Broncos Quarterback Scoreboard: Vikings crank up the pressure on Drew Lock and Teddy Bridgewater

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.

EAGAN, Minn. — Sure, we’re making a big deal of the quarterback competition. So are most daily observers of Broncos practices.

But Von Miller isn’t.

“I really don’t even think about it. I really don’t,” he said after Wednesday’s practice at the TCO Performance Center, the first of two joint practices between the Broncos and the Minnesota Vikings.

“Whatever quarterback we put out there,” he added a moment later, “I can go out there and play quarterback to be honest. I can go out there and play quarterback and make it happen. Those two guys are way better than me. Whatever quarterback they feel like going with, that’ll be the starter, and we have a great one on the bench.”

Miller has confidence. Probably more than Broncos Country does.

Steady Teddy and his final flourish

Prior to the final move-the-ball period, Bridgewater had the edge on Lock, but the separation was minimal.

He threw a pair of touchdown passes in a seven-on-seven red-zone period to K.J. Hamler and undrafted rookie DeVontres Dukes, but that was against the Minnesota reserves. He’d completed all but two of his first 13 team-period passes and generally did well at finding gaps in Minnesota’s coverage, giving targets like Hamler, Jerry Jeudy and Noah Fant the opportunity to make plays.

The attribute that had distinguished Bridgewater to that point was his poise and decision-making under a consistent, fierce pass rush from both the Vikings’ first- and second-team front-seven units.

But you always want to close on a high note. And by punctuating a three-play, 75-yard drive with a 51-yard pass to Jeudy down the right seam, Bridgewater did precisely that, firing a strike for Jeudy as he ran a post route just inside of Vikings cornerback Bashaud Breeland.

Pressure up the A-gap from Minnesota linebacker Nick Vigil might have led to a different result in game conditions; Vigil held his hands up just as he burst into the backfield as Bridgewater uncorked the pass. But the touchdown was allowed to stand, and was a credit to Jeudy’s route and Bridgewater’s ability to manipulate the safety to his advantage.

“[Jeudy] just did a good job of understanding the coverage,” Bridgewater said after practice. “We ran a play where I just had to read the safety and what the safety did. I was able to hold the safety a little bit with my eyes, and Jerry did the rest.

“I threw it in a tight window and Jerry made the catch. He went down and five seconds later he goes into the end zone like it’s a fire drill and he’s on fire. Like I said, he’s having fun. That’s just a glimpse and some of the flash that you see in the offense.”

The Bridgewater-Jeudy combination has worked well since the first week of OTAs, when the two of them wasted little time getting on the same page.

In the end, Bridgewater was “Steady Teddy.” All but five of his 28 passes in team- and seven-on-seven periods were completed, and three were for touchdowns.

Lock: A mixed bag

Lock’s first throw against more than one defender was his best: an opening strike to Courtland Sutton in the initial seven-on-seven period. His last throw was his worst: an attempt to Trinity Benson down the middle that saw Mackensie Alexander tip it, leading to a volleyball sequence that saw Xavier Woods end up with the interception.

In between. Lock completed all but one of his seven-on-seven passes, saw Sutton drop a short crossing route in a two-minute period, but also another pass for Tim Patrick bounce off the hands of Vikings linebacker Eric Kendricks. Unfortunately for Lock, his high-risk plays Wednesday were not high-reward ones.

“There’s a lot of things that I could’ve done better today — some good things that I did today, some good things that we all did today, some bad things we all did,” he said. “I think that’s the benefit of coming to these things.”

Lock got one interception wiped off the board by a penalty; that was a seven-on-seven attempt that Cam Bynum picked off, only to have a Breeland holding infraction negate it. Lock also had a touchdown get taken off the board by offensive holding; he hit Noah Fant on a play that likely would have been a sack in game conditions.

One thing that will be fascinating to watch is how much Lock runs in game action, especially if the Vikings crank up pressure in the way they did Wednesday, which led to most of his team-period incompletions. But pressure also led to some good decisions, a tangible sign of growth for the third-year quarterback.

During one team period, he faced third-and-4, from which the pocket quickly collapsed. Lock stepped up to his right and out of the rush, scrambling with plenty of room in front of him — enough to make the line to gain and tack on a few extra yards to spare.

Bridgewater has proven adept at this type of run in his career. If Lock can add this tool to his drawer, it gives the defense more to consider in its short and intermediate coverage. It isn’t sexy, but like a checkdown, it keeps the line moving.

QB Play of the Day

Bridgewater’s move-the-ball period pass to Jeudy was the longest strike of the day, but Lock’s seven-on-seven pass to Sutton near the right sideline to open the first seven-on-seven period of practice was the finest pass of the day.

With a 30-yard strike, Lock beat two defenders with a perfect mix of velocity and placement to where only Sutton had a chance to make the play. This was a reminder that Lock has high-level throws in him; as ever, it remains a question of consistency and decision-making and whether he can find both of those attributes quickly enough to seize the starting job.

Scoreboard

This was the type of day that seemed most likely to occur when looking at the quarterbacks’ long-term trend lines heading into training camp. Lock had the best throw of the day — but also two of the worst. Bridgewater had minimal variance, and when he misfired, he usually gave his receivers a chance to still make the play.

Bridgewater’s long touchdown to Jeudy wasn’t the best-placed pass, but it was enough to give Jeudy an opportunity to make the play.

It also is difficult to ignore that Bridgewater completed all but two of his team-period passes, including the 51-yard touchdown. Taking what is there may not have much sizzle, but if Bridgewater can give his receivers chances to make plays downfield when the opportunities for splash plays arise, the checkdowns will suit the Broncos just fine.

Daily 10-point scale score: 6.5-3.5, Teddy Bridgewater

Collective 10-point scale score: 59-51, Bridgewater