Bleacher Report’s Jason Cole ruffled a few feathers in Denver on Wednesday with his report that someone within the Broncos organization told him the Broncos would be starting Brock Osweiler for the remainder of the 2015 season, barring disaster or injury. If true, it’s perhaps the biggest story of the NFL season to date.
But those that cover the team on a daily basis, from those of us here at Mile High Sports to our friends at Mile High Report to the Denver Broncos themselves, have been everything from skeptical to outright opposing of Cole’s report.
Denver-area radio hosts Eric Goodman and Les Shapiro gave Cole the opportunity to defend his report when he appeared on Afternoon Drive on Mile High Sports AM 1340 that same day.
In the interview, Cole said he was surprised by the strong response from the Broncos and suggested that they are “hanging on a technicality.” (Manning’s week-to-week status.)
Cole did speak with members of the Broncos media relations department directly, as well as others in the organization, on Wednesday and says that from those conversations he has determined that this is “a delicate matter. You don’t want to appear you’re throwing Peyton Manning over the side. You don’t want to be disrespectful to him. But at the same time, you have to do what’s in the best interests of the team.”
Cole isn’t the first person to suggest that the Broncos championship aspirations might be better served with Osweiler under center. That narrative is gaining more and more traction with each passing game for the young quarterback. But that’s a narrative that will almost certainly continue to come from the media and unnamed sources, not the team itself.
It’s indeed a delicate situation if that is the direction the team is going. Just don’t expect the Broncos to come out and make any kind of declarative statement unless there is a clear-cut medical reason that Manning won’t return at some point.
Listen to the full interview with Cole in the podcast below. See what Manning and the Broncos had to say about the situation via Twitter below that.
Since Cole’s story broke, both the team and Peyton Manning have made statements via the team’s Twitter account to deny the report. Manning was quoted directly, saying he remains “week-to-week,” and even firing a veiled shot at Cole.
No decision has been made on our QB situation beyond this week, contrary to speculation from Bleacher Report based on "anonymous sources."
— Denver Broncos (@Broncos) December 2, 2015
Peyton #Manning says he's week-to-week. "I'd love for [the foot] to be healthy yesterday"…trying to get healthy before I come back."
— Denver Broncos (@Broncos) December 2, 2015
#Manning: "This is when 'they' and 'sources' show their heads … I've always wanted to meet 'they' and 'sources.' Both seem to know a lot."
— Denver Broncos (@Broncos) December 2, 2015