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Asked Tuesday if Flynn, a seventh-round pick, could conceivably beat out Brohm, a second-round pick, for the top backup job, general manager Ted Thompson said, “I don’t know. Yeah, I suppose he can. Competition’s all over this place. You never know how it’s going to work out.”
Although Packers coach Mike McCarthy cautioned that his team has “played one game,” the Packers have used their 3-2-1 setup for distributing repetitions in practice — three for Rodgers, two for Brohm, one for Flynn — throughout camp. When they return to practice tonight at 6:30, Flynn merits some additional snaps after the encouraging performance he had against the Bengals.
Asked whether Brohm is the clear-cut No. 2 because of his draft status, offensive coordinator Joe Philbin said, “I don’t know about that yet. I don’t think we’ve decided who’s who yet. That’s how they entered the game (Monday night), but I’m not sure we’re at that stage with a lot of positions.”
While Brohm’s first NFL pass was intercepted and he ended up completing eight of 17 passes for 70 yards and a 33.9 passer rating, Flynn went 12 for 21 for 97 yards and a touchdown for a 84.8 rating, highlighted by leading the Packers on a 62-yard, 12-play TD drive in the closing minutes. Flynn had the Packers on the move on their final possession, too, but rookie Kregg Lumpkin fumbled following a completion to allow the Bengals to run out the clock.
“After the first (pass), I knew it could only get better,” Brohm said. “Overall, I felt like I did a pretty good job of just the mechanics of the offense. Most of the time I felt like I went to the right place with the ball. Obviously there were a few times when I made mistakes, went to the wrong place, maybe forced one in there on the first play. But after that, I felt pretty good about the way things were going.”
While Brohm admitted he “double-clutched” on a late throw to Ruvell Martin — it led to Martin absorbing a wicked hit — the only other throw he made that raised eyebrows was his Hail Mary at the end of the half, a 50-yard heave that didn’t make it to the goal line.
Flynn, meanwhile, wasn’t particularly high on his performance.
“As a rookie, first game, it’s kind of hard to put a grade on it,” he said, adding that he sees more of his mistakes than successes when watching film.
Flynn wasn’t going to go anywhere near a debate about the No. 2 job.
“That’s not for me to say,” Flynn said. “I’m just going to go out there and play as hard as I can and let the coaches make decisions. I really am here to do what helps the team the most. If that’s third string, then that’s going to be my job and I’m going to do that position proudly. I’m going to play it and give it my best and let the coaches make decisions on everything else.”
Thompson said he “thought there were some good things in there” for both quarterbacks, enough to solidify his stance that signing a veteran backup won’t be necessary.
“You can never say never,” Thompson said. “But right this second, we’re comfortable with the fellas we have, albeit we’re young.”
