Broncos Quarterback Scoreboard: Teddy Bridgewater's giveaways turn the tide

Editor’s note: A Broncos quarterback competition can only mean one thing — another Broncos quarterback scoreboard. A fan favorite in the past, these stories will be posted after each and every training camp practice updating just how Denver’s quarterback competition is unfolding. At the end of each practice, 10 points will be divided among Drew Lock and Teddy Bridgewater with a cumulative score of the entire camp following. Which quarterback is in the lead? Find out now.

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — There was a quarterback who was steady on Saturday. But his name wasn’t Teddy Bridgewater.

Teddy Talk: It unraveled in a hurry

For a good chunk of practice, it looked like Bridgewater could win the day.

The first team period started well enough for him. Working against the first-team defense, he completed a pair of passes — a screen to Javonte Williams for what would have been a gain of at least 20 yards in game conditions, and a short pass to Courtland Sutton on a stick route. Including seven-on-seven work, four of Bridgewater’s first five passes were complete; the only exception was a drop down the seam by Tyrie Cleveland, who continues to be plagued with a case of the drops.

But Bridgewater did miss a chance for a splash strike during the seven-on-seven period. When Jerry Jeudy shook free of Pat Surtain II with a double move, Bridgewater had the chance for a long touchdown pass down the right sideline. But the football sailed over Jeudy’s head.

Still, Bridgewater rebounded. In the next team period, he completed all six of his attempts in that period, beginning with a 10-yard crossing route by Jeudy, which saw the QB whip a pass just past the outstretched arm of Alexander Johnson. He completed two passes despite dealing with pressure, one a 15-yarder to Cleveland, and another on a short pass to LeVante Bellamy. Bridgewater made those connections despite pressure from defensive linemen Shamar Stephen and McTelvin Agim, respectively.

Then, it came time for some red-zone work.

Bridgewater got three snaps, all against the No. 1 defense. All were incomplete, thrown away thanks to tight coverage from a secondary that was on-point throughout the morning.

Everything seemed to unravel from there. The throwaways started a run of eight consecutive incompletions, including the back-to-back interceptions that doomed his day.

On the first, Bridgewater had room to operate when Agim pulled back from a rush. Looking to his right, Bridgewater’s pass was deflected by Agim at the line of scrimmage; he pulled in the deflection and took off for a potential touchdown in game conditions.

One play later, Bridgewater’s day went from bad to worse. Kareem Jackson jumped a route, stepping in front of Bridgewater’s pass for Jeudy in the left flat. This, too, would have been a touchdown in game conditions.

By the time the damage was done Saturday, Bridgewater had eight consecutive incompletions. Three were intercepted, including a red-zone pick by Jackson that Agim deflected at the line of scrimmage. Another pass was nearly picked off, as Johnson got his hands on a red-zone attempt for Noah Fant.

Bridgewater settled down just a bit in his final snaps, guiding the No. 2 offense against the second-team defense in the move-the-ball period. He went 3-of-6, completing short passes to Damarea Crockett, Shaun Beyer and Trinity Benson for 22 yards in total.

Midway through that drive, defense got its hands on another football, when Nate Hairston prevented a potential 20-yard connection to Diontae Spencer down the middle. Hairston swooped in to break up the pass, which hung in the air, giving him a chance to break on it.

One Bridgewater attempt in the final period went astray when Hamler slipped as he cut back to the ball. His day closed with another incompletion, which happened when Bridgewater looked for Cleveland in the back of the end zone behind two defenders. He dropped in a catchable pass — only to see it sail between Cleveland’s outstretched arms.

Bridgewater needs to be steady and mistake-free. Saturday, he was neither.

Lock: Steady as he goes

This was a Bridgewater-heavy day. Fangio noted before camp that there would be some days that one quarterback did more than others, and in the end, the eight-year veteran attempted 12 more passes than Lock.

It wasn’t about being a “calculated gunslinger” — although he did take a deep shot in the seven-on-seven period that saw him hit Courtland Sutton for an over-the-shoulder, 41-yard touchdown at the expense of undrafted rookie cornerback Mac McCain. It was about making prudent decisions.

Lock only had three passes hit the ground in 15 attempts, including seven-on-seven repetitions. Two of the three incompletions were drops. The other incompletion also bounced off of someone’s hands — the problem was that the hands belonged to safety Trey Marshall, who nearly intercepted Lock’s first team-period attempt of the day, a pass down the left seam for Tim Patrick.

Perhaps the most impressive pass of the day for Lock was a 20-yard pass to the left that saw him wing it to Kendall Hinton. Hinton later dropped a Lock attempt.

Lock did not get any red-zone work Saturday. But his move-the-ball period was successful, as he guided the No. 1 offense — working against the top defense — from its 30-yard line to the defense’s 18-yard line before the horn sounded to end the series.

QB Play of the Day

With Lock, you want to see good decision-making and the ability to process the entire field and go through his progressions. In the move-the-ball period at the end of practice, he delivered, showing these qualities on a fourth-and-2 that kept the drive alive.

Lock looked to his right on the play and saw no one open. Then, he scanned and looked to his left, where Fant flashed open. He coolly found the third-year tight end for an 11-yard gain that moved the offense into the red zone.

It’s not sexy, but this an example of Lock doing what he needs to do — and showing something that he often lacked last year.

Scoreboard

Bridgewater got the bulk of the work, almost all of it against the first-team defense, and that fast, powerful unit with a secondary as deep as any in the NFL made his day miserable.

After completing his first eight passes in team-period repetitions, Bridgewater missed eight in a row. Meanwhile, Lock settled in and let the day come to him.

Friday had more splash plays for Lock. Saturday, he mostly took what was there. And after the flirtation with disaster on his first team-period attempt, he was consistent.

Daily 10-point scale score: 8-2, Lock

Collective 10-point scale score: 22-18, Lock