Broncos' QB Forecast Still not Crystallized Despite Drew Lock's Return to Practice on Thursday

Drew Lock is trending in the right direction for Week 11 but still has a way to go in order to convince the coaches that he can start vs. the Dolphins.

Quarterback watch. Day two. 

It's been since Monday, in truth, that Drew Lock's health status and availability has been in question. After suffering bruised ribs in the Denver Broncos' Week 9 loss to the Las Vegas Raiders, Lock finished the entire game hurt.

His stats look like that of a young quarterback who had either given up or was seriously pressing, perhaps due to injury. Pain can affect players in a big way and every person is different. 

Being hurt can't be an excuse for turning the ball over four times like Lock did in Vegas. That's the truth. 

On Wednesday, as the Broncos began practice preparations for their Week 11 home bout vs. the Miami Dolphins, Lock was a spectator as Brett Rypien took all of the first-team reps at quarterback. Meanwhile, head coach Vic Fangio intimated that in order for Lock to be in consideration to start on Sunday, he'd have to get some meaningful practice reps in this week. 

On Thursday, Lock felt good enough to participate in practice, though he was limited. He split first-team reps with Rypien. 

“I'm feeling better every day—good process so far with the doctors and all the trainers here," Lock said following Thursday's practice. "I got to go out and throw the ball, that's all I could really ask for today. I was excited and ready to get back out there and throw it, and I was feeling good.”

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Lock wants to start on Sunday but acknowledged that the decision is not his alone. 

“I would like to be," Lock said. "I'm going to take it day by day with these doctors, the trainers and even the coaches. I'm going to let them make a decision on whether or not they want to play me or not. Obviously, I'll give my opinion and I want to play, but in the end it's not 100 percent up to me what happens.”

If Rypien does get the nod, he says he'll be ready to go. After starting in Week 4 and delivering the Broncos' their first win of the season, Rypien has officially been baptized by fire into the brotherhood of starting quarterbacks in the NFL. 

“I’ve said it to you guys before," Rypien said on Thursday. "I take the same approach every single week, whether I start or whether I have to come off the bench. It stays consistent every single week. Even when I’m not getting reps, I’m out there taking mental reps to get myself ready.”

It's noteworthy that the Broncos made Rypien available to the media on Thursday. And likely hints at how the coaches foresee Sunday playing out. 

After hearing offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur's almost dejected tone on Thursday while discussing Lock's four-interception performance last week, emphasizing over and over again how unacceptable it was, it would be no surprise to see the Broncos sit Lock this week even if to just hammer home the point that turning the ball over at such a prolific rate comes at a cost — both to the team and to the player. 

If Lock sits, it'll be sold by the team as a health-only decision. But Lock looked fine out there on Thursday throwing the ball, in truth. 

With another few days to heal up, it's hard to imagine that he'd be in enough pain and discomfort that he couldn't execute his duties as QB, especially knowing what type of pain-relieving treatments and medications are available to NFL players on gameday. 

The Broncos have to be very careful with this decision. It could have collateral effects on the franchise beyond just Sunday's game vs. Miami and the wrong decision could only exacerbate the club's apparent unraveling in the present and compromise what the future could hold. 

Coach Fangio adamantly reinforced his support of Lock as the Broncos' starter post-game in Vegas. But things can change on a dime in the NFL. The Broncos must handle this situation delicately but after seeing how this coaching staff has managed past QB decisions, especially in 2019, fans rightly have serious misgivings that the right call will be made this time around. 

Follow Chad on Twitter @ChadNJensen and @MileHighHuddle.