Packers C Corey Linsley still improving in second NFL season

By foxsports
Published

There has hardly been a moment to pause and admire the job Corey Linsley has done at center since he got the starting job with the Packers last season. A fifth-round pick in last year's draft, Linsley started all 16 games as a rookie.

Through four games this season, Linsley is still holding on to the starting job and doing just fine. In fact, he's bubbling with potential to be even better than he already is.

Linsley, still the youngest of Green Bay's starting offensive linemen, spoke about his rapid growth recently, via Rob Reischel of the Journal Sentinel:

To gain a voice, I think I have to show it on the field. Last year, they helped me out a lot and it's going to take this year for me to prove to them. I just can't relax. I have to show them that I am improved and all that jazz.

They're the head dogs in the room, they're the veterans. But I think I can gain more respect from them as the season goes.

I still feel like I have to earn my voice. I've had one good year. Who knows how good it was? I've got to build on it.

Always driven and motivated to improve his performance, Linsley has drawn plenty of praise from his coaching staff. After all, this type development is unexpected for such an inexperienced player.

"Corey does a great job studying 'what did I do wrong' and he's applying them now," Packers offensive line coach James Campen said, per the Journal Sentinel. "Corey's going to be an even better player than he is now and he's taken on a leadership role, too."

The Packers' offensive line has done a pretty good job protecting Rodgers this season (six sacks, tied for seventh-fewest in NFL), and a lot of that has to do with Linsley's performance at center. With two strong guards in Josh Sitton and T.J. Lang lining up on either side of him, Green Bay has one of the best interior O-lines in the league.