Being a backup quarterback is one of the hardest jobs in professional sports. In many cases, nobody knows who you are until, for better or for worse, everybody knows who you are.

With backup quarterbacks there is no middle ground. You either save your team’s season, or you get blamed for failing to do so.

Cleveland Browns backup quarterback P.J. Walker is immersed in that vortex now. With Cleveland’s $230 million injured quarterback Deshaun Watson having not pitched a complete game since the Browns’ third game of the season on September 24, the team’s quarterbacking was entrusted to rookie Dorian Thompson-Robinson for one game – a 28-3 loss to Baltimore – and to Walker in the last two.

Both of Walker’s starts were wins, by a total of just three points: 19-17 over San Francisco, and 39-38 over Indianapolis. The win over the Colts technically wasn’t a start for Walker, but he replaced the injured Watson 12 snaps into the game.

With Watson still not healthy enough to play, Walker will get another challenging test on Sunday, when the Browns travel to Seattle for a game with the Seahawks.

In the Browns’ last two games the 28-year-old Walker hasn’t been great, but he hasn’t been awful. He’s been good enough. In 66 pass attempts he has thrown three interceptions, and no touchdown passes, but the Browns have won both games.

For Browns coach Kevin Stefanski, that’s good enough.

“He’s getting comfortable with the scheme and with his teammates,” said Stefanski. “It’s not easy for any player, particularly a quarterback, to play catchup and understand different nuances to your scheme. So he’s worked real hard at that.”

Going up against Seattle’s vaunted defense and pass rush will be the next challenge for Walker, who is trying to win games while learning the nuances of Cleveland’s offense.

“Day by day, play by play, for me every rep you get is important,” said Walker. To come in here and try to learn the system as fast as possible, every rep matters for me.”

Stefanski isn’t expecting Walker to be a finished product as a backup quarterback. Limiting turnovers, and keeping the offense on track and on time are the highest priority. Learning each other is important for the coach and the quarterback as well.

Over the last couple of weeks Walker says his relationship with Stefanski has grown.

“Just the back-and-forth communication, trying to figure out what he likes and what I like,” Walker said. “You can never have enough communication between the head coach and the quarterback. Anything I have a question on, I’ve got to bring it to him.”

Cleveland’s 39-38 win over the Colts last week was Walker’s finest hour in his brief tenure as the Browns’ emergency quarterback. In that game, Walker orchestrated an 80-yard game-winning touchdown drive at the end of the game.

Sunday’s slugfest at famously noisy Lumen Field in Seattle will probably be Walker’s biggest challenge yet as the Browns’ emergency quarterback. Not just the noise factor, but, for the relatively inexperienced Walker, being able to handle the noise, but also Seattle’s defense.

“They can pressure you with their secondary, they can pressure you with their linebackers, and with the front four,” Stefanski said. “So they have rushers on the right, on the left, and up the middle. They really have a balanced rush attack. We’re aware of it because it’s all over the tape. They are really aggressive rushers.”

Walker said Watson has offered him as much help as he can in trying to solve the puzzle that is the Seattle defense.

“He’s been great,” Walker said of Watson. “I talk to him after every practice, just trying to figure out what he sees. . . I’m trying to see what he would do in some of the plays when I’m out there.”

Trying to keep a season from flat-lining due to an injured, or unavailable quarterback is a challenge many NFL coaches face every year. Stefanski himself gained experience in that area last year, when Watson sat out the Browns’ first 11 games as part of a suspension from the NFL for violating the player conduct rules.

As is the case with most backup quarterbacks, Walker’s is only a temporary job. Eventually the starting quarterback returns, and backup returns to being the backup.

However, Walker realizes he isn’t just auditioning for the Browns, he’s auditioning for all the other NFL teams, any one of which could be looking to add a quarterback to their roster next year.

“I look back to 2019, when I wasn’t in the league at all, just sitting there, watching from home,” Walker said. “When opportunity presents itself, you’ve got to take full advantage of it. There are a lot of people who wish they were in my shoes, so I’ve got to take advantage of every opportunity I get.”