What surprised Amarius Mims during Bengals debut had nothing to do with what happened on the field

Paycor Stadium was near full capacity for the Cincinnati Bengals' preseason opener this weekend. An impressive 63,323 fans were on hand to watch a close exhibition against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

That many fans in the stands caught rookie right tackle Amarius Mims by surprise when he was getting set to make his debut. He even went as far to compare the environment to Georgia, where he played the previous three years .

"Cincinnati fans remind me of Georgia fans," Mims said following his debut. "Like, I did not expect there to be that many people out there for a preseason game, but hey, I see they pack it out. So I'll definitely say, like, that right there surprised me. Definitely the amount of people that was in the stands."

The spotlight was already on Mims for his first start as the bookend to left tackle Orlando Brown Jr. He played what looked to be a mistake-free 15 snaps on two drives before backup Devin Cochran came in to finish the night.

Mims' first NFL appearance brought many new things such as facing NFL-quality pass rushers and the speed of the next level, but doing it all in front a near-capacity crowd is what caught Mims by surprise. The butterflies were to be expected, and Mims performed like it was just another Saturday night.

"It was definitely a crazy experience," Mims recalled. "It's different in college, just the atmosphere and everything. But when I walked out there, I could definitely feel the energy and I was like, oh man, this is real life. I'm playing in the NFL."

Paycor Stadium, or just The Jungle for locals, is relatively modest in terms of size for a football venue. Mims played in front of roughly 27,000 more fans down in Athens, GA inside Sanford Stadium, home of the SEC powerhouse he hails from. He's used to intense SEC atmospheres, so hearing him taken aback by his first NFL crowd is noteworthy.

There was once a time when Georgia was almost a minor league team for the Bengals. 2010s icons Geno Atkins and A.J. Green were complemented by long-term starters Clint Boling and Shawn Williams, and lest we forget the quality 11-year career of Robert Geathers.

Cincinnati's long-awaited return to the Bulldog pipeline is Mims and his All-Pro potential . He should feel right at home soon enough.

Related: Amarius Mims is already proving why comparison to Cincinnati Bengals draft bust was deeply foolish