Broncos Rumors: Drew Lock's Thumb Injury Diagnosed as Sprain; No Surgery Needed

Denver Broncos quarterback Drew Lock's thumb injury has been diagnosed as a "bad sprain," though surgery is not expected to be required, per Ian Rapoport of NFL Network.

The rookie suffered the injury while being sacked during Monday's game against the San Francisco 49ers. Initial X-rays done on Monday came back negative, and the injury was described after the game as "just a little sprain."

Lock revealed afterward that he was encouraged by the fact he had been able to throw following the injury, per Aric DiLalla of DenverBroncos.com:

"The last throw I was like, 'I'm going to muscle through this. If we get the first down, I'm going to muscle through this drive. But I'm going to get through this one play. And, shoot, the ball came out of my hand pretty nice after that. That's a good sign to me: being able to throw right after that. It hurt a little bit, but once I got over here it kind of stiffened up a little bit."

But as Rapoport noted, Lock is expected to "miss some time."

A second-round pick out of Missouri, Lock was drafted to potentially be the quarterback of the future in Denver. He was not expected to see much time on the field in 2019, though, as the Broncos had previously acquired Super Bowl XLVII MVP Joe Flacco from the Baltimore Ravens earlier in the offseason.

Broncos general manager John Elway made it clear in April that Flacco would be the starter in Week 1 if healthy, per Pro Football Talk's Charean Williams:

"I think the bottom line is he's coming to compete as a backup. Joe's the starter. When we look at it, we're hoping Drew is the future. But Joe is the starter, is going to be the starter and he's going to battle. We tend to look at it as the Brett Favre-Aaron Rodgers type situation [with the Packers]. He's going to have time to sit and watch Joe and take his time and learn and continue to get better. We feel we're in a good situation there. Plus, we had guys compete for backup positions and he'll be thrown in that bunch."

Though Lock wasn't truly competing for the starting job, this injury will likely keep him from gaining valuable reps in practice as he continues to adjust to Denver's offense. 

In three preseason appearances, Lock had completed 31 of his 51 pass attempts (60.8 percent) for 254 yards, one touchdown and one interception.