Speaker 1: Hi, everybody. Welcome to another edition of Packers Unscripted from
Speaker 1: Packers dot Com. I am Mike Spofford, joined by the
Speaker 1: one and only Wes Hodkowitz. We're coming to you here
Speaker 1: from our studios at lambeau Field West. Since our last show,
Speaker 1: the Packers have practiced twice more on nizchegie Field. Not
Speaker 1: long after we wrap up this show, we'll be headed
Speaker 1: to the airport because we are off to Denver the
Speaker 1: joint practice on Friday. The preseason game. Preseason number two
Speaker 1: is on Sunday night. So a lot to cover here
Speaker 1: as we go through, but I'll just start with what
Speaker 1: news and notes you have from these last two practices
Speaker 1: here in Green Bay. A couple of things to note
Speaker 1: very quickly on the health front, as far as some
Speaker 1: of the bigger names, Jordan Morgan and Carrington Valentine both
Speaker 1: have returned from their injuries and are back in practice,
Speaker 1: but thus far only doing individual drills. They are not
Speaker 1: yet cleared for eleven on eleven. Don't know what that
Speaker 1: means as far as Denver on Friday and in the
Speaker 1: game on Sunday, but good news that a couple of
Speaker 1: guys who were expecting to have a pretty significant impact
Speaker 1: on this twenty twenty four Packers team that those injuries
Speaker 1: hopefully are in the review mirror.
Speaker 2: Yeah, you hope. You know, from Morgan's standpoint, I don't
Speaker 2: know whether or not he'll be out there, but obviously
Speaker 2: that the hope would be get him in at least
Speaker 2: in one of these preseason games, if not next week
Speaker 2: with the joint practice against Baltimore and then before that game. Yeah,
Speaker 2: because he was doing some really good things Mike at
Speaker 2: right guard right before the shoulder injury popped up there
Speaker 2: in practice last week. You look at his size, his
Speaker 2: body type. He was talking to the media on Wednesday
Speaker 2: and even mentioned, you know, he's getting more comfortable in
Speaker 2: that guard role again. And one of these guys, much
Speaker 2: like Sean Ryan whom we talked about earlier this week,
Speaker 2: somebody that didn't play that position at all in college,
Speaker 2: was just stationed at left tackle and having to make
Speaker 2: that adaptation now in the NFL. So when you look
Speaker 2: at Valentine, when you look at Morgan, obviously, I think
Speaker 2: Morgan's probably the one that you want to make sure
Speaker 2: you get out in these preseason games and see as
Speaker 2: much of them as possible and give him those live reps,
Speaker 2: whereas a guy like Valentine played so many snaps last year,
Speaker 2: started twelve games with such a vital part of that
Speaker 2: defense with all the injuries that had crept up. I
Speaker 2: think the other thing that really stood out to me
Speaker 2: with these practices this week is the more opportunities that
Speaker 2: Michael Pratt has been receiving at quarterback. And I think
Speaker 2: a lot of people make too much out of the
Speaker 2: first team, second team to third team, you know, designations
Speaker 2: and who's running with whom. But the thing is is
Speaker 2: they did put more on Pratt's plate this week. He
Speaker 2: got a chance in the practice on Tuesday to close
Speaker 2: out the two minute drive there and the arm talent
Speaker 2: he has, the moxie. This is a guy much like
Speaker 2: Clifford last year, who played a lot of college football
Speaker 2: and I think has shown that he isn't just going
Speaker 2: to be a deer in the headlights when he makes
Speaker 2: this jump to the NFL. There's a lot there and
Speaker 2: a lot of that he can lean back on as
Speaker 2: he starts to make that transition.
Speaker 1: Yeah, there is a lot to watch with regard to
Speaker 1: the backup quarterback situation. Now, as you said, Michael Pratt
Speaker 1: getting a little bit more put on his plate taking
Speaker 1: some reps with the twos as opposed to just with
Speaker 1: the threes. And with regard to Sunday night's preseason game
Speaker 1: in Denver, the starters are not going to play. They're
Speaker 1: going to essentially get their work ones versus ones against
Speaker 1: the Broncos in the joint practice on Friday. So then
Speaker 1: it is the twos and the threes that are going
Speaker 1: to be getting all the work in the Sunday night game.
