The Denver Broncos were one of the teams most heavily linked to Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers as trade speculation swirled surrounding the quarterback.

But with Rodgers staying put, at least for the time being, the Broncos look to be running things back with incumbent QB Drew Lock. The third year signal-caller spoke out on all the noise surrounding his squad potentially gunning for his replacement.

Via Broncos beat reporter Mike Klis:

“It came with the lack of wins last year. If we won 10 games, no one would be talking about it,” said the Broncos QB. “But due to play from last yr, to stop those conversations from happening again, I need to play better this year and that’s where my energy was and that’s where all my focus was and that’s quite honestly why I didn’t think about it is because all my energy and all my time was focused elsewhere this offseason, and that was getting this team better.”

The Broncos were indeed a pretty destitute team last season, finishing fourth in the AFC West with a 5-11 record. Lock himself was far from stellar with a 4-9 record of his own, going for 2,933 yards with a 57.3% completion rate in 13 games. He threw a total of 16 touchdowns, just slightly above one per contest.

Lock hasn't been abominable, but he certainly hasn't been a shining beacon of hope for the Broncos. Unless he takes a massive leap in the coming year, the rumors aren't bound to stop just yet.