![]() ![]() Flynn will at the very least start one more game this Sunday against the Pittsburgh Steelers, but even if he leads the Packers to the playoffs, Rodgers will be back as soon as he's healthy. In Flynn's case he has no chance of supplanting Rodgers as the starter. And if there is any doubt about that you probably haven't been watching NFL Network this week and their daily shots of an empty Packers podium waiting for Mike McCarthy to give even the slightest insight about when Rodgers will return. Stories like Kurt Warner and Tom Brady have given second stringers belief that there is a possibility they could all of a sudden come out of nowhere to claim the starting job, but that has also led to backups trying to do too much too quickly. There is a belief that the best backup quarterbacks just try and win the game at hand, and not the starting job. Having a backup come in cold with little to no preparation is a recipe for disaster. Backups rarely get to work with the first team during the season, since offenses are so sophisticated these days that starters need all the practice they can get. Flynn has been getting first-team reps recently in practice with Rodgers on the shelf and that has made all the difference. ![]() The ability of the player seems far less important than the situation. Perhaps Flynn's play says more about the backup quarterback position in general than it does about his skill set. Flynn has had completion percentages of 75.0 and 66.7 in the last two weeks and rallied the Packers to an improbable victory against the Dallas Cowboys with four second-half touchdown passes. The fact that the Packers' system hasn't changed all that much since he left has likely contributed to his recent comfort behind center. The Packers, however, took a chance because they were desperate and Flynn spent his first four years in Green Bay learning the offense as a backup. Far more highly-touted quarterback prospects like Ryan Leaf, Akili Smith, and JaMarcus Russell haven't been able to survive the way Flynn has. Most seventh-round picks who were a one-year starter like Flynn was at LSU simply don't get that many chances. Getting cut by the Raiders and Bills in the span of a few weeks should have scared off even the most ambitious general manager. That could have easily been it for Flynn as far as the NFL goes. After being cut, Flynn signed briefly with the Buffalo Bills, but was quickly released in early November without ever seeing the field. He was then shipped to Oakland prior to the 2013 draft where he lost the starting job to Terrelle Pryor, who isn't even the starter anymore for the Raiders. He never started a game for the Seahawks as he was beat out for the starting job by Russell Wilson in their 2012 training camp. Until recently, it's been all downhill for Flynn. Green Bay chose to rest Rodgers that day because a playoff berth was secure and Flynn threw for 480 yards and six touchdowns against the Detroit Lions, which he then parlayed into a big offseason contract with the Seattle Seahawks. Most football fanatics remember Flynn for that impressive performance on New Year's Day 2012 in his first stint with the Packers. ![]() Of all the quarterbacks starting right now in the National Football League, Flynn may be the most unlikely. ![]()
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