When Matt Cassel's concussion knocked him out of the Kansas City Chiefs' starting lineup, Brady Quinn was told Cassel would get his job back when healthy.
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Cassel returned to practice during the Chiefs' bye, and things looked headed back to square one. That's why it was so surprising when coach Romeo Crennel announced this week that Quinn would be the starting quarterback indefinitely. It even caught Quinn off guard.
"It was pretty surprising, to be honest with you," Quinn told Michael Silver of Yahoo! Sports. "We were competing over the bye week, but Matt got most of the reps. So I was surprised, but excited about it, for my career."
It's comforting to see Quinn and Silver talking again. It wasn't so long ago that Quinn was questioning the accuracy of Silver's portrayal of himself in a piece for GQ. It's not exactly Nas and Jay-Z taking the stage together, but it's good that Quinn has learned from his time swirling in the Tim Tebow vortex.
"There were just a lot of things going on that were outside of my control," Quinn said of his difficult time in Denver. "Sometimes in life we get caught up in the outside stuff and don't focus on the things that matter. Sometimes you get frustrated. If there's one thing I learned, it's that each week I needed to prepare the best way I knew how to prepare myself."
That preparation has led to another chance to lead an NFL team as Quinn gets the start Sunday against the Oakland Raiders. Quinn is smart enough to know he might not get another chance like it again.
Follow Gregg Rosenthal on Twitter @greggrosenthal.
