FLOWERY BRANCH — Because of Matt Ryan’s durability over the past 13 seasons, the Falcons’ backup job is one of the best in the NFL.
The Falcons signed Josh Rosen on Tuesday to compete for the backup position, and they have undrafted quarterback Feleipe Franks on the roster. The Falcons also will watch the waiver wire to possibly augment the position or find Ryan’s eventual backup for the 2021 season.
Since Ryan entered the league in 2008, his backups have started a total of three games. There were two seasons — 2008 and 2017 — where the backup never played a down.
Ryan missed two games in his second season with a nasty turf-toe injury. Chris Redman started two games that season.
Ryan didn’t miss a game from that point until the 2019 season. Matt Schaub started one game, Oct. 27, 2019 — a 27-20 loss to Seattle — because Ryan was inactive with an ankle injury.
Schaub’s start snapped a streak of 154 consecutive regular-season starts (163 counting the playoffs), which is the fifth longest streak in NFL history.
Ryan started all 16 games last season.
Overall, Ryan has made 205 regular-season starts and 10 postseason starts, including one Super Bowl.
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