Paxton Lynch more comfortable with Broncos as he starts second season

This time last year, Paxton Lynch was just six months removed from his final game at the University of Memphis. He was learning a new offense, with new coaches, on a new team — all while adjusting to life as a professional football player.

So when he took the field for the first day of organized team activities with the Denver Broncos on Tuesday, there were bound to be a few differences.

"I feel a lot more confident, just being around the guys, being in the locker room," Lynch told local reporters at the Broncos' training facility in Englewood, Colorado. "I feel like I can come out here and kind of cut it loose a little bit more, compared to my first year. But other than that, I'm just coming to work every day and just trying to improve."

New coach Vance Joseph said Tuesday that Lynch and last year's starter, Trevor Siemian, will split first-team repetitions throughout the team's 10 OTAs. According to The Denver Post, Siemian took first-team reps in 11-on-11 drills Tuesday, and Lynch was set to receive the same opportunity Wednesday.

Rookie Kyle Sloter is also taking reps with the group while former Ole Miss quarterback Chad Kelly, whom Denver selected in the seventh round of last month's draft, continues to recover from wrist surgery.

Siemian started 14 games last season but finds himself in a more evenly-matched competition with Lynch this time around. Lynch admitted Tuesday that he entered the 2016 season knowing that he was "going to have a little bit of a setback" due to his lack of experience in the league. This year, he said, the weight of being a rookie has been lifted.

"That rookie year is kind of a big year. You kind of learn everything, you go through everything," Lynch said in a press conference after Tuesday's practice. "So that second year, you come back, you're kind of more comfortable with everybody. So for me, it was just every day, there was something new I had to figure out. Compared to this year, I kind of can relax a little bit and just go out there and have fun."

Comfort has long been a crucial part of Lynch's game, something he referenced frequently at Memphis when asked about his improvement. As a redshirt freshman, for example, he completed just 58.2 percent of his passes for 2,056 yards, nine touchdowns and 10 interceptions. The following year, his numbers spiked. He finished with a completion percentage of 62.7, 3,031 passing yards, 22 touchdowns and nine interceptions.

Lynch also has the benefit of working with new offensive coordinator Mike McCoy, who spent the past four seasons as head coach of the San Diego Chargers. Lynch said he's more comfortable in McCoy's system because it has an air of familiarity.

"There's a little bit more similarities to what I did at Memphis, compared to what I had to do last year," Lynch told local reporters. "Obviously what we've done at practice, we've gotten in the gun a little bit more than the last year, which is obviously more comfortable to me just because I've been doing it for so long and last year was my first time getting under center."

The Broncos will likely not settle on a starter until later this offseason, but Joseph said he was happy with how Lynch and Siemian both performed Tuesday. He said he's looking for "decision-making, accuracy, a command of the huddle (and) consistency" as the primary factors that will help him pick a starter.

Lynch hopes that a new comfort and confidence in Year 2 will help him check all of those boxes.

"I obviously felt very comfortable (today)," he said. "I was confident in my reads and my throws. That’s one thing that I feel a big difference in this year: When I let the ball go, I’m a lot more comfortable in where I’m going with it."

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