WEBVTT - #917 Packers Unscripted: Continuing to battle 0:00:06.620 --> 0:00:11.039 Hi everybody, welcome to another edition of Packers Unscripted from Packers.com. 0:00:11.140 --> 0:00:13.900 I am Mike Spofford, joined as always by my trusted 0:00:13.940 --> 0:00:16.720 colleague Wes Hodkowitz. We're coming to you here from the 0:00:16.920 --> 0:00:21.200 Pottawatomie Sportsbook studio inside the walls of Lambeau Field. And Wes, 0:00:21.239 --> 0:00:23.220 it feels like a long time ago, but what we 0:00:23.260 --> 0:00:26.040 have to talk about is a Thursday night football victory 0:00:26.739 --> 0:00:29.460 by the Green Bay Packers. The final was 27-19 over 0:00:29.480 --> 0:00:33.760 the Carolina Panthers, and I think credit to some efficient 0:00:33.880 --> 0:00:36.100 offense in the middle of the game, and some stingy 0:00:36.140 --> 0:00:39.140 defense really throughout the game. The final score of this 0:00:39.240 --> 0:00:42.260 one didn't really reflect, I think, how the Packers were 0:00:42.300 --> 0:00:45.120 in command of this football game. It was a pretty 0:00:45.159 --> 0:00:46.120 good home victory. 0:00:45.860 --> 0:00:47.500 For Green Bay. Yeah, it does feel like there's been 0:00:47.520 --> 0:00:49.180 a few of those this season where it's like they're 0:00:49.220 --> 0:00:54.060 just the margin of the score didn't really indicate just 0:00:54.280 --> 0:00:56.660 how much I think Green Bay, in this particular case, 0:00:56.720 --> 0:01:01.990 dominated this matchup. It felt like especially... Once you got 0:01:02.010 --> 0:01:04.440 to that middle of the second quarter and Green Bay 0:01:04.459 --> 0:01:08.300 started to extend a little bit, they were in firm 0:01:08.340 --> 0:01:12.800 control of it. The situation was not going to be 0:01:12.860 --> 0:01:16.470 too much at question. I think, again, what this game 0:01:16.530 --> 0:01:19.850 underscored was two things that have been, on the positive side, 0:01:19.890 --> 0:01:21.950 the most consistent things for Green Bay to this point 0:01:21.970 --> 0:01:24.560 of the season. Jordan Love is playing at a Pro 0:01:24.580 --> 0:01:28.259 Bowl level. And when this team needs him to make 0:01:28.310 --> 0:01:34.030 a play, he's making those plays. And defensively, every single week, 0:01:34.690 --> 0:01:38.509 I am blown away by what Jonathan Gannon is cooking 0:01:38.569 --> 0:01:41.050 up for his players. Now, Gannon will be the first 0:01:41.110 --> 0:01:45.069 one to say players, not plays. But One week, Mike, 0:01:45.110 --> 0:01:47.890 we'll go and cover these games, and it's the safeties 0:01:48.270 --> 0:01:51.510 that are pressuring the quarterback. It's Keyshawn Nixon coming across 0:01:51.530 --> 0:01:56.530 the edge. In this one, it was six different guys 0:01:56.560 --> 0:01:59.580 getting the quarterback. All four of the Packers' edge rushers, 0:01:59.700 --> 0:02:04.560 active 53-man roster edge rushers, all registered a sack. And 0:02:05.440 --> 0:02:09.160 when it was a question of whether or not Carolina 0:02:09.240 --> 0:02:12.019 could potentially make a comeback in the fourth quarter, Jonathan 0:02:12.040 --> 0:02:13.720 Gannon's group just completely shut the door. 0:02:13.910 --> 0:02:18.050 Yeah absolutely and in this case the Packers needed Gannon's 0:02:18.070 --> 0:02:20.570 group to shut the door because the offense that had 0:02:20.610 --> 0:02:22.890 been cooking pretty well through the second and third quarters 0:02:22.930 --> 0:02:24.990 kind of stalled out and wasn't really able to put 0:02:25.030 --> 0:02:28.240 the game away offensively which we've seen at other times 0:02:28.280 --> 0:02:31.600 this year as well but Gannon's defense was there to 0:02:32.080 --> 0:02:35.780 to answer the bell and what impresses me the most 0:02:36.300 --> 0:02:40.399 about what this defense is doing is You mentioned, you know, 0:02:40.460 --> 0:02:44.290 the different looks and the different pressure packages and the 0:02:44.330 --> 0:02:48.790 amount of aggression that Jonathan Gannon is using as he 0:02:48.870 --> 0:02:51.130 