Trevor Siemian is a great teammate for Sam Darnold, but he’d rather play

[Katatonic]

Trevor Siemian has struck a balance between selflessness and selfishness in his first five years in this cut-throat business. He’s a terrific teammate, listener and giver of advice. He is a tireless worker and model professional. You want guys like him in your locker room.

Sometimes the backup quarterback is the most popular player to a frustrated fan base. Sometimes, he’s just a guy who collects dust on the sideline for 17 weeks. Siemian’s career arc has taken him from the 250th player taken in the 2015 draft to unlikely starter for the better part of two seasons to clipboard holder.

“I think I’m in an interesting spot where I’m still improving as a player… but I haven’t played [since 2017],” Siemian told the Daily News. “And that part stinks. I want to be the best teammate I can be and be a great resource for Sam. But I’d be lying to you if [I said] not playing didn’t stink a little bit. That’s the way things happen. And I got to take it as it comes. And do what you can do to improve.”

You can’t fault the 27-year-old for wanting what everybody else on Adam Gase’s team wants: A chance to prove that he’s an NFL starter.

https://www.nydailynews.com/sports/...0190809-y66gd4duwzczdno3wfe4hruy54-story.html

“I expected that,” Gase said of Siemian’s performance in the preseason opener. “He's been good the entire training camp. It's different when it's live, when he can escape the pocket and they got to actually bring him down. He can extend plays. He's really good in the huddle. He calms all the rest of those guys down when he gets in the game. Just knows how to operate really well as a quarterback.”

Siemian was 13-11 as the starter in Denver in 2016-17 before sitting behind Kirk Cousins in Minnesota last year. He also had interest from the Rams and Bengals this offseason. Make no mistake. Gase — looking for a smart, dependable player behind Darnold — was the driving force behind signing him to a one-year, $2 million deal.

Actually, it was Peyton who was the driving force in Gase having interest in Siemian and TS having interest in the Jets.