Fangio Intimates Broncos' Plan is to Practice QB Drew Lock 'This Week'
On the heels of their devastating 30-6 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs on Thursday night, the Denver Broncos will get a few days off. The Broncos will get a 10-day break between Week 7 and 8, and a three-day respite before they reconvene for practice.
When the team hits the practice field again, rookie quarterback Drew Lock should be a participant. Lock was placed on injured reserve after suffering a severe thumb sprain during the preseason and is eligible to return to the practice field.
“Yeah, we’ll start practicing those guys that are eligible this week," head coach Vic Fangio said on Friday, "get a feel and get feedback of where they’re at exactly and decide from there.”
By league rule, Lock will have to practice with the Broncos for two weeks before the team can officially activate him. Considering that the team's bye comes in Week 10, that means the soonest Lock could be active and available to play is Week 11.
That's assuming he suffers no setbacks during practice and the Broncos pull the trigger, designating him to return. Exactly one week ago, GM John Elway said that the team plans to take it one day at a time with regard to Lock's potential return but it sounded like the Broncos are considering more than just Lock's health in their decision.
“We’ll see. We’re going to play that by ear," Elway said. "We obviously have got a lot of guys on I.R. so we have to use those two the right way. We’re going to take it week by week and see how it goes. We have not made any decisions on what we’re going to do with those two slots yet.”
Elway was speaking to the NFL rule stipulating that the Broncos can only designate two players to return to the active roster off IR. Those currently on the injured reserve list who are also approaching their window to resume practicing are TE Jake Butt, RB Theo Riddick and WR Tim Patrick.
On one hand, while it's easy to understand that the Broncos will want to be smart in deciding how best to use their two players to return off IR, on the other, it's difficult to see any rational reason why the Broncos wouldn't earmark one of those two designations for Lock, considering the state this team is in — barring an unforeseen setback with his thumb.
At 2-5, the Broncos haven't been eliminated from playoff contention mathematically but anyone paying attention to the debacle on Thursday night recognizes that this team is a far cry from being January-football capable. While fans are already chalking 2019 up as another lost season for the Broncos, it doesn't have to be a wasted campaign.
If the Broncos can get Drew Lock out on the field and get him the needed live-bullet exposure to the NFL game, it'll give the team the chance to evaluate how he fits into the long-term picture. If he falls flat on his face, perhaps the team will need to consider using what is likely to be another high first-round pick on another QB.
But if Lock shows the wherewithal to hang in the NFL, the Broncos can go into next season confident in the knowledge that it has the future of the QB position well in hand. If Lock is given the opportunity to play this year, and the sample size is enough to render a positive evaluation, this team could enter into 2020 a lot closer to competing than they are right now.
Denver could then make its free-agent and draft decisions based on Lock's skill-set and build around him. Getting an answer on Lock in 2019, at this stage, is the only thing that can save this season from being an utter waste and failure.
Follow Chad on Twitter @ChadNJensen and @MileHighHuddle.