calls the game and the way his players are playing 0:02:51.190 --> 0:02:53.790 it out on the field. A lot of times that 0:02:53.889 --> 0:02:57.750 aggression is going to lead to, you know, some leaks 0:02:57.810 --> 0:03:00.639 and some explosive plays and this and that, and this 0:03:00.720 --> 0:03:04.399 defense has found a way to play very aggressively, but 0:03:04.460 --> 0:03:08.000 yet limit the explosive plays because the only play And 0:03:08.060 --> 0:03:10.540 Carolina came into this game, I believe they were ranked 0:03:10.639 --> 0:03:13.280 second in the league in explosive pass plays. 0:03:13.300 --> 0:03:15.170 Which I could not believe after watching that. 0:03:15.260 --> 0:03:18.910 Yeah. The only, if I'm not mistaken, the only play 0:03:19.090 --> 0:03:22.130 that the Panthers had that gained 20 or more yards 0:03:22.210 --> 0:03:24.730 in this game was the fourth and three in the 0:03:24.770 --> 0:03:28.550 fourth quarter. A couple of missed tackles that ruptured into 0:03:28.590 --> 0:03:32.410 a 26-yard touchdown, which is what gave Carolina that faint 0:03:32.490 --> 0:03:35.670 hope that maybe they had a shot at the comeback. 0:03:36.170 --> 0:03:38.990 But that was it. That was the only explosive play 0:03:39.490 --> 0:03:44.210 of consequence that Gannon's defense allowed. And you just don't 0:03:44.490 --> 0:03:47.150 see it very often where you can play the game 0:03:47.210 --> 0:03:51.360 as aggressively as Gannon is calling it and yet not 0:03:51.760 --> 0:03:55.080 get burned by these really good quarterbacks. And Bryce Young 0:03:55.140 --> 0:03:57.820 is becoming a good quarterback. but he was just under 0:03:57.900 --> 0:04:00.480 siege in this game. His front line could not protect him. 0:04:00.540 --> 0:04:02.700 No, and the Packers made it very clear from the 0:04:02.740 --> 0:04:04.460 beginning they are going to pressure him. You know, there's 0:04:04.480 --> 0:04:06.700 a lot of times we'll talk about the simulated pressures, right, 0:04:06.720 --> 0:04:08.570 where you have seven guys up on the line of scrimmage, 0:04:09.050 --> 0:04:11.070 three are dropping, four are rushing, and it's actually an 0:04:11.130 --> 0:04:16.050 even man rush. This game... Gannon said, pooey with that. 0:04:16.150 --> 0:04:19.310 We're just going to send everybody. And how many instances 0:04:19.390 --> 0:04:21.450 were there, Mike, where they had six lined up and 0:04:21.490 --> 0:04:23.510 they engaged six? They had seven lined up and they 0:04:23.529 --> 0:04:28.070 engaged seven. They were basically putting it on Bryce Young 0:04:28.150 --> 0:04:30.979 to find his hot read and make a play. In 0:04:31.000 --> 0:04:33.440 a few cases, Young did. There was a reason why 0:04:33.460 --> 0:04:36.880 the three longest pass plays for Carolina all happened on 0:04:36.940 --> 0:04:39.520 third and fourth down, including the touchdown pass to Coker. 0:04:40.060 --> 0:04:43.780 But in a lot of those cases, the protection couldn't 0:04:43.800 --> 0:04:47.279 hold up to it. Young could not get on the 0:04:47.300 --> 0:04:49.940 same page with his receivers to make those quick completions, 0:04:50.020 --> 0:04:53.120 and Green Bay just controlled the tempo. But I will 0:04:53.200 --> 0:04:56.040 say this, too. I thought it was really interesting what 0:04:56.080 --> 0:04:59.020 Tyron Hopper said, and Hopper had a phenomenal game once again. 0:04:59.040 --> 0:05:00.640 Yeah, we need to talk more about him for sure. 0:05:00.900 --> 0:05:02.900 But he said afterwards, he's like, we knew the score 0:05:02.920 --> 0:05:05.140 going into this, and it's no disrespect to Bryce Young, 0:05:05.160 --> 0:05:07.320 but Bryce Young is a smaller quarterback. He is a 0:05:07.400 --> 0:05:10.760 shorter quarterback. Green Bay used their height, they used their size, 0:05:10.860 --> 0:05:12.790 and that's one of the things that sort of enabled 0:05:12.810 --> 0:05:13.990 them to have the success that they did. 0:05:14.210 --> 0:05:16.450 Well, as far as an individual on defense, the guy 0:05:16.470 --> 0:05:19.190 to talk about from this game is definitely Tyron Hopper. 