Broncos' WR Courtland Sutton Challenges Offense to 'Help' Drew Lock
The Denver Broncos saw Teddy Bridgewater go down with a concussion in the team's Week 5 loss to the Baltimore Ravens. Coming out of the half, the Broncos turned to Drew Lock to step into the fray cold.
The results were alarmingly familiar. Despite his experience in Pat Shurmur's offensive scheme, Lock was not sharp and really struggled to generate any chemistry with a supporting cast that took on a collective woe-is-me body language as soon as he entered the game.
On Wednesday, fourth-year wideout Courtland Sutton acknowledged that the Broncos offense has to shoulder its fair share of the onus and rise to the occasion if Lock is called upon.
"If something happens to the starter in Teddy, then Drew has to come in and be ready to go play," Sutton said. "We have to be ready to help Drew go out there and be successful. That’s what we have to do if that happens again.”
Sutton also spoke to what he views was the biggest obstacle to Lock taking over for Bridgewater cold and why the backup perhaps struggled to move the offense.
“I would say it’s a rhythm thing. Last week, Drew was thrown into the game with not as many reps," Sutton said. "That’s not an excuse, obviously. Everybody has to go out and prepare themselves to be able to go play at a high level no matter what. We get a lot of [first-team] reps in practice. It was definitely tough not having the reps, but you kind of have to go with it as it happens."
After Sunday's loss, Lock detailed just how scarce his first-team reps have been during practice each week. But such is the life of an NFL backup. Just ask Jim Sorgi or Brock Osweiler.
And yet, despite the scarcity of reps, the brief of an NFL backup is to provide competency if/when his number is called on a sudden in a live-bullet game. There are a few things Lock addressed that make it very difficult to take over the Broncos offense with so few first-team reps but from a macro level, as Sutton said, there can be "no excuses."
“A lack of reps is definitely No. 1, but I say, when it comes to some of the minor details throughout the week," Lock said. "Some of the motions, some of the snap points that we want to have where my call is similar to how we used to call it last year, but the snap points are just a little different. If you don’t snap it correctly or at the right time, the play is busted. How are we going to pick up some of these pressures when you’re not taking those live reps and seeing all of the looks and cuts coming off a clicker or watching Teddy do it. So like I said, live reps is No. 1, but I think focusing on the minor details as a backup, just if you do end up getting in there and making the production clean, so to say.”
Perhaps Lock's cold entrance into Week 5's action was a bit of a wake-up call for Shurmur and QBs coach Mike Shula. After all, we're not talking about Peyton Manning or an iron man like Brett Favre here — two guys who rarely missed a start due to injury.
Bridgewater is a rather frail quarterback — just in terms of build — and has an injury jacket that warrants better fail-safe preparation from his team. Teddy might not like relinquishing those precious reps with the starting offense during the practice week but the Broncos have to be prepared for the eventuality of him exiting a game.
That doesn't absolve Lock. No, no, no. The onus remains on his shoulders to be much more dialed in and ready to go from standing on the sideline holding a clipboard to playing at NFL speed. And the same goes for Lock's supporting cast, which let him down in a big, bad way on Sunday.
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