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Broncos defensive tackle Sylvester Williams said recently that coach Gary Kubiak “kind of let us know he’s going to go with” Mark Sanchez at quarterback.

That likely fits with what most people believed the Broncos would do at the start of the year as Sanchez worked with the first team most often in the spring and has more experience than Trevor Siemian and first-round pick Paxton Lynch. Siemian has appeared to be the likelier alternative of the two, but Lynch said Tuesday that he hasn’t gotten that impression from Kubiak or anyone else despite his perceived place in the pecking order.

“I definitely think I have the opportunity to better myself and put myself up in that position to play right away or sooner than I had thought,” Lynch said, via ESPN.com. “I knew those guys were going to be ahead of me just because of experience — Trevor his experience in the offense and Mark his experience in the league and me being a rookie, and this is the first time I’ve seen a playbook like that.”

Lynch acknowledges that his competitive side makes it hard to “take the backseat in this” even if signs are pointing elsewhere for the team’s starting quarterback, but he wouldn’t be the first rookie to make an unexpected leap up the depth chart once a team saw everyone in action during training camp and the preseason. The veterans report for Denver on Wednesday, so it won’t be long before everyone starts to get a clearer idea of where everyone will stand come September.