Shurmur Echoes his Bosses on What Drew Lock Must Show in Final 2 Games

A lot has been said about Drew Lock over the past two days. GM John Elway revealed on Tuesday that the Denver Broncos "still like what they see" about Lock and believe he can be a good quarterback, while head coach Vic Fangio said he wants to see more of the "good" elements of his game.

Both Elway and Fangio stressed the importance for Lock to show better "consistency."

Even Los Angeles Chargers cornerback Chris Harris, Jr. got in on the Lock talk, offering a critical tone about the QB's turnovers while complimenting him and cautioning not to "sleep" on the kid. With it being Thursday, it was time for Pat Shurmur to get in on the Lock discussion and the offensive coordinator started by complimenting his QB.

“Well, in every area. I think he's displayed the ability to do a lot of really good things, and as you develop as a quarterback we start talking about consistency," Shurmur said. Doing it over and over and over again and having full understanding of the situation and where the ball is supposed to go and making sure we're in the right run, making sure we manage the line of scrimmage well. I think he's done a good job of some of that."

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There's that 'C' word again. Consistency. The only consistent element to Lock's game this season has been, well, his inconsistency.

But what does Shurmur want to see from Lock to close out this season?

"As the season’s gone along, there's less and less of, 'OK, what the heck was that?' From our standpoint watching it, which is good," Shurmur said. "In everything with regard to improvement is just consistency—doing it over and over and over. That's where it's very important, but you've got to do it over and over and over, you got to be consistent, and you got to play winning football. It all goes hand in hand.”

Allow me to sum it all up. The Broncos have been tantalized by Lock's flashes of brilliance since his first start last year and that has continued this year.

The problem is, those flashes have been too hit-and-miss, or to quote Elway, too "up-and-down." What has concerned everyone, including his coaches, is Lock's penchant for repeating the same mistake, over and over again.

That recidivism is a trait that was absent last year under ex-OC Rich Scangarello. However, under Shurmur's watch, Lock has become a repeat offender.

The Broncos are telegraphing to Lock that they've liked what they've seen from him, even recognizing this outlier season that saw the team fight a three-war front against COVID-19, the injury bug, and the NFL. What Elway, Fangio, and Shurmur want to see now is consistency.

That doesn't mean Lock has to be Aaron Rodgers, or toss four touchdowns each game like he did in Carolina two weeks ago. It simply means that Lock needs to keep his offense on-schedule, don't turn the ball over, play with poise and command at the line of scrimmage, and execute.

It might sound like a tall order. But that's what it takes to be an NFL QB. If Lock wants to hang in the NFL and parlay his audition for Denver's future franchise QB into 2021, this is what it'll take.

Go beat Justin Herbert again, only do it by leading from the front instead of relying on a miraculous fourth-quarter and that'll be step one in assuaging some of the concerns in Broncos Country and encouraging the team brass that the 'consistency' message was heard loud and clear.

Follow Chad on Twitter @ChadNJensen and @MileHighHuddle.