ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — For the third-straight week, the Denver Broncos are sidelining Drew Lock.
Despite Joe Flacco already being ruled out for Sunday’s game against the Cleveland Browns, and Denver needing at least one more quarterback activated to the 53-man roster to backup Brandon Allen, Lock will remain in sweatpants, not just for game day, but for practices during the week as well.
But the rookie second-round pick sent a strong message to the fans and upper management on Tuesday.
“I’m ready. Whenever they’re ready, I’ll be ready,” the self-proclaimed confident quarterback stated without hesitation.
The thumb injury Lock sustained in the preseason that landed him on the injured reserve was medically cleared “about two weeks” ago, and in terms of his physical health, he’s all healed up and “ready whenever.”
But it’s undrafted rookie Brett Rypien that will be called up from the practice squad to backup Allen instead of activating the healthy 6-foot-4 quarterback off the injured reserve.
“I think they have a plan,” Lock said, explaining the conversations he’s had with the coaches and the front office. “We’ve talked about it a little bit. Obviously, I trust them to put the plan in place whenever they feel is necessary, whenever they feel it’s best for me to come back and practice or come back and play. I’m just going to stick to my routine that I’ve been going through.”
If Lock was to return to practice in Week 11, which is what reports point to, it’ll mark nearly three months that the rookie has been on the sidelines without having taken a single snap in a game or even in practice.
“They want to get me some practice reps before they put me into a game without even practicing a little bit. So I think they have an awesome plan, and whenever they feel they want to put that plan in place, I’ll be ready,” Lock said, backing “the plan.”
“I’ve been in this league for—what has it been eight weeks, nine weeks, whatever—where they know a lot more about this league than I do, and they know a lot more about timing and this whole process to where I trust them, like I said. They’ll get a confident guy whenever they call my number up.”
After watching Rypien get the nod to be the team’s backup this week, despite also being a rookie and being just as healthy as his fellow quarterback, Lock maintained he isn’t frustrated. By that, that is.
“I think there’s frustration in the fact that it’s been this long, and I’ve been doing virtual reality reps,” Lock said, bouncing with excitement about the idea of getting back to the field. “It’s going to be much anticipated for me to be able to get back on the field… As a competitor, as a guy, you want to be out there on the field. But, like I said, I trust what’s going on here, and I’m ready whenever they’re ready.”
In seven and a half minutes under the spotlight, Lock delivered the crystal clear message that he’s ready four different times.
But before he makes his debut, the rookie will need to practice. Under the injured reserve rules, once brought back to the practice field, Lock can practice for up to 21 days before the team decides whether to keep him on the I.R. for the rest of the season or activate him to the 53-man practice squad.
Despite the team waiting until at least after the bye week to have Lock practice, the rookie said being able to practice will be “big for me.”
“The progress I made from game one to game two to game three, I think I can further that progress with a little bit of practice and then go into games and kind of get a feel for it,” Lock said. “If I didn’t have those preseason reps, I wouldn’t be able to learn the things I did and be able to go out and play a little better in the San Fran game—I obviously got injured. So being able to go back and practice, kind of get my feet back underneath me, start to recall some things actively, like you know physically doing it instead of just watching it on a screen, I think that’ll be big for me.”
As he was lost for words, Lock admitted the past two months have been trying. He’s been spending the time going through each practice on virtual reality twice, getting into the building at 6:00 AM, and not leaving until 6:30-7:00 PM.
“There was definitely a little anxiety, a little antsy-ness to come back, but just being able to talk with Coach ‘Scangs’ and T.C. [McCartney] and John [Elway] kind of being able to calm me down, put a plan together for this whole time, it kind of helped me eased my mind,” Lock said.
For now, that plan remains locked behind the doors at Dove Valley. But what’s not at all uncertain is Drew Lock is ready. And he wants the Broncos, and the world, to know it.
