Paxton Lynch smiled warmly, recognizing his path over the past 3½ years.
“I never really had a big ego or felt like I needed to be humbled,” Lynch said after Pittsburgh Steelers practice Wednesday, “but I have gotten a humbling.”
That’s OK, though, for the former first-round drafted quarterback. Just having a job in the NFL right now — even on a practice squad, even as a No. 3 — suits Lynch just fine at this point.
Lynch was happy to get a call from the Pittsburgh Steelers earlier this week and is embracing his role at the bottom of their quarterbacks depth chart after spending most of the past year without an NFL gig of any sort.
“It’s kind of a gut check,” the former University of Memphis star said from the UPMC Rooney Sports Complex. “I am just kind of taking it in the chin, and that’s all I can do is move forward and keep my eyes up and keep my eyes ahead of what’s going to be.”
Paxton Lynch takes the practice-squad spot of Devlin Hodges, a rookie who was promoted from the practice squad Monday to become the backup to second-year quarterback Mason Rudolph.#Steelershttps://t.co/StXrXXiH5a
— Tribune-ReviewSports (@TribSports) September 17, 2019
The 6-foot-7 Lynch was taken with the 26th overall draft pick in 2016 by the Denver Broncos. But he mostly struggled in his five NFL appearances over two seasons, losing the starting gig twice, then getting demoted to third-string before finally getting cut at the end of last year’s training camp.
He hooked on with the Seattle Seahawks this past offseason but again was part of final cuts. With Ben Roethlisberger due for season-ending elbow surgery and with Josh Dobbs having been traded the week prior, the Steelers needed a quarterback.
Enter Lynch.
“Last year I was kind of working out and waiting for the call and never got one,” Lynch said, “so it feels good to get on a team and kind of get back in the rhythm of a season and go through week to week and get that preparation in.
“I am really excited for that, really excited.”
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