Speaker 1: And it'll be interesting to see because with what Pratt
Speaker 1: did in his NFL preseason debut in Cleveland, he certainly
Speaker 1: acquitted himself well. But I came out of that game thinking, Okay,
Speaker 1: Michael Pratt looks like he belongs in the NFL. I
Speaker 1: want to see him go against better than third string
Speaker 1: units on the other side, right, So that's the next
Speaker 1: step with Pratt. So we'll see how the reps ended,
Speaker 1: you know, get divided up on Saturday night. I'm sorry,
Speaker 1: on Sunday night in Denver.
Speaker 2: I keep doing that this week too.
Speaker 1: I know I keep saying Saturday preseason on a Sunday night.
Speaker 1: I had to look back at all of my schedules,
Speaker 1: which are in a big stack at home since we
Speaker 1: had to pack up all of our office step to
Speaker 1: this temporary location we're working in. I don't know if
Speaker 1: I've ever covered a preseason game on a Sunday night
Speaker 1: like this might be, this might be a first, but regardless,
Speaker 1: I think we're all going to be curious to see
Speaker 1: if Michael Pratt is able to get into a preseason
Speaker 1: game where it's not just the threes versus threes, but
Speaker 1: where he gets to work with the Packers twos but
Speaker 1: also goes against more of a second string unit defensively
Speaker 1: as opposed to a third string unit. Then we'll see
Speaker 1: how things go. It's interesting to watch it unfold. I
Speaker 1: would say, I think it's going to be hard. It's
Speaker 1: going to be difficult to not Clifford out of that
Speaker 1: spot barring some kind of a disaster, just because of
Speaker 1: his experience and that he has the one year under
Speaker 1: his belt. But you can't rule it out. You definitely
Speaker 1: can't rule it out. And then there's gonna be the
Speaker 1: decision when push comes to shove. Are the Packers going
Speaker 1: to keep three quarterbacks on the fifty three years going
Speaker 1: to be two? And those are all things that we
Speaker 1: still have to let these last two preseason games play
Speaker 1: out before we really get into those conversations.
Speaker 2: One hundred percent. And I like what you said there
Speaker 2: because I think one thing that people aren't giving Clifford
Speaker 2: enough credit for I've said even last year, in a
Speaker 2: lot of ways, he's sort of an agent of chaos,
Speaker 2: it seems like, in terms of he goes out there
Speaker 2: in these games and you talk about a gamer, a winner,
Speaker 2: a guy that was a four year starter at Penn State,
Speaker 2: Clifford shows it in those instances when when the fire
Speaker 2: gets on his toes, when when the heat gets turned
Speaker 2: up a little bit, the guy doesn't panic. He looks
Speaker 2: to make plays, he doesn't look to recoil. That's what
Speaker 2: made him successful last preseason. Honestly, I think that's what's
Speaker 2: gonna make him a successful NFL quarterback. I think I
Speaker 2: think so too, if he gets thrown into those situations
Speaker 2: where you need a guy to go out there. The
Speaker 2: question was asking me an insider inbox this week, and
Speaker 2: I don't know how you feel about it, but it
Speaker 2: was brought it up again about hey, should the Packers
Speaker 2: have a Joe Flacco type? Should they have a veteran
Speaker 2: quarterback behind Jordan Love one no, because the money that
Speaker 2: you have to invest in those players is so astronomical.
Speaker 2: People get so over the top about well, these quarterbacks
Speaker 2: are making fifty million dollars a year to start, Well,
Speaker 2: we're paying backup quarterbacks eight million dollars a year. That
Speaker 2: all still comes out of the same salary caps You.
Speaker 1: Got to understand you're talking about a different salary cap
Speaker 1: wise when you have a couple developmental quarterbacks that even
Speaker 1: if the Packers do keep them both and have three,
Speaker 1: you're talking about a couple million dollars invested in a
Speaker 1: couple of backup quarterbacks salary cap wise versus a six
Speaker 1: or eight or nine million dollar a year deal for
Speaker 1: a proven you know, NFL veteran, you know that whole thing.
Speaker 1: That's a completely different financial equation and it's something that
Speaker 1: the Packers would rather not have to go down that road.
Speaker 1: And they believe in their process of developing quarterbacks and
Speaker 1: getting as ready to play if indeed it happens is.
