Lions' backup QB Moore confident he can produce

Lions quarterback Kellen Moore knows his place. And his time.

"August," he said. "That's when I show up. Mr. August."

Moore has taken a shot as an undrafted free agent, turned it into a strong exhibition résumé, and parlayed that into a nearly invisible three-year career in the NFL.

But this season might be different for Moore, whom the Lions signed to a two-year contract as a restricted free agent last month and who could have a legitimate shot at competing with Dan Orlovsky for the No. 2 job.

Before free agency, Moore made it clear he has valued his time learning from veterans in Detroit. He has seen his numbers rise each exhibition season. In 2013, Moore completed 62.5% of his passes with four touchdowns and one interception. Last year, he completed 68.6% with three TDs and no picks.

"Certainly everyone wants to play, but I love it here," he said. "It's been awesome. Not many guys get a chance to be somewhere for three years.

"I've gotten to learn from a lot of veterans who've done a lot of good things: Dan (Orlovsky), Shaun (Hill), Matthew (Stafford). I learned from those guys, and hopefully at the same time hopefully helped a little bit."

Knowledge and experience are valuable. But so is putting those assets into practice at some point. Moore isn't threatening to unseat Stafford, but he clearly has grown more comfortable with his ability and said he would be confident if asked to take the field and put his knowledge to use.

"Yeah, certainly," he said. "But whenever you get your opportunity, you get your opportunity. Whether it's in the preseason games in August or it's regular season, we'll see what happens."

Contact Carlos Monarrez: cmonarrez@freepress.com . Follow him on Twitter @cmonarrez.