Broncos vs. Vikings Preseason Week: What Drew Lock & Teddy Bridgewater Must Show Coaches

The Denver Broncos' quarterback battle has gone back and forth so far in training camp. Drew Lock has won a few days in significant ways, while Teddy Bridgewater has totaled more wins overall, though only slightly.

Practice is practice, and while these signal-callers need to take the steps forward, the games will provide the stage to show the Broncos' coaches they can truly take a stride forward in this battle.

This week, the Broncos are holding joint practices with the Minnesota Vikings as they prepare for their first preseason game. Overall, this is a good test for the Broncos because the Vikings’ defense has a ton of potential, and their strength is in their front seventh. Last year, Minnesota finished the season 18th in DVOA on defense, dealing with a bad secondary and many injuries.

Their secondary is still the weak spot of the Vikings' defense, though they have added some key pieces to the unit, brining in veteran cornerbacks Patrick Peterson and Bashaud Breeland, both of whom Broncos fans are familiar with. Peterson has been often linked with the Broncos since 2011 when he entered the NFL with Von Miller, and Breeland spent a few years within the division with the Kansas City Chiefs.

Upfront, the Vikings added multiple key pieces via free agency and the team used the NFL draft to make a good front seven even stronger. Minnesota will be a tremendous challenge to the Broncos’ offensive line and quarterbacks, providing a good test for both of these quarterbacks.

With this challenge before them, what do Lock and Bridgewater need to show to take the lead in this battle? First up, we'll break down the incumbent.

Drew Lock

Pre-snap: The incumbent starter got the first crack at the Vikings’ defense, and they've tested him in multiple ways. Last year, Lock showed he was susceptible to a handful of certain looks from defenses, and the Vikings often run them.

Step one for Lock is, he can’t be baited by these looks and show improvement in his pre-and post-snap reads against them specifically. Of course, there are those mechanical issues he needs to improve in-game and not revert to his old bad habits.

Protecting the football: Another crucial aspect Lock has to show. If he wants to be a calculated gunslinger; the calculation has to be displayed.

This game is the perfect test for Lock because of what the Vikings do on defense. His reads have to be on point, or this opportunistic defense will take advantage of his mistakes. Fortunately for Lock, he will have plenty of help from his offensive weapons, which will be hard to handle in coverage.

The opportunity that is before Lock can be more beneficial to him than to Bridgewater. However, the next game is arguably a bigger opportunity for Bridgewater to take the first quarterback snap than this game is for Lock. There is a straightforward reason for that: who they are playing and the toughness of the opponent.

If Lock wants to take a sizeable lead in this quarterback battle, he has to go out there and show these things to the coaches on the field. Now, it doesn’t have to be a perfect game for him, and mistakes will happen. But what will hurt Lock is how those mistakes come and how frequent they are.

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Teddy Bridgewater

Consistency: After Lock gets to take on the first unit and likely sees a decent amount against the second defense, Bridgewater will get second and third-team defense. This gives Teddy an advantage of playing against backups more than starters. As a result, Bridgewater should have it a little easier, making it harder for him to establish any real lead over Lock in the battle.

That said, he can still take control of the battle by going out there and being ‘Steady Teddy.’ That means protecting the football, moving the ball downfield, and taking his shots when the opportunity arises. In Denver's second preseason game, he has to show the same stuff against the starters for the Seattle Seahawks.

So it isn’t precisely a one-game moment for Bridgewater to get this lead over Lock. It is another step for him that he will have to follow up on in the Broncos' second preseason game. Of course, with Lock getting reps against a more formidable first Vikings' unit, the lead could be insurmountable.

This first preseason game is Lock's best chance to take the lead in this battle. There is more he can show and against tougher matchups than Bridgewater can. All eyes are on what Lock can do against this Vikings defense to see if he can make a big enough step forward to close out this battle essentially.

Follow Erick on Twitter @ErickTrickel.

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