0:05:20.279 --> 0:05:23.120 He had, I believe it was three pass breakups. One 0:05:23.160 --> 0:05:25.600 of those was a pass that he deflected to himself 0:05:25.640 --> 0:05:28.320 for an interception, which really was the turning point in 0:05:28.360 --> 0:05:32.040 the game because at that moment, the Packers are ahead 0:05:32.040 --> 0:05:37.160 13 to 10. The Panthers are approaching midfield on their drive. 0:05:37.620 --> 0:05:40.940 He deflects the pass, intercepts it, and the offense takes 0:05:41.040 --> 0:05:44.160 over in Carolina territory. And The Packers go down and 0:05:44.180 --> 0:05:47.320 score a touchdown, and it's 20-10. And from that point 0:05:47.420 --> 0:05:49.980 in the second quarter until very late in the game, 0:05:50.060 --> 0:05:55.890 the Packers had a multi-score lead the entire way. But, boy, 0:05:57.050 --> 0:05:59.910 Tyron Hopper, I'm not going to say that he's making 0:06:00.730 --> 0:06:03.510 Packers fans forget about Edger and Cooper because Edger and 0:06:03.550 --> 0:06:05.970 Cooper was, you talk about guys playing at a Pro 0:06:05.990 --> 0:06:09.500 Bowl level. My goodness, Edger and Cooper was really doing 0:06:09.540 --> 0:06:13.140 some special things out there. But Tyron Hopper, I think, has... 0:06:13.620 --> 0:06:17.180 mitigated the loss of Edger and Cooper maybe more than 0:06:17.220 --> 0:06:20.270 a lot of people anticipated outside of those guys in 0:06:20.290 --> 0:06:22.450 the locker room and the coaching staff who kind of 0:06:22.510 --> 0:06:24.650 knew that this guy's got something to show. 0:06:24.790 --> 0:06:26.690 Yeah, I mean, how many times have I kind of 0:06:26.730 --> 0:06:28.210 talked your ear off on the show, and you and 0:06:28.230 --> 0:06:29.940 I have gone back and forth about this over the 0:06:29.980 --> 0:06:33.580 last three years. Green Bay has had an embarrassment of 0:06:33.640 --> 0:06:36.660 riches at linebacker beyond anything that I experienced during my 0:06:36.720 --> 0:06:38.640 first few years covering the team when it was a 0:06:38.660 --> 0:06:42.480 lot of outside linebackers moving inside linebacker. They were struggling 0:06:42.500 --> 0:06:44.600 to find those playmakers in the middle of the field. 0:06:45.360 --> 0:06:47.659 That has not been an issue for them over the 0:06:47.700 --> 0:06:50.380 last four years. And the one thing that is very clear, 0:06:50.430 --> 0:06:51.730 you want to have your mic, you want to have 0:06:51.770 --> 0:06:54.110 the quarterback, you want to have that guy that's communicating 0:06:54.130 --> 0:06:56.710 the defense. But that will spot has been such an 0:06:56.770 --> 0:07:00.270 essential playmaking position in the Jeff Halfley era and now 0:07:00.390 --> 0:07:03.719 into this Jonathan Gannon era. And the tough thing for 0:07:03.820 --> 0:07:07.020 Hopper is that He was drafted one round after Edron Cooper, 0:07:07.050 --> 0:07:10.510 and Edron Cooper ended up being a PFWA all-rookie team player. 0:07:10.870 --> 0:07:13.210 He's a guy that was a burgeoning star on this defense. 0:07:13.250 --> 0:07:15.670 That was the guy that was stepping up in the 0:07:15.770 --> 0:07:18.720 absence of Micah Parsons in that first month of the season. 0:07:19.380 --> 0:07:21.480 And for that reason, you can't take him off the field. 0:07:21.520 --> 0:07:25.020 But then you also have Zaire Franklin is calling your defense. 0:07:25.040 --> 0:07:26.800 He's the guy that's making sure that everybody's in the 0:07:26.840 --> 0:07:29.030 right spot. So you don't have those breakdowns. So you 0:07:29.070 --> 0:07:31.210 don't have... the missed tackles. You don't have the ruptures 0:07:31.230 --> 0:07:34.210 for explosive plays. So Hopper for the last two years 0:07:34.300 --> 0:07:36.330 for bulk of it has been sort of relegated to 0:07:36.380 --> 0:07:38.380 special teams. But if you talk to Javon Bullard and 0:07:38.400 --> 0:07:40.320 you talk to these guys in the locker room, they've 0:07:40.400 --> 0:07:42.700 known for a