Fangio Says Teddy Bridgewater's Concussion 'has Gotten Better'
The Denver Broncos' Week 4 bout with the Baltimore Ravens started off rather promising as Teddy Bridgewater connected with tight end Noah Fant on a three-yard touchdown to draw first blood.
It was literally all downhill from there, though. Bridgewater was sacked and hit relentlessly one of which saw a rushing Raven pop the Broncos' quarterback in the chin with the crown of his helmet before driving him into the ground.
Bridgewater had his 'bell rung,' as they say. That hit occurred late in the second quarter. Diagnosed with a concussion, Teddy did not return to the field as Drew Lock took over in relief to start the third quarter.
Lock did not play well, finishing 12-of-21 (57.1%) for 113 yards and a really, really bad, stereotypical garbage-time interception in the end zone. In fairness, though, none of Lock's supporting cast played well either and that trend started about halfway through the second quarter whilst Teddy was still active.
After the game, head coach Vic Fangio didn't have any deep insight into Bridgewater's injury but after seeing his banged-up quarterback, he left room for optimism.
“I don’t know how it is," Fangio said in regard to Bridgewater's concussion. "I just saw him and he says he’s getting better as the day goes on, so we’ll see.”
Fangio recognizes that the Broncos' pass protection (it was bad for Lock, too) was not acceptable but also acknowledged that it takes a village to execute in unison as a unit.
“Protection is a—there’s a lot of people involved in that," Fangio said.
"Obviously, the offensive line, the backs, tight ends when they’re asked to pass protect, and the quarterback. It’s a multi-faceted operation and I’m sure we had breakdowns across the board there.”
Left tackle Garett Bolles continued his concerning trend of poor play, offering up easily his worst performance of the season. Bolles took the loss hard, blaming himself for the offensive line's inability to block for whichever QB was behind center.
“I think it just came down to the little things—particularly me," Bolles said post-game. "I didn’t play too well. I feel like that loss is on me, being the leader of the offensive line. I wasn’t doing my job 100 percent like I needed to [in order] to make Teddy feel comfortable. If I do my job and keep him fresh, then he can move around. It makes it easier for the rest of the guys. I take this loss upon myself.”
The Broncos don't have much time to wallow in Sunday's loss as a trip to Pittsburgh to take on the Steelers is next on the docket. The soonest Teddy would be available to practice, assuming he passes through the NFL's concussion protocol and receives independent clearance to play, would be Friday.
That's the final day of practice before the game. If he's back on his feet, and can practice on Friday, expect Bridgewater to start. If not, it'll be Lock with a chance to redeem what happened to him last time he stepped foot onto Heinz Field.
Lock suffered an injury to his throwing shoulder on a brutal blind-side hit early in Week 2 last year as the Steelers dominated the Broncos before then-backup Jeff Driskel made up some scoring ground with a few garbage-time points.
The injury cost Lock a month of recovery time and served as the turning point in what became yet another failed season. If the Broncos call on Lock to start in Week 5, at least he'll have the benefit of running with the first-team offense all week. Those reps are precious.
“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 post-game. "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.”
Mastering the final details is a charge the entire Broncos' offense would be wise to take to heart during Week 5's preparation.
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