Green Bay Packers rookie center Corey Linsley admitted on Monday that the defending champion Seattle Seahawks got in his head with a little pregame trash talk.
Prior to Thursday’s season-opening game, Seahawks linebacker Bruce Irvin said he would pray for Linsley.
“If I’m a rookie and I’ve got Brandon Mebane my first game – he’s one of the best nose tackles in the league – it’s going to be big for him,” Irvin said. “I’m gonna pray for him. It’s going to be a long night, man.”
Linsley told the media Monday that the comments got to him at first.
“I was sitting in my hotel and it kind of got me aggravated that I had just gotten past the anxiety of everything and felt comfortable and confident going into the game and then I was like, ‘Man, these guys are after my head,'” Linsley said via the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. “‘I’m going to have the best defense in the league after my head.’
“I had to get over it. it took me a couple of hours to get over it.”
Linsley said he even called his girlfriend after hearing Irvin’s comments, and that helped him calm down.
Though Linsley doesn’t think he completely proved himself after one game, he did say that after a few plays Thursday, he felt like he belonged on the field.
The Packers allowed three sacks in the 36-16 loss. Head coach Mike McCarthy said he was happy with Linsley’s performance.
Here’s how Linsley assessed the line’s play:
O line did not play as bad as everyone is saying. Few bad plays but some of them you couldn't fix. Brought too many against the scheme.
— Corey Linsley #71 (@Linsley71) September 7, 2014
Photo: Twitter/Corey Linsley
