GREEN BAY, Wis. -- If all goes well, Thursday's preseason finale against the New Orleans Saints will be the last time Scott Tolzien starts a game this season.

If it's not, the Green Bay Packers feel as good about their backup quarterback as they have perhaps since Matt Flynn threw for 480 yards and six touchdowns in the 2011 regular-season finale or maybe even before that.

Tolzien isn't Aaron Rodgers, but what backup could be?

In the span of a year, Tolzien has gone from the No. 3 quarterback just trying to hang on to an NFL job to someone the Packers trust with their offense.

"I don't know if there's anything more I need to see other than what he's already done," said Alex Van Pelt, who coaches the Packers quarterbacks. "If he continues to do that, that will be plenty."

In two preseason games this summer, Tolzien has a 96.0 passer rating and has completed 21 of 35 passes for 209 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions. He didn't play last Saturday against the Eagles because of a concussion he sustained the previous week against the Steelers, but he's expected to play at least a half against the Saints.

Van Pelt said early in camp he knew that all the work Tolzien had put in to fine tune his footwork and remake his throwing motion had paid off.

"You go back to the end of April, we've been at this thing [a long time]," Tolzien said. "So it's a good opportunity to showcase the work that you've put in, not just you but the 10 other guys on the field with you."

Tolzien's accuracy is far better than what it was in 2013, when he played in parts of three regular-season games while Rodgers was sidelined because of his broken collarbone. Tolzien was benched after he threw five interceptions and only one touchdown.

In the two preseasons since, Tolzien hasn't thrown an interception and has combined for five touchdown passes while completing 64.8 percent of his passes for 686 yards. His combined passer rating the last two summers is 105.8.

When asked if there's anything more he needs to see Tolzien do, Van Pelt didn't hesitate to say, "No."

"Just to see him do what he's supposed to do," Van Pelt added. "That's the biggest thing. Sometimes these young quarterbacks think they need to be Aaron even when they can't. Aaron processes the information so quickly, so just do what you're asked to do and nothing more. Protect the football, which he does well; command the huddle, which he does great; study his butt off. Just keep being Scott. I think he's had a tremendous camp."

It wouldn't be in Tolzien's nature to say he's arrived. Rodgers describes him as the "ultimate gym rat," and it's clear Tolzien views himself as a work in progress.

"The way I look at it is there's still another opportunity to play in a game situation, so there's always stuff that you can build on, especially when you're not a starter," Tolzien said. "These preseason games are vital because you only get four of them."