WEBVTT - #655 Packers Unscripted: Catching attention 0:00:00.480 --> 0:00:10.760 Hi, everybody. Welcome to another edition of Packers Unscripted from 0:00:10.760 --> 0:00:13.800 Packers dot Com. I am Mike Spofford. He is the 0:00:13.840 --> 0:00:16.040 one and only West Hodkowitz. Were coming to you here 0:00:16.040 --> 0:00:19.639 from our studios at lambeau Field West the two thousand 0:00:19.760 --> 0:00:24.680 and twenty two Packers Mini Camp Mandatory Mini Camp. Essentially 0:00:24.680 --> 0:00:26.680 it's in the books. We had two days of practice 0:00:26.720 --> 0:00:29.960 and now today actually as we are taping this show, 0:00:30.880 --> 0:00:33.880 the team is on its way to a team building activity. 0:00:33.960 --> 0:00:38.080 Practice was canceled, sort of a tradition in some respects 0:00:38.280 --> 0:00:42.199 over the years here. So two practices we got to 0:00:42.240 --> 0:00:45.440 witness um, two locker room sessions, lots of interviews with 0:00:45.479 --> 0:00:47.400 players and whatnot. I'll just throw it out to you 0:00:47.440 --> 0:00:50.680 as an as an open ended question. What made the 0:00:50.680 --> 0:00:53.800 biggest impression on you over the last couple of days. 0:00:53.840 --> 0:00:56.800 One moment and it was where we actually Evan Siegel 0:00:56.880 --> 0:00:59.040 perfectly captured it and we paired it with your story 0:00:59.040 --> 0:01:02.560 on Aaron Rodgers. It was Aaron Rodgers talking to Samori 0:01:02.680 --> 0:01:05.640 to Ray and uh, I remember watching it live as 0:01:05.680 --> 0:01:07.720 it happened. Yeah, you and I were standing right next 0:01:07.720 --> 0:01:10.160 to each other. We saw it and it was super 0:01:10.200 --> 0:01:11.960 cool because on the other side of the field. Evan 0:01:12.040 --> 0:01:14.640 was shooting that and it's such a great moment. What 0:01:14.680 --> 0:01:16.959 was happening in practice as there was in early routes 0:01:16.959 --> 0:01:20.679 on air period and two Ray and Rogers. Rogers had 0:01:20.680 --> 0:01:21.920 thrown him a deep ball. I think he was kind 0:01:21.920 --> 0:01:24.600 of running like a deep corner route. They don't they 0:01:24.600 --> 0:01:28.000 didn't get it connected. But then two Ray comes back 0:01:28.000 --> 0:01:33.000 and Rogers very just calmly kind of talks through with 0:01:33.080 --> 0:01:35.080 him kind of what was going on there and what 0:01:35.120 --> 0:01:38.320 he's looking for now Before people hear me say that 0:01:38.720 --> 0:01:40.720 and run away with it and go, well, this is 0:01:40.760 --> 0:01:43.280 why he should have been here for the entire offseason program. 0:01:44.040 --> 0:01:46.759 I want to just make it the point that it's 0:01:46.840 --> 0:01:48.840 this is what this time is for. This is why 0:01:48.880 --> 0:01:52.200 you have Mini camp um to get the veterans now 0:01:52.360 --> 0:01:54.200 working with the young guys that have had a chance 0:01:54.240 --> 0:01:56.720 to sort of grow and blossom here over the last month, 0:01:57.080 --> 0:01:59.560 and a chance to learn some of the offense, go 0:01:59.640 --> 0:02:01.480 through the eatings and learn some of the stuff that's 0:02:01.520 --> 0:02:03.480 on paper in the playbook. And what stood out to 0:02:03.480 --> 0:02:05.440 me the most. I'm not saying that there's a you know, 0:02:05.600 --> 0:02:07.960 one lead to another, but then you see the next 0:02:08.000 --> 0:02:10.600 day happened. We get the rain, we're in the Hudson Center, 0:02:11.000 --> 0:02:13.080 and Samari Toure had as big of a day as 0:02:13.120 --> 0:02:17.040 anybody in that practice. I mean, just some incredible catches, 0:02:17.080 --> 0:02:19.760 mostly with the two's and and you know, with Jordan's love. 0:02:19.840 --> 0:02:22.880 But it's the process of these young guys coming around 0:02:22.919 --> 0:02:25.000 and we shot our three Things video and I don't 0:02:25.040 --> 0:02:26.680 want to give anything away on that, but I thought 0:02:26.720 --> 0:02:29.639 Larry had such a great take to where it's these 0:02:29.680 --> 