Broncos Quarterback Scoreboard: Pads went on, runs went up -- and opportunities for separation went down

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. — The pads went on, and the emphasis on the ground game went up, leaving this as perhaps the most uneventful day of the Broncos’ training-camp quarterback derby.

Bridgewater: The ‘steady Teddy’ we expected

By the time the day was done, Bridgewater had completed all but one of his passes in team and seven-on-seven segments, going 12-of-13. Most were screen passes and checkdowns, although he did hit Kendall Hinton for a 22-yard connection down the seam in the seven-on-seven period.

He also had the longest pass play of the team periods, as well, firing a pass to Courtland Sutton on a crossing route against the No. 1 defense. The pass wasn’t in front of Sutton, but he was able to reach back and grab it without losing his stride after beating Ronald Darby by a step, setting up what could have been an explosive gain of at least 20 yards in game conditions.

The only pass of Bridgewater’s that hit the ground in team and seven-on-seven periods was his final pass, coming in a red-zone period with the line of scrimmage at the 5-yard line. Bridgewater looked for Levante Bellamy in the end zone with tight coverage from Curtis Robinson. The pass was on target and hit Bellamy in the hands, but the running back could not hang on to it.

In other words, this was ‘steady’ Teddy — someone that Pat Shurmur knows well from coaching him in two injury-altered years in Minnesota.

“I think he’s done a good job. I think he’s built on all the good work he did in the spring,” Shurmur said. “I think he’s getting better each day.”

What’s more, Shurmur said that Bridgewater has, pardon the pun, bridged the gap that existed being a new quarterback walking into the locker room.

“Obviously, Drew had an advantage to some degree as far as knowing how we focus and how we function, and Teddy has caught up,” Shurmur said.

Shurmur on Lock: ‘The best version of Drew that I’ve seen’

When Shurmur was asked about whether there was separation between the two quarterbacks, he started by saying that both were “getting better.”

Then he offered these words on Lock:

“This is the best version of Drew that I’ve seen,” he said.

Why?

“He’s just improved, and I think we’re making corrections with Drew that you would make with a quarterback in the second year of a system. There are little decision-making things or [getting] the ball here a little quicker.”

Cue the wags saying that this being the “best version” of Lock isn’t a high bar to clear, considering his form of last year. But Shurmur’s statement underscores a general point: Lock has improved, especially in his decision-making. Last Saturday, for instance, he didn’t try to force plays that weren’t there. His overall accuracy has improved.

The relevant question now is this: Is the “best version” of Lock enough to surpass Bridgewater, whose overall play in his starts over the last three seasons places him squarely in the middle tier of quarterbacks?

At the minimum, Lock’s improvement has made this quarterback derby tighter than a smedium shirt.

Lock focused on checkdowns and screens, but he also had a pair of incompletions under pressure. On one, Pat Surtain II came unblocked on a corner blitz from Lock’s right side, leading to and errant throw intended for Sutton. On the other, he dealt with pressure up the middle from Robinson.

Lock stepped up to avoid a potential collision and sack, giving him a chance to find Sutton deep down the left sideline, but the arc under the ball allowed cornerback Rojesterman Farris to get in the way, leading to a pass defensed by his back.

The day closed on a sour note for Lock, as he looked for Jerry Jeudy in the end zone from the 5-yard line, but Justin Simmons diagnosed the intent perfectly, getting his hands on the pass for a near-interception. It was by far the closest either quarterback came to a giveaway on Tuesday.

Scoreboard

Shurmur threw a bit of a wet blanket on the media and fan efforts to chronicle the quarterback competition.

“You’ve got to be a little bit careful when you’re doing the math on who played well and who didn’t,” Shurmur said. “We may have a period with five plays where it’s three runs, play action and a screen.

“We did a drill today where we were actually trying to throw incompletions to stop the clock. So you might say, ‘Holy smokes. That was a crappy throw.’ When no, that’s what we were designed to do, so sadly for you guys, you don’t have the scripts and you don’t know the intention of our drills, but some of that happens.”

That period of practice, we’ll throw out. Both quarterbacks spiked the football after completions to stop the clock, doing exactly what they needed to do in that scenario. In another period, the quarterbacks threw the ball down the sideline and out of bounds — something Lock tried to do against Miami last year on the last play of the game, but instead resulted in a 61-yard pass to Tim Patrick that was the Broncos’ second-longest pass play of the season.

So, we’ll take a look at the rest of the practice.

The emphasis on the ground game made opportunities scant, but Bridgewater’s seven-on-seven connection with Hinton and the fact that only one pass of his hit the ground — and that was a drop — gives him a slight edge over Lock, who was lucky to avoid a walk-off interception by Simmons.

Daily 10-point scale score: 5.5-4.5, Teddy Bridgewater

Collective 10-point scale score: 30.5-29.5, Bridgewater