Seahawks' Bruce Irvin Will Pray for Packers Rookie C Corey Linsley for Opener

Being a rookie in the National Football League is tough, but when the first game that a player has to play is against the defending Super Bowl champions, in their building, during prime time, it's going to be nothing like he's ever experienced.

The Seattle Seahawks will host the Green Bay Packers on Thursday night. Given that the Seahawks have arguably the best defense in the NFL and a great home-field advantage at CenturyLink Field, it could be a long professional debut for Packers center Corey Linsley.

Projected starter JC Tretter suffered a knee injury late in the preseason, and ESPN.com's Rob Demovsky has reported that the Packers have put Tretter on short-term injured reserve. That means Linsley, a fifth-round pick out of Ohio State, will get the start Thursday. That has Seattle linebacker Bruce Irvin concerned about the first-year player.

Here's what Irvin had to say about Linsley to reporters Tuesday, per ProFootballTalk.com's Curtis Crabtree:

"

If I'm a rookie and I've got Brandon Mebane my first game—he's one of the best nose tackles in the league—it's going to be big for him. I'm gonna pray for him. It's going to be a long night, man.

All the weaknesses that [Linsley] shows us, we've got to expose it. Hopefully, Bane going to do what I know he's going to do to him. So, we've just got to be ready.

"

You've been warned, Linsley.

The Seahawks were certainly never afraid to speak their minds last season, and it looks like they will remain extremely confident as they look to defend their title.