0:02:31.919 young guys that it's just every day somebody else is 0:02:31.960 --> 0:02:35.040 stepping up and making plays. And to have Rogers here 0:02:35.080 --> 0:02:37.520 for this week to get guys sort of accustomed to him, 0:02:38.160 --> 0:02:40.280 I just thought it was an incredibly productive week for 0:02:40.320 --> 0:02:43.240 them to get those two practices in. Fans at Nichky 0:02:43.280 --> 0:02:45.320 Field were able to actually see you know them them 0:02:45.360 --> 0:02:48.400 work a little bit. On Tuesday, I thought it checked 0:02:48.400 --> 0:02:50.600 all the boxes and from all accounts, they got through 0:02:50.600 --> 0:02:53.080 and injury free. Yeah, and it was interesting too to 0:02:53.200 --> 0:02:57.480 watch you mentioning, you know, different guys on different days, 0:02:57.560 --> 0:03:00.840 and there there were moments in just where we saw 0:03:01.000 --> 0:03:04.840 the veteran guys Sammy Watkins and Randall Cobb making plays 0:03:04.919 --> 0:03:08.160 and doing the types of things that veterans do. They 0:03:08.160 --> 0:03:09.959 don't need all the snaps and O T A s. 0:03:10.000 --> 0:03:12.920 They don't need to be here for absolutely everything. But 0:03:13.040 --> 0:03:15.079 it's just it's it's sort of like, Okay, get the 0:03:15.160 --> 0:03:17.720 legs under him, catch some catch some passes and whatnot, 0:03:17.720 --> 0:03:20.080 and then they're getting ready to take their break now 0:03:20.600 --> 0:03:24.400 before before they come back in several weeks for training camp, 0:03:24.440 --> 0:03:27.119 which is which is the grind that they've all been through, 0:03:27.120 --> 0:03:28.400 and they all know what they have to do to 0:03:28.440 --> 0:03:30.880 get ready for it. And before we close that chapter this, 0:03:30.960 --> 0:03:32.359 I just want to go back to Rogers for a 0:03:32.440 --> 0:03:34.240 second to the other thing about it. And you did 0:03:34.280 --> 0:03:36.040 such a great job if you haven't read it already. 0:03:36.120 --> 0:03:40.480 Mike summation of Roger's thoughts on Tuesday, Rogers explaining, you know, 0:03:40.600 --> 0:03:43.200 kind of his thought process with this off season. Yeah, 0:03:43.240 --> 0:03:46.119 I wanted to talk about that some more. When everybody discusses, 0:03:46.160 --> 0:03:47.520 you know, him being here and he needs to be 0:03:47.560 --> 0:03:49.640 with the young guys. You also have to remember about 0:03:49.640 --> 0:03:52.400 Aaron Rodgers too, at thirty eight years old this December 0:03:52.440 --> 0:03:54.440 will be thirty nine. You know, this is a guy 0:03:54.440 --> 0:03:56.680 that's been doing this for a long time, most of 0:03:56.760 --> 0:04:00.160 his life, and there's the body work process, in the 0:04:00.200 --> 0:04:02.520 mental process that he wants to go through during the 0:04:02.560 --> 0:04:05.280 off season. He's been big on that for years. It's 0:04:05.320 --> 0:04:07.760 something he's been doing since he basically turned thirty, making 0:04:07.760 --> 0:04:10.720 that investment into his body, making that investment into his 0:04:10.760 --> 0:04:13.520 mental health and awareness, and he feels like there's a 0:04:13.600 --> 0:04:16.240 value in that as well. Where he goes, the people 0:04:16.279 --> 0:04:18.160 that know him, how he works, the one on one 0:04:18.200 --> 0:04:20.479 attention that he gets, and also just being able to 0:04:20.480 --> 0:04:24.560 refresh and reset going into another season with high expectations. 