GREEN BAY, Wis. -- Maybe you noticed what Quinten Rollins did each time the Green Bay Packers rookie broke up a pass in Thursday's preseason opener against the New England Patriots.
Not a darn thing.
He got up, walked back to the huddle and readied himself for the next play.
While everyone else was excited about the second-round draft pick's debut -- and his potential to be another shutdown cornerback -- Rollins' attitude was basically, no big whoop.
"I did what I was supposed to do," Rollins said after Saturday's practice. "We've been out here doing this the whole OTAs and then training camp. We're supposed to cover; that's what we did.”
That steady disposition might be one of Rollins' best qualities. You'd hardly know he only played one year of college football at Miami (Ohio) after a successful four-year basketball career.
"I feel like my personality goes right with the position," he said. "I've just never been a real big guy [to say], 'Oh, I made one play, let's get excited.' That's your job. That's what you're supposed to do."
So did Rollins do his job on those two passes he broke up or should he have intercepted them?
"I did my job," Rollins said.
Then he smiled and added, "But you can always do your job better than you're supposed to do it."
At this point, Rollins looks like he has a shot to play meaningful snaps as a rookie. He already has shown the ability to handle both the outside position, where he played against the Patriots when he had the two pass breakups, and in the slot, where he lined up early in training camp.
If he keeps it up, perhaps he'll challenge Casey Hayward for a starting job. He's well ahead of first-round pick Damarious Randall, who did not play against the Patriots because of a groin injury and wasn't back at practice on Saturday. At the very least, he looks like a good bet to be the sixth defensive back in the dime package.
Consider the impression Rollins has made on rookie receiver Ty Montgomery, who has been perhaps the biggest playmaker in training camp. The third-round pick said Rollins seems so natural, so instinctive that it looks like he's never out of position.
"If he's guessing, he's guessing right," Montgomery said. "You know what I mean?"
Third-year defensive back Micah Hyde said there's no guessing in football.
"It's not guessing at all," Hyde said. "If we guessed, there would be a lot more blown coverages."
"I think it's just instinct,” Hyde added when asked about Rollins. "He's just a good football player. He plays off his leverage, and he knows where his help is. From there, he can make plays."
Rollins' temperament was tested on Saturday. The first time he took the field following his preseason debut, he had perhaps his worst practice of camp. He misplayed a deep ball and gave up a 57-yard completion from Brett Hundley to Larry Pinkard on the first play of the two-minute drill. On the next play, Pinkard caught an 8-yard slant on Rollins for a touchdown to end practice.
His demeanor afterward, however, wasn't much different -- if at all -- than it was after the Patriots game.
"If you notice me, I never really show excitement about anything," he said. "If anything, I'll show when I had an interception. I might give a flinch or something just for the expectation of myself, but I expect to make those plays, especially when you're trying to be great. At the same time, you can't get too down on yourself because if you bury yourself in a hole, you're just going to make it that much harder to get out of. So I've just always been even-keeled."
































