Here's why the Broncos shouldn't hesitate to turn to Drew Lock if Teddy Bridgewater's injury leaves him unready by Thursday

Teddy Bridgewater hobbled on and off the stage in the media room at Empower Field at Mile High late Sunday afternoon.

He did the same at the press-conference podium outside of the main building at UCHealth Training Center on Tuesday, and displayed a similar gait when he walked to the Pat Bowlen Fieldhouse for that day’s walk-through practice.

There is no question that Bridgewater is willing to play after having his foot stepped on just as he threw a touchdown pass to Noah Fant late in the fourth quarter last Sunday.

As a result, Bridgewater’s foot “kind of went numb.” Treatment followed.

“My understanding is he’ll be ready to go,” offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur said.

And when coach Vic Fangio was asked whether he expected Bridgewater to start in Cleveland on Thursday, he replied, “I think so.”

“Teddy is a veteran, and he’s a good guy to talk to as to how he’s feeling,” Fangio added. “He’ll give you a straight and honest answer. We’ll see. [Wednesday] we’re going to practice and move around a little bit more. Maybe that will be a better indicator.”

Bridgewater said he was “aggressively” having his foot and ankle treated this week. However, he didn’t express complete certainty that he would play.

“Honestly, we’ll see how these days go,” he said. “I’m going to continue to attack this rehab, continue to just lock in on the game plan, and try to make sure I’m ready when Thursday comes.”

But if he’s not ready, the Broncos should not hesitate to turn to Drew Lock.

Yes, the fate of the season, of coaches, of the entire operation could well be on the line in Cleveland. The humbling 34-24 defeat to the Raiders — a loss that wasn’t as close as the score revealed — pushed the Broncos’ season to a precipice.

Another loss pushes the team into a corner, and if a defeat to Washington on Oct. 31 were to come next, the Broncos would likely not even reach general manager George Paton’s logical — but modest — stated initial goal of playing relevant, meaningful games in November and December.

But the Broncos also must put their actions where their words are if Bridgewater’s injury limits his mobility to the point where he is a stationary target.

“[I’m] very confident in Drew,” Shurmur said Tuesday. “He’s prepared himself every week to be ready to go in there and win.”

When the coaches selected Bridgewater over Lock on Aug. 25, Fangio said that the Broncos nevertheless had “two good quarterbacks — two quarterbacks that we can win with.”

Added Fangio that day: “I don’t have any doubt that Drew is going to be a quality starting quarterback in this league.”

If Shurmur and Fangio truly believe that, they must not hesitate to turn to Lock if Bridgewater’s injury puts him at risk of his injury lingering. Even if this is the fork-in-the-road moment for the season and their joint run guiding the Broncos.

They’ve said they still believe in Lock. If Bridgewater can’t move enough to escape a furious Cleveland pass rush, they need to show it and trust their young understudy.