0:04:25.120 --> 0:04:27.520 It's not just a guy picking up his lunch pay 0:04:27.560 --> 0:04:30.400 on going to work. It's Aaron Rodgers being the two 0:04:30.440 --> 0:04:33.440 time reigning m v P deciding hey do I can 0:04:33.480 --> 0:04:36.279 I perform at this level and meet those expectations that 0:04:36.320 --> 0:04:38.760 I have for myself. And everything he's done over the 0:04:38.800 --> 0:04:40.920 last four months plays into that, right And I thought 0:04:40.960 --> 0:04:44.880 it was interesting how Rogers described, you know, how he 0:04:44.920 --> 0:04:47.479 does need to go through that mental reset. It's not 0:04:47.560 --> 0:04:51.000 something he needed to do at two years old, necessarily, 0:04:51.000 --> 0:04:52.680 but it is something he has to do now. When 0:04:52.680 --> 0:04:55.560 you think about this past off season, think about how 0:04:55.640 --> 0:04:57.839 much he had to process. I mean, there was the 0:04:57.920 --> 0:05:01.760 incredibly disappointing play off loss in which he knows he 0:05:01.800 --> 0:05:04.239 didn't play up to his own standards. The offense didn't 0:05:04.240 --> 0:05:06.560 hold up its end of the bargain in a game 0:05:06.600 --> 0:05:10.520 in which the defense obviously played very very well. So 0:05:10.560 --> 0:05:14.120 there there's that that bitter disappointment. He's trying to process 0:05:14.200 --> 0:05:17.000 through the off season. How much longer do I want 0:05:17.000 --> 0:05:18.880 to keep playing? Do I want to retire? Do I 0:05:18.920 --> 0:05:21.479 want to give this another go? Then he goes through. 0:05:21.560 --> 0:05:24.040 He said he was involved in all the conversations regarding 0:05:24.120 --> 0:05:27.479 Davante Adams and his you know, his favorite target, good friend, 0:05:27.560 --> 0:05:31.840 decides it's best for him in his career personally and 0:05:31.880 --> 0:05:36.120 professionally to get back to the West Coast, and uhum 0:05:36.400 --> 0:05:40.440 and Rogers has to process losing, losing the guy who's 0:05:40.480 --> 0:05:43.680 been his top target here for the past handful of 0:05:43.760 --> 0:05:47.000 seasons and and you know, arguably the best receiver in 0:05:47.040 --> 0:05:51.160 the league. Then there's all the coaching changes. You know, 0:05:51.320 --> 0:05:54.760 Luke getsye Nathaniel Hackett, uh justin out and the coach, 0:05:54.880 --> 0:05:57.159 the coaches on the offensive staff that he's gotten to 0:05:57.200 --> 0:06:00.280 know for the last three years, those guys and yets, 0:06:00.279 --> 0:06:03.800 he longer than that, those guys moving on to two 0:06:03.839 --> 0:06:06.880 bigger and better career opportunities for themselves. I mean, he 0:06:07.000 --> 0:06:09.599 had a lot, he had a lot to go through here. 0:06:09.760 --> 0:06:12.200 But then all that said, and he had made the 0:06:12.200 --> 0:06:14.880 comment after the golf match last week about yeah, like, 0:06:14.920 --> 0:06:18.000 of course I still think about retirement, but he made 0:06:18.000 --> 0:06:21.240 a point to emphasize when I decided in March, you know, 0:06:21.400 --> 0:06:24.320 amidst everything with Adams and you know, than him signing 0:06:24.320 --> 0:06:29.120 the contract extension and all that, he said, I'm all in. Yes, 0:06:29.160 --> 0:06:31.800 I'm still going to think about retirement and maybe what 0:06:31.839 --> 0:06:35.160 the future holds, but right now, for this season, for two, 0:06:35.520 --> 0:06:39.280 I'm all in. I'm here, I'm committed. Everybody knows that. Um, 0:06:39.320 --> 0:06:41.880 he's got his old quarterbacks coach, Tom Clement's back in 0:06:41.920 --> 0:06:44.640 the building. He said, for all the change that's gone on, 0:06:45.800 --> 0:06:49.039 that makes makes things sort of feel a little bit better, 0:06:49.120 --> 0:06:52.040 feel a little bit more. Okay. You know, as as 0:06:52.400 --> 0:06:56.360 this uh, this offense goes through this transition and uh 0:06:56.440 --> 0:07:00.000 and Rodgers's Rogers ready for it. He's uh, he planned 0:07:00.000 --> 0:07:01.599 it is to be all set to go for the 0:07:01.600 --> 0:07:03.680 start of training camp, and then at the end of 0:07:03.680 --> 0:07:06.080 the season he'll go through his He'll go through the 0:07:06.120 --> 0:07:08.520 process again and see where he is he is mentally 0:07:08.560 --> 0:07:10.960 with regards to his future. Yeah, and I don't think 0:07:10.960 --> 0:07:13.480 this was intentional, but I am personally enjoying kind of 0:07:13.520 --> 0:07:16.120 the Benjamin Button sort of aspect of his career here 0:07:16.160 --> 0:07:19.080 where you