National Football League

Rookie C Linsley's had one of the 'most impressive' starts, McCarthy says

Published Oct. 10, 2014 5:30 p.m. ET

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GREEN BAY, Wis. -- When JC Tretter was placed on temporary injured reserve the day before the regular season began, "temporary" was a fitting word to describe Corey Linsley's new role as the Green Bay Packers starting center. Subbing in Linsley was supposed to be a short-term solution to a difficult situation.

Five regular-season games later, and with Tretter able to return to practice next week, Linsley has all but secured the job as the Packers' permanent starting center.

"If things keep going the way they're going, I think we'll look back on this start as probably one of the most impressive situations that a young player has stepped up and performed in my time here -- and we've had a lot of guys step up," head coach Mike McCarthy said Friday.

Linsley has had his share of rookie mistakes. He had a miscommunication with Aaron Rodgers in the season opener in Seattle and got yelled at by his quarterback after Green Bay was forced to use a timeout. Linsley was also called for holding on what would've been a touchdown pass to Davante Adams in Chicago, nullifying Rodgers' incredible throw and a play that otherwise would've lived on the former NFL Most Valuable Player's highlight reel forever.

But mostly, it's been solid, strong play from the fifth-round pick out of Ohio State.

"I think from a confidence standpoint in Corey, no one ever wavered because of what you were able to see him do every day in training camp," McCarthy said. "He's one of those guys as a rookie that came in here and you knew right away he belonged. First day of pads, it was like [snaps finger], 'Hey man, this guy, he's a powerful young man.' So he fit right in. That's why I was never worried about him.

"Mentally, he's very sharp, very detailed, played in a big-time program, so he had a lot of things going for him."

Rodgers had spent the vast majority of his practice time in the offseason and training camp working with Tretter, a second-year player who was at center for the first time in his life. Tretter was to be the Packers' fourth starting center in four seasons, an arrangement that already had Rodgers frustrated with the frequent turnover at the position.

Then Tretter suffered a knee injury in the third preseason game. Green Bay opted to use its one-time-per-season designation to place Tretter on injured reserve, allowing the team to have him practice after six games and play after eight games. The first of those timelines expires after the Packers play at Miami this weekend, but Tretter is highly unlikely to return to the starting lineup once the eight-week mark passes.

"It's a week-by-week thing, so you can't look ahead to the future," Linsley said. "You're just going to kill yourself with anxiety and stuff. That's always how I looked at it."

Linsley has done a decent job as a pass-blocker, but it's been his powerful display as a run-blocker -- especially in his dominating performance Week 5 against Minnesota -- that has set him up to remain a starter even after Tretter returns.

Linsley has been the 10th-best center in the NFL this season, according to the ratings system at ProFootballFocus.

"It's not necessarily a surprise for me, but I had no idea if I was going to be . . . I know what my talents were, I knew what my strengths were, and I didn't know if it was going to be good enough because I hadn't played in an NFL game," Linsley said. "So it was just, constantly prove to yourself that you can do it. It's not really a matter of surprise; it's just proving to yourself."

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