long time that this guy can make 0:07:42.740 --> 0:07:45.780 some plays in how many plays Hopper has made in 0:07:45.940 --> 0:07:49.930 short stints, these brief relief appearances. It shouldn't be a 0:07:49.950 --> 0:07:52.750 surprise that he goes in there and has Matt LaFleur 0:07:52.790 --> 0:07:54.430 talk to the guys about it after the game. I mean, 0:07:55.170 --> 0:07:57.590 his stat line is something that hasn't been replicated by 0:07:57.650 --> 0:08:00.950 any linebacker since 2000 in terms of having that many 0:08:01.770 --> 0:08:06.010 pass deflections, an interception, a sack. And the only other 0:08:06.030 --> 0:08:10.280 player to even top that has been Charles Woodson. I mean, 0:08:10.700 --> 0:08:13.080 that's elite company. So for Hopper to step up the 0:08:13.120 --> 0:08:14.920 way they did when you talk about draft and develop, 0:08:14.940 --> 0:08:15.820 this is what it's all about. 0:08:16.020 --> 0:08:19.520 Yeah, absolutely. And This Packers defense as a whole, up 0:08:19.580 --> 0:08:22.290 to 15 takeaways I believe is the number now, which 0:08:22.370 --> 0:08:25.650 is already halfway through this year has surpassed the total 0:08:25.690 --> 0:08:28.930 number of takeaways that the Packers had defensively last year. 0:08:28.990 --> 0:08:32.890 That's playing a massive part in things here. I want 0:08:32.910 --> 0:08:35.170 to switch back to the offense for a minute because 0:08:35.670 --> 0:08:41.640 we also have to talk about Christian Watson. Now, he 0:08:42.140 --> 0:08:44.780 coughs up the ball after a short reception early in 0:08:44.820 --> 0:08:47.309 the game. fumbles it. And this early in the game, 0:08:47.330 --> 0:08:49.569 the Packers offense, just, you know, there was an early, 0:08:49.610 --> 0:08:51.589 there was kind of an ugly three and out early. 0:08:51.970 --> 0:08:55.530 Then Watson fumbles the ball, unfortunately. Then the offense kind 0:08:55.570 --> 0:08:59.610 of gets clicking, partly because Watson makes a great leaping 0:08:59.670 --> 0:09:03.560 catch deep down the field, 50 plus yard reception, but 0:09:03.580 --> 0:09:06.599 he lands on the football and he needs to be 0:09:07.200 --> 0:09:09.959 taken off the field into an ambulance off to a 0:09:10.179 --> 0:09:14.520 local hospital to get a scan because it was They 0:09:14.559 --> 0:09:17.219 needed more than an x-ray because they do have an 0:09:17.360 --> 0:09:19.360 x-ray at the stadium. He doesn't need to leave the 0:09:19.380 --> 0:09:24.380 stadium for that. But lo and behold, the ambulance returns 0:09:24.840 --> 0:09:28.739 with Christian Watson in full uniform and number nine gets 0:09:28.800 --> 0:09:33.900 back out there and finishes the game. I mean, I've 0:09:34.340 --> 0:09:37.319 never seen in all of my years covering Green Bay 0:09:37.340 --> 0:09:40.260 Packers football, I have never seen a player go to 0:09:40.300 --> 0:09:43.000 the hospital and And return to the football game. 0:09:43.260 --> 0:09:45.800 Well, like I said in Insider Inbox too, being in 0:09:45.880 --> 0:09:48.460 Green Bay, Wisconsin has its perks on game day. It's 0:09:48.520 --> 0:09:51.229 pretty easy to get around these streets and obviously you 0:09:51.250 --> 0:09:53.550 have an ambulance that helps, but I'm guessing they weren't, 0:09:54.330 --> 0:09:56.209 there wasn't a lot of traffic that was flowing in 0:09:56.429 --> 0:09:57.950 their direction on the way over to St. Jensen. 0:09:58.030 --> 0:09:59.969 Yeah, you might not even need to put the sirens on. 0:10:01.510 --> 0:10:03.430 to speed your way to the hospital. 0:10:03.510 --> 0:10:07.340 But I'll tell you this, Michael. Here's the cool part 0:10:07.380 --> 0:10:11.460 about this, is that Christian Watson is doing what we 0:10:11.520 --> 0:10:14.020 saw with Devontae Adams. He's doing what we saw with 0:10:14.280 --> 0:10:16.920 Jordy Nelson. He's doing what we saw from Randall Cobb 0:10:16.960 --> 0:10:20.010 in 2014. He's been a really good player for a 0:10:20.030 --> 0:10:22.429 long time, and now he is becoming the focal point 0:10:22.450 --> 0:10:26.050 of this offense. He's becoming a complete receiver, a complete 0:10:26.130 --> 0:10:29.069 route runner. Yes, he had the 53-yard reception, but I mean, 0:10:29.110 --> 0:10:31.689 talk about those intermediate routes across the field. I mean, 0:10:31.730 --> 0:10:35.450 he's running drags. He's running crossers. He's doing stop routes. 