A long-time Bronco is remaining a Bronco!
On Tuesday, the former Boise State Broncos quarterback Brett Rypien was officially named the Denver Broncos backup quarterback.
From the moment he signed with the team, it appeared that the recently-signed veteran Josh Johnson had the job locked up. However, the Broncos released him on Tuesday. The good news is Denver signed him back to the practice squad the very next day.
While Johnson took most of the No. 2 snaps in training camp behind Russell Wilson, Rypien shined in the preseason games.
Johnson started hot against the Dallas Cowboys in game one but was completely underwhelming against the Buffalo Bills.
Rypien came off the bench at halftime against Buffalo. He ended up throwing for 191 yards and the team’s lone touchdown. Because of his performance, Rypien was named the starter against the Minnesota Vikings in their preseason finale and did just enough to win the job.
In his first three seasons in the NFL, Rypien had experienced being waived each year. After receiving a text from head coach Nathaniel Hackett, the undrafted quarterback assumed history would be repeating itself.
“I thought I was getting cut, to be honest with you,” Rypien said. “I know how this business works, and I think you always have to expect the worst, so when Coach Hackett told me the news, I was excited, to say the least.”
According to Hackett, it wasn’t an easy decision.
“Both of those guys did a really great job,” Hackett said in a press conference on Wednesday. “It was a very hard decision for all of us, for our entire staff. So much respect for Josh and ‘Ryp’.”
Hackett emphasized that the choice came down to consistency.
“I think that just from a consistency standpoint, ‘Ryp’ edged him out just a little bit, but it doesn’t say that we wouldn’t be absolutely ecstatic to have Josh go in for a game if we needed to. So, it was definitely a very close competition.”
Hopefully, Denver won’t need to rely on him to play much this season. However, if Wilson suffers an injury, it’ll be Rypien who has to rise to the occasion for the team.
