Broncos QB Drew Lock: Rodgers Rumors 'Only a Distraction if I Let it'
There's an old adage in football that if you don't want the other team to celebrate, stop them.
A similar concept applies to Drew Lock.
With bombshell reports continuing to link the Broncos to reigning NFL MVP Aaron Rodgers — who supposedly "wants to be" in Denver — the team's incumbent quarterback realizes he's ultimately in the driver's seat of his destiny, as well as that of Rodgers.
If Lock wants to kill the chatter, it's up to him to dead it.
“It can only be a distraction if I let it,’’ he told Mike Klis of 9NEWS. “If I think about it for more than this conversation we’re having right now, then I would let it be a distraction. And if those guys are playing for Green Bay or they’re playing wherever they are, then they have a step advantage on me because I was thinking about it and not thinking about football and how we can get better.
“No, I don’t let it be a distraction. It came with the lack of wins last year. If we won 10 games, no one would be talking about it. If we won 11 games, nobody would be talking about it. If we won 12 games no one would talk about it. But due to play from last year, to stop those conversations from happening again, I need to play better this year and that’s where my energy was and that’s where all my focus was and that’s quite honestly why I didn’t think about it is because all my energy and all my time was focused elsewhere this offseason, and that was getting this team better.”
On Monday, Benjamin Allbright of KOA Radio reported that Denver has "60-40" odds of acquiring Rodgers from the Green Bay Packers. The next day, Lock responded in kind with his best performance of the offseason, shredding the Broncos' vaunted defense amid their mandatory minicamp practice.
It's a step forward for the third-year signal-caller, but a small step nonetheless. Minicamp practices don't amount to much in the grand scheme of an NFL season, and Lock has a ways to go as he fends off both Rodgers rumors and close competition from veteran newcomer Teddy Bridgewater.
But he's learning an invaluable lesson amid the competitive process: Control only the controllable with the ball in his hands — literally and figuratively.
“There’s a lot that goes into that, but I’d say the easy question is just focusing on yourself and what your job is and not letting a ball hit the ground affect you," Lock told reporters Tuesday. "Balls are going to hit the ground in a game; you’re going to throw a pick in a game; there’s going to be bad points in the game; there’s going to be bad points in the can; you’re going to have a bad day. It’s about moving on to the next play and just growing from those mistakes so that you can go out there on Sundays or in the year and really benefit from those bad days in camp.”
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