With a 'big smile' on his face, Drew Lock prepares for his second chance

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — Almost all of Drew Lock’s football life has been spent as a starting quarterback. His stint as an understudy at Missouri lasted just four games into his freshman year before he seized the reins. And even in his first Broncos season, he wasn’t actually a backup prior to making his Dec. 1, 2019 debut; he was on injured reserve. When he made it to the active roster, he instantly became the first-teamer.

All that changed this season, of course. After two preseason games and a training camp of rep-splitting, Teddy Bridgewater got the starting nod. Lock has been the No. 2 — and even now, remains the No. 2, with Broncos coach Vic Fangio reiterating Wednesday that “if Teddy is healthy, he’ll be the quarterback.”

Bridgewater’s second concussion in 12 weeks will push Lock into fill-in duty.

And it feels different after he spent the last three months of games watching from the sideline.

It’s not that Lock ever took starting for granted. But there’s a different appreciation of the chance now.

“I woke up with a big smile on my face this morning being able to come out here and be the guy this week for this team,” he said Wednesday.

“There’s a lot that I’ve learned being in that backup role and what exactly it takes to be able to come out and win a football game. I learned a lot of that from Teddy.”

Bridgewater, as it turned out, provided Lock some of the post-graduate education that he needed after a first season spent under an unwilling mentor in Joe Flacco and a second year in which the team opted for Jeff Driskel as the backup, rather than seeking out a more experienced quasi-coach type to work alongside Lock.

Bridgewater has long had a habit of often lingering on the field after practices, getting extra work with the wide receivers. Lock now does the same.

“He does a good job of realizing, ‘Hey, maybe these are a couple of routes we didn’t get during practice this week, [so] let’s hit them after practice,’” Lock said.

That extra work translates to the meeting rooms, as well, where Lock has learned by watching what the eight-year veteran does.

“A lot of the stuff in the meeting room and where he puts his time and what-not. There’s just a lot of stuff that I was able to pick up that in the two years before when I was playing, I wouldn’t necessarily say that I did because I’d never seen anyone do it,” Lock said. “It was nice to be able to be around him, watch him, and just process stuff.”

While Bridgewater goes through the league-mandated concussion protocol, he’s still looking out for Lock, who noted that the veteran gave provided some advice. Lock demurred when asked about it, opting to keep those tips to himself.

Whatever those are, if they help Lock be a different quarterback than he was when he last started, no one will doubt the wisdom of the veteran’s words.

Lock’s appearances in relief this season have been scattershot. His proclivity for turnovers has persisted, with one giveaway in each of the three games in which he has played. That means Lock now has accounted for turnovers in 19 of 21 starts.

Among the 51 quarterbacks with at least 300 total plays — pass attempts, rushing attempts and times sacked — since 2019, Lock’s turnover rate of one every 29.2 plays is 45th. Only Dwayne Haskins, Kyle Allen, Justin Fields, Jameis Winston, Nick Mullens and Mike Glennon have higher giveaway rates.

Risk is part of the game when a quarterback pushes it downfield, but Lock knows that if this doesn’t improve, Sunday’s game in Las Vegas won’t be the start of a revival. He must show progress — particularly in protection of the football.

What he has learned from his time as a backup and from his experience with Bridgewater is profound. But to alter the arc of his career, he has to take the words and lessons and successfully put them into practice.

“I think I’ve learned a lot since [last season],” Lock said. “I think I’m a different quarterback since then. I’ve progressed in who I am as a player and what I can do out on the field.

“That’s in the past, and I’m really excited about being able to go there and play again.”

Excitement and smiles are understandable. Although the circumstances were not what anyone wanted, a second chance to start is a Christmas gift.

But now he must ensure that he doesn’t give it away in Las Vegas — both literally and metaphorically. If he does, the smiles he shared Wednesday won’t last long, and the ghosts of Christmas past that Lock wants to leave behind will persist into Christmas Present.