Rollins plays well in NFL debut

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Quinten Rollins had a solid showing in the first half and early into the third quarter of his first professional football game Thursday night for the Green Bay Packers.

Playing in Foxboro, Mass. against the defending Super Bowl champion New England Patriots, Rollins was on the field sparingly while Tom Brady was quarterbacking the Patriots. Early, he played mostly in six defensive back sets but in the second quarter and beyond, Rollins played nearly every snap.

Late in the second quarter, Rollins had three pass breakups, nearly coming up with interceptions on two of those passes.

While he did play off the receiver a couple times, Rollins was generally in bump and run coverage.

On a play in the third quarter, when New England was faced with a short-yardage situation, it appeared the Patriots were going to run. But they called a quick pass, hoping to catch Rollins playing the run. However, Rollins didn’t take the fake and forced the quarterback to run with the ball.

He had his first tackle in the third quarter when the Patriots completed a quick slant pass and Rollins came up and made the stop. He was credited with three tackles through three full quarters of play.

He also played on the kick coverage team, the punt return team and the field goal block team.

Rollins is a 2010 graduate of Wilmington High School. He was a standout football and basketball player for the Hurricane but chose to attend Miami of Ohio and play basketball for the RedHawks. After setting several school records and playing four years of basketball at Miami, Rollins played one year of football while finishing up his fifth year of studies.

He had seven interceptions and was named the Mid-American Conference Defensive Player of the Year. After playing in the Senior Bowl, Rollins was drafted in the second round by the Packers in the NFL Draft.

There were three cornerbacks on the Green Bay roster who did not make the trip to New England, including No. 1 draft pick Demarious Randall, who roomed with Rollins at the Senior Bowl. Demetri Goodson, a former collegiate basketball player at Gonzaga who played football at Baylor, also remained in Green Bay.

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Mark Huber

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Reach Mark Huber at 382-2574 or on Twitter @wnjsports.

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