A couple weeks ago, when Patrick O’Connell got back to his hometown, it was a balmy 50 degrees in the Flathead Valley.

“Not bad,” he thought.

Then came this past Monday night, and a post-workout soak at a Missoula lodge.

“Oh gosh,” O’Connell, the Glacier High graduate and Buck Buchanan Award finalist with the Montana Grizzlies. “I was getting a quick 15 minutes in, just relaxing a little bit, and it started snowing. Just small stuff. … then it came down heavier, so I was a little worried about it.”

Things turned out well Tuesday for O’Connell at the University of Montana’s Pro Day. He was one of 10 former college players put through the paces by a couple handfuls of NFL scouts on the turf at Washington-Grizzly Stadium.

At the beginning a paper-thin layer of snow covered the Sprinturf, but as 10 o’clock turned to 11 it became a solid spring day. It wasn’t Florida — O’Connell spent the past few months training with Tom Shaw in Orlando — but it was doable.

“You walk outside and you’re already warm,” he said of the Sunshine State. “Here I’ve got to wear three layers. Sweatshirt, sweatpants, everything just to get warm. But I can’t complain at all.”

His numbers backed that up, and here we’d like to mention two college linebackers that stood out at the NFL Combine in early March: Anfernee Orji of Vanderbilt and Jack Campbell of Iowa.

It was only Ojri that had a vertical to match O’Connell’s 38 ½-inch mark on Tuesday. Only Campbell clocked better times in the 20-yard shuttle (4.24 seconds to O’Connell’s 4.29) and the L-Drill (6.74 to O’Connell’s 6.79).

O’Connell wasn’t really happy with his 40 time, which was 4.65. Orji was one of 15 linebackers to run faster at the Combine. Perhaps NFL officials will factor in a slick track and sub-par temperatures. And you know who else clocked 4.65 inside, in Indianapolis? Campbell.

Add in a 10-2 standing broad jump and things went swimmingly.

“That’s the best broad jump I’ve had in quite a long time,” he said. “The last couple weeks I was actually pretty nervous leading up to this. Just having a little trouble sleeping, trying to figure out what the day would bring. These last three days I’ve been super calm and I was super ready for this, and excited.

“I wasn’t nervous going in and thought I performed really well today.”

He was relaxed enough to joke about the tan line he’ll have when shaves his beard — it’s coming off ahead of his July wedding — yet alert enough to move a sports writer out of the way, lest he make a tackle on receiver Malik Flowers’ sideline route.

Other observations: Flowers, who clocked 4.46 through 40 yards, is truly fast; Griz quarterback (2018-21) Cam Humphrey, there to help run drills, still throws a very good ball; Number 37, Marcus Welnel. looked good and wasn’t far off O’Connell’s numbers in the vertical and broad jumps. And the shuttle.

“I think he had a really good day,” O’Connell said. “It’s kind of hard to go out and compete against your good friend, but I don’t think we thought about it like that. We just came out and had fun with the drills.”

O’Connell didn’t participate in Tuesday’s bench press (Welnel did, repping 225 pounds 27 times, which would have tied for second in Indy), saving his best for the timed events. He fielded questions about whether he can adjust from playing with a hand in the ground to covering passing routes.

Now he heads back to Kalispell until the NFL Draft, April 27-29 in Denver.

“Keep training, make sure I stay in shape,” he said, smiling. “Maintain my speed and power and strength. Wait for the draft and see what happens. Hope and pray for the best.”

Fritz Neighbor can be reached at 758-4463 or [email protected].