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Drew Lock won’t have much of a mentor in Joe Flacco

By Bryan Perez

MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE - DECEMBER 31: Drew Lock #3 of the Missouri Tigers reacts during the first half of the AutoZone Liberty Bowl against the Oklahoma State Cowboys at Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium on December 31, 2018 in Memphis, Tennessee. (Photo by Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images)
MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE - DECEMBER 31: Drew Lock #3 of the Missouri Tigers reacts during the first half of the AutoZone Liberty Bowl against the Oklahoma State Cowboys at Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium on December 31, 2018 in Memphis, Tennessee. (Photo by Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images) /
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Denver Broncos rookie QB Drew Lock shouldn’t expect to be best friends with Joe Flacco in 2019.

Denver Broncos second-round pick Drew Lock might end up feeling like the loneliest man in the quarterback room in 2019. If he’s expecting a warm and fuzzy relationship with veteran Joe Flacco, he better think again.

Flacco, who’s fresh off a season where he lost his starting job to then-rookie first-round pick Lamar Jackson, isn’t interested in serving as Lock’s mentor this year. He said his goal is on more important things like, ya know, winning games.

“I got so many things to worry about,” Flacco said Monday at the Broncos’ first OTAs. “I’m not worried about developing guys or any of that. That is what it is. I hope he does develop. I don’t look at that as my job. My job is to go win football games for this football team.”

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While Flacco’s sentiment it totally understandable, it just seems harsh and grumpy for him to be so outspoken about not wanting to help Lock assimilate to the NFL. It’s also debatable whether it is, in fact, his job to prepare Lock to eventually be a starting quarterback.

Flacco is a short-term fix for the Broncos’ quarterback situation. He’s 34 years old and, aside from his Super Bowl run in 2012 — a season in which he completed less than 60% of his passes — he’s been a consistently average starter. He might view himself as a franchise player, but he isn’t. And, it’s pretty obvious he already feels threatened by Lock’s presence on the roster.

Lock isn’t the first rookie quarterback to get pushback from a grizzled veteran. Ben Roethlisberger reacted similarly last season when the Steelers drafted Mason Rudolph in the third round.

The worst way for Flacco to deal with a talented second-string rookie is to react as if he isn’t willing to help him along. It screams fear and immaturity, two things that certainly won’t win over a new locker room.

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