ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — Let the competition begin.
On Monday morning, under the balmy spring Colorado sun, the Denver Broncos’ quarterback competition took the field for the first time in 2021.
Drew Lock versus Teddy Bridgewater kicked off as the Broncos held their first OTA practice of the offseason.
On the field, neither quarterback had an opportunity to separate themselves from one another as the team didn’t have a single 11-on-11 period. However, minutes after practice wrapped up, there was a striking difference between the two quarterbacks in the way they are approaching the competition.
Teddy just wants to play ball.
Drew, however, is on a mission to prove people wrong.
When Von Miller arrived at the UCHealth Training Center for the first day of OTAs on Monday morning, instead of sacking his new quarterback, the All-Pro pass rusher hit him with a new mindset.
“The first thing he said today was, ‘You’re here to play football now.’ That’s my mindset now. I’m here to play football and whatever happens, happens,” Bridgewater stated, explaining his mindset surrounding the quarterback competition he’s in with Lock. “I’m here to help this team become a better team. I’m here to help players become better football players and men become better men. Whatever happens, I’m here to play football and I’ll take whatever comes with it.”
Throughout his career, whether he was anointed the starter or not, the former first-round pick has “always” considered himself in a competition “every day” when he wakes up.
“Whenever you get into a situation, you always want to be the guy who can be there for a while. Of course, that’s my mindset,” Teddy stated. “I’m coming into it with the mindset of ‘I just want to play football’ and help these guys on this roster be the best versions of themselves that they can be. Of course, you don’t win in this league in gym shorts, so when the time comes, I just hope I’m executing at the right level that’s appealing to the coaches and go from there.”
Acquired one day before the 2021 NFL Draft, Bridgewater is unquestionably in the honeymoon stage with his new team.
“I’m very excited to be here,” the 28-year old stated, speaking to the media for the first time since he was traded to Denver. “Looking forward to this opportunity that’s ahead of me. It’s a football town. The town, the team, the organization—it has a ton of history. I’m just looking forward to what’s in store for this team. It felt good being out there today and laying the foundation.”
This easygoing approach for the often-smiling quarterback doesn’t mean Teddy isn’t grinding away. In fact, it’s quite the opposite. For months before he was traded to Denver, he was already researching the Broncos’ roster.
“I definitely did a lot of research on this team. I’m familiar with the roster,” he said. “A talented defense, and a bunch of guys who fly around and make plays and have made plays in this league. You look at the offense, it’s a lot of guys who’ve established themselves or are continuing to establish themselves in this league—so much talent on this roster… I was very excited a couple of months ago when I heard I could end up here. Now that I’m here, I’m eager to make this team a better team and be the best person I can be.”
Lock’s also unquestionably been putting in the work too. From the early film sessions to coming into the office multiple times a day to working with Peyton Manning, the 24-year old has put his head down and focused on getting better since the season ended.
“Just Groundhog Day over and over again,” he said about his offseason work. “There was a lot of work that went into it.”
That work not only helped him improve, it blocked out all of the noise and rumors surrounding the Broncos trying to find his replacement. Despite being a 24-year old in the age of social media, Lock didn’t pay attention to, or even hear, all of the potential quarterbacks Denver could have landed this offseason to replace him.
“If anyone did say something to me, I think it was a zero text back or no call back because they probably weren’t in my really tight circle and there was no need for me to respond,” Lock stated.
“It was going to be really long days, but it was going to be worth every single second of it because regardless of what happened, if I stayed here, I left or they brought someone in, my mindset was not going to change wherever I went,” Lock said, continuing to explain his offseason grind. “If I went somewhere or if I stayed here, I was going to be the guy. I put every single ounce in this offseason. Being able to do that gave me zero time to listen to all of this stuff. Maybe I’ll go back one day, read and laugh about things that were being said by people who ended up being completely wrong.”
Teddy, however, is taking a different approach. When the veteran was given the opportunity to state how he’s ready to prove the Carolina Panthers wrong for moving on from him after just one year, he passed.
When asked about the Aaron Rodgers rumors that are still floating around Denver, Lock simply pointed to the “great practice” he and his team had on Monday, acting as if he didn’t even hear the words “Aaron Rodgers” in the question.
On the other hand, Bridgewater addressed the rumors a bit more directly. The rumors about the future Hall-of-Fame quarterback potentially being traded to the Broncos, however, are clearly not impacting Bridgewater.
“Honestly man, I just keep my head down and control what I can control. I tell everyone that. In this business, you have to wear big-boy [pants], and I wear them,” he said with big-boy confidence. “A lot can happen in this business. Each day is an opportunity for me to get better as a person, as a teammate, as a family member, and in any aspect that I can.”
If the Broncos were to acquire No. 12 from Green Bay, all talks about a quarterback competition would be over regardless of who would be on the roster with Rodgers. If that doesn’t happen, expect the competition to go well into the summer where the preseason games will be the “true tell,” according to Vic Fangio.
Despite the starting quarterback job up for grabs, both quarterbacks believe they’ll get along and actually help each other.
“Our personalities will mesh well. Just that entire room, with ‘Ryp’ (Brett Rypien) also,” Bridgewater said. “We’re in there having conversations like we’ve known each other for three months already. It’s great when you can walk into a room like that where everyone knows there’s competition, but at the same time, this game allows you to create and form brotherhoods with different guys.”
While Lock agreed with Bridgewater, he made it clear he won’t be approaching the competition like the younger one of the two, despite being exactly four years younger.
“He has a lot of experience. I feel like we can both bounce things off of each other now where I don’t feel necessarily that I’m the young one,” Lock said. “I feel like I can talk back—Teddy is older than me. He is probably a couple years older than me but I feel like I have enough knowledge where I can start talking these things out. Talking with him and being able to just bounce ideas off of him, which is nice.”
After being given the starting job last year following the hot finish to his rookie season, this will be Lock’s first quarterback competition in the NFL.
“I’m here to compete and do everything you can to be the best quarterback for this team. That is the mindset that I have right now,” Lock explained. “It’s going to be fun. I’m excited to be able to go out there and have this competition, push myself to whole different level that maybe I wouldn’t have gotten to without this.”
The countless hours Lock put in this offseason only made him fall more in love with the game he’s been playing since childhood.
“There is zero doubt in my mind that I would like to do this for the rest of my life,” he said passionately. “I want this team to be good. I want myself to be really good, but I wanted nothing to be able to look back on with regret. I was going to give everything I had this offseason—the offseasons before—but especially this one, to be able to come in and help this team get to the playoffs and help this city come back.”
Before Lock can achieve those Mile-High goals, he’ll need to beat out the newcomer for the job.
On Monday, the quarterback competition officially kicked off in Denver. Only 111 days left until the Broncos’ season kicks off and officially ends the all-important battle.
