Vince Young isn't calling himself the Buffalo Bills' starting quarterback. Not yet. He's been brought in to compete with Tyler Thigpen for the backup role behind Ryan Fitzpatrick, but it won't change Young's approach to the game.
"It's not about me," Young told reporters Tuesday. "I just want to go out and play football and help out any way I can."
Young talked about his maturation as a quarterback. After soaking up the game from Mike Heimerdinger, Norm Chow and Kerry Collins in Tennessee; and Marty Mornhinweg and Andy Reid in Philadelphia; Young believes he's entering a new phase of his career.
"I'm just taking all of this knowledge and putting it into my game and ... it makes the game fun now, because you know what's going on," Young said, citing Eli Manning as an example of what time and knowledge can mean to an NFL passer.
The Eli comparison remains a stretch, but we haven't given up on Young. He was spotty in relief of Michael Vick last season in Philadelphia, but he's proven he can win in this league and it might be hard to keep him on the bench if Fitzpatrick struggles the way he did late in 2011.
No stranger to criticism during six up-and-down NFL seasons, Young doesn't plan to listen to his haters this time around.
"I have a huge doubter base," Young said. "I used to feed into that, but my biggest thing is (when) I feed into that, you can't make everybody happy. The only people you can make happy is your family members, your coaching staff, your teammates and the ones that do love you -- that's the ones I do focus on."
It's too early to label Young a backup from here on out. The Bills have improved the quarterback position and Young is more than insurance under center. He's won games in this league and Chan Gailey has done wonders with mobile passers before. Fitzpatrick will be pressed.
