Cheesehead
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- Mar 19, 2019
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The last two days in practice, the one lining up next to Martinez with the No. 1 defense has been Bolton, an undrafted rookie from Oklahoma, whose journey is as unlikely as it gets.
A backup early in his college career, Bolton saw his redshirt junior season cut short by an ankle injury that led some to question whether he’d even come back for his fifth year. He did, earned a starting job and honorable mention All-Big 12 Conference recognition, but suffered through what he called “heartbreaking stuff” when he wasn’t drafted despite fielding calls from several teams in the late rounds.
Having visited Green Bay in the pre-draft process, he liked the culture and opportunity and hasn’t regretted for one moment coming to the Packers as a college free agent.
“All I know is this team took a chance on me and regardless if I was drafted third or fourth round or undrafted, I’m grateful to be here,” Bolton said. “A guy like me was never supposed to be here.”
Bolton likens himself to a “Swiss Army knife” as a linebacker who can both drop into coverage and provide some juice to the pass rush on a blitz. In the first preseason game, he was constantly on the attack but didn’t wind up with as much to show for it as he should have.
“Yeah, I’ve got to finish plays,” he said. “My first or second play in, I should have got a TFL, didn’t get it. I tipped a pass and jumped, could’ve picked it, didn’t pick it. I cleanly beat the running back on a pass rush, don’t get the sack. Those are the things if you want to play in this league, you’ve got to finish those.”
Summers was feeling similarly. Even though he led the defense against the Texans with 10 tackles (nine solo), he also missed a handful, perhaps partly due to fatigue from playing so many snaps in the first game.