http://www.greenbaypressgazette.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080620/PKR01/80619134/1058/PKR01
No. 2 job is Brohm's to lose
Veteran won't be brought in unless he plays poorly
Whatever trepidation the Green Bay Packers might feel about having a rookie at No. 2 quarterback in Aaron Rodgers’ first season as starter, they’re going into training camp with the job being second-round draft pick Brian Brohm’s to lose.
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General Manager Ted Thompson brought in three veterans for offseason physicals and interviews as potential backups for Rodgers: Gus Frerotte, Quinn Gray and Daunte Culpepper.
According to a source with knowledge of the situation, Thompson offered a contract to only Culpepper, who in the spring turned down a one-year deal worth about $1 million.
So Thompson turned to the NFL draft, where he selected Brohm in the second round, No. 56 overall.
Brohm has had his share of struggles in the offseason workouts that finished Thursday, but the Packers have seen enough in him that they appear unlikely to bring in a veteran to compete for the No. 2 job before training camp starts in late July. They’ll bring in a veteran only if Brohm has a particularly difficult time in the first two or three weeks of practice and exhibition play.
“Daunte’s a good guy,” receiver Donald Driver said, “but I guess he felt like he wanted to come in and vie for a starting spot and (the Packers) already knew who their starting quarterback was. So what do you do? They felt like if he didn’t want the title to be a backup, you have to move on.”
If Brohm ends up as the No. 2, the Packers will be taking a bigger risk than when Rodgers backed up Brett Favre as a rookie in 2005. Favre was a proven iron man, whereas Rodgers has an injury history (a broken foot and substantial hamstring strain the last two seasons). It’s risky, but not uncommon for an NFL team.
However, if Brohm is the No. 2 and seventh-round pick Matt Flynn is the No. 3, it would be unusual to have two rookies as the backups.
Last season, three rookies opened the season as their team’s No. 2 quarterback, though none of the clubs made the playoffs: first-round pick Brady Quinn of Cleveland, second-round pick John Beck of Miami, and Buffalo Bills third-rounder Trent Edwards, who finished the season as the team’s starter.
Putting a rookie in that role can be risky for a playoff contender, because that rookie could be called on to finish out a close game or maybe even start for a week or two. One loss could be the difference in making the playoffs, or in having home-field advantage.
Rodgers this week said he wasn’t comfortable in the Packers’ offense until last season, his third in the NFL.
“These (rookies) are really bright,” Thompson said. “Aaron says (it took three years) now, but he absolutely would have loved to have been out there playing the whole time, too. We’re not overly concerned about that. Everything you do there’s risks associated with it.”
The Packers considered the value a veteran could provide as a sounding board and adviser for Rodgers, who faces the difficult assignment of succeeding Favre. Trent Dilfer, for instance, probably would have been ideal in such a role.
But in the end, Thompson said the higher priority was finding a player who could perform well enough if Rodgers gets hurt, and that no veterans offered a good enough combination of mentoring and physical skills to pursue vigorously, especially after the Packers drafted Brohm.
“It was out of my hands, so I didn’t really have an opinion on it,” Rodgers said of whether he would have preferred having a veteran backup.
“I’ve got (quarterbacks coach) Tom Clements to bounce things off of, he’s a great quarterback coach. They made a decision to get Brian, that’s who they’re going to go with, and now (Brohm and Flynn) are bouncing stuff off me, which is fine.
“The amount of preparation I’ve put in the offseason watching film and talking to Tom and (coach) Mike (McCarthy) every day is going to be my opportunity to bounce things off guys who have been in the league for a while. I don’t have the 15-year vet, 12-year vet, Trent Dilfer-kind of guy to bounce things off of, so we’re doing what we’re doing.”
In the meantime, the Packers will be looking for growth in Brohm during training camp after an up-and-down performance in offseason practices that is the norm for most rookie quarterbacks.
Brohm has good size (6-foot-3, 232 pounds), poise and smarts (32 on the Wonderlic intelligence test). He’s shown a strong enough arm, though it isn’t as strong as Rodgers’ arm. He’s often holds the ball too long, as almost all rookies do. Another problem that’s been a little surprising is the occasionally wobbly pass.
He showed those inconsistencies in this week’s three-day minicamp. On Tuesday, he threw three interceptions in a relatively short period of time. Tramon Williams and Atari Bigby picked him off in 11-on-11 plays, and Charles Woodson baited him into an interception shortly thereafter in a seven-on-seven drill.
But after those struggles against mainly starters on defense, Brohm ended practice in a two-minute drill by taking the No. 2 offense to a game-winning touchdown drive of 60 yards against the No. 2 defense.
The Packers also worked on blitz drills every day, including Thursday, when Brohm twice held the ball long enough to probably get sacked. On a couple of other plays, he got the ball out quickly.
Considering Brohm’s high productivity and success at reading defenses and managing games as a three-year starter in college at Louisville, the Packers expect him to adjust to the pace of the game.
But in the first couple of weeks of camp and the exhibition opener, it will be important for Brohm to show the Packers he can pick it up fast enough to be their backup immediately.
“It’s definitely something that’s one of the big transitions from college to the NFL, getting the ball out of your hand quicker,” Brohm said. “The coaches have emphasized that every day since I’ve been here, get the ball out of your hand quicker, making quicker reads, because the game is much faster up here.”
HIS BALL FLUTTERS? YUCK
