Getty Drew Lock could make his Denver Broncos debut in Week 9.
The Drew Lock era may soon be upon us.
After the Denver Broncos announced that Joe Flacco will be out for Week 9’s tilt against the Cleveland Browns due to a neck injury, the door is now open for the rookie quarterback to make his debut.
Although the Broncos have determined that quarterback Brandon Allen will start this Sunday’s game, Lock could be activated for the first time and serve as the backup quarterback to Allen.
Vic Fangio said Drew Lock is fine heath-wise (sprained thumb). The team will decide this week if they promote Brett Rypien from the practice squad to active roster, or if they’ll active Lock off IR to be the backup to Brandon Allen.
Drew Lock Could Debut in Week 9 Versus Browns
If Lock is activated that doesn’t automatically mean he’ll appear in Sunday’s game. However, it does mean that he’ll at least be in uniform with the change to play if Allen falters or suffers an injury.
Furthermore, Flacco could be out for the remainder of the season with Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reporting that the veteran quarterback’s injury will at least sideline him for multiple weeks.
Here is a transcript of Rapoport’s report of the former Super Bowl MVP’s injury.
“It is expected to be a long-term thing. The Broncos are still evaluating Joe Flacco’s neck injury, but on the table is injured reserve. That means that Joe Flacco, who the Broncos traded for in the offseason, who has started every game for them, could be out a significant amount of time. Potentially even for the season.
Either way right now preliminarily, they believe it’s going to be a multi-week injury for Joe Flacco. Should miss significant time, which means for the Denver Broncos, they seem to be entering a little bit of a rebuilding mode.
Maybe something where they starting playing the young guys, Brandon Allen starts, Drew Lock is still on IR, could start practicing soon. That would be another person that the Broncos would at least like to take a look at before the season ends.”
The severity of Flacco’s injury means that Lock could be in line to receive his first start in Week 11 against the Minnesota Vikings — after the Broncos complete their bye week in Week 10. Activating him as a backup for this week’s game against the Browns would be the first step in grooming Lock to take over as the starting quarterback for the remainder of the season.
Remember, before Lock’s thumb injury in the third game of the preseason against the San Francisco 49ers, he actually looked impressive. The 22-year-old had completed 31-of-51 passes (60.8 percent) for 254 yards and ran the ball six times for an extra 28 yards.
Unlike Flacco, Lock possesses the ability to run the football and can prolong plays when the offensive line breaks down. This is important, because the Broncos’ offensive line is undoubtedly weak. Denver ranks in the bottom six in sacks allowed by allowing 3.4 sacks per game.
Did Joe Flacco’s Criticism Get Him Benched?
Did Flacco’s criticism play a role in the Broncos benching him?
While this is pure speculation, it seems a bit odd that the Broncos would bench Flacco not longer after he criticized the coaches for their conservative play-calling in the team’s 15-13 loss to the Indianapolis Colts.
Either way, it looks like Flacco’s tenure with Denver is officially over, while Lock’s is just about to begin.