Lock working to become more elusive
Following an autograph session at the Super Bowl Experience in Miami earlier this year, Broncos quarterback Drew Lock was asked about his offseason to-do list.
His answer was semi-surprising.
“I think one of the biggest things, besides throwing and getting into the playbook once I’m allowed to, is focusing on my speed,” he said. “I feel one of the biggest things in my game is being able to get out of the pocket and run around and I want to utilize that (in 2020).”
Lock showed more-than-serviceable athleticism in his fivegame debut last year, able to slide around the pocket and get to the perimeter to make throws, as well as rushing 18 times for 72 yards.
So did the training work? “Without a doubt,” Lock said during a recent media conference call. “I went back and watched a lot of my clips, whether it was me in the actual game or when I first started training and it was just me running, and I found little things here and there to help me be more explosive out of the gate.”
Lock’s biggest takeaway while watching his game tape was the need to run more “upright.”
“You’ll see me hunch a little bit when I ran last year,” he said. “I could have gotten a little more speed (staying upright) and just being a little more fluid with how I was moving. I think we did a great job of (correcting that). Hopefully I can display that going into this year.”
Lock was sacked only five times in five games, compared with 26 sacks of Joe Flacco in eight games and nine of Brandon Allen in three games.
Per The Denver Post’s game charting, opponents averaged 8.2 disruptions per game, compared to 9.3 for Flacco and 7.3 for Allen. That number should expect to be skewed for Lock since his athleticism allows him to hold onto the football longer (he had completions while throwing in 5.13, 4.72 and 6.37 seconds), which equals more pressures.
If Lock shows solid mobility, new offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur could put him on the move more often to make halffield reads, but also to get away from elite edge rushers.
Schedule thoughts
Six final thoughts on the regular-season schedule:
1. The Broncos will make five trips to the Eastern time zone (Pittsburgh, the New York Jets, New England, Atlanta and Carolina), their highest total since five in 2012.
2. Per Betonline, home teams are favored 166 times (64.8%), the road team 74 times (28.9%) and there are 16 games listed as pick’em (6.3%). Baltimore is favored in all 16 games, Jacksonville is an underdog in every game and the Broncos are favored in five, an underdog in nine and a pick’em twice.
3. Eight teams have five prime-time games, seven have four and the Broncos, Tennessee and the New York Giants all have three. Detroit and Washington will not appear in prime time and their lone national television appearances are on Thanksgiving.
4. The Texans get the Week 1 opening slot (at Kansas City) and a Thanksgiving Day game (at Detroit). Didn’t know they were that interesting.
5. Weeks 15-16 have five games apiece labeled as “Saturday or Sunday,” including Bills-broncos on Dec. 19 or 20 and BroncosChargers on Dec. 26 or 27. The two Saturday games will start at 2:30 p.m. and 6:15 p.m. Denver time.
6. Quirks: The Chiefs play their eight road games in blocks of two — Weeks 2-3, 6-7, 11-12 and 14-15. Three teams (Washington, New Orleans and New England) play three consecutive road games. And three teams play consecutive division road games (Cleveland, Dallas and New England).
Shula vs. Broncos
Don Shula, the NFL’S all-time winningest coach and father of Broncos quarterbacks coach Mike Shula, died last Monday at age 90.
Over a 33-year head-coaching career, Shula coached 490 regular-season games (328 wins) … and only three (2-0-1 record) were against the Broncos.
Shula coached the Baltimore Colts from 1963-69, but that was before the NFL-AFL merger. He coached the Dolphins from 1970-95. His matchups against the Broncos:
1971: Tied the Broncos 10-10 in Denver. Dwight Harrison (Broncos) and Paul Warfield (Dolphins) caught second-half touchdown passes.
1975: Beat the Broncos 14-13 in Denver. The Broncos’ points were via two Jim Turner field goals and a Riley Odoms fumble recovery.
1985: Beat the Broncos 30-26 in Miami. Dan Marino was 25-of43 passing for 390 yards (three touchdowns) and John Elway was 18 of 37 for 250 yards (one interception).
Only three meetings in 26 seasons? Broncos-dolphins games weren’t wiped out by the strikes in 1982 and ’87. Under the current scheduling model, the teams play every three years.
Around the league
We’ve heard of having a coachin-waiting for college programs (almost always a fiasco), but not a job-in-waiting-once-a-playingcareer-is-over. New Orleans’ Drew Brees is headed to NBC after he retires, and Indianapolis’ Philip Rivers was named coach at St. Michael Catholic High School in Fairhope, Ala. Does this eliminate Rivers from being a commentator? He could dash off to a game on weekends, but probably not the Monday night schedule.
The New York Jets will be running back Frank Gore’s fourth team in as many years. He played a decade for San Francisco, followed by three years in Indianapolis and a season apiece for Miami and Buffalo. Gore, who turns 37 on Thursday, is currently third all-time in rushing yards (15,347), trailing only Walter Payton (16,726) and Emmitt Smith (18,355). Gore will back up Le’veon Bell.
Dalton’s smart move. Getting cut by Cincinnati on April 30 was bad timing for quarterback Andy Dalton so he made the right decision in signing a oneyear contract with Dallas. This will allow Dalton to use 2020 as a take-a-breath/stay-healthy season so he can hit the March 2021 market. Cam Newton remains a free agent and his best course is to wait until a team’s need arises in the preseason.
Ryan O’halloran: rohalloran@ denverpost.com or @ryanohalloran