PITTSBURGH — Quay Walker didn’t retaliate physically as DK Metcalf stuck his finger inside Walker’s facemask and then grabbed it with his full fist.

It was early in the fourth quarter of Sunday night’s game when the Green Bay Packers linebacker and Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver exchanged words after a 5-yard Steelers run on second-and-7. The hosts had a third-and-2 at their own 33-yard line in a game they trailed 29-19 with 9:57 remaining, but Walker’s restraint and Metcalf’s lack thereof pushed the Steelers back to a third-and-17 when the latter was flagged for unnecessary roughness. Defensive end Rashan Gary sacked quarterback Aaron Rodgers on the next play to force a punt, and the Packers went up 13 on their ensuing drive in an eventual 35-25 win.

Walker’s level-headed response to Metcalf’s barb was impressive, especially considering the linebacker’s history. The 2022 first-round pick was ejected twice as a rookie, first for shoving a Buffalo Bills practice squad player after a play that spilled into Buffalo’s sideline during a 10-point Bills win in Week 8. Then, in the Packers’ final game that season, a loss to the Detroit Lions in the regular-season finale with a playoff berth on the line, Walker was ejected midway through the fourth quarter of a game the Packers led by three. He was checking on his injured college teammate and then-Lions running back, D’Andre Swift, when he shoved a member of Detroit’s medical staff who was trying to get past Walker to reach Swift. According to ESPN Research, Walker was the only player at the time to be ejected twice in a season since the start of the century, when it began tracking ejections.

Walker was distraught heading up the tunnel after his second ejection, having let his emotions get the best of him. He’d later say that he thought about his ejections the entire offseason before his second year in the league.

Now calm, cool and collected inside the visiting locker room at Acrisure Stadium after the Packers improved to 5-1-1 this season, Walker was asked if the 2022 version of himself would’ve reacted how he did in Metcalf’s face.

“Hell nah,” he said. “Just remembering how I felt after that ejection and stuff like that, just done came a long way. It’s just all about putting the team first and not making the selfish decision like that, responding back, so that’s the main thing … I just done matured a whole lot, I’ll say, in that situation, so I just knew automatically how to respond.”

During the 2023 offseason, Walker started meditating at the recommendation of former Packers cornerback Jaire Alexander, an avid meditator himself. He hoped that would help eliminate his anger issues on the field. Walker also consulted Dr. Chris Carr, the Packers’ team behavioral health clinician, in an effort to vocalize his feelings instead of holding them in.

Now calm, cool and collected inside the visiting locker room at Acrisure Stadium after the Packers improved to 5-1-1 this season, Walker was asked if the 2022 version of himself would’ve reacted how he did in Metcalf’s face.

“Hell nah,” he said. “Just remembering how I felt after that ejection and stuff like that, just done came a long way. It’s just all about putting the team first and not making the selfish decision like that, responding back, so that’s the main thing … I just done matured a whole lot, I’ll say, in that situation, so I just knew automatically how to respond.”

During the 2023 offseason, Walker started meditating at the recommendation of former Packers cornerback Jaire Alexander, an avid meditator himself. He hoped that would help eliminate his anger issues on the field. Walker also consulted Dr. Chris Carr, the Packers’ team behavioral health clinician, in an effort to vocalize his feelings instead of holding them in.

Walker’s response that the country saw in prime time on Sunday night was the result of much hard work on himself.

“Back then, it would’ve really been hard (not to retaliate) because I would’ve responded back, for sure, but at the end of the day, it’s just football, man,” Walker said. “A lot of guys — I’m not gonna really go into detail about (Metcalf) — but that’s just the best way to respond. With me meditating and all the practices and everything I done did, working over the years ever since the last ejection, all of it just [comes] in hand(y).

“It’s just maturing, man. I’m older now. I was 22 years old when I first did that, but now I just done grew up ever since that situation. I just know how it felt last time I did that. I felt real, real, real bad and just didn’t wanna feel that … I know how to handle things now, you know?”

Before this season, Packers players voted on three season-long captains for the offense and defense each, along with one for special teams. Walker, Gary and safety Xavier McKinney were elected on defense, and Packers head coach Matt LaFleur said Sunday night was a reflection of why teammates bestowed the honor upon Walker.

“He’s wearing a ‘C’ on his jersey for a reason,” LaFleur said of Walker’s growth. “He’s definitely earned it and I think just the growth, you’ve seen it as a player. He’s playing at a really high level right now, but the maturity that he’s shown … he represented what we want to be about, just playing between the whistles, playing nasty between the whistles, and then let them do all that extra stuff. And I thought that just was a big-time, a really mature moment for him.”

LaFleur said that Walker drawing a 15-yard penalty on Metcalf, which essentially forced the Steelers into a check-down and punt, was as good as a takeaway.

“When he came in Year 1 to where he is now is night and day,” Gary said of Walker. “A couple years ago, he would’ve reacted. So just understanding the game situation, understanding where we was at, kind of a close game, can’t have them type of penalties, and I’m happy that it went the other way.”

Packers defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley was asked last week about Walker and first thanked the reporter because he wanted to give Walker praise. Hafley said he had been playing at an “elite” level and there’s no reason that evaluation has changed after Sunday night’s victory.

Walker’s resurgence has come at an opportune time. The Packers didn’t exercise his fifth-year option in the spring, so he’s in a contract year with an uncertain future beyond 2025. If his growth both on and off the field is any indication, though, Walker may not be going anywhere after this season.

“His communication, the way he’s calling things out, the way he’s studying the game, the way he’s practicing, his leadership on our team, to me, is at a whole different level on the field and off the field,” Hafley said. “Then you see what he’s able to do in the run game, and then last week, when he had an opportunity to go 1-on-1 with some of those backs and really do a nice job on the pressures … I love being around the guy right now and I give him a ton of credit. He’s doing an awesome job.”