When the Denver Broncos selected Drew Lock in the second round of the NFL Draft back in April, the general assumption was that Lock would play at some point in 2019.

However, that may not be the case.

A preseason thumb injury ultimately landed Lock on the injured reserve list, thwarting any chance he had of playing in the early stages of the regular season. However, even though Lock is now eligible to return, Broncos head coach Vic Fangio doesn't seem like he is wild about the idea of throwing Lock to the wolves over the final month and change, saying it's not “vitally important” for the rookie to play at all this year.

“You can get a false positive,” Fangio said on Wednesday, via Josh Alper of Pro Football Talk. “You can get a false negative. You need a whole body of work, including offseason and training camp, to build up. I’m not putting any limits on him if he does get in there, but I would be reluctant to make final conclusions.”

With Joe Flacco out for the remainder of the season, you would think that Fangio would be very open to the idea of inserting Lock into the starting lineup, but he has elected to go with Brandon Allen thus far, and he doesn't seem prepared to make a change any time soon.

During the offseason, Fangio was rather critical of Lock, saying he was not ready to be an NFL quarterback just yet.

That may very well be playing a role in Fangio's decision to sit him out for the time being.