know, Clements is back, who was his original 0:07:19.320 --> 0:07:22.240 quarterbacks coach. He's grown the long hair back out again, 0:07:22.280 --> 0:07:24.000 which is kind of the way he entered the league 0:07:24.480 --> 0:07:26.360 back in two thousand and whatever that year he did that, 0:07:26.400 --> 0:07:30.240 oh seven. But at the end of the day, it's 0:07:30.280 --> 0:07:33.680 just the appreciation for greatness and that was what my 0:07:33.760 --> 0:07:35.960 takeaway was when I was covering the match that night 0:07:36.000 --> 0:07:39.680 and afterwards, I as I'm writing, I left on you know, 0:07:39.720 --> 0:07:43.760 the quarterback conversation that Ernie Johnson did just expertly, and 0:07:44.000 --> 0:07:48.360 listening to Rogers and Brady talk sitting side by side, um, 0:07:48.400 --> 0:07:52.040 it was incredibly refreshing because I feel like so many 0:07:52.080 --> 0:07:53.840 times we just talked about, well, when so and so 0:07:53.920 --> 0:07:55.960 going to retire, and they've been doing that now with 0:07:56.000 --> 0:08:01.040 Brady for seven years, and both of those guys recognizing that, 0:08:01.360 --> 0:08:03.760 you know, trying to figure that out is very difficult 0:08:03.760 --> 0:08:06.160 for human being in any walk of life, trying to 0:08:06.200 --> 0:08:08.480 figure that out when you're a first ballot Hall of Famer, 0:08:08.480 --> 0:08:09.960 When you're gonna go down as one of the greats, 0:08:10.000 --> 0:08:14.080 When when my son has children, when when you have grandchildren, 0:08:14.480 --> 0:08:18.160 they're they're gonna hear stories about Aaron Rodgers that, just 0:08:18.240 --> 0:08:21.000 like how I heard stories of bart start and and 0:08:21.160 --> 0:08:24.920 understanding that jumping off point and leaving that aspect of 0:08:24.920 --> 0:08:28.080 your life behind it's not easy. And even Mercedes Lewis 0:08:28.080 --> 0:08:29.760 touched on it this week too. You know, he's going 0:08:29.760 --> 0:08:32.760 into year seventeen now he has his eyes on tying 0:08:32.960 --> 0:08:36.319 Tony Gonzalez and and obviously Jason went for that record 0:08:36.320 --> 0:08:38.680 then maybe potentially surpassing it, depending on how this is 0:08:38.720 --> 0:08:41.520 where your goes. But as he said, you know, when 0:08:41.559 --> 0:08:44.920 your body feels good, it's just about mentally figuring out 0:08:45.200 --> 0:08:48.360 when is the next step for you. And I feel 0:08:48.400 --> 0:08:52.040 like with Rogers he said it perfectly. Once March came, 0:08:52.080 --> 0:08:54.400 he was all in. This was it. We are going. 0:08:54.440 --> 0:08:56.520 It's two thousand twenty two now, the season and the 0:08:56.520 --> 0:08:59.520 goal of the Super Bowl. That's all in touch and 0:08:59.520 --> 0:09:01.719 and building with this group that they have. I think 0:09:01.720 --> 0:09:04.360 it's incredibly exciting because for the first time in a 0:09:04.360 --> 0:09:06.440 long time, Mike, I think there's a lot of people 0:09:06.480 --> 0:09:08.400 in the NFL, A lot of people like myself, we 0:09:08.440 --> 0:09:10.360 don't know what form this offense is going to take 0:09:10.400 --> 0:09:11.719 and what the identity is going to be at this 0:09:11.760 --> 0:09:14.280 football team, and there's a certain amount of you know, 0:09:14.920 --> 0:09:17.080 adrenaline I think, sort of hits when you're when you're 0:09:17.080 --> 0:09:19.640 when you're going through those emotions. Yeah, I think it 0:09:19.760 --> 0:09:22.520 was also interesting, I thought, and I wrote about this 0:09:22.559 --> 0:09:25.160 in the story that I posted on the website the 0:09:25.160 --> 0:09:28.080 other day, just his perspective on where things are with 0:09:28.160 --> 0:09:31.360 this receiving corps right now, and the line, you know, 0:09:31.400 --> 0:09:33.520 if you want the SoundBite, the one line that jumps 0:09:33.559 --> 0:09:38.559 out about it with regard to this Packers receiving corps, 0:09:38.640 --> 0:09:42.439 he's as well, I'm in favor of production over potential. 