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Quinten Rollins 'outplayed everybody' in Packers' cornerback group

GREEN BAY, Wis. -- There's heralded rookie Kevin King, veteran free agent Davon House, 2015 first-round draft pick Damarious Randall, and last year's de facto No. 1 cover man LaDarius Gunter.

And not a single one of them can match what Quinten Rollins has done so far in Green Bay Packers training camp.

"He's pretty much outplayed everybody," Packers cornerbacks coach Joe Whitt said.

"In the offseason, he outplayed everybody. Right now, he's doing the same thing. So it's been good."

So good that when Whitt found out King couldn't practice earlier this week because of a shoulder injury, he gave Rollins the choice of where he wanted to play -- in the slot or on the outside -- with the No. 1 defense.

Rollins' answer couldn't have made Whitt happier.

"He said, 'I don't care,'" Whitt said.

So Whitt decided to play Rollins on the outside and go with Randall in the slot. It was a vote of confidence in Rollins, who was taken one round after Randall, and a sign that the Packers believe he might be the more versatile player between the two.

Like Randall, Rollins battled a groin injury last season. Randall had surgery on his during the year, while Rollins waited until after the season. On the field, both were shaky at best and eventually fell on the depth chart behind Gunter, who was an undrafted free agent in their same draft class. It all factored into the Packers' plummet to No. 31 in passing yards allowed last season.

Even with the return of House after two years in Jacksonville and the addition of King in the draft, Rollins looks like he's close to locking up a major role in Whitt's group.

"You can tell his core issues have been taken care of," Whitt said. "He's fluid. You can see the explosiveness out of his breaks. The kid is coming in with a focus that our standard of play wasn't there last year, and he's a very prideful man. He hasn't said two words. He's just been working, and that's what I like. We don't need a lot of talking. We've got to get to work and prove that we can play to the standard of this room, and hopefully we'll continue to do that."

Rollins may end up playing in the slot -- or "star" position as it's called in coordinator Dom Capers' defense -- if Whitt decides to go with the two bigger corners (House and King) on the outside. In fact, Capers thinks Rollins might be best suited to play inside.

"I really like the way he's played inside at the star position," Capers said. "Again, I think that he's a guy that worked through kind of the injury situation. We moved him outside. He can play either inside or outside, but I really like the way he played in the star. I think he can give us a physical guy in there. I think he can make plays on the ball."

Rollins made perhaps the biggest play of camp so far when he made a diving interception in the end zone on an Aaron Rodgers pass intended for Randall Cobb.

"That was a woo, splash-type play," Whitt said. "Now, we need more of that. All right? ... Not to try to take anything away from what Quinten has done, but that's our job."

Said Rollins: "It was good for that day, yeah. That's momentum for that day, but you can't bring it with you to the next day because each day is its own."

Yet as other players have rotated in with the starters, Rollins' presence has been consistent.

"You're probably reading into it more than me, but you obviously want to be out there with the 1s," Rollins said. "That means you're doing something right. Be out there when [Rodgers] is out there, because that's the most beneficial reps when you're going against a great quarterback like that. Like I said, you guys are probably reading into it more than me, because I know there's a lot more football to be played."

Either way, Rollins appears to have put last year's struggles -- both with health and performance -- behind him.

"You just have to hit the reset button on a year like that," Rollins said. "Obviously, you're learning things with injury, how to take care of your body, stuff like that. And what to do, what not to do. You definitely can learn something year to year, if you put that in perspective. Also, you have to flush it and get focused on this year, because it's a new year with new opportunities."