Playing quarterback is the hardest job in the National Football League. That was my sentiment before I was a backup.
In this space last season, I went into great depth about what it takes for a backup to step into a starting role. It's an incredibly difficult position to be in, transitioning from contributing in weekly preparation to being the voice of the game plan and executing on Sundays.
Through six weeks of the 2023 NFL season, eight backup quarterbacks have made starts, and several others have been thrust into action mid-game. I experienced both of these scenarios in my own career. After being the starter for the Houston Texans for five seasons, I transitioned into a backup role in Carolina in 2007. I began that campaign as Jake Delhomme's backup but stepped into the starting role in Week 4, with Delhomme nursing an elbow injury that ultimately ended his season. I ended up making four starts in six games of action, playing through a back injury that unfortunately cut my own campaign short. I spent the following five seasons as a backup elsewhere, including four with the Giants (2008-09, 2011-12) and one with the 49ers (2010). I played minimally in that time, largely because of Eli Manning's ability to stay healthy and available -- he started 210 consecutive games for the Giants from 2004 to 2017.
The starting quarterback is certainly under a lot of pressure to perform and keep a firm grip on one of the NFL's 32 QB1 jobs -- believe me, I felt that pressure. But it pales in comparison to the difficulty of being a QB2. The most difficult part for me was having to be locked in and ready to go at any moment, along with having to be ready to command the offense and execute, even though the game plan was not catered to my
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