0:09:42.760 --> 0:09:45.000 Now that's not a knock against the rookies, but that's 0:09:45.000 --> 0:09:48.000 basically the reminder that you know, whether you're talking about 0:09:48.080 --> 0:09:50.640 Christian Watson being drafted at the top of the second round, 0:09:51.160 --> 0:09:53.800 Romeo Dobbs in the fourth round, tour a in the 0:09:53.840 --> 0:09:57.959 seventh round, he made a made a very clear point 0:09:57.960 --> 0:10:01.160 of saying the expectations for the rookie receivers need to 0:10:01.200 --> 0:10:05.080 be reasonable and um and yeah, that that goes for 0:10:05.320 --> 0:10:08.040 that goes for him, but it also goes for for 0:10:08.200 --> 0:10:10.839 the fans and everybody as well, because as far as 0:10:10.960 --> 0:10:14.880 Rogers perspective on the Green Bay Packers Receiving Corps, he 0:10:14.920 --> 0:10:17.360 sees three veterans that are at the top of the 0:10:17.400 --> 0:10:19.200 depth chart right now, put him in whatever or do 0:10:19.200 --> 0:10:21.840 you want Al Lazard, Randall Cobb, and Sammy Watkins the 0:10:21.840 --> 0:10:24.160 new edition. We'll talk a little bit more about him 0:10:24.200 --> 0:10:27.240 in a minute. And then from Roger's perspective, the rest 0:10:27.320 --> 0:10:30.480 of it is all guys competing to see where they fit, 0:10:30.600 --> 0:10:33.319 and Rogers like, hey, those top three, I feel pretty 0:10:33.320 --> 0:10:35.600 good about those top three. And then we're gonna see, 0:10:35.800 --> 0:10:37.920 We're gonna see what happens with the rest of these guys. 0:10:37.920 --> 0:10:40.319 And yes, there is a ton of potential there. This 0:10:40.400 --> 0:10:43.440 was a this was a retooling, a reboot of the 0:10:43.480 --> 0:10:47.679 Packers Receiving Corps with with trading Adams, with losing mvs 0:10:47.720 --> 0:10:51.680 and free agency, all of that um. But Rogers knows 0:10:51.720 --> 0:10:54.800 what he has and then he's going to see exactly, 0:10:55.080 --> 0:10:59.480 you know, how that potential potentially comes to fruition um 0:10:59.800 --> 0:11:03.680 with these other young guys. And and it's a it's 0:11:03.679 --> 0:11:06.840 a complete it's a complete reset at that position. But 0:11:07.200 --> 0:11:10.160 he's excited about it. He knows that and made a 0:11:10.160 --> 0:11:14.760 point of saying that having Randall Cobb in that receiver 0:11:14.840 --> 0:11:17.439 group as a leader, he's a guy that even when 0:11:17.559 --> 0:11:20.600 Rogers is not around, Randall Cobb can you know, look 0:11:20.600 --> 0:11:23.160 at the film and explain to the young guys, Okay, 0:11:23.200 --> 0:11:25.400 this is this is how the quarterback sees this. This 0:11:25.480 --> 0:11:27.200 is what he's gonna want you to do. You know, 0:11:28.200 --> 0:11:31.640 Randall Cobb can be his his voice in the receiver's room. 0:11:31.640 --> 0:11:34.120 So conjacent Rabel, who has now worked with Rogers for 0:11:34.200 --> 0:11:37.760 multiple years. So um, all of that is part of 0:11:37.760 --> 0:11:40.440 the process here as the Packers are putting together their 0:11:40.480 --> 0:11:45.040 offense for two. And another receiver that we definitely should 0:11:45.040 --> 0:11:47.440 mention as well, happens to have the same last name, 0:11:47.480 --> 0:11:50.920 that being Rogers. You talked with Amari Rodgers and wrote 0:11:50.960 --> 0:11:53.520 about him a little bit, and there's been you know, 0:11:53.720 --> 0:11:57.120 a lot of a lot of speculation as to okay, 0:11:57.160 --> 0:11:59.440 just what's happening. You know, the rookie season didn't go 0:11:59.440 --> 0:12:01.800 the way he too. Here he's headed into year two. 0:12:02.280 --> 0:12:05.480 But but share what you learned as far as Amari 0:12:05.640 --> 0:12:08.520 Rodgers and where he's headed in his so called sophomore season. 