AFC Notes: Broncos, Drew Lock, Chargers, Raiders, Marcus Mariota

Broncos

Broncos HC Vic Fangio said QB Drew Lock has to improve. Lock has made short relief appearances twice this season after starting QB Teddy Bridgewater has been banged up and he’s thrown an interception each time. Fangio admitted it’s tough to prepare to come off the bench at a moment’s notice, but that’s the situation Lock is in. 

“In Drew’s case, we’re probably not giving him enough reps during the week,” Fangio said, via Troy Renck. “Not to make an excuse for him. He’s gotta learn to do better at that and maybe some of that is we need to have a better list of what he feels comfortable operating, running and calling. Hopefully, he’s learned from these two times. Hopefully, there won’t be another time due to injury and he’ll do better next time.”

Chargers

• Chargers HC Brandon Staley defended OC Joe Lombardi: “Joe’s doing an outstanding job coordinating our offense.” (Daniel Popper)

Raiders

Raiders HC Rich Bisaccia said the team will involve QB Marcus Mariota more moving forward.

“I think you saw [offensive coordinator] Greg [Olson] do a great job of this week is, we had him in there multiple times and he ends up scoring a touchdown for us because of his athletic ability and what he can do in certain situations, but certainly what we are asking him to do,” Bisaccia said, via Pro Football Talk. “Without giving too much away, I think he is hopefully going to be a part of the packages as we go forward. He practices like he’s preparing to play all the time. And the other thing is, it’s really hard to take No. 4 [Derek Carr] out from behind the center as well, especially if he’s playing the way he played on Thanksgiving Day.”

• The Athletic’s Dane Brugler mentions Raiders HC Jon Gruden, not GM Mike Mayock, was in charge of almost all of Las Vegas’ early-round draft picks the past few years. 
• The Raiders placed LS Trent Sieg on the Covid-19 Reserve list. (Vic Tafur)