NFL's 'Win now' environment hurts rookie QBs

ONCE UPON a time in the NFL, when patience hadn't yet become a dirty word and coaches usually could count on being given at least three years before needing to update their resumes, the preferred method for developing a quarterback was slow-roasting rather than two minutes in a microwave.

Back then, when you drafted a quarterback, unless he was one of those rare pass-throwing, ready-for-prime-time prodigies, you usually gave him a baseball cap and clipboard and had him watch and learn for a year or two before you put him in the line of regular-season fire.

But patience is a dirty word in the win-or-else NFL these days, and more young quarterbacks than ever are being rushed into battle, ready…