When the Denver Broncos selected former Missouri standout quarterback Drew Lock in the second round of the 2019 NFL Draft, the team likely envisioned a best-case scenario of the signal-caller having a strong training camp and assuming the role as the team’s starter heading into the season.

Not only has that not happened, but it appears Lock won’t be on the team’s active roster to start the season.

It’s not that Lock has been bad on the practice field or in the preseason but the rookie from Mizzou was recently injured during the preseason. Against the San Francisco 49ers, Lock injured his thumb and has yet to return to the field.

The good news is x-rays were taken to examine if Lock had a broken thumb turned up negative, however, an MRI shows that Lock has sprained his thumb.

“Obviously because it’s his throwing hand and a thumb, that’s a pretty serious injury for a quarterback,” Fangio said according to Jeff Legwold of ESPN.com. “It will be some time before we know exactly where he’s at and how much time he would miss.”

When asked if Lock could be put on injured reserve to start the season, which would sideline him for several weeks, the Broncos coach suggested that could be the situation in Denver.

“Yeah, it could be if we don’t think he can play for a while. The bad thing about it is because of the injury he can’t do much,” Fangio added

Whatever unfortunate situation Lock finds himself in, the rookie does not appear to be fazed by the unfortunate news.

“[I’m] trusting the [training] staff in there to get me back as soon as possible,” Lock said. “Whenever that is, we’ll decide on whenever I’m 100% ready to go.”