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Rob Demovsky, ESPN Staff Writer
GREEN BAY, Wis. — Quay Walker knows his reputation. And the Green Bay Packers linebacker said he has spent an entire offseason reminding himself that he must change it.
The 2022 first-round draft pick, who became the first NFL player since 2000 to be ejected twice in one season, offered a glimpse into the efforts he has made to try to control himself better in the heat of the moment. His second ejection, in the season finale against the Lions, came when he shoved a member of Detroit’s medical staff who was trying to attend to an injured player.
“To be honest with you, this entire offseason I thought about the two ejections,” Walker said Saturday at Packers training camp. “It was hard giving myself grace on that, but at the same time, I’ve moved past it. The past is the past, and I’m just ready to move forward and just learn from it. Of course I can say that, but I have to do it by my actions. So I’m just ready to go from there.”
Walker had previously been ejected from the Packers’ Oct. 30 game at Buffalo for shoving a Bills practice squad player on the sideline.
He was not suspended despite being a repeat offender, but the NFL fined him $13,261 following the incident against the Lions. The next day, Walker made several public apologies — both on social media and in front of reporters — and said he had to “work on controlling my emotions.”
Walker said he works with Dr. Chris Carr, the Packers’ director of performance psychology/behavioral health clinician.
“I just talked to myself, meditating as well, talking to Dr. Carr, just being more open, just going from there,” Walker said. “I was a person that was real, real closed in, with all my thoughts and everything like that, with the stuff I had going on, but that ain’t really got anything to do with what took place. But those were the things I did over the offseason to prepare me to not make those same mistakes over again.”
Walker had an otherwise productive rookie season with a team-high 121 tackles (including 75 solo stops) plus five tackles for loss, 1.5 sacks, three forced fumbled and seven pass breakups.
The Packers plan to use him even more extensively this season, both at his natural inside linebacker position but also out on the edge.
Walker has also prepared for teams to try to bait him into losing his composure again.
“I know most teams will label me a hothead, so I kind of am already preparing for what’s going to happen and things like that,” he said. “So I’ve just got to be ready for everything that’s going to come. I know it’s going to come Week 1, with it being a rivalry game [against the Bears]. Every week, teams will try to go at me, so I’m already preparing for it.”