Speaker 2: With w they did last year with Clifford, which they're
Speaker 2: doing now with Michael Pratt. I love the decision to
Speaker 2: draft Pratt in the seventh round. The Packers have had
Speaker 2: this barrage of seventh round picks the last couple of years.
Speaker 2: When you looked at that draft board, he was the
Speaker 2: guy that I had on there. When I was looking
Speaker 2: at it, I was like, this is the dude if
Speaker 2: they want to go to try to draft somebody late,
Speaker 2: and it was the guy they ended up picking. I
Speaker 2: love what he brings to the table. I love his
Speaker 2: arm strength. I love the fact that this has been
Speaker 2: a real live competition between these two. Pratt is moving
Speaker 2: up from just the entry level one hundred level class
Speaker 2: to more than two hundred level stuff now with some
Speaker 2: of these reps he got this past week. But at
Speaker 2: the same time, I think Sean Clifford's done a lot
Speaker 2: of good things too. A little bit of confusion at
Speaker 2: the end of the two minute series on Wednesday, but
Speaker 2: the fact that he drove them down as quickly as
Speaker 2: he did, looked poised, look confident, got the ball quickly
Speaker 2: out of his hand. There wasn't a timeout to be
Speaker 2: used during that series was a minute forty with no timeouts.
Speaker 2: He had a really nice scene pass to Ben Simms
Speaker 2: for twenty three yards. He is looking to make those
Speaker 2: plays downfield with his arm in addition to keeping the
Speaker 2: drive moving and again, I think Clifford has talked about
Speaker 2: it at nauseum. Now it was a different beast winning
Speaker 2: that first week when he was trying to step in
Speaker 2: there for Jordan Love. Now he's having a chance to
Speaker 2: get back in with twos, and I think you're seeing
Speaker 2: the development process take it from there.
Speaker 1: Yeah, And the quarterback, the quarterback situation is definitely going
Speaker 1: to be worth monitoring here as training camp wraps up,
Speaker 1: and there are a lot of snaps to be had
Speaker 1: in these last two preseason games because even if Jordan
Speaker 1: Love and the starters do return to preseason action in
Speaker 1: that finale against Baltimore, I don't expect it to be
Speaker 1: a whole lot much more. You know, it might be
Speaker 1: a little bit more than the really brief cameo in Cleveland,
Speaker 1: But then again, maybe not. And you know, we don't know.
Speaker 1: There are a lot of snaps for Clifford and Pratt
Speaker 1: to take over these last couple of preseason games. A
Speaker 1: couple other thoughts with regard to these last two practices.
Speaker 1: Really too bad on the defensive side of the ball
Speaker 1: that the two rookie draft pick linebackers Edgern Cooper and
Speaker 1: Tyron Hoppert have been injured and have not been able
Speaker 1: to participate. I think Hopper has been going through some
Speaker 1: individual drills, but neither one has been in the eleven
Speaker 1: on eleven at all, and that's really unfortunate. Now there's
Speaker 1: still another week left after the Denver trip, and there's
Speaker 1: still the one more preseason game, but at this point,
Speaker 1: you know, I don't want to put the cart before
Speaker 1: the horses, they say, but it's hard to see any
Speaker 1: sort of an immediate, like week one impact from rookie
Speaker 1: linebackers in this brand new defense when they have missed
Speaker 1: as much time and as much potential opportunity as they have.
Speaker 1: One of the things that I think is interesting about
Speaker 1: this though, and I was actually chatting about this on
Speaker 1: the sideline the other day with Paul Brettle, who's a
Speaker 1: relatively new media member on the Packers beat, works for
Speaker 1: ESPN Radio out of Lacrosse. He lives here in the
Speaker 1: Green Bay area, and he was talking about Christian Welch,
Speaker 1: the veteran inside linebacker, and because when training camp started,
Speaker 1: you're looking at, Okay, you've got as far as that,
Speaker 1: as far as that off ball linebacker spot, you have
Speaker 1: Kuay Walker, Isaiah McDuffie, Eric Wilson, you know, has been
Speaker 1: doing his thing. You have the two rookie draft picks.
Speaker 1: How you know how much more room is there? Well,
Speaker 1: now that Cooper and Hopper haven't really been in there,
Speaker 1: Suddenly Christian Weltch the combination of not only the reps
Speaker 1: that he's getting in practice, but then what he brings
Speaker 1: as a veteran guy on special teams and all that.
