ENGLEWOOD, Colo. -- The Denver Broncos will change starting quarterbacks for the third time this season, this time after Paxton Lynch suffered a high ankle sprain during a 21-14 loss Sunday to the Oakland Raiders.
Broncos coach Vance Joseph said Monday that Lynch will miss at least two to four weeks with a right ankle injury. Lynch stayed down after a 1-yard completion to Emmanuel Sanders with just under five minutes remaining in the third quarter. He left the game and wore a walking boot on his right foot/ankle while heading to the team's buses Sunday night.
The injury will put Trevor Siemian back in the starting lineup. Siemian, who won the job in training camp, was benched after the Broncos' Oct. 30 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs for Brock Osweiler. Osweiler was then replaced by Lynch after three starts.
Sunday's game was Lynch's first start of the season. He had missed two months' worth of practice time after injuring his right shoulder in an Oct. 26 preseason game against the Green Bay Packers.
Lynch said Sunday evening he had injured his leg earlier in the game.
"I think I had injured it prior to that,'' Lynch said. "I don't know the exact play, I don't know if it was a sack. ... I think somebody rolled up on it and I didn't think anything of it, couple plays throughout the game it bothered and I just felt like I could keep playing, keep playing. That play got to the point where it started to scare me a little bit.''
Lynch struggled mightily at times before he left the lineup. He completed 9-of-14 passes for 41 yards with an interception and was sacked four times. The Broncos went three-and-out on seven of their first 10 possessions and trailed 21-0 when Lynch left the game.
In just over a quarter of work, Siemian was 11-of-21 passing for 149 yards and two touchdowns -- seven days after he had been a game-day inactive against the Cincinnati Bengals.
"I thought Trevor did a great job of being down for a week, being back on the roster, getting himself back engaged and playing good football,'' Joseph said Monday. "That speaks to Trevor as a person to bounce back through adversity and play a decent football game for us in the fourth quarter.''
Given the Broncos (3-8) have five games remaining in the season, it is possible Lynch could go to injured reserve if they need a roster spot in the coming weeks. The Broncos have carried three quarterbacks -- Siemian, Osweiler and Lynch -- on the roster all season.
Each of the three quarterbacks has started at least one game, served as the No. 2 for at least one game and been a game-day inactive for at least one game.
The Broncos, who are mired in a seven-game losing skid, will visit the Miami Dolphins (4-7) on Sunday.