0:10:35.470 --> 0:10:37.110 He's on out routes. I mean, this guy can do 0:10:37.170 --> 0:10:39.689 everything now at this point, and it's cool to see that. 0:10:40.130 --> 0:10:43.460 My heart sunk. seeing him get injured. One, you worry 0:10:43.500 --> 0:10:45.940 about the person, but also professionally, it's like, my goodness, 0:10:46.100 --> 0:10:48.320 nothing other than a few drops here and there. But 0:10:48.500 --> 0:10:51.559 in terms of the physical aspects of this position, nothing 0:10:51.580 --> 0:10:54.120 has gone wrong for him to this point. And then 0:10:54.160 --> 0:10:55.960 it's like, oh my goodness, what could this mean? Now 0:10:56.000 --> 0:10:58.080 he did say he broke a rib. That's something he's 0:10:58.100 --> 0:11:00.080 going to have to deal with. They got the molded 0:11:00.160 --> 0:11:03.160 padded flak jacket on him. So he'll have to adapt 0:11:03.179 --> 0:11:05.040 to that. That's something that's not going to heal overnight. 0:11:05.840 --> 0:11:07.350 But the fact he came back in, he ended up 0:11:07.380 --> 0:11:10.469 making a very clutch third down, catch down the stretch, um, 0:11:11.370 --> 0:11:13.290 Packers have a lot of things that they're still working 0:11:13.309 --> 0:11:15.790 through on offense. But my goodness, when you need something 0:11:15.830 --> 0:11:17.970 to hang your hat on, it's been number nine. 0:11:18.070 --> 0:11:23.360 Yeah, absolutely. And it's funny because we talk about it. 0:11:23.510 --> 0:11:27.450 And Jordan Love, I go to his post-game press conferences 0:11:27.490 --> 0:11:30.429 all the time while you're interviewing players in the locker room. 0:11:30.480 --> 0:11:34.319 And I'm not saying this as a criticism, but Jordan 0:11:34.340 --> 0:11:36.400 Love is starting to sound like a broken record at 0:11:36.440 --> 0:11:39.170 the podium because he continues to say, there's so much 0:11:39.210 --> 0:11:41.230 more out there for this offense. There's so much more 0:11:41.330 --> 0:11:43.110 out there. He says it over and over again. And 0:11:43.570 --> 0:11:46.209 I leaned over to you in the press box, I 0:11:46.250 --> 0:11:48.670 believe it was late in the second quarter. And I said, Wes, 0:11:49.290 --> 0:11:51.740 these guys had a terrible three and out and a 0:11:51.860 --> 0:11:54.699 fumble on the early possessions of the game. And here 0:11:54.740 --> 0:11:56.840 we are going into halftime and they've got 20 points 0:11:56.900 --> 0:11:59.530 on the board. Like, how does that happen? It just, it, 0:11:59.800 --> 0:12:04.580 it speaks to the, and it's the overused word, right? 0:12:04.600 --> 0:12:07.179 But it speaks to the potential of of what this 0:12:07.360 --> 0:12:10.580 offense can do if they can get it all figured out. 0:12:10.620 --> 0:12:13.470 And that means limiting the negative plays. It means getting 0:12:13.490 --> 0:12:16.949 the running game going somehow. It means not having that, 0:12:17.090 --> 0:12:19.990 you know, sort of one turnover type of mistake, you know, 0:12:20.390 --> 0:12:22.900 love throws the interception, you know, late in this game 0:12:22.920 --> 0:12:24.800 in the fourth quarter when the offense had a chance 0:12:24.840 --> 0:12:29.380 to put it away. Those types of things, it's all 0:12:29.900 --> 0:12:31.980 right there for them. 27 points is not a bad 0:12:32.040 --> 0:12:35.199 day offensively. But then you look at the opportunities that 0:12:35.260 --> 0:12:37.320 they let get away from them and you're going, they 0:12:37.340 --> 0:12:39.900 should have had 37 or maybe 41 points on the 0:12:39.940 --> 0:12:43.189 board in this game. And so it's still out there 0:12:43.230 --> 0:12:47.189 for this offense. There's so much that they're doing well, 0:12:47.630 --> 0:12:50.190 but there's also so much they can still do better. 