Scangarello: Drew Lock's Nature 'is to be Fearless'

Drew Lock fancies himself a gunslinger. On Wednesday, the Denver Broncos' rookie quarterback explained what that means to him.

The cliff-notes translation is this: if he's gunslinging correctly, "the good will outweigh the bad". Lock says his mentality as a QB will "never change". And we know his teammates, like fellow rookie TE Noah Fant, likes that about Lock and how he's willing to "take chances".

On Thursday, offensive coordinator Rich Scangarello talked about Lock's mindset as a QB and whether or not the views it as an attribute or as a weakness.

“I think it’s his nature to be fearless and that’s what you like about him," Scangaerllo said. "I think he’s—again, it’s not too big for him in these situations, which you appreciate about him. I think that’s part of the gunslinger mentality. I think if he makes a mistake and if he shows in this league that he can continue to fight back from that, I think that proves you have that mentality."

As I wrote on Wednesday, the key for any gunslinger is to walk that razor's edge of protecting the football while also being fearless in challenging defenses. The other aspect of being a gunslinger, which hasn't been talked about as much, is how much the onus is on the QB to play within the offense, within the scheme and not get too far off base improvising.

"I think as a person, I think he’s got the right temperament and it’s always finding that balance between being a play-maker and being dynamic in that way, and then playing within the system that you can make people around you better," Scangarello said. "I think so far he’s done a good job of that and we’ve got to continue to see that the next two weeks.”

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Scangarello believes Lock has done well at keeping the gunslinger mentality, while protecting the ball for the most part, while playing within the offense. Lock completed passes to 10 different receivers in Week 14's 38-24 win over Houston.

He's distributing the ball. And getting it to the playmakers. Lock is also finding ways to make plays when the original design breaks down, whether it be with his arm or his legs.

But he's thrown a pick in each game he's started this season. The one he threw in Kansas City, trying to target Fant in the end zone, was a good example of the downside of having the gunslinger mentality. And in a game wherein the Broncos lost 23-3, and Lock didn't throw any touchdown passes, it's hard to say the good outweighed the bad. At least in that one game.

“That’s the gunslinger mentality, I guess," Scangarello said. "He has to learn from that. He made a lot of splashy plays in college and stuff and you want to explain to every quarterback that it’s just different in the NFL."

Lock was trying to battle back from a three-touchdown deficit in the third quarter, so it's understandable that he was pushing the envelope. Scangarello's advice to Lock, after breaking it down in the film room, hopefully gave the young signal-caller the right perspective to help him learn from it.

"I just explained to him, ‘Drew, in the end, there’s no 21-point touchdowns. It’s the third quarter and we’re not out of this game. Let it come to you.’ You have to do that," Scangarello said. "I felt like he forced it and he was trying to make a play. It would have been second-and-10 and we could have come back and score on the next play. He has to bank those reps. Drew has been good about that and not making the same mistake twice.”

Analyzing Lock's complete three-game body of work, it's safe to say the good has outweighed the bad, which, according to his self-professed metrics, means he's doing it right as a gunslinger. His TD-to-INT ratio is 5-to-2 and he's 2-1 as a starter.

Let's see how much growth Lock can show in the Broncos' final two games. Next up, the Detroit Lions come to town. His No. 1 wideout Courtland Sutton is pulling for Lock to ball out so that he has the right positive momentum to carry him into the offseason as the 'understood starter' in Denver.

"I do think Drew’s going to make sure that he is prepared and he goes out there and he solidifies that spot so that there aren’t any questions and so nobody can say, ‘Well, you didn’t really perform the way you wanted to those last two games.’ I don’t what him to have to deal with that any this offseason," Sutton said on Wednesday. "If he goes out there and he puts together two really good games, I think that will solidify the spot and ease his mind going into the offseason. He can just work on his craft and not worry about the extra stuff.”

Follow Chad on Twitter @ChadNJensen and @MileHighHuddle.