Very soon, the random e-mail messages -- supportive, nasty or otherwise -- will stop. So, too, will the irate answering machine messages.
Soon there will be no Penn State football, either. And, thus, no reason for fans to partially blame Penn State quarterback Zack Mills for the ruin of the Nittany Lions program.
Maybe then it will be a little easier for him to relax like a normal 22-year-old.
But, for now, he's stuck. If he leaves the game after taking a big hit -- because of another missed assignment by his porous pass protection -- it looks like he has no heart and desire. If stays in after suffering an injury, like the mild concussion he sustained Saturday, and plays poorly as a result, he gets booed off of the field.
And if he plays this weekend against Ohio State -- which he may be available to do if he passes a concussion test today -- many Penn State fans will probably throw things at their televisions in the unlikely event he trots on to the field to lead a drive.
"I am definitely optimistic," Mills said of being ready to play this weekend. "As long as I do well on this test, I'll be fine. My tests came back from Monday, and they weren't as good as I would have liked."
Penn State football coach Joe Paterno described Mills as doubtful when he met with the media on Tuesday.
Mills said the tests are an interactive computer program, testing memory and reaction among other types of mental sharpness exercises.
His sharpness certainly was the major issue during last Saturday's embarrassing 6-4 loss to Iowa at home. An Iowa defender leveled Mills as he threw on a third-and-4 with 5:40 left in the first half, and the tackle bounced the back of the fifth-year senior's head off of the Beaver Stadium turf just before his errant pass was deflected and intercepted.
He suffered the mild concussion on that play. Though it didn't stop him from playing the rest of the half and most of the third quarter, Mills didn't feel the same after that. And his performance suffered as a result. He felt a haze set in.
"A couple times in third quarter, I had some trouble comprehending some things," said Mills, who was 7-for-19 with 82 yards and two interceptions. "I couldn't see some of the signals coming in from the sideline. I stumbled running some plays. Things seemed to come slower."
And with all the bumbling, stumbling and just plain old ineptitude of the offense under Mills' watch -- that's why all the e-mail messages and the phone call came about.
"I've gotten some mixed e-mails," he said. "Some that say hang in there, some that say hang it up."
When asked what some of the messages said, Mills explained in earnest.
"One e-mail said, 'You need to go up there and tell [the coaches] you don't wanna play any more, and let some one else play,' " he said. "I got a message on my phone that said basically that I suck. Just stuff along those lines."
To his credit, Mills never blamed anyone for his problems or hinted that it was unfair for people to blame him for the Lions four-game losing streak. He only answered the questions reporters asked.
It's as if he's already trying to put it all behind him.
"The key is just to not really listen to any of it," Mills said. "But it's kind of hard at this stage of the game; they want to see us win, and they're frustrated. And they should be frustrated. We're going to hear some of it, some of the boos."
