Voting before the final preseason game, Broncos Country was already high on Sam Ehlinger as Denver’s backup QB.
But had the poll benn taken after the win over the Vikings — in which Ehlinger threw three touchdowns in spite of an early interception — it’s possible the presumed No. 3 quarterback would have had even more votes for pushing him up the depth chart to No.2.
No matter which game and who the opponent is, three TDs is impressive.
Head coach Sean Payton was particularly impressed with the second
touchdown, which officially went down as a 14-yard touchdown pass to player-of-the-night Cody Schrader. But in reality the play was more like a 30-yard pass after scrambling outside and finding a wide open Schrader.
“Well, there’s more to it than that,” Payton said of his chest-bump celly on the sidelines with No. 4.
Payton explained that not only was he happy for the touchdown, he was relieved that Ehlinger didn’t run into him while scrambling toward the sidelines. “After he threw it, he was falling backwards and I kind of was in the white … two more feet and my concern was all of a sudden the ball hit my chest and I’m the reason he doesn’t throw it. I was excited for him. It was a really good [throw].”
Asked about whether the Broncos would keep three QBs, Sean Payton merely offered, “we’ll see.”
Ehlinger knows the drill. That’s the life of a backup quarterback. But he made his case, and now he waits.
“When it comes down to roster decisions and things of that nature, it’s completely out of my control, and so I don’t derive my confidence from the result of what happens with numbers,” he said. “I have great confidence in this organization, and the relationships that we have and the way that they’ve handled things up until this point. So I’m in a really good spot.”
If Ehlinger doesn’t stay in Denver, he said he’d look forward to whatever opportunity there is.
At this moment, however, he has his mind on something more than making the roster.
“Well my wife’s due date is on Tuesday. So I might be in the hospital having my first son,” he said. “That’s what it could look like.”
