Clayton: Pat Shurmur seems to be leaning toward Teddy Bridgewater
Jun 17, 2021, 2:18 PM
George Paton needed to bring in a quarterback to compete against Drew Lock and try to make him better.
As the Broncos offseason program concludes, it appears that the Teddy Bridgewater deal is making Lock better. Offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur spoke after Wednesday’s practice and he good things to say about both quarterbacks.
“Drew obviously has made great progress from a year ago,” Shurmur said. “Last year, he kind of went into the season raw without having an offseason program. He worked his way though it and he did a lot of good things last year. I think he kind of built on the good things last year.”
But there were more bad things than good. Lock completed only 57.3 percent of his passes. He tied for the league lead with 15 interceptions. Pro Football Focus rated him the worst of the starting quarterbacks in the league.
You still get the feeling Bridgewater has the edge in their competition. Shurmur coached Bridgewater in Minnesota. He had good things to say about him Wednesday.
“He’s more experienced,” Shurmur said. “He’s been in a couple different situations since the time we were together, one where he’s the backup and one where he was the starter. I see it when he’s out there executing. He’s able to pick up things quickly.”
Shurmur raves about Bridgewater’s decision making. He makes quick decision. If a deep pass is called and it is covered, he’ll go to a check-down play.
“He’s a more experienced player than when I was with him,” Shurmur said. “Unfortunately when I was with him, he got hurt early on in our time in Minnesota.”
The competition will continue into training camp.