Apparently Gary Kubiak doesn’t want to be known as the coach who benched Peyton Manning. Even though that’s exactly who he is.
So when Kubiak confirmed on Wednesday that Brock Osweiler will continue to start on Sunday, even though Manning is healthy enough to suit up and serve as the backup, Kubiak claimed “Nothing has changed.”
That simply isn’t true. There has been a change: When Manning exited the Broncos’ Week 10 loss to the Chiefs, Kubiak insisted that Manning was pulled because his foot was hurt and he wasn’t healthy enough to play, and that Manning would start when healthy. Kubiak reiterated that claim weeks later. Now Manning is healthy enough that he will be active on Sunday against the Chargers, and yet Osweiler is still the starter.
For Kubiak, the Al Jazeera story connecting Manning to human growth hormone has provided a convenient distraction, as all the media attention on Manning this week has revolved around that story, and not around the fact that Manning has been demoted to No. 2.
Maybe there should be more attention paid to the stunning but inevitable news that Kubiak confirmed on Wednesday: For the first time since he was a freshman at Tennessee, Peyton Manning is a backup.