0:12:08.559 --> 0:12:10.920 It was interesting on Packers dot Com. I had the 0:12:11.000 --> 0:12:13.319 Rogers story, Marie Rogers story, and then the next day 0:12:13.320 --> 0:12:15.880 you wrote about Sammy Watkins. And while they're different players 0:12:15.880 --> 0:12:18.880 at different junctures of their careers, it was interesting listening 0:12:18.880 --> 0:12:21.120 to both of them and reading about both of them, 0:12:21.160 --> 0:12:23.760 you know, feeling like they have something to prove this season. 0:12:23.800 --> 0:12:25.920 In Watkins case, it was that, yeah, he has won 0:12:25.960 --> 0:12:27.880 a Super Bowl, He's done a lot in the lead. 0:12:28.120 --> 0:12:30.319 You know, he came out just you know, gangbusters his 0:12:30.440 --> 0:12:32.520 first two years in the NFL, but has had a 0:12:32.520 --> 0:12:34.319 lot of injuries, has had some stuff to work through 0:12:34.360 --> 0:12:36.160 on that side of things. Well, on the other side 0:12:36.160 --> 0:12:38.600 of it, Amari comes out and as he equated it, it 0:12:38.520 --> 0:12:40.560 it was kind of like a freshman years. How he 0:12:40.600 --> 0:12:42.360 looked at it like going back to high school, going 0:12:42.400 --> 0:12:45.120 back to Clemson and trying to find your way. And 0:12:45.559 --> 0:12:48.080 that's a difficult, humbling experience. This is a young man 0:12:48.120 --> 0:12:50.600 that won a national championship, was a thousand yard featured 0:12:50.640 --> 0:12:53.120 receiver for for the Tigers, and now here here he 0:12:53.200 --> 0:12:56.000 is in the NFL trying to find his way. Unfortunately 0:12:56.000 --> 0:12:58.280 for him, you talk about cobbying a you know, uh, 0:12:58.400 --> 0:12:59.840 you know, kind of a guiding light for all these 0:12:59.840 --> 0:13:01.960 guy as well. Cobb has known him since the kid 0:13:02.040 --> 0:13:05.000 was nine, based on the connections with Cobb playing for 0:13:05.080 --> 0:13:09.240 his father T. Martin way back and win over at 0:13:09.400 --> 0:13:15.040 uh Kentucky and now this aspect I thought was really 0:13:15.080 --> 0:13:17.920 interesting him saying that, you know, last year, everything that happened, 0:13:17.960 --> 0:13:19.400 maybe he let it get to him a little bit. 0:13:19.880 --> 0:13:21.960 Maybe he did have kind of a confidence, you know, 0:13:22.240 --> 0:13:24.560 loss there after what happened with the kickoff or the 0:13:24.600 --> 0:13:28.000 punt returns, uh, you know, and also just his his body, 0:13:28.120 --> 0:13:30.280 you know, wanting to get back to being himself again. 0:13:30.320 --> 0:13:32.400 You know, I think he was trying to fill out 0:13:32.440 --> 0:13:34.440 a little bit more and trying to be this NFL 0:13:34.480 --> 0:13:36.760 receiver when you know, I think a Marie starting to 0:13:36.760 --> 0:13:39.320 realize the Packers drafted me to be a Mari Rodgers, 0:13:39.400 --> 0:13:41.440 not to be this guy. I thought a Marie Rogers 0:13:41.520 --> 0:13:44.760 should be in the NFL, and and all those things together, 0:13:45.000 --> 0:13:47.360 I think is really going to be what carries him forward. 0:13:47.400 --> 0:13:49.000 And to be honest with you, Mike, we said it, 0:13:49.080 --> 0:13:52.160 Larry McCarron said it. He's looked a lot more confident 0:13:52.280 --> 0:13:54.480 in this camp and just seeing some of the place 0:13:54.559 --> 0:13:56.920 he made in the two minute period on Wednesday, you know, 0:13:57.000 --> 0:13:59.400 coming across on across or fifteen yards a third and 0:13:59.440 --> 0:14:01.880 ten got have its situation to keep the chains moving. 0:14:02.160 --> 0:14:04.839 He comes up in that in that area you're seeing 0:14:04.840 --> 0:14:07.000 the pre stap motion and how he could potentially fit 0:14:07.120 --> 0:14:09.679 factor into that equation. That was something we thought he 0:14:09.760 --> 0:14:11.760 was kind of you know, earmarked four from the day 0:14:11.760 --> 0:14:14.960 he was drafted. So he said that when that media 0:14:15.080 --> 0:14:18.240 conversation we had with him on Tuesday, was that he 0:14:18.360 --> 0:14:21.080 wasn't quite a Marie Rogers last year. He was a 0:14:21.080 --> 0:14:23.840 Marie Roger. Marie Roger, but he wasn't a Marie Rogers. 