CLACKAMAS -- Two days after passing in front of executives from all 32 NFL teams in Arizona, Darron Thomas was back at his day job Tuesday at an indoor soccer center 20 minutes east of Portland, taking practice repetitions reserved for a backup quarterback.



Life as the off-field face but on-field reserve of the Arena Football League's Portland Thunder remains Thomas's reality in his second season with the franchise, which holds its home opener at Moda Center on Friday at 7 p.m.



Sunday's brief taste of receiving a second chance in the NFL, via the league's first "Veterans Combine" for free agents in Tempe, Arizona, remains his dream -- one he still carries around just like the five regulation-sized NFL footballs sitting in his car's back seat.



Thomas, 24, was one of 105 players who arrived at last weekend's invitation-only event to give the NFL potentially one final shot.



"I feel like I threw pretty great," said Thomas, the former Oregon starter from 2010-11 who led the Ducks to a Rose Bowl title against Wisconsin and a national championship game berth against Auburn. "One thing I did differently from everyone at the combine, I was in (AFL training) camp for three weeks. I didn't get to train with the NFL ball, I didn't get to do five-step, seven-stop drops. I went out there to make sure my footwork was good and placing the ball where I wanted to place it."



Besides running a 40-yard dash, all quarterbacks threw combinations of three-step drops into slant routes; five-step drops into out-routes; and seven-step drops into "comeback" routes. The combine began at 10:45 a.m. and ended at 6 p.m. Ninety minutes later, Thomas boarded a flight to Portland -- participants had to pay their own way on top of a $400 charge entry fee, the New York Post reported -- in order to make the Thunder's 7 a.m. team meetings Monday.



The combine has worked for two of its participants already. On Monday, receiver Nathan Slaughter signed with the Arizona Cardinals and cornerback Deveron Carr signed with the Indianapolis Colts. Tyler Wilson and Mike Kafka left the combine the quarterbacks best the chance to land with a team, NFL.com draft analyst Daniel Jeremiah said on an NFL Network broadcast.



If Thomas, who does not currently have an agent, receives a call at all from an NFL team he doesn't anticipate it will happen before the April 30-May 2 NFL draft, as teams first pad out their depth charts with new college players.



That timing means a potential call-up to the NFL could come 10 games into the season. Thomas didn't hesitate when posed the hypothetical.



"Oh I'm gone," he said, adding he'd entertain CFL offers, as well. "I mean, the NFL and the AFL can't compete. ... If the NFL calls the coach persuades you to get outta here and go. Especially if that's your dream. They know it's my dream and it's the reason I came down to play. If the NFL comes calling I'm gone no matter what."



Thomas remains upbeat about his chances in the face of unpromising odds and a bumpy track record since leaving Oregon in 2012 after his junior season.



Undrafted, Thomas couldn't stick with the Cleveland Browns after a minicamp invitation, saying "when I did get into the league, yes, I was uncomfortable getting under center."



He played one season on the practice squad of the Calgary Stampeders before landing in Portland last winter. Marketed as the team's showcase player and starting quarterback, he was demoted less than a month into the regular season and eventually even played some defense.



"Humbling," he said.



The Thunder are currently moving away from using Thomas as the focal point of team branding -- though pictures of him remain prominent on the team website -- with a spokesman saying the team doesn't want to rely too heavily on one player.



Head coach Mike Hohensee, who was hired in September, described Thomas's improvement since last season as "huge," even though it hasn't won him the starting job. His footwork and balance, once "horrible," are now solid. He's shortened his throwing motion to adjust to the AFL's quick routes and smaller field. When the Thunder open against the Los Angeles KISS on Friday, 36-year-old Kyle Rowley, a Brown grad who previously won an Arena Bowl title, will start under center.



"(Thomas) is a much better quarterback than probably he's ever been in his life," Hohensee said. "Last year he was not very good for an Arena Football Player. He got the ball out late, he was inaccurate, his footwork was horrendous I thought. Now his footwork is on point, he's getting rid of the ball quick, he's making good decisions and he looks like an Arena Football quarterback now, which is only going to help him in the outdoor game if that opportunity ever comes for him.



"He's closer than he was last year. He's worked extremely hard in the offseason and I think the work he did in the offseason actually helped him in that NFL combine. From what I hear he had an impressive showing out there."



According to the team, the Thunder had at least eight players from last year's inaugural roster later signed to NFL or CFL contracts.



Thomas keeps hope alive that he'll be next.



"I know if I get some good film here," he said, motioning around the field whose lights had since been turned off, "I can get back there."

-- Andrew Greif

agreif@oregonian.com

503-221-8100

@andrewgreif