Rypien on his three TD performance vs. Texans, playing With Collin Johnson |
CANTON, O.H. - Quarterback Brett Rypien had the game of his life in Chicago’s 21-17 victory against the Houston Texans in the Hall of Fame game.
He finished with 166 passing yards, three touchdowns, and a quarterback rating of 148.9. “This one meant a lot to me tonight,” Rypien said. “I think sitting on a year of my last start in Green Bay didn’t go the way I wanted it to. I’ve had a bad taste in my mouth the entire offseason and took the approach that I didn’t really know how this year was going to look. Even if I was going to have an opportunity to compete for anything. But, I just kept working hard every single and said, just going to do what I can, know how I play my best football, and try to get back to that, and so, when you put in the work and it shows, it feels good.” Last year was a roller coaster for Rypien. He only played in two games as the quarterback for the Los Angeles Rams. In the second game, which was against the Green Bay Packers, the Rams lost 20-3. He did not throw a touchdown and had an interception; his quarterback rating was 45.2, career low for a game he has started in. After that game, he was released by Los Angeles and went to the Seattle Seahawks for four weeks before finishing the seaon with the New York Jets. Because of that, he was not sure he would be able to play football this season. “I went into last year’s free agency thinking I was going to get signed fairly early, having two starts the year before that, and (it) didn’t work out and didn’t end up signing to LA until late May,” Rypien said. “I was very fortunate to sign, I think, the second day of free agency this year and like I said, I didn’t know what the opportunity would look like. Obviously, when you come off of a year where you bounce between three different teams, it’s never an ideal scenario. But, I think I think told myself, ‘Control what you can control. Keep doing what I’ve been doing since I’ve been in this league for six years now.’” Rypien has embraced the role as the backup quarterback, previously backing up Russell Wilson, Matthew Stafford and others. Now, he will be backing up rookie quarterback Caleb Williams and is the third string quarterback behind second-year quarterback Tyson Bagent who was signed as an undrafted free agent by the Bears last season. Regardless of his position on the depth chart, Rypien is going to be ready whenever his name is called. “That’s what you know as a backup quarterback in the NFL is you have to be ready at any moment. You never know what opportunity is going to look like or when it’s going to come and so, and you are playing on limited reps a lot of the time,” Rypien said. “So, I think that’s a skill that you kind of have to learn how to hone in on and be able to go out and execute when you haven’t taken that many full-speed reps with the guys that are out there. So, I think everybody understands that in our room.” Since he has not been taking first-team reps, Rypien has had the opportunity to work with some of the lesser-known names on Chicago’s roster, including receiver Collin Johnson who made his name known with two touchdowns receptions in the Hall of Fame game. At six-foot-six, Johnson is someone who can use his size to his advantage and Rypien took advantage of that. “I’ve been really close with him ever since I got into the building and with a guy like that with that much size and he’s got great release ability too. So, when you get him in press coverage, there’s so many different types of throws you can make to him,” Rypien said. “You can lead him over the top. You can throw those longer kind of back shoulders, which was what I was doing tonight because I knew he had the size advantage on the corner. But, he’s a great guy and unbelievable player too.” Rypien will most likely play in Chicago’s next preseason game against the Buffalo Bills on Sat. Aug. 10 (Noon / NFL Network).
