Lu Ke saw the worry in Logan's eyes and the surprise on his face and laughed heartily. "Wait, don't tell me you were so nervous last night that you couldn't sleep? Is that why you came to the training field early today?"
Logan gave Lu Ke, who was gloating, a look that said he regretted their friendship, but he couldn't help but feel his mood lighten a little.
The two of them pushed open the door to the locker room, then turned their heads to see a quiet and peaceful locker room. Everyone was quietly busy with their own things. No one was talking or discussing anything. Only glances were slowly exchanged in the air. The creaking sound of the locker room door suddenly became incredibly grating. The "ee-yah ee-yah" sound seemed to be trying to remind everyone:
Talk, someone say something.
But no one spoke.
Today, all the players seemed to have arrived earlier than usual, not just Logan. All the rookies had already arrived, and most of the veteran players were also there. The room was full of people, but there was no sound. The slow-moving silence subtly brought out the tension.
There was no need to look for them. In just a few glances, Lu Ke could find the other two focal points in the locker room: Alex Smith and Colin Kaepernick.
Alex's equipment bag was still on his shoulder. It looked like he had just arrived at the training facility. He was standing in front of his locker, taking out his equipment one by one and chatting softly with Vernon Davis, who was standing next to him. It seemed like it was just some small talk about meeting in the morning.
Colin was sitting on the long bench in the middle of the locker room with his right leg crossed, bending down to tie his shoelaces. He was so focused on his task that it was as if he didn't feel the flow of the air around him. He meticulously and flawlessly tied his shoelaces. Braylon Edwards was standing not far away, not saying anything, just watching Colin, as if he was hesitating whether to go over to him.
The appearance of Lu Ke and Logan broke the balance in the room. In an instant, all eyes were on them. Then, they all looked at Alex and Colin. The tension in the air slowly started to become muggy, and there was a feeling of suffocation.
This scene, in Lu Ke's eyes, was a bit funny. He could tell that everyone was holding back.
The conflicts in the locker room from the previous three weeks had built up little by little, which had angered Jim Harbaugh. He had forcibly suppressed the conflicts, and on the surface, everything remained calm. No one wanted to offend the head coach who had just taken office this year, especially a head coach with an iron fist. But the undercurrent of tension was constantly rising.
Parys Haralson was staring at Lu Ke, and his sharp eyes looked as if he wanted to eat him alive. Although Lu Ke had never known what irreconcilable conflict he had with the defensive team, it now seemed that he and Parys needed to get into a boxing ring and fight it out. Otherwise, Lu Ke was worried that Parys might explode at any second.
Braylon Edwards was no exception. His eyes were wide as saucers, and he didn't hide his bloodthirsty and violent aura at all. In the past three weeks, Braylon had been completely sidelined. He had completely lost his competitiveness as a wide receiver. When he occasionally played as a rotational player, he was almost invisible. Lu Ke had never even tried to throw to him once.
In fact, on the football field, a punch might be too simple and crude, but sometimes it was effective. However, the quarterback problem was never something that could be solved with a punch. Now, the tension in the San Francisco 49ers' locker room had to be suppressed, and everyone was waiting for today's quarterback showdown to decide the winner.
So, what should have been a man-to-man issue to be solved with punches had to be resolved by a stare-down. A street fight had instantly turned into a palace drama. The meaning of the fight for the starting quarterback position had unknowingly changed. This awkward and strange feeling made Lu Ke unable to hold back his laughter.
"Morning," Lu Ke said with a brilliant smile, taking the initiative to greet them. This action broke the balance in the locker room, and the suppressed and dull atmosphere instantly became lively.
"Morning, Bambi," Ted Ginn was the first to respond. Then Kyle Williams also joked with a laugh, "Did you finish your warm-up?"
At the same time, there were also scattered greetings from Chilo Rachal, Michael Crabtree, Jonathan Goodwin, and others. "Morning, Bambi."
In the midst of the greetings, Mike Iupati's teasing voice immediately rang out loudly. "While you were sleeping in, Bambi's training had already started. You should learn from him."
"Shut up. You talk as if you're so hardworking. You were later than me today, all right?" Williams retorted without backing down.
Iupati flexed his biceps and then thrust his hips forward. "How do you know I was sleeping in? What if I was getting my morning workout in?" This response instantly made everyone start to cheer and jeer. The awkward and tense atmosphere finally subsided.
