when it comes to the team's signal callers.
"We've got two young ones that we're happy with, that we think can be very good football players in this league," Elway said Wednesday. "I think when you start talking about another veteran quarterback, you don't just talk about next year. Everyone thinks we just talk about next year, but we don't. We talk about the impact that has two, three, four years down the line and how does that affect us now, and eventually once we get through all of those scenarios, make a decision and see what happens."
Siemian continues to rehab his injured shoulder and Joseph added the third-year passer is "on track" for organized team activities.
As for last year's first-round pick, Joseph said he needs to see consistency in offseason workouts for Lynch to win the starting gig.
"Is he ready? I'm not sure," Joseph said. "But obviously he's got great skills. He's a tall man with a big arm. Is he ready? That's a tough question. He had two starts last year. Trevor played also. It's going to be an open competition. Whoever wins the job that is who is going to play, and that's as fair as it can be."
With Romo still under control of the Cowboys, Denver can't make much of an effort to bring in its next veteran -- yet. That doesn't mean the Elway and Joseph haven't considered the addition.
"We're open to anything," Elway said. "We'll always look at it. This is the time of year that you look at everything and you try to discuss everything, every possibility, what might be available, what might not be available and talk about that and see how it affects us. We talk about all of those types of things and we'll see what happens."
The Romo question will continue to linger over the Broncos organization until the veteran's personal merry-go-round stops. But Joseph is pressing forward with plans to start one of his young passers.