0:12:50.990 --> 0:12:52.410 And they need to find it because as we're going 0:12:52.429 --> 0:12:54.630 to talk about here in a little bit, They're in 0:12:54.650 --> 0:12:57.730 the toughest division in football. This NFC North is absolutely 0:12:57.830 --> 0:13:00.970 loaded and the playoff chase is on already. 0:13:01.270 --> 0:13:02.910 When you hear a team, and we'll talk about it 0:13:02.929 --> 0:13:05.570 in a minute here, with the Minnesota Vikings talking about 0:13:05.590 --> 0:13:07.589 whether or not they should bench their starting quarterback and 0:13:07.610 --> 0:13:09.030 they just lost their first game. 0:13:08.910 --> 0:13:09.530 In week eight. 0:13:09.690 --> 0:13:12.150 Yeah. I mean, that shows you how high these stakes 0:13:12.230 --> 0:13:14.490 are right now in the North. Nobody wants to give 0:13:14.570 --> 0:13:16.650 up any quarter. Nobody wants to give up any room. 0:13:16.990 --> 0:13:19.910 The Chicago Bears handing it to the Seattle Seahawks on 0:13:19.960 --> 0:13:23.890 Monday Night Football. Okay. Put that away for a second. 0:13:24.010 --> 0:13:26.550 Look strictly at the Green Bay Packers. To get to 0:13:26.580 --> 0:13:29.200 5-3 and to have the issues they've had on the 0:13:29.270 --> 0:13:33.520 offensive line with their run game, the drops, all these 0:13:33.580 --> 0:13:36.760 things that you're talking about defensively, mostly predicated on just 0:13:36.880 --> 0:13:39.740 injuries more than anything else. The guys that have stepped 0:13:39.820 --> 0:13:41.839 up have stepped up in a big way, but it 0:13:41.880 --> 0:13:43.920 just seems like Green Bay's had a litany of injuries 0:13:43.940 --> 0:13:46.360 in the front. Obviously, you don't have Micah Parsons back. 0:13:46.720 --> 0:13:50.120 To be at 5-3, I think, is a major achievement. 0:13:50.540 --> 0:13:52.380 But the reality is that puts you in fourth place 0:13:52.400 --> 0:13:55.020 of the NFC North right now. So I hear what 0:13:55.059 --> 0:13:57.800 Jordan's saying when he talks about that because what is 0:13:57.860 --> 0:13:59.339 one of the big issues for the three and outs? 0:13:59.360 --> 0:14:01.490 What's some of the big issues for the negative yardage plays? 0:14:01.809 --> 0:14:04.170 It goes back to the ground game and the inability 0:14:04.210 --> 0:14:07.130 to establish that because now that Green Bay's finally started 0:14:07.150 --> 0:14:08.830 to play a few home games here and the schedule 0:14:08.870 --> 0:14:10.710 actually does line up really well for them down the 0:14:10.730 --> 0:14:12.250 stretch with having that many at home, but they've had 0:14:12.270 --> 0:14:15.020 to be on the road this often. I've actually been 0:14:15.059 --> 0:14:17.179 impressed by how Green Bay has sort of curtailed some 0:14:17.200 --> 0:14:20.240 of the penalty issues here in recent weeks. but the 0:14:20.300 --> 0:14:22.920 run game is still where things are falling stagnant. Now 0:14:22.960 --> 0:14:25.420 there were positives in this game. I thought they did 0:14:25.460 --> 0:14:27.630 a better job in third and short, you know, credit 0:14:27.650 --> 0:14:29.869 to Josh Jacobs with that. Obviously they punched it in 0:14:29.910 --> 0:14:33.090 the end zone a couple of times, but being able 0:14:33.110 --> 0:14:35.250 to just get some more four and five yard runs, 0:14:35.320 --> 0:14:37.810 it's not always about the 60 yard runs. Yeah. but 0:14:37.950 --> 0:14:40.510 Green Bay needs to find some explosive plays in the 0:14:40.550 --> 0:14:43.130 run game. Savion Williams gave them one, but that wasn't enough. 0:14:43.250 --> 0:14:46.560 Yeah, exactly. And things are still not entirely settled on 0:14:46.580 --> 0:14:49.160 the offensive line, right? Because in this game, Aaron Banks 0:14:49.220 --> 0:14:53.120 comes back after missing five games with his injury issues. 