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On Wednesday evening, the Bengals made the surprising announcement that they grabbed their second quarterback of the offseason in John Skelton. The fourth-year veteran was claimed by Cincinnati off of waivers after being shown the door by the Arizona Cardinals. Skelton's departure from the desert was due to the trade that the team made with the Raiders for Carson Palmer.
Shortly after he was claimed by the Bengals, The Cincinnati Enquirer's Joe Reedy did a mini Q and A session with Skelton and he talked about landing with Cincinnati. In short, Skelton is excited about being a part of the Bengals. "He (Skelton's agent) called me an hour ago and gave me the news and I was excited about it. I think Cincinnati, out of all of the places I could have ended up, is one of the better ones and is one that I'm excited to be a part of."
When asked by Reedy about what he has learned in his short time in the NFL, Skelton basically pointed to the old adage of "expect the unexpected".
"The biggest thing is this league is such a week-to-week league. You never know what’s going to happen. You have to prepare every game like it’s going to be your last opportunity, your last chance to show what you’ve got. It’s been a rollercoaster ride ever since I was drafted. My rookie year I was told I’m not going to play. We want to rest you. We want to sit you and watch you learn. But getting thrown into the fire because of several injuries and playing out the last four games of the year, that proved to be really helpful in the fact that I gained experience. I let that carry into the following season when Kevin (Kolb) got hurt and I got more playing time."
Skelton also talked about his arm strength as his biggest asset and that he hasn't had any experience playing in the West Coast Offense scheme. He is expected to compete with Josh Johnson for the backup quarterback role behind incumbent starter Andy Dalton. The Bengals kept only two quarterbacks on the active roster throughout most of 2012, but that could change in 2013 if the team does intend to use Johnson in read-option packages, as they have hinted at.