ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — Vic Fangio didn’t shy away from calling out his starting quarterback.
The morning after Teddy Bridgewater failed to make an attempt to tackle Darius Slay on his 83-yard touchdown after Melvin Gordon’s fumble, Fangio called out Denver’s starting quarterback in front of the entire team.
“Rewatched it today as a team. Coach pointed it out. He said, ‘My effort had to be better there,'” Bridgewater explained on Monday afternoon. “And I totally agree. That’s not the type of tape that I want to put out there.”
The Broncos’ head coach not only expressed his disappointment in Bridgewater in front of the entire team, but he then went public with it Monday afternoon.
“Well I would like to see us all purse it a little better offensively and find a way to get that guy down. You know, at the top, where Teddy got involved, I think he thought he was forcing it back into somebody else that had an angle on him,” the head coach told the media, before focusing on Bridgewater specifically. “But I would like to see Teddy at least throw and make a play at the guy.”
As Slay gained steam heading toward the end zone, Bridgewater had an opportunity to at least get in his way. Instead, Denver’s quarterback pulled back and let Slay take off for six.
That was the turning point in the game, which Denver went on to lose 30-13 and fall to 5-5 on the season.
In the minutes and hours after, Bridgewater was the talk of the town, and even nation, with former players and coaches weighing in on the tackle attempt that wasn’t.
Former head coach and current ESPN analyst Rex Ryan stated he would bench Bridgwater for his lack of effort on the play.
“I respect Rex and his opinion, but I don’t agree with him at this point,” Fangio said, when asked what he thought of the bold take.
In fact, Bridgewater, despite the poor effort, will not be going anywhere as the Broncos’ starting quarterback. Entering the team’s Bye Week, Fangio was asked if there will be any consideration to mix Drew Lock.
“No,” Fangio quickly stated, shooting that notion down immediately. “Teddy’s our quarterback moving forward.”
