Lindsay H. Jones

USA TODAY Sports

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. – The Denver Broncos’ quarterback competition might not be settled by the end of the offseason program on Wednesday, but the field is being narrowed.

Head coach Gary Kubiak on Tuesday described what is in essence a two-man battle now between Mark Sanchez and Trevor Siemian, who both have established a gap on rookie first-round pick Paxton Lynch.

Sanchez has received the first-team snaps over the past two weeks, with Siemian working with the second-team, but Kubiak said the competition between the two is “neck and neck.”

“Trevor and Mark have looked each other in the eyes the whole offseason. When I sit there and watch them practice, I think they’re right there banging on each other,” Kubiak said.

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Both have distanced themselves from Lynch because of their familiarity with the Broncos’ playbook. Though this is Sanchez’ first year in Denver, he is in his eighth season in the NFL after previously starting for the New York Jets and playing as a backup for the Philadelphia Eagles. Siemian has taken just one NFL snap – and that was a kneel down to end a game last year – but he spent last season learning the Broncos’ offense and serving as a backup to Peyton Manning and Brock Osweiler.

Kubiak said his staff will meet this week to determine how the quarterback depth chart will look upon entering training camp.

Much of the Broncos’ offseason work has been educational for all three quarterbacks, with hours of installation and close work on plays scripted by Kubiak, offensive coordinator Rick Dennison and quarterbacks coach Greg Knapp. The team deviated from that plan on Tuesday, in the second-to-last practice of the offseason.

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Coaches had each of the three quarterbacks run a no-huddle offense for almost all of the 90-minute practice.

“Get the coaches out of the hip pocket and throw them out there, throw all kinds of situations at them and see how they react in certain situations,” Kubiak said. “It was a roller coaster ride. Some good, some bad — I told them after practice, I said, ‘I think you guys know who the guys are that reacted the right way to the chaos.’ You can see guys that have it under control and then you see some guys that say, ‘What the heck happened there?’”

Each of the quarterbacks admitted they weren’t perfect running the up-tempo offense, but they will get another chance at it on Wednesday. Then comes a five-week break in which all three vowed to keep studying in order to be ready to resume the competition when training camp begins in late July.

“I’m going to take every chance I get," Sanchez said. "I’m a flash card guy. I’m a repetition guy. I just have to see it one million times and watch it one millions times. Whether I’m on a plane or sitting somewhere in a hotel or on a beach somewhere, I’ll have my stuff near me and constantly just go over it every chance I get."

Follow Lindsay H. Jones on Twitter @bylindsayhjones.

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