Lucas Patrick feeling confident heading into 2020

Lucas Patrick knows better than most what it’s like to go through adversity. He arrived in Green Bay in 2016, a tryout player just looking for an opportunity. Now, four years and a contract extension later, he’s heading into the 2020 season as one of the Packers’ top offensive line backups. He’s bringing along the same mindset that he carried as a roster longshot years ago, even if his recent extension gives him additional job security.

“It hasn’t changed my mentality. I’m still going to come in every day like the same guy that showed up in 2016 for a tryout,” he said in a web conference with reporters Monday. “This league’s pretty black and white and cut and dried. If you’re not performing well, they’re gonna find someone else.”

Now, with the Packers having wrapped up camp, Patrick is buckling down for the start of the regular season. Though there are still plenty of unknowns, Patrick says the reality is that Week 1 is coming, like it or not.

“I think most of us understand that the NFL train is rolling,” he said. “A little under two weeks from today 53 guys are gonna show up to Minnesota and they’re gonna play a football game, whether it’s the 22 slated starters or someone else filling in.”

When he does take the field, Patrick plans to wear a specially made facemask attachment designed to limit the spread of any airborne pathogens Patrick (or any other nearby lineman) might be breathing. He says whatever he can do to limit his exposure feels like a good step.

“We’re at a higher risk playing o-line and d-line,” he said. “So I just want to protect myself and my teammates.”