0:14:23.880 --> 0:14:26.640 He's like he's feeling, you know, like himself again. Yeah. 0:14:26.720 --> 0:14:29.520 And it was interesting too because Matt Lafleur was was 0:14:29.560 --> 0:14:31.280 asked about him, and one of the things la Fleur 0:14:31.360 --> 0:14:34.440 said is is he's definitely in better shape here in 0:14:34.480 --> 0:14:36.800 his second year than he was as a rookie. And 0:14:36.840 --> 0:14:38.800 those are the kinds of things that that you kind 0:14:38.840 --> 0:14:41.800 of just never know exactly what's going on with a guy, 0:14:41.960 --> 0:14:44.720 right and and um, you look at you look at 0:14:44.760 --> 0:14:47.720 this Packers receiving corps. I mentioned the three, the three veterans. 0:14:47.720 --> 0:14:51.360 But now over the last two years, you've added a 0:14:51.440 --> 0:14:54.160 second round, a third round, and a fourth round draft 0:14:54.240 --> 0:14:56.720 pick to this mix. Plus you have some returning guys 0:14:56.720 --> 0:14:59.960 and Malie Taylor, Juwan Winfrey, the seventh rounders, some more 0:15:00.000 --> 0:15:04.040 a toure an undrafted rookie, and Danny Davis otto Wisconsin. 0:15:04.080 --> 0:15:06.480 I mean, the competition and training camp will definitely be 0:15:07.040 --> 0:15:10.400 um something to watch. I do want to talk about 0:15:10.440 --> 0:15:14.800 Watkins as well, because I wrote a story yesterday late 0:15:14.840 --> 0:15:18.920 in the afternoon yesterday that we posted on on the website, 0:15:19.000 --> 0:15:20.800 and um, it was the first we had heard from 0:15:20.880 --> 0:15:24.000 Watkins in the media. He had held court at his 0:15:24.080 --> 0:15:28.200 locker after practice yesterday and uh, and I tell you, Wes, 0:15:28.280 --> 0:15:31.200 it was um. Um. You know, whether whether you want 0:15:31.240 --> 0:15:33.880 to talk about sports or politics or whatever, all the 0:15:34.000 --> 0:15:37.960 obfuscation that goes on in the media in terms of 0:15:38.120 --> 0:15:40.520 in terms of messages and this and that and what 0:15:40.600 --> 0:15:45.200 people want to perceive or believe and whatever else that 0:15:45.560 --> 0:15:48.880 you know, eight minutes with with Sammy Watkins at his 0:15:48.960 --> 0:15:51.560 locker was one of the most refreshing things I've encountered 0:15:51.640 --> 0:15:55.880 in a long time, because he was he was absolutely honest. 0:15:56.400 --> 0:16:00.600 He was. He was insightful, um very blunt about his 0:16:00.640 --> 0:16:03.560 own situation. He's as far as his career, He's like, hey, 0:16:03.600 --> 0:16:06.440 my back is against the wall. I mean he's played 0:16:06.440 --> 0:16:09.600 for multiple teams. Now, he admitted, I haven't had the 0:16:09.720 --> 0:16:12.240 career that I expected to have. Right. He was the 0:16:12.360 --> 0:16:15.840 number four overall pick back in the same year the 0:16:15.840 --> 0:16:19.480 Packers drafted Davante Adams in the second round, and he 0:16:19.520 --> 0:16:21.560 got off to a great start those first couple of 0:16:21.600 --> 0:16:24.520 years in Buffalo, but then the injuries. You know, he 0:16:24.720 --> 0:16:27.080 over the last six years, I counted it up. He 0:16:27.160 --> 0:16:31.240 has He has missed in totality, more than two dozen 0:16:31.320 --> 0:16:34.600 games over the course of six years. That's a that's 0:16:34.640 --> 0:16:37.400 more than a season and a half of football. And 0:16:37.480 --> 0:16:41.200 that doesn't include the games in which you only play 0:16:41.320 --> 0:16:42.960 like part of a game, or you miss a big 0:16:43.040 --> 0:16:44.960 chunk of a game because of the moment that you 0:16:45.000 --> 0:16:47.880 do get hurt and you can't continue. So he knows 0:16:47.960 --> 0:16:50.800 it's all it's all on him to stay healthy, to 0:16:50.840 --> 0:16:54.280 stay on the field. But he was also very honest 0:16:54.320 --> 0:16:56.360 in saying you you could see the look in his 0:16:56.440 --> 0:16:58.680 eye and hear a little bit of the excitement in 0:16:58.720 --> 0:17:03.640 his voice about how great a fit. He feels this 0:17:03.720 --> 0:17:05.840 is with the Packers, where you have you have a 0:17:05.880 --> 0:17:09.439 Hall of Fame quarterback in Aaron Rodgers. You're on a contender. 