Broncos will not face Drew Lock in season opener
The Week 1 game between the Denver Broncos and Seattle Seahawks had all the makings of a revenge game for two quarterbacks. But one of them will be on the bench.
The blockbuster offseason trade that brought Russell Wilson to the Broncos also sent Drew Lock to the Seahawks. While it has been known for months that Wilson will be the Broncos’ starting quarterback, Lock has been locked in a quarterback competition with veteran Geno Smith.
Lock officially lost that battle on Friday night when Seahawks coach Pete Carroll named Smith the starter for Week 1.
That news came on the heels of a miserable preseason performance by Lock against the Dallas Cowboys in which he threw three interceptions. Lock also dealt with a bout of COVID-19 during training camp which also hampered his chances.
That means that Smith will be the guy that the Broncos see on Monday Night Football on September 12, rather than their former teammate. Smith, a second-round pick of the New York Jets in 2013, has made 34 career starts, including three last season in relief of Wilson.
Lock spent the past three seasons with the Broncos and experienced varied results on the field. The pressure to turn around a franchise that has missed the playoffs six years in a row while also playing in a deep division full of solid quarterbacks led to general manager George Paton going in another direction.
Drew Lock played his way out of starting job in preseason finale
Lock may have been licking his chops at the idea of facing the Broncos in Week 1, perhaps looking to steal all of the Wilson-to-Denver thunder while getting the new direction of his career off to a good start.
That will not take place and will be one less intriguing storyline going into that game. However, Wilson will still be facing his former team and that will be the story and that is the reason why the game was put in a marquee primetime slot.
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Lock will have to wait for his next opportunity. In two preseason games, Lock went 24-of-39 passing for 273 yards with three touchdowns and three interceptions.