Without any warning, Kaepernick stood up abruptly, picked up his helmet, and walked silently out of the locker room. He passed Lu Ke without any conversation or even eye contact. It was as if Lu Ke didn't exist. His figure quickly disappeared down the hallway.
As rookie players from the same year, the competition between Lu Ke and Kaepernick was more direct and more blatant. After the "pause" caused by the concussion, the connection Kaepernick had built with the other rookies seemed to no longer exist. What's more, the four losses in the preseason, compared to the three wins in the regular season, made Kaepernick feel even more insecure.
In today's quarterback showdown, Kaepernick was not only fighting for the starting position, but also for himself and his future career.
Rookie quarterbacks always start their careers on the bench. Aaron Rodgers even sat on the bench for three seasons, but the person who kept Rodgers on the bench was a Hall of Fame quarterback, Brett Favre, not just another random rookie, and certainly not an undrafted rookie. Colin Kaepernick was a second-round pick!
So, Kaepernick left the locker room with a murderous intent, his entire body filled with a high fighting spirit. After hesitating for a moment, Braylon Edwards also followed him, jogging out of the locker room.
Lu Ke looked away and walked toward his locker. He unintentionally saw Vernon Davis. He politely nodded at him, without a smile or words, but at least he greeted him.
Alex Smith, who had his back to Lu Ke, noticed what Davis had done and also turned around. He gave a polite smile in return, then looked away and started preparing for training.
Parys Haralson swaggered over and said exaggeratedly, "Alex, what do you say? Are you ready? Are you going to show them what an experienced and true veteran is on the training field today? This kind of experience is priceless."
Although he was talking to Alex, Parys's eyes kept intentionally or unintentionally drifting toward Lu Ke. But his actions were so obvious that they were a bit clumsy. Lu Ke deeply believed that athletes were not very good at palace dramas.
"Parys, hurry up and get ready. I'll see you on the training field later," Alex said simply, patting his friend on the shoulder.
But the other person acted as if he hadn't heard him and laughed exaggeratedly again. "Yes, yes, let's hurry to the training field. Everyone is waiting for your return and for you to show off your unmatched short passing game. Even Tom Brady praised you, didn't he?"
"Parys!" Alex said in a low voice. "I said, I'll see you on the training field!"
It was clear that Alex didn't want to continue the verbal argument. His decisive attitude made Parys feel that he was being snubbed. He shrugged. "I know, I know. I'll see you on the training field. As long as you're ready, everything will be fine! I just want to tell you that the members of the defensive team are always with you."
After saying that, he raised his hands in the air in a surrender motion, turned around, and swaggered away.
Lu Ke felt that Parys must be a movie lover. Especially Western movies. He had definitely watched too many of them.
When Lu Ke turned back, he was startled to see Logan, Marcus, Aldon, Kendall, and six or seven other people crowded behind him, staring intently at Parys, who had walked to the other end of the locker room. Then Marcus was the first to say, "Clown."
"Scoundrel."
"Idiot."
"...Psycho?"
The last voice was Kendall's. He seemed a little unsure. Then he saw everyone's eyes on him. Kendall shrugged, showing his innocence. "I felt like I was supposed to continue the chain, but I didn't know what to say."
Lu Ke couldn't help but laugh. "Instead of watching the show here, why don't you go watch the show on the training field? That's where the stage is." This reminder instantly made everyone's eyes light up. They started to get busy, chattering and shoving each other, changing into their training clothes, and getting ready to go on the field.
When the coaching staff arrived at the training facility, the players had already warmed up on their own and were doing basic stretching exercises in small groups on the training field. This kind of spontaneous and proactive scene was truly a rare sight.
Kippy Christ knew that the problems in the locker room hadn't been resolved. Even with the three wins, it had only eased the conflicts, not truly solved them.
For competitive sports, winning is always the best solution, but it didn't apply today. Kippy couldn't guess the reason.
Maybe it had something to do with Lu Ke's Chinese-American background, or maybe it didn't. After all, there was no precedent to refer to before Lu Ke. Maybe it had something to do with Lu Ke being an undrafted rookie, or that Lu Ke's starting position wasn't because of his strength, or that Lu Ke's college career lacked a reference sample... But no matter what, today's quarterback showdown was inevitable.
For the sake of winning, and also for the sake of the locker room.
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