0:14:53.160 --> 0:14:55.920 He gets plugged in at left guard. Lakin Tomlinson was 0:14:55.980 --> 0:14:59.320 playing well enough, and Matt LaFleur described him as the 0:14:59.380 --> 0:15:02.800 most consistent performer on the offensive line. So Banks is 0:15:02.840 --> 0:15:05.790 coming back in Tomlinson's spot, but they decide, okay, we're 0:15:05.810 --> 0:15:09.030 going to flip Tomlinson from left guard over to right guard, 0:15:10.370 --> 0:15:13.190 and it sounds, you know, for the most part, things 0:15:13.250 --> 0:15:15.630 went well, but obviously, you know, Aaron Banks had missed 0:15:15.670 --> 0:15:17.400 five games, and he missed a whole bunch of time 0:15:17.440 --> 0:15:20.140 in training camp and everything else, so there's going to 0:15:20.180 --> 0:15:25.380 be still, you know, some ramp up and, you know, 0:15:25.560 --> 0:15:29.920 acclimation going on there, and Kevin Zeitler is still waiting 0:15:29.960 --> 0:15:32.030 in the wings, and he hasn't played yet, and is 0:15:32.070 --> 0:15:34.450 he going to fit into the mix somewhere, so The 0:15:34.470 --> 0:15:38.810 Packers are still figuring all that out. They need to 0:15:39.430 --> 0:15:44.100 settle on something. Other injuries can always crop up, right? 0:15:44.120 --> 0:15:47.380 But if the Packers can decide these are our five 0:15:47.420 --> 0:15:49.479 guys and these are the guys that we want to 0:15:49.540 --> 0:15:53.260 play in those spots every single week and practice together 0:15:53.280 --> 0:15:57.740 every single week, that's what's going to start hopefully to 0:15:57.980 --> 0:16:00.160 turn things around. Josh Jacobs now has a couple of 0:16:00.210 --> 0:16:03.480 games under his belt and I know Matt LaFleur said, 0:16:03.700 --> 0:16:07.320 you know, this NFL investigation into the past allegations against 0:16:07.840 --> 0:16:10.440 Josh Jacobs, the Packers are going to let that play out. 0:16:10.760 --> 0:16:13.140 LaFleur says that Josh Jacobs is still going to be 0:16:13.180 --> 0:16:16.710 a member of the Green Bay Packers. So there's a 0:16:16.750 --> 0:16:19.830 lot to figure out here still halfway through the season 0:16:19.870 --> 0:16:22.170 with regard to the running game. But boy, as you said, 0:16:22.330 --> 0:16:26.350 if they can just find a way to get more 0:16:26.430 --> 0:16:30.820 consistently just the four-yard carries, the five-yard carries, it's going to, 0:16:31.360 --> 0:16:34.120 it's going to open up that call sheet of Matt 0:16:34.160 --> 0:16:38.280 LaFleur's to where, you know, everything with this offense, whatever 0:16:38.300 --> 0:16:40.220 they want to do with Savion Williams, what they want 0:16:40.260 --> 0:16:43.160 to do with Matthew Golden and Christian Watson and the 0:16:43.200 --> 0:16:47.540 different route concepts, it all comes into play if they 0:16:47.590 --> 0:16:49.150 don't have to be a one-dimensional offense. 0:16:49.170 --> 0:16:51.090 Well, and think too, I mean, how close, you know, 0:16:51.130 --> 0:16:52.510 one of the other topics that came up when we 0:16:52.530 --> 0:16:54.750 were talking with assistants and also with Matt LaFleur on 0:16:54.810 --> 0:16:56.690 Monday was, you know, Tucker Kraft and trying to get 0:16:56.730 --> 0:16:59.390 him going yards after the catch. They were very close 0:16:59.430 --> 0:17:02.480 to it in that game. against Carolina, but unfortunately having 0:17:02.500 --> 0:17:05.440 a legal man downfield, legal blocker downfield, and that brings 0:17:05.480 --> 0:17:05.820 it back. 0:17:05.840 --> 0:17:07.399 And there are actually two guys that were. 0:17:07.420 --> 0:17:08.080 Two guys, right. 0:17:08.840 --> 0:17:11.219 Legal men. They called it on one, but there were 0:17:11.240 --> 0:17:13.760 actually two guys who could have been flagged for that 0:17:13.800 --> 0:17:14.780 penalty in that moment. 0:17:14.880 --> 0:17:17.250 Yeah, so it's like, it just shows you that the 0:17:17.290 --> 0:17:19.750 yards are there, the production's there, the playmakers are there, 0:17:19.790 --> 0:17:23.130 but can you, you know, sort of create that road 0:17:23.170 --> 0:17:26.090 for yourself? I think the one thing we've learned when 0:17:26.130 --> 0:17:29.290 you talk about how this offensive line has settled down, unfortunately... 