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PITTSBURGH \u2014 Quay Walker didn\u2019t retaliate physically as DK Metcalf stuck his finger inside Walker\u2019s facemask and then grabbed it with his full fist.<\/p>\n
It was early in the fourth quarter of Sunday night\u2019s 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\u2019s restraint and Metcalf\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n
Walker\u2019s level-headed response to Metcalf\u2019s barb was impressive, especially considering the linebacker\u2019s 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\u2019s sideline during a 10-point Bills win in Week 8. Then, in the Packers\u2019 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\u2019Andre Swift, when he shoved a member of Detroit\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n
Walker was distraught heading up the tunnel after his second ejection, having let his emotions get the best of him. He\u2019d later say that he thought about his ejections the entire offseason before his second year in the league.<\/p>\n
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\u2019ve reacted how he did in Metcalf\u2019s face.<\/p>\n
\u201cHell nah,\u201d he said. \u201cJust remembering how I felt after that ejection and stuff like that, just done came a long way. It\u2019s just all about putting the team first and not making the selfish decision like that, responding back, so that\u2019s the main thing \u2026 I just done matured a whole lot, I\u2019ll say, in that situation, so I just knew automatically how to respond.\u201d<\/p>\n
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\u2019 team behavioral health clinician, in an effort to vocalize his feelings instead of holding them in.<\/p>\n
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\u2019ve reacted how he did in Metcalf\u2019s face.<\/p>\n
\u201cHell nah,\u201d he said. \u201cJust remembering how I felt after that ejection and stuff like that, just done came a long way. It\u2019s just all about putting the team first and not making the selfish decision like that, responding back, so that\u2019s the main thing \u2026 I just done matured a whole lot, I\u2019ll say, in that situation, so I just knew automatically how to respond.\u201d<\/p>\n
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\u2019 team behavioral health clinician, in an effort to vocalize his feelings instead of holding them in.<\/p>\n
Walker\u2019s response that the country saw in prime time on Sunday night was the result of much hard work on himself.<\/p>\n
\u201cBack then, it would\u2019ve really been hard (not to retaliate) because I would\u2019ve responded back, for sure, but at the end of the day, it\u2019s just football, man,\u201d Walker said. \u201cA lot of guys \u2014 I\u2019m not gonna really go into detail about (Metcalf) \u2014 but that\u2019s 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).<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s just maturing, man. I\u2019m 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\u2019t wanna feel that \u2026 I know how to handle things now, you know?\u201d<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s wearing a \u2018C\u2019 on his jersey for a reason,\u201d LaFleur said of Walker\u2019s growth. \u201cHe\u2019s definitely earned it and I think just the growth, you\u2019ve seen it as a player. He\u2019s playing at a really high level right now, but the maturity that he\u2019s shown \u2026 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.\u201d<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen he came in Year 1 to where he is now is night and day,\u201d Gary said of Walker. \u201cA couple years ago, he would\u2019ve reacted. So just understanding the game situation, understanding where we was at, kind of a close game, can\u2019t have them type of penalties, and I\u2019m happy that it went the other way.\u201d<\/p>\n
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 \u201celite\u201d level and there\u2019s no reason that evaluation has changed after Sunday night\u2019s victory.<\/p>\n
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<\/picture><\/div>\nWalker\u2019s resurgence has come at an opportune time. The Packers didn\u2019t exercise his fifth-year option in the spring, so he\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n
\u201cHis communication, the way he\u2019s calling things out, the way he\u2019s studying the game, the way he\u2019s practicing, his leadership on our team, to me, is at a whole different level on the field and off the field,\u201d Hafley said. \u201cThen you see what he\u2019s 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 \u2026 I love being around the guy right now and I give him a ton of credit. He\u2019s doing an awesome job.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n