GREEN BAY, Wis. -- The good news traveled fast. So fast, in fact, that JC Tretter never had to share it with his family.

Not that he needed to. Or saw any reason to.

Around noon DT Monday, Green Bay Packers coach Mike McCarthy was finishing his pre-practice press conference at Lambeau Field when he announced that Tretter had earned the job as the team's opening-day starter at center.

Two hours later, the honky-tonk singer on stage at the Whiskey Bent Saloon in downtown Nashville was giving Tretter a shout-out in front of an audience which included Tretter’s father Joe and sister Katie, who'd learned the news via social media.

Celebrating @JCTretter and the upcoming season! #TretterTime #packers #GoPackGo #Greenbay #HonkyTonkShoutouts pic.twitter.com/fupmw67hIE

— Katie Tretter (@KatieTretter) August 22, 2016

Now, Katie Tretter is her brother's biggest fan. She follows virtually the entire Packers media corps on Twitter and, to help him prepare to be the Packers' starter two years ago, she was in his garage playing the role of Aaron Rodgers as JC practiced his shotgun snaps and quarterback-center exchanges. So, in Tretter's family, Monday's announcement merited a celebration, especially after all he'd been through during his first three NFL seasons.

The only person who apparently wasn't celebrating was, well, Tretter.

"Obviously, you're excited to have the opportunity to go out there and show people you can play," Tretter said after practice. "But I've tried to keep the same mindset through the rough patches and now this -- just trying to be steady and not really changing my approach.

"It’ll be a great opportunity, but I don't think the mindset really changes much. It's just continue to grind away and continue to do what you can to get better every day."

That attitude is a product not only of Tretter's even-keeled personality but of his NFL experience to this point. Rough patches? Tretter not only missed most of his rookie season in 2013 with a broken ankle suffered in the first OTA practice of the spring, he then lost his starting job in 2014 when he suffered an impaction fracture in his left knee during the third preseason game.

On Friday night, the Packers will play their third preseason game at San Francisco. Perhaps that's another reason why he wasn't overjoyed by Monday's news.

When Tretter went down in 2014, then-rookie fifth-round pick Corey Linsley took over and played every snap at center that season. Linsley was the starter again last year, save for the three games Tretter started in place of an injured Linsley.

But with Tretter's "excellent" camp (McCarthy's word) and Linsley still on the physically unable to perform list with a hamstring injury, McCarthy's decision was a relatively simple one.

"He's had a really good camp. Unfortunately, injuries take place, [and] he's made the most of his opportunity," offensive coordinator Edgar Bennett said of Tretter. "And that's really what it's about."

No one knows that better than Tretter, who has spent the past two years waiting for another opportunity. He proved to be a valuable jack-of-all-trades last season, playing four of the five line positions, including an impressive start at left tackle in the NFC wild-card playoffs after the Packers' two previous fill-ins for an injured David Bakhtiari -- swing tackle Don Barclay and left guard Josh Sitton -- had struggled.

While biding his time, Tretter never went into woe-is-me mode or worried about his NFL future (like fellow starters T.J. Lang, Sitton and Bakhtiari, he'll be a free agent at season's end). Instead, he kept working as if he was still in the lineup.

"JC is a true pro. I don't think he's one that dwells in negative experiences that happen to him," offensive line coach James Campen said. "He's just very calm and very sure of his abilities. He doesn't let things faze him too often."

Tretter figures to get plenty of work with Rodgers on Friday, with Rodgers slated to see what'll likely be his only preseason action. After that, the Packers' attention will turn to their Sept. 11 regular-season opener at Jacksonville, where Tretter should finally reclaim the starting job that was supposed to be his all along.

"I said it when I got hurt: Careers have ebbs and flows, and lot of it is just consistency and just rolling with it and continue to plug along and keep doing what you're doing," Tretter said. "This is the first step. This is about what goes on from here. It's about continuing to do your job and do it well.

"The end goal wasn't this. The end goal was to continue to play at a high level. I don't think the goal's been reached. [But] I'm excited to be a part of what I think this team can do."