*Daryn Colledge entered his first NFL training camp with as much pressure as any rookie could have.
He's was penciled into the starting lineup at left guard, but after a rough preseason opener has been bumped down to the second team and is trying to work his way back into the starting lineup.
Colledge, one of the Packers' second-round draft picks, grew up in North Pole, Alaska, a town of less than 2,000 people located 14 miles southeast of Fairbanks. He went on to a decorated college football career at Boise State, where he set school records for games played and started with 52.
In April, he became the highest-ever NFL draft choice from the state of Alaska - and the eighth overall - when he was picked 47th overall by the Packers.
Colledge has been working extremely hard to make the impact that's expected of him in 2006, and he's keeping Packers fans updated in this Training Camp Diary.
In this fourth installment, he looks back on his first NFL game at San Diego, a week of practice with the second unit, and getting ready for Saturday's game against Atlanta.*
Daryn Colledge:The atmosphere of that first NFL game was amazing. It was just like everything you could have imagined it would have been. You've got the flag out there in the national anthem, the helicopters flying over the top and the Chargers on the other side of the field, it was something you only dream about. That part was a great experience.
During the game, I did a lot of good things, but I made probably four crucial mistakes, four mistakes that are not like me and can't be acceptable. Being put down to the second team is a reminder that hey, it's not your job, and they expect perfection and nobody has promised you this opportunity.
The difference between the pro game and the college game, or even playing in a game versus practice here, is they're all great athletes and everybody knows what they're doing all the time. Even when you play against our defense here, they're running the other team's defense and they don't exactly know how to do that right. So they're not going to move as fast as someone like San Diego will. The difference in the game is you have premium athletes out there with every single rep.
You just have to wipe the slate and move on. This was my first game, this isn't my 10th game in the NFL. It was my first game and it was not a great experience, but I expect to be better the next game and the more experience I get out there the more and more confident I'll become.
I think this week has been a great opportunity. I've been playing with the second team and practicing better than ever. I've probably had my best string of practices since I've been in Green Bay. Hopefully I can work myself up and make myself one of the top five guys and they'll find a spot for me.
The coaches just want me to play faster. I got out there against San Diego and played timid. I was running with the 1's and I didn't want to be that guy that was making mistakes, and that caused me to make mistakes. I just have to get out there and play football and run around at 100 miles an hour.
For this second game, I just don't want to make any mental errors and I want to have fun. I want to play fast. I didn't do that in San Diego. I didn't play fast and I wasn't having a lot of fun out there and I wasn't playing football like I know I can. For me, I'm going to go into the Atlanta game and have a good time and just play football.
