Spencer Petras isn’t oblivious to the pressure that comes with being the starting quarterback at Iowa. He also knows how much pressure fans can put on the guy under center if he isn’t living up to their expectations.

Petras doesn’t really care much about it, though.

On Tuesday, Petras met with the media as the Hawkeyes have kicked off their spring practices and are preparing for the 2021 season. The quarterback will be entering his second year as the starter in Iowa City and is well aware that there are plenty of critics after some of his performances last season. While those fans are entitled to their opinions, Petras says he’s not concerned with what they have to say.

“I got to sit behind Nate [Stanley] for two years and I’ve seen [the criticism]. Our fans love Iowa football. They just want what’s best for Iowa football. It is what it is,” Petras said. “I’ve had my fair share of experience watching Nate deal with it. Everyone has their own opinion, and that’s OK. No offense to the fans, but I could really care less what they have to say about my performance. I’m focused on my performance and the things we talked about — improvement and having a great spring.”

Petras was the quarterback that engineered a 6-2 season for Iowa during the 2020 campaign, throwing for 1,569 yards and 9 touchdowns while completing 57.1% of his passes. He also rushed for 2 touchdowns.

There’s certainly some room for improvement there, but Petras had a solid season as a first-time starter. And he is already focused on improving his accuracy — he wants to complete around 65% of his passes for the upcoming season.

Petras said he watch a lot of Alabama quarterback Mac Jones over the past two months as a way to improve his game. That’s not a bad guy to watch, as Jones was a Heisman Trophy finalist and led the Crimson Tide to an undefeated season and a national championship.

Iowa is scheduled to start the 2021 season at home against Indiana.