Thread: After Not Rushing Drew Lock, the Broncos’ Patience Is Paying Off

Originally Posted by Tned

You know that's not correct. He was a rookie that had never called a play from the huddle and he had a 70% tear of the thumb ligament in his throwing hand. If the Broncos kept him on the active roster at the cost of a player that could help the team, Elway should have been fired on the spot.

You are posting with your heart, not your head.

No. Putting him on IR was a mistake. It will always be a mistake, regardless of anything Drew accomplishes.

How much practice time did Drew miss because of it? How much game time did he miss?

He can never get those missed reps back.

I just want to point out that Elway drafted a QB with round one talent in the second round. It was gorgeous. I was so happy that day.

Originally Posted by King87

I know that it's correct. Lock needed to be on the roster. Because you could have a situation like what unfolded - the season essentially ends, your QB Flacco is either hurt/ineffective, and then you're trotting a nothing-burger at QB. We disagree, we can heavily disagree, but it's the same sentiment that Mo and Dogfish have espoused in the past.

Not too many NFL teams play to lose, and that's what you are espousing (I like the new word, I'm going to use it now that I googled it).

70% tear in the thumb ligament of the throwing hand of a QB that didn't know how to call plays from the huddle...

It's not playing to lose - when your backup QB is going to be Allen, you're not playing to win, either. and let's be honest, we knew rather quickly our season was over.

Originally Posted by King87

It's not playing to lose - when your backup QB is going to be Allen, you're not playing to win, either. and let's be honest, we knew rather quickly our season was over.

How quickly.

Originally Posted by Tned

How quickly.

Week three. We had a four to six week injury. He was ready to go around week eight. Which means the worst case scenario happened; bad QB, dead season, and wasted time for Lock.

We ****** up.

Originally Posted by King87

Week three. We had a four to six week injury. He was ready to go around week eight. Which means the worst case scenario happened; bad QB, dead season, and wasted time for Lock.

We ****** up.

Doesn't look that way.

Originally Posted by King87

Week three. We had a four to six week injury. He was ready to go around week eight. Which means the worst case scenario happened; bad QB, dead season, and wasted time for Lock.

We ****** up.

He got hurt with two weeks left to go in preseason, where he only had a marginal first three games.

Did I mention 70% tear of the thumb ligament in his throwing hand.

Back to the actual history:

The Broncos expect it to take at least six to eight weeks for Lock to be ready to throw, and it could be longer given the injury is to his throwing hand. The Broncos could designate Lock for a return from injured reserve six weeks into the regular season and would then be allowed to have him practice for two weeks before deciding to either add him to the active roster or place him on injured reserve for the second half of the season.


Players on injured reserve cannot participate in practice, so from a developmental perspective, a full season on injured reserve for Lock would also mean a full season away from the practice field.


"We'll have to wait and see how it goes,'' Elway said. "The most important thing is getting the best 53. With where Drew is, obviously we would like to have him on the practice field, (but) he's got that thumb, it's going to be six or eight weeks, it's going to be longer with a quarterback with a thumb. We needed that (roster) spot.''


Lock's transition from Missouri's spread offense to the Broncos' offense has been a bumpy one at times, as he has battled footwork issues, as well as bouts of inaccuracy in practice. In the preseason, he was 31-of-51 passing (60.8%) for 254 yards to go with one touchdown and one interception.

https://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/...r-thumb-injury

Originally Posted by Tned

He got hurt with two weeks left to go in preseason, where he only had a marginal first three games.

Did I mention 70% tear of the thumb ligament in his throwing hand.

Two weeks into the preseason, with a four to six week injury.

It's pretty academic, and yes we could spare a roster spot for the QBotF, especially considering the Flacco thing was a far cry from a sure thing.

Do you know who else hasn't appeared in any of the Broncos' first eight games? Cornerback Bryce Callahan, and yet, the team still hasn't placed him on IR. Lock's injured thumb has been fully healed for a while now.

“It’s good. It’s healed up," Lock said on Wednesday. "It’s ready. Ready whenever.”

