The Denver Broncos introduced added competition for Drew Lock this offseason by trading for former Carolina Panthers play-caller Teddy Bridgewater.
Tuesday 25 May 2021 15:39, UK
Teddy Bridgewater did not hesitate when asked about the last time he was in a quarterback competition. It was yesterday. And the day before. And on and on.
"Every day I wake up, I consider myself competing for my job," Bridgewater said on Monday. "I think that's the mindset of everyone who plays this game."
This time, the competition is obvious to everyone outside the team, as well. Bridgewater took part in organised team activities with his new club, the Denver Broncos, as he battles for the starting job along with incumbent Drew Lock.
Bridgewater completed 69.1 percent of his passes for 3,733 yards, 15 touchdowns and 11 interceptions in 15 starts last season with the Carolina Panthers. Denver acquired the 28-year-old on April 28 in exchange for a sixth-round draft pick.
The veteran deflected questions about whether one season was enough time to prove himself in Carolina, instead insisting he was focused on the Broncos. He said he is focused on improvement, not whether the Broncos consider him the top quarterback today or in Week 1.
"I saw Von (Miller) this morning when he came in the building," Bridgewater said. "The first thing he said today was 'you're here to play football now.'
"That's my mindset now. I'm here to play football and whatever happens, happens. I'm here to help this team become a better team."
Lock started 13 games for the Broncos last season. He completed 57.3 percent of his passes for 2,933 yards, 16 touchdowns and 15 interceptions. The Missouri product welcomed the addition of Bridgewater to practice.
"It's going to be fun," said the 24-year-old. "I'm excited to be able to go out there and have this competition, push myself to a whole different level that maybe I wouldn't have gotten to without this.
So far, the two quarterbacks have connected off the field as they compete for a starting job on it.
"Teddy's been great," Lock said. "Today was obviously the first time meeting him in person, being that we've all had to be on Zoom again up until this point.
"I feel like we're going to be able to talk easily out there. It comes from seeing Drew (Brees) play. He's seen a lot of great quarterbacks and he's played a lot of ball. He has a lot of experience.
"I feel like we can both bounce things off of each other now where I don't feel necessarily that I'm the young one."
Questions surrounding Lock's future have been unrelenting this offseason, not only following the arrival of Bridgewater but also amid uncertainty over the future of Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers.
His mindset remains unchanged, with Lock adding: "It was not because I decided that I was going to develop a plan this offseason.
"It was going to be really long days, but it was going to be worth every single second of it because regardless of what happened, if I stayed here, I left or they brought someone in, my mindset was not going to change wherever I went.
"If I went somewhere or if I stayed here, I was going to be the guy. I put every single ounce in that this offseason. Being able to do that gave me zero time to listen to all of this stuff.
"Maybe I'll go back one day, read and laugh about things that were being said by people who ended up being completely wrong."
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