Once the season begins, the life of an NFL backup quarterback is quite unassuming, Paxton Lynch is quickly learning. Practice repetitions decrease dramatically. The media crowds that surrounded him a few weeks ago are gone. Weekly attention is on getting the Broncos’ starter, Trevor Siemian, ready to win a game.

Lynch, Denver’s 2016 first-round pick, is watching, learning and trying to stay ready in his first stint on the bench in games that count since he took a redshirt season his freshman year at Memphis.

“It’s very different just because you don’t know if you’re going to get in or not,” Lynch said. “Not knowing is what’s weird about it because you prepare. You prepare, and then you don’t go in. But the next game you could prepare and after the first drive something happens and you go in. So week in, week out, you have to be that way.”

In the meeting room, they watch Siemian’s film from the game against the Carolina Panthers last Thursday night. Lynch listens to Broncos quarterback coach Greg Knapp’s critique and applies it to his game to avoid similar mistakes.

What coach Gary Kubiak said after his performance Sept. 1 in the preseason finale against Arizona is what Lynch is concentrating on.

“He continues to make great plays because of his ability. But, it continues to be about consistency,” Kubiak said that night. “The strides he’s made since we got him have been very good, and we’ve got to continue to make some more.”

It made Lynch feel good that Kubiak felt comfortable with him as the No. 2 quarterback, but Lynch also enjoys picking the brain of veteran quarterback Austin Davis the way he did Mark Sanchez in the preseason before he was released.

Lynch spends a lot of time simulating quarterbacks he hopes one day to compete against. This week, he gives the Broncos’ first-team defense his best imitation of Colts quarterback Andrew Luck.

Last week, he ran around like Carolina’s Cam Newton. And before the game against the Panthers, to his delight, Lynch met Newton.

“I just told him how as a player I looked up to how he played,” Lynch said. “It felt good.”

So what did Lynch think about some of the helmet-to-helmet hits that Newton took that drew national attention over the last week? Related Articles September 15, 2016 Demaryius Thomas sidelined again with injury: “You pray about it and hope nothing freaky happens”

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“I know Cam took some shots that were questionable,” Lynch said. “I didn’t really see them all. I only saw some of the replays, but I know some of the guys got fined for it. You’re playing the game, you know you’re going to get hit. I don’t know if it was a bad call or not. I just know before the season started they were talking about protecting the quarterback. I know if I was out there getting hit around like that I’d be looking at the refs after every time I get hit for sure.”

Lynch doesn’t have to worry about getting hit right now. It’s more about bettering the mental aspect of his game to go along with his natural physical traits.

“I want to be ready if it happens” Lynch said. “But I’m not sitting back there saying I need to go in or I need to be playing. My job is to always be ready to play.”