DETROIT _ If the first two weeks of the NFL season have taught us anything, it's how risky it is to go in without a reliable backup at quarterback.
The Pittsburgh Steelers saw their season potentially torpedoed last week when Ben Roethlisberger suffered a season-ending elbow injury, and the New Orleans Saints went from Super Bowl contender to borderline playoff team when Drew Brees suffered a thumb injury that will sideline him an estimated six weeks.
With those injuries fresh on their mind, the Detroit Lions continued their game of musical chairs at the backup quarterback position Tuesday, releasing Josh Johnson and signing Jeff Driskel to compete with untested rookie David Blough as Matthew Stafford's backup.
Driskel is the eighth quarterback the Lions have employed since the spring, and he comes to Detroit after starting five games for the Cincinnati Bengals last season.
He suffered a hamstring injury in the preseason and was released from the Bengals' injured reserve list last week.
"He's an athletic guy, he's a big guy, he's got a strong arm, he can do some of the movement stuff," Lions coach Matt Patricia said. "Just a skill set that we thought was fitting to some of the things that we do."
Johnson beat out Tom Savage for the No. 2 job with half a training camp, and while few considered him a top-tier NFL backup, he was at least the type of experienced player teams feel good about as a short-term fill-in.
He took quickly to Darrell Bevell's offense, and his athleticism added an element to the quarterback position the Lions have largely lacked.
Driskel, a sixth-round pick in 2016 by the San Francisco 49ers, has enough NFL experience that the trade-off from Johnson is minor, but the Lions' latest quarterback shuffle is as much a sign of their belief in Blough as anything.
Blough, acquired in a late August trade with the Cleveland Browns for a conditional swap of 2022 seventh-round picks, seems to have the staying power that previous No. 3 quarterback options Connor Cook, David Fales and Luis Perez lacked.
Patricia praised Blough earlier this month as a smart, strong-armed quarterback who's "very good in the pocket."
"Very quick with his progressions and his reads from what we saw out of college," Patricia said. "(We) got another look at him up close (in the preseason) and just was an opportunity to try to add some depth to the position and take a look at some guys we liked coming out of the draft."
Whether Blough sticks long term as Stafford's backup remains to be seen, but the Lions could have easily parted ways with him Tuesday if they didn't see some potential.
At 24 years old, Blough still is young enough to be considered a developmental prospect � Driskel is, too, at 26 years old. Johnson is 33, and it's clear the Lions want a young backup they can trust should something happen to Stafford.
Blough may not be that guy right now. In fact, the Lions may not have anyone, young or old, they trust should they need their backup.
But if he turns into that with a season's worth of work, the Lions may be able to avoid some of the hardships other NFL teams have faced.
