With Plenty to Prove, Walker Finally Gives Himself ‘Grace’

With the reputation of being a “hothead,” Packers linebacker Quay Walker knows he has to show he can be a fiery player who’s not combustible.

GREEN BAY, Wis. – As any pastor will tell you, grace is receiving forgiveness even when it’s not earned.

Quay Walker, finally, had to give himself grace.

The Green Bay Packers linebacker is coming off one of the more polarizing seasons in NFL history. Mostly, he was really good. An All-Rookie season should have been something to celebrate. Instead, he couldn’t shake the thoughts of his second ejection, which came during the fourth quarter of the season-ending loss to the Detroit Lions.

“It was hard because it was our last game and I got kicked out,” Walker said after Saturday’s practice at training camp. “I felt real, real bad. Not only that, there’s a lot of kids. Sometimes I can forget who I am. A lot of kids look up to me, especially back home, so I felt real, real bad about that. It was hard to reflect on the good season that I had because I left off on a bad note. It was pretty hard. We’re here now, the past is the past, and I’m ready to move forward.”

It took a long time for Walker to move forward.

“I ain’t going to lie to you. It was hard giving myself grace,” he said. “This whole time this offseason, I thought about it every day.”

To make “the past the past,” he leaned on his former Georgia teammate Travon Walker, who was the No. 1 overall pick of the 2022 draft.

The “ready to move forward” part started when he arrived for the offseason program. At the urging of cornerback Jaire Alexander, Walker has started to meditate. He talks weekly to Dr. Chris Carr, the Packers’ director of performance psychology and team behavioral health.

“Just got to give myself grace because it would eat me up,” was Carr’s advice. “It was messing up mentally, to be honest with you. I wasn’t in the right mindset.”

Standing poised at his locker, not dodging any questions and delivering anything but cliched answers, Walker sounded like a mature young man ready to put the past behind him. Then again, he sounded like that guy after being ejected in a midseason loss at the Buffalo Bills.

Walker understands talk is talk. He’s got to walk that fine line of being a linebacker who’s fiery but not combustible.

Quay Walker (Photo by Tork Mason/USA Today Sports Images)

“Of course, I can say that, but I have to do it by my actions,” he said.

Walker understands he will be tested. Opponents, starting with Week 1 at the rival Chicago Bears, will push his buttons in hopes of drawing a reaction from a player with the reputation of being, as Walker said, a “hothead.” Every sage offensive lineman will poke and prod at him in hopes of getting a cheap 15 yards or, better yet, to get one of the best players on the field off the field.

“Oh, for sure. No doubt about it,” he said. “Once I show that it won’t affect me, teams won’t really try to do it anymore once I show that.”

But how?

That’s the million-dollar question. The starting point in moving forward will be living in the past.

“I’ve got to get back to the huddle,” he said. “They’re going to try to push me in the back after the play, do things like that, but I’ve got to tune that out because I’m already expecting it. I’ve got to go back to the huddle and think about how I felt when I did get ejected from those two games and how bad I felt. Every time I think about that, it pretty much sets me straight every time I think about that.”

Walker enters his second season as man with a reputation. You don’t get a second chance to make a first impression. You certainly don’t get a third chance. The fact that people who don’t know him have formed opinions about him based on two plays is one of the things that ate at him through the offseason.

“That’s what it is,” Walker said. “I can’t really worry about what other people think of me because a lot of people make mistakes, as well. Mine just was televised in front of millions of people.

“I can’t worry about what people think about me. If I did, which I was doing, that was pretty much driving me crazy because I was worried about how people were going to view me. If I sit around and think about how everybody (views) me, that’s going to make things way worse for me. I put it to the side. I can’t worry about what people think.”

Walker led the Packers in tackles as a rookie. While there were the predictable bumps in the road, he was really good. He had better ball production than he ever had in college with seven passes defensed and three forced fumbles. Moving forward, he arrived in camp a little bit slimmer and hopes to make his mark as a pass rusher while being even more effective in coverage.

After an impact rookie season marred by two enormous mistakes that will follow him indefinitely, Walker is looking to not only stay on the field but to get better on the field.

“It’s a lot I can get better at,” Walker said. “I don’t feel like I’m good at anything. Well, I feel like I’m good at stuff but there’s nothing I can’t be better at.”

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