GREEN BAY, Wis. -- Brett Hundley has heard other quarterbacks say it can take three years in the NFL to fully grasp the West Coast offense.
After three weeks, the Green Bay Packers rookie can understand why.
"The West Coast offense is a very, very specific offense in terms of how they approach things and how they attack certain looks and checks and things like that," Hundley said this week after an OTA practice. "It's different from the spread offense we ran [at UCLA]. I easily see why it takes three years to master it.
"Being in it for three weeks, let alone three years, I'm trying to do the best that I can to learn it. That's how approach it."
Since the Packers drafted Hundley in the fifth round last month, he has had one week of rookie camp, one week of individual work and after missing most of the first week of OTAs to attend the NFL Players Association Rookie Premier event, he is finishing his first complete week of full-squad practices.
In the lone practice open to reporters this week, Hundley split third-string reps with street free-agent Matt Blanchard. Neither got the chance to run the two-minute drill. In Hundley's case, it was probably because he wasn't ready. And it's perfectly understandable. Just ask any Packers receiver, who has to learn just one part of the offense, how tough it can be to absorb right away.
"He's a rookie; he's a quarterback on top of that," said Packers receiver Randall Cobb, a former quarterback in high school and early in college. "You have to know what the offensive line is doing. You have to know what the running back is doing, the receivers are doing. You have to be able to see the defense. There's a lot of things that go into it. Being a rookie quarterback, it makes it a lot tougher.
"His mental approach, that's going to be the biggest hurdle for him. Hopefully he has time to get that understanding and be able to build that. I think he's in a great room with some great coaches where he’s going to be able to pick up on those things."
Time is perhaps the best thing Hundley has going for him in his transition from UCLA's spread offense to Packers coach Mike McCarthy's West Coast-based system. Hundley might not even have to be the No. 2 quarterback this season if Scott Tolzien shows he's worthy of backing up Aaron Rodgers.
Known for his study habits and work ethic, it's no surprise Hundley expressed a desire to learn everything he can as quickly as he can.
"I hate not knowing things," Hundley said. "If I don’t know it, it's not like I’m going to sit here and throw a Gatorade at the wall, but I'm going to study it until I do know it."
Hundley's first OTA practice in front of reporters this week was a mixed bag. He showed good velocity and had plenty of arm to make the deep throws, but his footwork was off at times. During a red-zone period, he threw a short pass right into the arms of safety Jean Fanor, who might have returned it for a touchdown.
"He has a really good arm," said second-year receiver Davante Adams, who caught a few passes from Hundley on Tuesday. "Obviously, he was in a different situation at UCLA. They were in the [shot]gun a lot. He's working on footwork and things like that. I'm not quarterbacks coach, so I can't give you all the [details]. He looks good to me."