Drew Lock plot in Seattle thickens, unclear who Broncos will face Week 1

Which starting quarterback will the Denver Broncos face in Week 1?

That would be an interesting question entering any season, but it has particular significance this year. The Broncos will, of course, be in Seattle for the opener on Sept. 12 against the Seahawks. It will be Russell Wilson’s return to the place where he played 10 years. The crowd should be electric, and likely full of animosity against Wilson.

But will Denver’s defense get a shot at facing their old friend Drew Lock? Or will it be Geno Smith under center for Seattle? Lock was supposed to start Seattle’s second preseason game, but tested positive for COVID. He largely outplayed Smith in the team’s exhibition debut against the Steelers, and seemed poised to snag the starting job. Then the virus hit and things seemed to be as unclear as ever.

Well, Seattle head coach Pete Carroll didn’t help provide any clarity when addressing the situation late Tuesday afternoon. The competition between Lock and Smith could go on for quite some time.

“We’ll just see what happens. There’s two more weeks of practice, too, after this. I had a set thought on what we would do with the timeline but that got disrupted, so we’re going to use all the time we need,” Carroll told reporters.

The longtime Seahawks head coach added that he’s “wide open” to Lock still winning the job and starting opening night against the Broncos. He declined to say if Lock will start the team’s final preseason game on Friday night, but that he will play “a lot.”

“I’m not closing the book on anybody competing for their spots. We have two enormous weeks coming up: The finish of this one, [then] next week is a huge week for us and then we come back with another full week and an extra day. So we’ve got a lot of time here to work it out,” Carroll said.

In one sense, he’s right. The Seahawks will have 17 days in between their preseason finale with the Cowboys and Week 1 against the Broncos. In another, doesn’t he want to make a decision so the team can begin to prepare for Denver? It’s not exactly breaking news that QB is a huge part of a team’s game plan, so the players deserve to know.

We’ll see how Lock does in a couple of night against the Cowboys, but it feels like a make or break game for him. If he plays well, he’ll be named the starter. If he doesn’t, the Broncos are likely to see Smith on Monday Night Football.

The game will be fascinating regardless, but there’s no doubt Denver’s former second-round pick being under center as the opponent would add even more juice.

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