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No, the Green Bay Packers backup quarterback's only noticeable anxious moments were after practice, when a throng of reporters surrounded him at his locker.
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Green Bay Packers' Matt Flynn taking a snap from center Scott Wells in the 3rd quarter. The Green Bay Packers traveled to Tampa to play the Tampa Bay Buccaneers Sunday September 28, 2008. Steve Apps-State Journal. |
It wasn't the questions themselves - Flynn was unfazed by the extra media attention throughout the week - but what they were keeping him from: Picking up his girlfriend, Lacey, who was flying in from Louisiana for a previously planned visit.
Not wanting to leave her stranded at the at Austin Straubel airport baggage claim, Flynn answered questions for 90 seconds before making a bee-line for the players' parking lot and Hwy. 172.
''Gotta go,'' he said, jogging across the locker room.
No one knows for sure whether the 23-year-old Flynn, the second of two quarterbacks the Packers drafted this spring - the seventh-round pick beat out second-round pick Brian Brohm for the primary backup job - will get the call for today's game against the Falcons at Lambeau Field.
That's because no one knows for sure whether Rodgers, who suffered a dislocated right (throwing) shoulder during last Sunday's loss at Tampa Bay, will be able to play. Rodgers' practice time was next to nil during the week, and his status won't be decided until coach Mike McCarthy hands in the inactive list at 10:30 a.m. today.
On top of that, no one knows for sure how Flynn, who was 2-for-5 for 6 yards in relief of Rodgers against the Buccaneers, will fare. Although his preseason numbers were solid - 27-for-42 (64.3 percent) for 209 yards and three touchdowns with no interceptions and five sacks for a 100.2 passer rating - he looked a little out-of-sorts last Sunday.
But this, this everyone knows for sure: The kid won't be overwhelmed by the task at hand if he does indeed get the starting nod.
''I think you have to admire Matt Flynn's disposition, the way he approaches football. Nothing rattles him,'' McCarthy said. ''I don't worry about the game as far as the environment. He's played in big games.''
Indeed, Flynn led LSU to the national championship last season, going 19-for-27 for 174 yards and four touchdowns to earn the offensive MVP award in the Tigers' BCS title game victory over Ohio State.
''That's what makes you even more comfortable with him - he's not twitching, not one bit. I think he's going to do a great job if he gets the start,'' said wide receiver Greg Jennings, who enters the game leading the NFL in receiving yards.
''He's won on the big stage before - obviously not the National Football League - but I don't think this is going to bother him. I think he's going to be up for the challenge.''
But it wasn't Flynn's big-game performance that prepared him for today. The lesson instead came on Sept. 11, 2004, in his collegiate debut.
Lesson learned
As a redshirt freshman that day, playing behind Marcus Randall and JaMarcus Russell, Flynn saw his first action in what would end up being a 53-3 rout of Arkansas State.
Already up 37-0 with 3 minutes left until halftime, Flynn entered the game ... and promptly led the Tigers to their only punt of the half. He also mopped-up in the fourth quarter, ending the game having thrown incompletions on his two pass attempts.
''That was a good learning experience for me, because I'd never really been a backup before,'' said Flynn, who starred at Robert E. Lee High School in Tyler, Texas. ''It wasn't that I wasn't prepared, but I wasn't ready to actually play. I didn't perform too well. I wasn't ready, I didn't really understand how to be a backup, I wasn't ready to be called at any time.
''After that, I always came in and was prepared to go. That's something that I was fortunate to learn early in college.''
Although certainly not by design, Flynn became something of a backup quarterbacking expert from then on, waiting his turn behind Russell, the NFL Draft's No. 1 overall pick in 2007. In his only other start before last season, as a sophomore in the 2005 Peach Bowl, he was the offensive MVP in a 40-3 victory over Miami (Fla.).
''It's definitely helped me, my past experience,'' Flynn said. ''I was a backup for three years, so I understand what the position I have, what it takes, the mental preparation, the physical preparation. I understand what it's like and the things I need to do if I do get a chance to go in there.''
General manager Ted Thompson said the team didn't draft Flynn because of his backup experience - ''I don't know if it matters that he's been a backup; it matters that he can play and adds value to our team,'' Thompson said - but Flynn's ability to go into a game without being overwhelmed was a selling point.
''If you get thrown into the fire, I think it's very important you don't look shaken up, you don't look nervous,'' Flynn said. ''In my mind my heart may be going a 100 miles a minute inside, but I don't think I ever show that and it's something I try not to.''
Mr. Cool
That's consistent with what his coaches and teammates observed from him throughout the week.
''He's not a boisterous kind of guy. I kind of like guys like that. They just go about their business,'' offensive coordinator Joe Philbin said. ''He's got some fire in his belly. He's maybe not going to wear it on his sleeve all that much, whereas some other guys do, but I like the way he handles himself. I've been impressed.''
Or, as quarterbacks coach Tom Clements put it, ''He's a competitive kid, but you can be competitive without being hyper about it. He's a quiet kid, but I think it's because he's thinking about what he's supposed to do. He's watching the film, taking in what we tell him about the game plan, asking the right questions if he doesn't understand something, and he's just focused on what he needs to do in order to be ready to perform.''
While Clements said the offense might be ''condensed it a little bit'' for Flynn, Philbin said the coaches will fight the urge to be overly conservative with him in the game, which seemed to happen against the Buccaneers.
With a week of preparation, Philbin said the coaches are ''absolutely'' more confident in Flynn's ability.
''We all have confidence, (but) until he goes out and plays a game, we're all just projecting,'' Philbin said. ''But we're excited. If he's the guy out there, we'll be excited to see what he's capable of doing and see his leadership skills. He's got talent and ability. It'll be fun to be a part of.''
It will be fun for Flynn, too, even if it doesn't look like it.
''I guess I've always been this way,'' he said. ''I've always been a real laid-back guy. Whether that be good or bad, depending on the situation, I don't know. I just see things as they are, and I don't get overly excited or overly disappointed about stuff.''
Which brings us to another of Flynn's defining college games, last October against Auburn.
Down 24-23 with only a few seconds left and facing a third-and-8 at the Auburn 22-yard line, offensive coordinator Gary Crowton and coach Les Miles eschewed a field-goal attempt and instead called a pass, which Flynn delivered to Demetrius Byrd for the game-winning touchdown with 1 second left.
It wasn't the throw so much as Flynn's demeanor before the play that showed just what the kid is all about.
''They kind of gave me a hard time (afterward) because I kind of just strolled up to the line of scrimmage, wasn't in a big hurry or whatever,'' Flynn said with a smile. ''That's how I am, and it works for me.
''This would be a great opportunity. Obviously Aaron's the leader of this team. And I'd love to see him play. If not, if I get an opportunity to play, I'll be excited for it, and I'll try to take advantage of it.''
