ENGLEWD, Colo. -- Gary Kubiak trusts Trevor Siemian has both the physical toughness and the mental tenacity to lead the Denver Broncos down the stretch.That much was clear this week when Siemian received a second cortisone shot in his ailing left shoulder along with a vote of confidence from his coach.Like a kid playing Whac-A-Mole at an arcade, Kubiak seemingly has spent the whole season hammering away at rumors of another quarterback controversy in Denver:-No, Paxton Lynch isnt going to be under center for the homestretch that includes two games against Kansas City, one against Oakland and another against rival New England.-No, Kubiak has never wavered on Siemian, who won the job as Peyton Mannings successor over trade acquisition Mark Sanchez and Lynch, the teams first-round draft pick.-Yes, he expects much, much more of his QB who has earned GM John Elways praise for going 7-2 as the starter.I want Trevor to play big. I dont want Trevor to play OK or gd, Kubiak said.Elway said Tuesday hes pleased with the teams record and also expects the Broncos to go on another post-bye roll.I think we would take it if you said at Week 10 wed be 7-3 with whats happened, Elway said. We havent played our best ftball yet, which I think is the encouraging thing.But weve played hard week in and week out, and so Im excited about our possibilities and what we can do. I know that the schedule is a tough schedule from here on out, but thats what happens when you win the division. But were excited about it.We feel like we can get better on the offensive side. We have rm for improvement there. Weve figured out ways to win. Thats what you have to do. Were excited about the last six.Siemian said he relishes the rising expectations.Kube expects a lot out of me. I expect a lot out myself truthfully, Siemian said.To do that, he knows he has to stay upright.Siemian tk a beating in Denvers 25-23 win at New Orleans on Sunday when he was sacked six times, hit on 11 other drop-backs and tackled on three runs. Thats an agonizing total of 20 shots on that sore left shoulder thats bothered him since it was driven to the turf in Tampa on Oct. 2, forcing him to sit out the next six quarters.Hes beat up. He tk a lot of shots, Kubiak said. Some of them he has to take responsibility for. We have to make sure that hes stepping up in the pocket.Aside from the dazzling defensive 2-point conversion that won it, the takeaway image from the Superdome was Siemian on his back, his arms outstretched toward the rf in celebration after getting hammered while throwing a touchdown pass to Demaryius Thomas.The reason he does make a lot of plays is because he will sit in there and get hit right in the mouth and make a play. That is a great characteristic of a quarterback because you have to do that sometimes, Kubiak said.Kubiak then added this caveat: Siemian needs to protect himself better. This, even though five of the sacks and both of Siemians interceptions Sunday came on four-man rushes, meaning the Broncos had the blockers, but still couldnt protect the passer properly.Right now, sometimes his depth is bad in the shotgun, Kubiak said. Its something weve got to work on. When its gd, hes stepping up. Sometimes hes drifting and getting hit when he shouldnt be getting hit.He gets on the road, gets loud, you get in the gun, you start getting away from the center a little t far and now all of a sudden youre back there hitting 11 yards. Were not going to protect you if youre doing that. Its just something that we have to improve with him.That was Kubiak defending his beleaguered lineman, something hes willing to do because hes as much assured in Siemians psychological doggedness as he is in his physical toughness.The bye week will provide the coaching staff the opportunity to reconfigure Siemians pocket of protection.Ty Sambrailo replaced an ineffective Donald Stephenson at right guard midway through the game Sunday, when the Broncos broke out of a prolonged funk and had zero three-and-outs in a dozen drives.Kubiak said Tuesday that Sambrailo deserves to play a lot more ftball.Like a seasoned veteran, Siemian placed plenty of the blame for his aches and pains on his battered shoulders.A lot of times Im holding the ball t long and I get what I deserve in that sense, Siemian said.He said this five-day furlough that begins Wednesday is all about letting his battered body heal.Yeah, a lot of rest, Siemian said. Wont be doing much bench press this week.Hell be doing the heavy lifting sn enough.---For more NFL coverage: http://www.pro32.ap.org and http://www.twitter.com/AP-NFL---Follow Arnie Melendrez Stapleton on Twitter: http://twitter.com/arniestapletonAir Vapormax Scontate . -- The St. Johns IceCaps weathered a wild first period with the help of goaltender Jussi Olkinuora, before finding offensive inroads in the second. Nike Vapormax Scontate Uomo . They had already blown a double-digit lead, fans were hitting the exits, and a long seven-game road trip waited at the end. http://www.scontateairvapormax.it/ . -- The Bishops Gaiters are showing they belong among the countrys top varsity ftball teams. Nike Vapormax In Offerta . Q: Team Canada announces their Olympic roster three weeks from today. Who is general manager Steve Yzerman watching? LeBrun: Over the last 48 hours, hes taken in the home-and-home between the Dallas Stars and Colorado Avalanche with Jamie Benn and Matt Duchene being the obvious targets. Nike Vapormax Scontate . 24 Baylor in a Big 12 clash between teams trending in opposite directions. Andrew Wiggins made 10-of-12 from the foul line and scored 17 for Kansas (14-4, 5-0 Big 12), which capped a stretch of four straight games against ranked opponents unscathed.NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. - The Chicago Cubs are capitalizing on the demand for tickets after winning their first World Series in 108 years. The team announced a season-ticket pricing plan for 2017 with increases from 6 to 31 percent.Its not easy to raise ticket prices, said senior vice president of sales and marketing Colin Faulkner during the Winter Meetings on Monday. We are really sensitive to the loyalty and support of our fans, but at the same time the value of our tickets right now is far exceeding the current pricing levels. Its important for us to realize some of that value and invest it back into the team and into the facility.In other words, instead of allowing season-ticket holders to see huge returns on the resale market, the Cubs are simply increasing the face value so they get some value out of the demand. According to the team, the secondary market exceeded face value for regular-season games by 96 percent. That went up to 670 percent in the playoffs and a whopping 1,206 percent above face value in the World Seriees.ddddddddddddhe team says the marquee nature of their interleague home games played a part in the increases. The Cubs host the New York Yankees and Toronto Blue Jays while taking on the St. Louis Cardinals in three separate weekend series.Last season the team had five tiers of ticket pricing depending on the opponent, but in 2017 theyll add one more tier (Diamond) for three specific games: Opening Day against the Los Angeles Dodgers, May 6 against the Yankees and July 22 against the Cardinals.Club boxes will see the biggest increase (31 percent), while upper-deck box infield seats will see the smallest (6 percent). The average ticket increase will be 19.5 percent.The Cubs stressed that more than 25 percent of their home games fall under the lowest two ticket pricing tiers, and that they had a 98 percent renewal in 2016. The team says it has 109,000 people on the waiting list for season tickets. ' ' '