Vic Fangio’s treatment of Drew Lock has been downright disrespectful

In a comparison between two things, it’s human nature to favor one over the other. People identify personal preferences every single day for things like food, clothes, music and, in Vic Fangio’s case, quarterbacks.

Fangio’s blatantly preferential tone toward Teddy Bridgewater has been borderline unprofessional and arguably disrespectful to Drew Lock. It makes his comments about a “50-50” competition laughable.

Look no further than his halftime interview during the game against the Minnesota Vikings. After weeks of back-and-forth practices and minimal recognition from his head coach, Lock had just put together an unbelievable showing. In less than a half of football, Lock amassed 151 yards and two touchdowns, earning a near-perfect passer rating before being pulled from the game.

Fangio was asked by Rod Mackey of 9News to comment on Lock’s impressive outing. The exchange was cringeworthy:

“Coach, this quarterback battle, I know you’ve called it ‘even Steven,’” Mackey said. “Drew Lock came out and seriously impressed in those series with a couple of touchdown passes.”

“He did and Teddy came out and played good too,” Fangio replied. “So I guess my ‘even Steven’ was right on.”

It’s worth noting that, at the time Fangio made that remark, Bridgewater was 4-of-5 for 44 yards, with no touchdowns. You don’t have to be an “evil genius” to realize that there is no universe where those two stat lines are even remotely comparable. To even suggest so is blasphemous.

After a brief chuckle, Mackey asked a follow up question about Lock’s performance, which was met yet again with lukewarm recognition:

“You’ve got to be impressed that, with so much pressure on Drew, he knows he’s in a quarterback battle for the first time in his career,” Mackey said. “And he came out (and) could’ve had three touchdown passes too.”

“Yeah he played well. I thought, when he was out there, he threw it well,” Fangio said. “I thought, you know, most importantly, our whole offense played well. We had a running game, which helped the play pass game so, when all 11 are playing good that certainly helps the quarterback.”

As rough as it came across over the air, it looks even worse in print form.

First off, the young, incumbent starter puts together a commando performance and when asked directly about it, the head coach cannot utter more than three words before directing the attention toward the other quarterback? Talk about a gut punch.

Then, the immediate follow up question is met with half-hearted pleasantries and the assertion that the rest of the team was largely responsible for the success? That’s just plain rude.

Fangio could’ve easily looked into the camera and said: “Drew Lock has shown a lot of improvement this offseason, and I’m pleased with what I saw from him in that first half.”

What would’ve been wrong with that? Nothing. Being honest about what had happened or even paying a semi-genuine compliment wouldn’t have been a display of favoritism, nor would it have prevented him from saying something nice about Teddy Bridgewater later. It would’ve been an appropriate response to a recognition-worthy achievement.

The praise for Bridgewater continued the following weekend. That’s when Fangio, with a straight face, likened the veteran’s pocket presence to that of Tom Brady.

Really? Teddy Bridgewater, a 28-year-old journeyman quarterback, has a pocket presence that is reminiscent of the most-accomplished quarterback in history? Got it.

It’s funny, I don’t remember Fangio ever making a lofty analogy like that about Lock. And if we’re allowing Bridgewater’s pocket presence to be likened to Brady, I see no reason why Lock’s arm couldn’t be described as “Rodgers-esque.”

Regardless of what comes out of this year’s quarterback competition, Lock was Fangio’s quarterback. And while Lock clearly hasn’t performed up to the level of expectation placed upon him, it’s not like he’s been dealt the best hand, either.

He hasn’t had a legitimate mentor at the NFL level, he’s dealt with constant coordinator turnover and on draft night, he was tied to a ship that had been sinking fast for multiple consecutive years.

The NFL is a ruthless, results-based business. Thus far, Lock has not answered the bell. That being said, Fangio’s clear, and very public, preference toward Bridgewater throughout the entirety of an “even Steven” quarterback battle is bad practice and completely unnecessary.

At the end of the day, people who are winless in September shouldn’t throw stones.