Drew Lock Vows 'No Finger-Pointing, No Negativity' After Losing Broncos' QB Job
On Wednesday morning, Drew Lock was notified by Denver Broncos head coach Vic Fangio that he'd lost the open quarterback competition that has raged since May. The Broncos are going with Teddy Bridgewater under center.
“There wasn’t a lot of separation," Fangio said Wednesday. "We made this decision [because] we think it’s the best for the team moving forward. We have two good quarterbacks—two quarterbacks that we can win with.”
In that meeting with Fangio, Lock was obviously disappointed and perhaps a bit stunned but after showing serious signs of improvement this summer and executing at a high level in his one preseason start with the first-team offense, the third-year quarterback wanted to know what he could have done differently.
“When I was in there and we were talking, you obviously ask, ‘What could I have done different? What do I need to keep working on?’ It was extremely close," Lock said Tuesday after the news broke. "It was the timing deal. As nice as that is to hear it was that close, it’s still tough."
This is not hyperbole but Lock might be the most scrutinized quarterback in Denver since the prime years of John Elway. Every little thing Lock does gets analyzed and over-analyzed and oftentimes is misinterpreted.
When he was told he'd lost to Teddy, Lock marinated on it and dreaded having to sit in the team meeting where Fangio's decision would be announced. Just then, Lock had an epiphany that made him realize how he would comport himself around his teammates in the wake of the news.
"You won’t see me out here—I was thinking about like, do I come out and smile around here, be my normal self, because all right, then they’re going to think, ‘Shoot, he doesn’t care about not having the starting job.’ But no, that’s not [it]. I’m going to be myself every day I’m out here," Lock said. "I’m going to get better, I’m going to have fun. I’m going to bring energy to this practice, bring energy to this team and just keep being myself.”
He's right. Just being himself will engender criticism from some in media because, after all, he just lost the starting job. How could he be smiling on the practice field or joking on the sideline with teammates?
It's a catch-22 because if Lock suddenly changed after losing the job and became a super buttoned-up, straight-laced cat, people would criticize him for not being able to 'handle' being demoted — a sure sign of immaturity. See what I mean?
Instead, Lock is opting to stay the course and simply be himself — even as the team's QB2. That, if nothing else, is the most concrete evidence of his maturation in Year 3. The Broncos challenged Lock to improve his game and he answered the bell. But for whatever reason, it wasn't enough for Fangio, who's in a win-or-else situation entering his third year as head coach with only 12 total wins to hang his hat on.
"I feel like at the time, I was playing some of the best football I’ve played since I’ve been in the league," Lock said. "This is such a special team. I was hoping and looking forward to being able to lead this team. But no finger-pointing, no negativity. It’s going to be about me finding ways to still make this team great, whether that’s in practice, working with Teddy, trying to find ways for him to get better."
It's hard not to point to that Seattle game last Saturday as the fork in the road. Lock had all the momentum after passing for 151 yards and two touchdowns in his start in Minnesota the week prior. Teddy started in Seattle and played well, though he benefited from Fangio going for it on fourth down not once, not twice, but thrice.
If Lock doesn't get sacked on back-to-back plays when he entered the game, if he doesn't get tripped up by an offensive lineman on his drop-back in the red zone, temporarily fumbling the ball, would Fangio still have gone with Teddy? It's hard to say and Lock could honestly drive himself crazy by agonizing over those questions and living in the past.
“I wasn’t trying to dive into it too much, because if maybe I don’t trip and we throw a touchdown pass on that last play I was in there and the stats look one way, everyone else thinks something—I don’t know," Lock said. "There’s just a lot that goes into it. I wasn’t thinking too much into it... I was just going to be ready for what they decided.”
If/when his number gets called, Lock will be ready. And he vows to capitalize on the moment whenever it may come.
"If my time does come, I’ll be ready for it whenever and there won’t be any lack of work. I’m going to keep working every single day," Lock said. "I’m going to try to get to better every single day. If that time does come, then I’m going to be able to go out there and keep the play the same. If not, try to take it a little better.”
Only time will tell whether Fangio's fateful decision to go with Bridgewater spells the end of the Lock era in Denver. The odds say that Lock won't ever get the chance to truly prove he can be the future franchise quarterback here again.
It is the NFL, though. Never say never. I've covered this league long enough to know that throwing around absolutes is futile and is a good way to paint yourself into a corner.
Lock might get another shot in Denver if Teddy struggles or gets hurt. But if that time comes, unless Lock produces on a Mahomesian level, the Broncos' franchise-quarterback ship seems to have left the harbor and has set sail without Lock onboard.
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