*A seventh-round draft pick in 2003, Steve Josue spent all of last season on the Green Bay Packers' practice squad.
This spring, the former Carson-Newman standout is overseas with the Amsterdam Admirals getting game experience in NFL Europe.
Through six games this season, playing weak-side linebacker, Josue has eight tackles (six solo), including a sack, plus four special teams tackles.
The Admirals meanwhile, have dropped to 2-4, but Josue is optimistic his team can turn it around, as he told Packers.com in the continuation of the NFL Europe Diary.*
Josue: I wish I could say that the last two weeks have been pretty good, but they haven't. After getting back to 2-2, we lost the last two games: 33-29 to Berlin and 20-13 to Rhein.
We played some pretty good football in those games, but we were pretty bad at times, too. Unfortunately we just made a lot of the same mistakes we've made all season. We left points on the field both offensively and defensively.
Now the season is going to start winding down, and if we want to keep in the World Bowl hunt we don't have any room for error.
Personally, I'm feeling pretty good about my performance. Like I said before, I thought I would be playing more from the beginning of the season. But lately I've been getting some more playing time, so that's nice.
Last week I played pretty well on special teams. It wasn't my best, but I'm working on it.
On defense, I think I'm doing okay. It's just frustrating when I'm standing on the sideline and I think I can help our defense on the field.
But I have to understand that I have a role within our scheme. I just have to keep my head up and take one day at a time.
Even though we're 2-4, I'm not letting it get to me. Overall, I think I'm good at handling adversity. And no matter what our record is, I still have a job to do.
This is a business. I'm trying to make myself better as a player so I can come back to Green Bay and earn a spot on the team. That doesn't change even though we're having a losing season.
Besides, I'm still having fun. I've enjoyed meeting some new people on the team, and I've had fun hanging out with Derek Combs and Tony Donald.
We're a really close group. Usually we go to meals together and hang out together.
Most of the time it's all about football over here, but we do get some free time. Tonight a bunch of us are going to watch a basketball game. A while back, most of the team went bowling.
Sometimes we have long travel days -- like that trip to Berlin that was about seven hours long -- but the guys make this an enjoyable experience. The traveling over here is taxing on our bodies, so it's important that we keep from being mentally tired, too.
Besides, there are advantages to making these trips, like getting to see the Berlin Wall.
We've been able to see a couple historic spots so far, but that was the most amazing by far. I honestly had no idea how long the wall was until I saw it with my own eyes.
A lot of guys on the team had their photos taken in front of the wall and wrote their names on it. It was pretty incredible. And seeing something like that helps you put things in perspective about your own life.
That's kind of what I'm trying to do on the football field. Yes, I wish I was playing more and I wish we were winning. But there's a lot that can be gained from this and I want to maximize the experience.
As a team, every game from here on out is important. And this weekend against Cologne is a must-win if we want to stay in the race.
We're in a hole, but it's not over yet. Anything's possible.
The Cologne Centurions-Amsterdam Admirals game is Saturday at noon CT. The Packers.com NFL Europe Diary will continue throughout the season.