0:17:29.730 --> 0:17:32.169 a difficult situation at center. You know, John Williams is 0:17:32.190 --> 0:17:34.530 having to learn that spot now and make that his 0:17:34.609 --> 0:17:36.530 own here while they don't have Sean Ryan. Although Sean 0:17:36.550 --> 0:17:38.310 Ryan was not put on injured reserve yet. I thought 0:17:38.350 --> 0:17:39.290 that was really interesting. 0:17:39.330 --> 0:17:42.430 That is interesting because it is a signal that maybe 0:17:42.490 --> 0:17:44.970 they think he can be back in less than four weeks. 0:17:45.010 --> 0:17:46.750 Yeah. Cause I mean the Packers, I mean, you look 0:17:46.770 --> 0:17:48.250 at what they did with Savion, you look at what 0:17:48.270 --> 0:17:50.050 they did with Sky Moore. Those guys went on IR 0:17:50.070 --> 0:17:52.080 right away to get that clock going on the designation 0:17:52.100 --> 0:17:53.980 to return. They didn't go that route yet with Sean, 0:17:54.080 --> 0:17:56.100 but be that as it may, he's not out there 0:17:56.119 --> 0:17:58.080 right now. So John Williams has had to man that spot. 0:17:58.740 --> 0:18:01.320 One thing that I thought was very interesting, as Matt 0:18:01.340 --> 0:18:04.410 LeFleur handled several questions on Monday about the offensive line, 0:18:04.790 --> 0:18:06.750 it's very clear that they want Lakin Tomlinson in the 0:18:06.790 --> 0:18:09.450 starting five in some shape or form. The fact that 0:18:09.490 --> 0:18:13.610 he made his first start at right guard in 10 years, 0:18:14.670 --> 0:18:18.369 that wasn't an indictment on the offensive line behind him. 0:18:18.530 --> 0:18:21.439 It wasn't an indictment on Zeitler, who Luke Buck has 0:18:21.460 --> 0:18:24.510 said at some point believes will help them. they like 0:18:24.550 --> 0:18:26.710 what they saw from Lincoln-Thompson, but now you got Aaron 0:18:26.730 --> 0:18:29.010 Banks back. So how do you shuffle that out? I 0:18:29.050 --> 0:18:30.890 think that's going to be something to your point. They're 0:18:30.910 --> 0:18:32.659 going to have to settle here quickly. They're going to 0:18:32.670 --> 0:18:34.260 have to figure out exactly how they want to proceed 0:18:34.300 --> 0:18:36.120 because if you're going to get guys healthy and keep 0:18:36.160 --> 0:18:38.620 them healthy, you now want them playing as a unit. 0:18:38.660 --> 0:18:40.480 You want to get them in unison. You want to 0:18:40.520 --> 0:18:43.399 get them synchronized. And there's only one way to do that, 0:18:43.460 --> 0:18:45.000 and it's to give them some playing time, which Green 0:18:45.020 --> 0:18:46.460 Bay has not had up until this point. 0:18:46.500 --> 0:18:48.609 Yeah. Well, the other bit of news before we go 0:18:48.650 --> 0:18:51.109 to a quick break, on the defensive side of the ball, 0:18:51.250 --> 0:18:54.420 it sounds like The plan is at some point this 0:18:54.500 --> 0:18:58.570 week that Micah Parsons will be returning to practice. At 0:18:58.630 --> 0:19:01.690 whatever point he does return to practice, that will open 0:19:01.730 --> 0:19:07.030 the 21-day window in which he can practice without being 0:19:07.130 --> 0:19:11.860 on the 53-man roster. And within that 21 days, then 0:19:11.900 --> 0:19:14.380 the Packers would have to activate him to the 53 0:19:14.380 --> 0:19:17.840 in order to insert him into a football game. And 0:19:17.880 --> 0:19:21.530 Matt LaFleur said if he were a betting man, gambling 0:19:21.590 --> 0:19:25.810 remains illegal at Bushwood, he would bet that it's going 0:19:25.830 --> 0:19:28.350 to be more on towards the back end of the 0:19:28.350 --> 0:19:30.780 21 days rather than the front end in terms of 0:19:30.820 --> 0:19:34.320 when Micah Parsons would actually be activated. So still a 0:19:34.340 --> 0:19:38.840 bit of unknown there and a lot of uncertainty, but 0:19:39.800 --> 0:19:43.510 things are headed in the direction of sometime here soon 0:19:43.730 --> 0:19:45.450 seeing Micah Parsons on the practice field. 0:19:45.590 --> 0:19:48.310