Broncos Quarterback Scoreboard: Red zone means stop for Teddy Bridgewater, while Drew Lock avoids the big mistake

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. — “WHERE’S AARON RODGERS?”

I don’t know if it was a disconsolate Broncos fan or a weisenheimer Vikings supporter who yelled those words from the bleachers overlooking the practice fields at the TCO Performance Center after Eric Kendricks intercepted Teddy Bridgewater in a seven-on-seven red-zone period Thursday.

But as Bridgewater struggled in the red zone and Drew Lock fell short in a move-the-ball period for a second consecutive day while having scattershot accuracy during team periods, it was a question that might have entered the minds of some onlookers.

It’s unfair, yes. But in a practice that saw the defense dominate Minnesota’s offense for a second consecutive day and plenty of well-executed runs from Denver’s offense, it seemed like a fear was coming true: the Broncos might be held back by the most important position.

Hopefully, something will change beginning with the preseason lid-lifter Saturday. After two weeks of practices, it seems likely that the next two — or perhaps three — preseason games will reveal a winner.

But at the moment, the Broncos appear to have more long-term questions than answers from their quarterbacks, both of whom continue to struggle from day-to-day with their consistency.

Drew Lock: No big mistakes, but no splash moments, either

Lock’s day was workmanlike, but up-and-down.

It took a while for Lock to find a groove. After he completed his only pass in the first team period, he misfired on all but one of his four attempts in the next, including a potential deep shot to K.J. Hamler that saw him overthrow the speedy second-year receiver.

In the seven-on-seven periods that followed, Lock settled down. He completed all of his passes during those segments, but he also had the whistle blow on him twice, ending those repetitions without a throw. During the red-zone segment of seven-on-seven, he had two short passes that saw Trinity Benson and Royce Freeman turn upfield after the catch, but in tackle-to-the-ground conditions like the ones that will present themselves in the game, perhaps neither would have resulted in scores. Nevertheless, his seven-on-seven red-zone accuracy was a high point.

During the 11-on-11 red-zone period, he had one potential touchdown to Eric Saubert, who had space and turned upfield for the last five yards between himself and the end zone, giving Lock a definitive red-zone touchdown that Bridgewater did not have during the same period.

Lock also closed the day by completing just one of his three passes in the move-the-ball period at the end of practice. The drive started at Denver’s 25-yard line, but petered out before it reached the Broncos 45-yard line. Most of the yardage — and the drive’s only first down — came on a Royce Freeman run that gained 13 yards.

Lock had more incompletions than completions during the team periods Thursday; he missed short, intermediate and deep.

But he avoided the big mistake, and at one point under pressure opted to uncork a deep throwaway, well beyond the reach of any defender or receiver. That’s a sensible play that you want to see from the third-year quarterback.

Teddy Bridgewater: Red-zone struggles continue

One of the primary issues why Carolina jettisoned Bridgewater following one season as its starter was his work in the red zone.

Last year, Bridgewater ranked 28th among 32 quarterbacks (minimum 30 attempts) in red-zone passer rating, with an 80.2 mark. Lock was tied for 20th with an 87.8 rating. Bridgewater’s red-zone interception rate was also 28th.

In two practices so far, red-zone work has been his undoing — on July 31, when he was nearly intercepted in the end zone and failed to complete a pass in his red-zone chances, and again Thursday.

His struggles began in the seven-on-seven red-zone period when he looked for Noah Fant in the end zone. But Bridgewater didn’t get much arc on the pass, allowing Eric Kendricks to intercept it. One play later, Kendricks got his hands on another pass, this one intended for Jerry Jeudy. Another red-zone seven-on-seven repetition ended with the whistle blowing on Bridgewater, leaving him with just one completion in four tries during that period

Later, in a team red-zone period, Bridgewater threw for Melvin Gordon in the right flat. The pass was low, causing Gordon to lunge forward for it. The ball bounced off of his hands and into the grasp of Kendricks for his second theft of the day. Another red-zone team-period play was scuttled by a bad center-snap exchange between Bridgewater and Lloyd Cushenberry.

The rest of Bridgewater’s day saw Bridgewater play at a level to which the Broncos have become accustomed this summer. He had the single best connection of the two quarterbacks, hitting K.J. Hamler for a 40-yard touchdown on a post-corner route down the right side. The pass fluttered in the breeze, which hit 20 miles per hour during the practice, but Hamler was able to get under it past two defenders for the score.

“It was just a deep post, and I ran fast and ran past the defense. But that was about it,” Hamler said.

If Bridgewater had avoided mistakes in the red zone, that pass would have probably carried the day for him. Alas, just as one cannot ignore the highs of any quarterback, one cannot overlook the lows in the final evaluation.

QB Play of the Day

It belonged to Brett Rypien, who hit Trinity Benson in stride down the right sideline for a deep touchdown pass during a team period.

Scoreboard

Fangio described situational work as “a big part” of what you examine when evaluating quarterbacks.

“When you’re looking at all quarterbacks — not just ours — [it] is third down, red zone, taking care of the ball, two-minute end-of-game situations,” Fangio said. “All that’s just part of everyday life in the NFL.”

And in the past two days, neither quarterback has been on-point across the board. Lock was steady in the red zone Thursday, but he also struggled in the move-the-ball two-minute period — as he did the day before, when his day ended with an interception into heavy traffic down the middle. Bridgewater fared poorly in the red zone Thursday, but he also flourished in the move-the-ball two-minute period on Wednesday.

But this score is about Thursday alone.

Kendricks easily could have scored a hat trick of interceptions off Bridgewater, and while the second interception was off of Gordon’s hands, the play that saw Kendricks get his hands on a pass right after his first interception was on Bridgewater, and would have turned a bad seven-on-seven red-zone period into an outright disaster. This was a far worse play than the deflected interception.

It was far from Lock’s best day, but he didn’t make the big mistake. What Bridgewater was on Wednesday, Lock was on Thursday.

Daily 10-point scale score: 6.5-3.5, Drew Lock

Collective 10-point scale score: 62.5-57.5, Bridgewater