Two of the NFL's quarterback position battles were settled on Wednesday. Shortly after Urban Meyer confirmed that Trevor Lawrence would be the Jaguars' Week 1 starter, Broncos coach Vic Fangio named Teddy Bridgewater Denver's starting quarterback. Bridgewater beat out Drew Lock in what was a spirited position battle. Bridgwater will make his Broncos debut when Denver faces the Giants on the road in Week 1.
Following Tuesday's practice, Fangio still hadn't made a decision on his starting quarterback. He said the position battle was "still pretty [expletive] close" through two preseason games. The decision comes four days after Bridgewater went 9 of 11 for 105 yards with a touchdown in Denver's 30-3 win over the Seahawks. Lock, a 2019 second-round pick who started in 18 games over the past two seasons, went 9 of 14 for 80 yards. He started in Denver's first preseason game, going 5 of 7 for 151 yards and two touchdowns in the Broncos' 33-6 win in Minnesota. Bridgewater, who started the Broncos' preseason game against Seattle, went 7 of 8 for 74 yards with a touchdown against the Vikings.
"I think it's close for a good reason," Fangio said on Tuesday, via ESPN's Jeff Legwold. "They both have played well. The good news of this competition is we've got two quarterbacks that we feel we can go win with."
The 32nd overall pick in the 2014 draft, Bridgewater has a 26-23 regular season record as an NFL starting quarterback. He was selected to his first Pro Bowl in 2015 after helping the Vikings go 11-5 before losing a tightly contested game against the Seahawks in the wild card round.
After a torn ACL injury kept him sidelined for two years, Bridgewater resurfaced in New Orleans where he spent two seasons as Drew Brees' backup. Bridgewater went 5-0 in relief of an injured Brees in 2019, which led to him signing with the Panthers in 2020. During his only season in Carolina, Bridgewater completed 69.1% of his passes for 3,733 yards with 15 touchdowns and 11 interceptions. He also rushed for a career-high five touchdowns. In April, Bridgewater was traded from Carolina to Denver in exchange for a sixth-round pick.
"Acquiring Teddy Bridgewater adds competition, experience and a strong veteran presence to our quarterback room," Broncos general manager George Paton said at the time of the transaction. "He's a talented player and leader who's had success in this league in a number of different situations."
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