Noah Fant Credits Drew Lock Despite Frustrations of Embarrassing Bills Loss
2020 has been an immensely challenging second season for Denver Broncos tight end Noah Fant. Nagging injuries have dogged the former first-round pick, and then a sudden in-game illness cost him the bulk of Week 14's action against the Carolina Panthers.
Over the course of the season, the former Iowa Hawkeye has strapped up his ankle on a weekly basis but has still managed to catch 52 passes for 560 yards and three touchdowns. NFL COVID-19 protocols have put the Broncos in an unprecedented at differing points during this troublesome year, including Week 14 that forced Fant off the field due to the symptoms he was showing.
Fant’s teammate and kicker Brandan McManus was particularly outspoken on social media during the build-up to the Broncos' Week 15 tilt vs. Buffalo after becoming the latest player to fall afoul of the NFL's unflinching, intensive COVID-19 protocols. Fant opted to take the more diplomatic route in the wake of Denver's 48-19 loss to Buffalo on Sunday, remaining focused on returning to the line-up after the previous week’s frustrations.
“It felt so good, man. Especially for the situation that was of last week,” Fant explained. “Obviously, I’m not blaming anybody but that’s the times where we’re in COVID and if you’re not feeling well, there are so many precautions that we have to take. It was definitely very frustrating, but it felt good to be back out there with my team, with those guys, fighting with them and pushing forward for a win and obviously we came vastly short this game.”
"Vastly short" is right on the money and it added up to a huge 29-point losing margin, which is unacceptable. The atmosphere in the Broncos locker room was pretty dark after the final gun and it stung even more because the team did have some momentum heading into the second half.
“Like you said, we had momentum going into the second half, we had a great two-minute drive to score and put us down by one score and we weren’t able to fabricate that into momentum in the second half,” Fant said.
The momentum Fant speaks of was the phenomenal touchdown catch he made to end the second quarter. It was his first score since Week 2 and a great throw from Drew Lock and catch by Fant. The big tight end finished with a career-high eight receptions.
“Honestly, much of that is attributed to Drew," Fant said. "He did a great job of scanning the field, looking downfield, looking for open receivers and he was able to connect with me. I don’t think that was anything that was meant to happen or things like that, he just did a great job of reading where the open guy was and delivering the ball."
Fant was impressed by another throw Lock made, going across his body to deliver it to Fant.
"Especially that throw he had to me in the middle of the field, a little crossing route, great throw by him and across the body and the whole thing so I think that was a really good job on his part," Fant said.
Again, a solid first half capped off by a momentum-surging touchdown wasn't harnessed in the second as the Broncos wouldn't find the end zone again until garbage time — a common thread through many of the team's patchwork performances this year. All too often Denver has lacked the consistency in all three phases to sustain for a full 60 minutes of game action.
Errors have crept in going from week-to-week and the Broncos have snatched defeat from the jaws of victory too many times. Saturday felt like Groundhog Day once again as frustrations boiled over on the sidelines and also into Fant’s post-game remarks.
“That’s definitely frustrating, me being a part of it too, the first two losing seasons for me,” Fant said. “None of us like to lose and I know we got competitors on this team and a big nucleus of young guys that are going to fight and get this thing turned around.”
That road ahead will now be focused on putting the trials and tribulations of 2020 behind them and focusing on next season with the Broncos being eliminated from playoff contention. On a personal level, Fant's biggest achievement, in addition to posting some solid numbers, has been his willingness to play through injury which has firmly established his credentials in the locker room.
That bodes well for 2021, especially if Fant can also confine his injury woes to the past. Thanks to Fant's flashes and toughness, the Broncos aren't likely to look at tight ends in next April’s NFL draft because that vital building block is already anchored in place.
Follow Keith on Twitter @KeithC_NFL and @MileHighHuddle.
