Fangio on Lock's debut: 'I was hoping for more but not surprised'

The Denver Broncos are coming off their first preseason game of the year — a 14-10 come-from-behind win over the Atlanta Falcons in the Hall of Fame game.

Since it was the first of five preseason games the Broncos will play this summer, we saw hardly any starters on the field to open. It was a game played by backups and backups to backups.

However, despite the fact that the Broncos’ star players wouldn’t be suiting up, fans still looked forward to the first football game of the year for multiple reasons, not the least of which was to see Drew Lock’s debut in the Orange and Blue.

The rookie second-round QB wasn’t bad, but fans who were expecting the strong-armed gunslinger to light up the box score came away disappointed. Lock struggled at times, clearly not acclimated to the speed of the game.

Afterward, head coach Vic Fangio revealed his thoughts on Lock’s performance vs. Atlanta.

“I was hoping for more, but [I’m] not surprised,” Fangio said from the podium post-game. “He’s still got a lot of work to do. I thought his accuracy wasn’t clean all the time along with his reads, but that’s to be expected. We’ve got four more games and we’ve got to get him ready, more ready than he is right now.”

Lock played nearly three quarters, going 7-of-11 for 34 yards, with no touchdowns and no interceptions. The Broncos were unable to put any points on the board with him under center.

The arm talent he has was evident, as well as that athleticism. What Lock seemed to be missing in his NFL debut was command and poise.

It really did feel like the two biggest factors that stymied Lock were the speed of the game and coverage/rush combinations the Falcons threw at him. Atlanta put some heat on him at times, and ran a lot more man coverage than he might have expected to see in a preseason opener.

It might have been a reality check of sorts for Lock. And perhaps a wake-up call to fans that he’s still got a lot of incubating to do.

My advice is to not get too far out and over your skis with regard to Lock’s first game. Like all players do, he’ll learn from his first exposure to the NFL and if he has the type of character I believe he does, he’ll grow from it.

Follow Chad on Twitter @ChadNJensen.

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