Eddie Jones was not in the mood for jokes, or talking up Saturday's match in any way on Thursday.
But towards the end of Jones' final, spiky press conference before England's Six Nations clash against Scotland, an outlier of a question broke the to-and-fro exchanges of establishing whether Owen Farrell was fit and what the England coach was really feeling about the weekend's match.
Twelve times Jones used the word worry; on all but one occasion it was referring to how England are forever introspective rather than being concerned about what Scotland are doing.
And then a question broke the mood: "Eddie, you are 17 matches unbeaten, are you having fun?"
With that came the return of the upturned right eyebrow, complete with the enveloping characteristic grin as he clasped the green smoothie he nursed throughout the conference.
"Immensely, mate", was the return. You believed it, but it was difficult to ascertain whether the spikiness in the press conference was due to Jones being annoyed at whiteboard-gate or the unusual reticence was a way of keeping himself in the shadows in the build up to Saturday's match and letting his players take control of the agenda.
With England, it is sometimes easy to forget they are 17 games unbeaten, and a win away from equalling New Zealand's record of 18 triumphs on the trot.
There is no danger of laurels being rested on, or success being toasted and complacency rearing its ugly, lazy head. Jones says he loves the job, you believe him, but there is no cheerleading from anyone in the squad over what they have achieved so far.
Any reference to the run of wins was met with the instant retort: "We're only worried about Scotland".
The published photograph of the whiteboard with 13 players written down during Tuesday's training session may have irked Jones. As someone who is renowned for his meticulous attention to detail and control of it, it was an uncharacteristic occurrence. But when asked about that, you were met with the straightest of bats.
"The boards weren't left out by accident," Jones said. It was the succinct way of putting a line through the incident, or a full stop to signal that matter finished. There was little insight into what England will run out on Saturday.
Their training in Oxford last week was praised, swatting aside concerns they may be a little undercooked after Italy's ruckless tactics in round three. And questions over Farrell's fitness after the star inside centre went down in training were met with evasion. On balance, you expect him to start.
"He could be in doubt, mate," Jones said of Farrell. "Could be in doubt. He's got a bad leg, so he couldn't finish training. I think he ran into my dog, he ran into her! He'll be alright. I think he'll be alright."
Despite this uncharacteristic showing from Jones - he is normally much more forthcoming - there seems to be a quiet confidence in England.
There are some in rugby's cognoscenti who feel they are on a downward spiral - Ireland centre Gordon D'Arcy being one according to his column for the Irish Times -- as they struggled in spells against France, Wales and Italy.
But the message from Jones is always bullish. He says Saturday's matchday squad is "probably the strongest" they have picked "for a long time" and like questions over the whiteboard, he dismissed any notion they are starting games poorly.
"It's an 80-minute game and we've got to be ahead at the 80 minute mark and that's what we're aiming to be against Scotland," Jones said. "It's like starting a 100 metre race - you can be ahead at the 10m mark but you've got to be in front at the 100m mark."
Saturday offers England a chance to enter the realm of the All Blacks, with their 18 match winning run. But don't expect Jones to celebrate it, or allow England to get carried away.