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GREEN BAY, Wis. -- It would seem that Vince Young is the clear-cut option to be the Green Bay Packers' backup quarterback. Just as obvious is that Don Barclay appears to be the Packers' starting right tackle. But, as far as coach Mike McCarthy is concerned, both of those battles are still open.
"We have two quarterbacks here (and) the No. 2 spot hasn't been answered," McCarthy said Sunday.
Earlier in the day, Green Bay officially released Graham Harrell, who was the team's backup behind Aaron Rodgers last season. With Harrell gone, Young's chance to secure the job certainly increased. However, McCarthy wants second-year quarterback B.J. Coleman to compete with Young in the Packers' preseason finale Thursday night against the Kansas City Chiefs before he chooses a winner.
"I really feel like the job is still up in the air right now," Young said in the locker room. "I feel like me and B.J. are still competing. Overall, it's not about us, really. It's about the team and pushing each other so we can bring the talent out of both of us, as well as Aaron. Just pushing each other. That's what it's all about."
Though it's often not very accurate, Green Bay released its depth chart Sunday with Coleman as the No. 2 quarterback and Young at No. 3.
"Tomorrow's a big day, and the next day's a bigger day," Coleman said. "It's important for me to continue to get better every day and be able to put myself in a position where I can establish some tempo and run the offense to their liking. I think that's very important. As a quarterback, the coaches have to have the full trust in you that you can move the football down the field when need be. That's the most important thing."
In three preseason games, Young has led the Packers' offense on seven drives, resulting in 10 points. Young has completed 12 of 19 passes for 74 yards with one touchdown. He's also rushed for 58 yards on six scrambles.
Young, 30, signed with Green Bay on Aug. 5 and has been trying to catch up with the rest of the offense in a shortened amount of time.
"Vince Young's making progress," McCarthy said. "I think it's obvious. He's more and more comfortable each week with our terminology and with our offense. He made plays with his feet, which was something that was obviously a huge asset of Vince's."
At right tackle, Barclay has been the Packers' starter for the past two weeks. Before Green Bay hosted the Seahawks, McCarthy stated that his hope was that the game tape would allow him to announce the starting right tackle this week. Even though Barclay started against Seattle and was once again taking the first-team snaps in Sunday's practice, McCarthy wasn't ready to announce him as having beaten out Marshall Newhouse.
"I'll say this: I feel very good about both Marshall and Don," McCarthy said. "I thought Don was very efficient in his time and I'd say the same thing about Marshall, but they both had plays that if their performance would have been better, it could have been a potential big play for us on offense. That's where that's at and we'll see how this week shakes out. I feel like we're in very good shape there."
Barclay, like the rest of the starting offensive line, played 32 snaps in Friday's preseason game. Newhouse was on the field for 19 snaps in that game, but all of them were taken at left tackle with the second-string offense. Yet, it's Newhouse who is listed as the Packers' starting right tackle on their just-released official depth chart.
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