ENGLEWOOD, Colo. — At first, Brett Rypien thought little had changed.
In each of his first three seasons, the undrafted quarterback from Boise State was waived from the Broncos’ roster when the final cut-down day arrived.
So when Rypien received a text from Head Coach Nathaniel Hackett to report to UCHealth Training Center, he assumed the worst.
“That’s never a good thing in my past experience,” Rypien said Wednesday. “My mind immediately went to [the worst]. You know, I thought I was being cut, to be honest with you. I know how this business works. I think you always have to expect the worst.”
Hackett had far better news to deliver, as he informed Rypien that he had made the Broncos’ initial 53-man roster.
“I was excited, to say the least,” Rypien said.
Hackett said Rypien, who closed the preseason on a high note, earned a slight edge over Josh Johnson with his consistent play.
“Both of those guys did a really good job,” Hackett said Wednesday. “They really did. It was a very hard decision for all of us, for our entire staff. So much respect for Josh and ‘Ryp.’ 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.”
Rypien was equally pleased with the performance he was able to turn in during training camp and the preseason.
“It was unbelievable,” Rypien said of the preseason. “Just a lot of hard work. My main focus this camp was just control what I can control. You hear that all the time, but it becomes very hard to do when you’re out here on a day-to-day basis. You maybe want to look at how many reps you’re getting or maybe the opportunities are different, but ultimately if you can stay in the present moment and just go out and do what you need to do, opportunities change. I think that Buffalo week really changed it all for me and I was able to get an opportunity against…
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