Denver Broncos: Bridgewater sees himself as mentor to Lock, Rypien

Denver Broncos quarterback Teddy Bridgewater wants to help expected starter Drew Lock as best he can. He also would like to help expected third-string quarterback Brett Rypien.

The point? Bridgewater hopes to use his experiences to be the best teacher and teammate he can be for the younger guys in the quarterback room.

Bridgewater can help both quarterbacks in a number of ways. For one, Bridgewater has experienced plenty of highs and lows during his career, which began in 2014, when he was drafted by the Minnesota Vikings. Bridgewater was benched by the Carolina Panthers in the third quarter of the team’s season finale against the New Orleans Saints after throwing two interceptions. He knows the feeling of getting pulled.

While Lock has not been benched while a starter for the team, he certainly could be at some point. Bridgewater could help him get through that situation, despite the fact that if Lock was benched, Bridgewater would become the starter.

Another way Bridgewater could potentially help Lock is to learn off of Bridgewater’s past experiences while recovering from injury. Bridgewater suffered a non-contact leg injury during practice in 2016 that forced him to miss several years.

While Lock has not had that type of injury, the third-year quarterback still has had several injuries of his own. Bridgewater can be a mentor from the mental aspect.

After being traded to the Broncos, Bridgewater appeared on a radio show and acknowledged that he’s up for helping Lock.

“Yeah it’s a competition, but at the same time, Drew’s a young guy, who’s got a lot of football in him,” Bridgewater said to Patrick Peterson and Bryant McFadden after getting traded to Denver.  “I’m just in there motivating him, teaching him — while we’re competing — it’s all going to help the [QB] room. So I’m excited to get this opportunity that I get to go make an impact somewhere else, this time in Denver.”

On Wednesday, when discussing his role on the team, Bridgewater echoed what he said to Peterson and McFadden.

Like he said, Bridgewater has had the chance to be around at least one great quarterback in Drew Brees. It is up to Lock and Rypien to ask the veteran questions. Lock should not be shy in trying to get all of the knowledge he can. Even though there is competition between him and Bridgewater for the Denver Broncos starting job, any knowledge he can get would benefit him in the long term.

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