As an IR player, by league rule Lock could have returned to the practice field in Week 7, with an eye towards being activated this week for the Broncos' home tilt vs. the Cleveland Browns, but the team brass has pumped the brakes and delayed even that from happening. So, with Flacco out for 4-6 weeks with a neck injury, Denver will start Brandon Allen this week, a QB with zero NFL snaps under his belt who literally joined the Broncos a week before the season-opener.

It'd be hard for any highly-drafted young quarterback to not feel at least a little frustration and envy. For all intents and purposes, especially with Flacco going down, the next man up should be Lock.


https://www.si.com/nfl/broncos/news/...is-frustrated/

We didn't hedge our bets. We didn't stop and go "hey, if Flacco doesn't work out, we have to get this kid out there." He could have been back by week seven. He could have been practicing before then. We slowed things down for no real good reason. At least in my opinion.

https://www.denverpost.com/2019/11/2...k-vs-chargers/

Lock could have begun practicing in Week 6 and playing in Week 8, but the Broncos delayed starting the clock on his return. Lock’s first practice was Nov. 12 and he has taken part in seven workouts. Fangio estimated last week that Lock was taking 8 to 10 snaps with the Broncos’ offense as well as getting reps on the scout team.

So, we had another guy who could have been on IR, Callahan the CB. We knew, or should have known, that Flacco was at best a gamble. We knew that he could have been back sooner, even if he was on IR.

This was Elway in October -

https://www.si.com/nfl/broncos/news/...-play-in-2019/


There are so many different routes we could have taken. We pretty much went about it the wrong way. It's fine, things worked out. But a reasonable person can come to differing conclusions, and I'm fairly certain my position is decent.

Originally Posted by King87

There are so many different routes we could have taken. We pretty much went about it the wrong way. It's fine, things worked out. But a reasonable person can come to differing conclusions, and I'm fairly certain my position is decent.

Emotion-based opinions are decent, so I'll let you have it.

Here's looking forward to beating the Chiefs in Arrowhead.

Originally Posted by Tned

Emotion-based opinions are decent, so I'll let you have it.

Here's looking forward to beating the Chiefs in Arrowhead.

You disagree with my opinion, so you write it off as emotion based. It's not. It was poor planning and a lack of insight by the front office/coaches. Callahan, as noted above, was still on IR during week six. He hadn't played a snap.

Even if the four to six week injury really took eight weeks, he still would have been available before the season was even halfway over.

If you don't have him on IR, he could come back even sooner.

Those things, taken in light with the fact that Flacco was far from a sure thing, ergo the 'we're still going to contend' this year was far from a sure thing, made it that much more imperative to keep Lock as available as humanly possible.

That's not emotion - that's cold hard logic. And it's not hindsight, either, as people on this very board (not just me) were pointing that out.

Originally Posted by King87

You disagree with my opinion, so you write it off as emotion based. It's not. It was poor planning and a lack of insight by the front office/coaches. Callahan, as noted above, was still on IR during week six. He hadn't played a snap.

Even if the four to six week injury really took eight weeks, he still would have been available before the season was even halfway over.

If you don't have him on IR, he could come back even sooner.

Those things, taken in light with the fact that Flacco was far from a sure thing, ergo the 'we're still going to contend' this year was far from a sure thing, made it that much more imperative to keep Lock as available as humanly possible.

That's not emotion - that's cold hard logic. And it's not hindsight, either, as people on this very board (not just me) were pointing that out.

So, you think they should have IR'd the free agent DB slated to be a starter and kept the project QB on the active roster.

As I said, most NFL teams don't play to lose at the start of the season.

Anyway, this is going round in circles, so I'll just agree to disagree.

Originally Posted by Tned

So, you think they should have IR'd the free agent DB slated to be a starter and kept the project QB on the active roster.

As I said, most NFL teams don't play to lose at the start of the season.

Anyway, this is going round in circles, so I'll just agree to disagree.

The FA DB that hasn't been healthy since we've had him? At what point do you just go "damn, he's not playing?" That vs. the QBotF on a team whose hope was a castoff QB who has struggled with health issues, dating back to back and hip issues the past several years?

We had what, eight linebackers? It's not as if space couldn't have been found.