Trevor Siemian, returning team captain and last year's starting quarterback, enters training camp in a fight to claim the job he held throughout the 2016 season.
This is an unusual scenario, especially when it is presented in those broad terms. But it's one that Siemian chose to embrace as the offseason began and continued, with an even split of first-team repetitions between himself and 2016 first-round pick Paxton Lynch.
Whether Siemian's bid to be the Week 1 starter for a second consecutive season succeeds or fails, he's demonstrated his sturdy emotional timber and strong study habits throughout the process.
Even during his downtime between minicamp and training camp, he took his tablet playbook and studied the plays he ran during OTAs and minicamp, not just to critique his own work, but to study the defense.
"They've got some tweaks," Siemian said earlier this month.
But the defensive changes don't compare to the ones Siemian and the offense have absorbed. At times during OTAs and minicamp, the growing pains were evident, but at others, Siemian and his receiving targets were in sync.
"I'm comfortable," he said. "It obviously takes time to get to that mastery level where you want to be at ... you really need those live reps to get there. These are going to be some valuable reps to get there."
If Siemian has one advantage in his back pocket, it is his experience -- not just in regular-season play, but in a preseason competition.
During training camp last year, he split first-team repetitions with Mark Sanchez. As Sanchez struggled, eventually buckling under the weight of giveaways in practice and preseason games, Siemian remained steady, eventually earning the job as a result of his consistency.
"I've got some of those experiences I can lean on and hopefully grow from and continue to improve from," he said.
"I think if I can just keep getting better. I think I did some things I can build on last year, and there's things I want to do better.
"For me, I'm focused on improving, and if there's things I can take care of on my end, I think everything will work out."