0:17:10.119 --> 0:17:13.920 He's with a head coach who was his offensive coordinator 0:17:13.960 --> 0:17:16.680 five years ago two thousand seventeen with the Rams, where 0:17:16.680 --> 0:17:19.560 he caught eight touchdown passes that one year with the Rams, 0:17:19.600 --> 0:17:22.320 by the way, which is the most touchdowns he's had 0:17:22.320 --> 0:17:26.439 in a season since those early years in Buffalo. Jason 0:17:26.520 --> 0:17:30.280 Vrabel was an offensive assistant who worked with the wide 0:17:30.280 --> 0:17:34.120 receivers those early years in Buffalo. That's now his position 0:17:34.200 --> 0:17:37.919 coach and the passing game coordinator for this offense. A 0:17:37.920 --> 0:17:40.840 lot of the a lot of these other outside elements 0:17:40.920 --> 0:17:44.120 kind of came together to to to say to Sammy Watkins, hey, 0:17:44.160 --> 0:17:47.800 this is this is my shot at reviving my career. 0:17:47.880 --> 0:17:50.760 This is year nine for him, but he wants to 0:17:50.760 --> 0:17:53.359 play another three, four or five years and this is 0:17:53.400 --> 0:17:55.240 his chance to make that happen. He has a one 0:17:55.280 --> 0:17:57.840 year deal in Green Bay. He's playing on a really 0:17:57.840 --> 0:18:02.040 good team that's going through major transition at his position. 0:18:02.600 --> 0:18:05.399 This is uh, this is the the opportunity for the 0:18:05.440 --> 0:18:08.639 reboot of his career and he and and he mints 0:18:08.680 --> 0:18:10.879 no words about that. Yeah, you know almost in a 0:18:10.880 --> 0:18:12.879 way and again different part of his career, but it 0:18:12.920 --> 0:18:15.240 almost kind of reminds you, like of Devandre Campbell, where 0:18:15.240 --> 0:18:17.280 he was just he was very deliberate about what that 0:18:17.359 --> 0:18:20.399 next move was going to be this offseason, understanding he 0:18:20.440 --> 0:18:22.560 needed to get in the right opportunity with the right team. 0:18:22.560 --> 0:18:25.119 He's played with m v P quarterbacks, He's won a 0:18:25.160 --> 0:18:28.440 Super Bowl, right knows the standard that that is out there. 0:18:28.480 --> 0:18:31.560 But the thing that stand out stood out to me 0:18:31.600 --> 0:18:34.159 the most after going back and reading your story and 0:18:34.200 --> 0:18:37.560 looking at what Watkins had said, is that Sammy Watkins 0:18:37.600 --> 0:18:40.360 has had a fine NFL career. He really has. This 0:18:40.400 --> 0:18:42.480 is a league where guys come in, whether they're hyped 0:18:42.600 --> 0:18:44.720 or not. I mean, they would all love to have, 0:18:44.880 --> 0:18:46.840 you know, over five thousand yards in their career, you know, 0:18:46.880 --> 0:18:49.359 thirty or four touchdown passes, a guy that has played 0:18:49.359 --> 0:18:51.679 in all these offenses and started all these games. But 0:18:51.840 --> 0:18:55.400 when you're drafted fourth overall, the expectation is that you're 0:18:55.400 --> 0:18:57.920 the next Calvin Johnson, Right, You're You're the guy who's 0:18:57.920 --> 0:19:00.479 going to play tenant. You know you're going to end 0:19:00.520 --> 0:19:03.000 up with that that ten or twelve year career, whatever 0:19:03.040 --> 0:19:05.480 it is, and you're gonna be talked about for Canton, Ohio. 0:19:05.920 --> 0:19:08.919 That hasn't happened for Sammy Watkins. Yes, he's had a 0:19:08.960 --> 0:19:11.359 really really good career, but even he was willing to 0:19:11.400 --> 0:19:13.960 admit it's not the career that he wanted. But it's 0:19:13.960 --> 0:19:15.680 funny to me because I think a lot of people 0:19:15.680 --> 0:19:17.960 still wouldn't even say that. A lot of people that 0:19:18.000 --> 0:19:19.600 are in his shoes that would be a top pick. 0:19:19.760 --> 0:19:21.720 They'd kind of rest back on that and be like, yeah, 0:19:21.960 --> 0:19:24.120 it turned out, Okay, I made some money. It's been 0:19:24.119 --> 0:19:26.480