GREEN BAY — The projectile exited John Williams left nostril at a high rate of speed, narrowly missed one of the local TV stations’ microphones and disappeared. But everyone had seen it, including the Green Bay Packers rookie offensive lineman himself.

A sheepish grin quickly creased the seventh-round pick’s face. He was in the midst of making such a great first impression, too.

The former Cincinnati left tackle had navigated a series of questions about his college major — aerospace engineering, making him quite literally a rocket scientist — without a whiff of I’m-smarter-than-you-are condescension. He’d already given off a fun, everyman quality even before his unfortunate booger episode.

“Oh, JEEZ!” he blurted out, immediately and self-deprecatingly embracing the awkwardness of the moment before resuming his answer about what he’ll do with his hifalutin degree after his playing days are over.

Nearby, sixth-round pick Warren Brinson was in full-on audition mode. The ex-Georgia defensive tackle had made no bones about his post-football goal — to be an ESPN football analyst — and taking the opportunity to pub up the podcast he’d started during his career with the Bulldogs.

“Man, it’s so hard being in front of these cameras,” Brinson claimed facetiously. “When I see the cameras, I just freeze up.”

Hardly.

From showing off the chocolate bar he’d received from the Packers fans in Germany who’d announced his pick (“He said it’s the best chocolate in Germany, but I can’t read it so I’m going to Google translate”) to walking back his humblebrag that he didn’t need a journalism degree to start his podcast (“No knock on you guys”) to describing his stop at the Delta Sky Club in Detroit during his connection on his Atlanta-to-Green Bay trip (“They’ve got a good bathroom in there!”), Brinson made no effort whatsoever to hide his effusive personality.

And head coach Matt LaFleur wouldn’t have it any other way.

“I think we embrace everybody’s personality,” LaFleur said midway through the two-day rookie minicamp, which ended Saturday with a short workout that included 38 players (eight draft picks, 10 undrafted free-agent signees, 11 tryout players and nine holdovers from the roster. “At the end of the day, I want these guys to be themselves.

“Obviously, you want guys that love the game of football, that love to compete. You want guys that are high character, that are team-first kind of guys. But, I don’t want robots. I want guys to be true to themselves. I think that’s how they’re going to maximize their ability and their time here.”

Leading into the draft, general manager Brian Gutekunst had spoken at length about the importance of finding players who truly love football in an era where an increasing number of players see it as a means to an end rather than a calling.

But there’s also room in the high-pressure, high-stakes world of the NFL to enjoy the journey even as you work your tail off to succeed and carve out a career for yourself.

“Fun definitely helps. It’s hard to love the game if you’re not having fun playing the game,” Williams explained. “But there are some things [about football] that aren’t fun. Some things are hard, and they’re not fun — and those are things that you usually have to do the best.

“Obviously, I love to have fun. Everybody loves to have fun when they play football.”

Count Brinson among them. He’s already working on “Pack Dawg” t-shirts to commemorate all his fellow Bulldogs on the Packers roster (Quay Walker, Devonte Wyatt, Javon Bullard and fellow rookie Nazir Stackhouse), and he’s already done some trash-talking to fellow defensive lineman Barryn Sorrell, a Texas grad whom he beat twice in P-I-G on the basketball hoop in one of the meeting rooms.

“I’m like, ‘I’m 4-0 against you, boy!’” Brinson said, including the Bulldogs’ regular-season and SEC championship game wins over the Longhorns.

Of course, when it’s time to work, LaFleur expects his players to focus instead of fooling around, and Saturday’s drill-heavy practice session inside the Don Hutson Center was just that.

Whereas past rookie minicamps have included 1-on-1 and 11-on-11 periods, LaFleur has altered his approach to focus on fundamental work as players transition from the rigors of prepping for the NFL Draft to actually NFL employment.

LaFleur was stern when necessary, whether it was chiding one player for actually running too fast during a half-speed activity, or correcting Canadian quarterback Taylor Elgersma form on one of his throwing drills.

“The best time of the year is when our players are in the building. Whether it’s rookies or veterans, it’s always exciting when you get to work with your players,” LaFleur said. “That’s why we got into this thing, is to coach. We all love the game of football.

“There’s a little bit more purpose behind your work when your players are in the building. It just feels more meaningful. Whether you’re helping them on the field or off the field, it’s just that personal connection that is so key. It’s hard to do when you’re away from each other.”

After getting a week off, the rookies will return for Phase II of the offseason program, joining the returning veterans for those sessions, which will then lead into organized team activity practices at the end of the month.

Which is why Brinson isn’t thinking about his budding ESPN career and Williams isn’t worried about whether Lockheed Martin or SpaceX will hire him in their research departments if football doesn’t work out.

He’s all-in on football — which was the point he was trying to make when his nasal situation cropped up.

“The dream scenario (is), I never have to use my degree. That’s my dream scenario,” he said. “But, I mean, if I have to use it, then I’ll use it. But my dream scenario is I can just play football for the rest of my life.”

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