Speaker 1: It's like, well, the Wisconsin native, I you know, Iola Wisconsin, Uh,
Speaker 1: Christian Welch is is you know, in position to make
Speaker 1: this fifty three man roster again. We'll see again, still
Speaker 1: a long way to go. But a guy that I
Speaker 1: don't like to use the word afterthought, but but a
Speaker 1: guy that you weren't we weren't really talking about him
Speaker 1: right right, But now it's looking like, well, maybe we
Speaker 1: should be talking a little bit more about this guy
Speaker 1: because I think he's going to be in position to
Speaker 1: make the fifty three.
Speaker 2: And I no means do I want to disrespect Christian here,
Speaker 2: but I think one of the reasons why you don't
Speaker 2: think much about him is he didn't play on defense
Speaker 2: for Green Bay last year. He played four defensive snaps
Speaker 2: the year before that, with Baltimore.
Speaker 1: Yeah, he has been a special teams a special teams specialist.
Speaker 2: This is where he has cut his teeth in the league.
Speaker 2: And as Paul was telling us, and I've talked to
Speaker 2: Christian too, I remember talking him at the end of
Speaker 2: the season last year about his desire to come back,
Speaker 2: considering he's ninety minutes from his home, you know, his hometown. Yeah,
Speaker 2: but you know, as he was saying, it's like he
Speaker 2: loves special teams. Yeah, this is a guy and it
Speaker 2: reminds me kind of like the Jared Bushes of the world,
Speaker 2: Guys that Yeah. I mean, certainly everybody wants to play
Speaker 2: on defense. He's in linebacker. That is his position. He
Speaker 2: wants to play linebacker. But there's certain guys that they
Speaker 2: embraced that with open arms, those type opportunities and the
Speaker 2: chance to be able to create a living and have
Speaker 2: a legacy, be able to tell his grandchildren I played
Speaker 2: in the National Football League for seven, eight, nine, ten years.
Speaker 2: A lot of times those grants there aren't asking, hey,
Speaker 2: were you the starting linebacker in Week two against Chicago. No,
Speaker 2: he played for the Green Bay Packers. It all kind
Speaker 2: of counts the same in that way. Yes, and Welch
Speaker 2: has the right mentality for it. The one thing I
Speaker 2: think is very interesting to me because I went into
Speaker 2: this whole thing even though they drafted Edrin Cooper, even
Speaker 2: though they drafted Tyrone Hopper, And there's a lot to
Speaker 2: like about both of those guys.
Speaker 1: Absolutely, there is a ton to like about what those
Speaker 1: guys bring to the table.
Speaker 2: But the guy I really honestly thought was going to
Speaker 2: be a starter no matter what is I'm Misaiah McDuffie,
Speaker 2: just because of the way he plays the position, and
Speaker 2: he reminds me so much of those those great inside linebackers,
Speaker 2: the guys that I don't care what the forty was,
Speaker 2: I don't care what the bench was when you put
Speaker 2: them on the field. He is just a missile to
Speaker 2: the football. And what I think is interesting now is
Speaker 2: with the injuries they've had it inside linebacker, a guy
Speaker 2: that has been a staple on special teams for a
Speaker 2: number of years, You almost kind of wonder how much
Speaker 2: are they going to be able to play Isaiah McDuffie
Speaker 2: on special teams this year? Because I think he's going
Speaker 2: one way or another, is going to have a big
Speaker 2: role on this defense.
Speaker 1: That's only what it's looking like for sure.
Speaker 2: The tough part though, is this is the time where
Speaker 2: you would have liked to see Cooper and Hopper get
Speaker 2: those reps, because that's what you build off now if
Speaker 2: you get called upon once the regular season starts, that's
Speaker 2: what you build upon when you do get thrown out there,
Speaker 2: and that's one area where they're gonna have to try
Speaker 2: to make up some ground on whenever they get back
Speaker 2: on the field.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I'm glad that you brought up McDuffie because, uh,
Speaker 1: I mean, he's a guy that we've we've watched him
Speaker 1: over the last few years go from you know, being
Speaker 1: a guy who's just playing on special teams, handling his
Speaker 1: role there and and you know, carving out his his
Speaker 1: niche to where because of injuries and other circumstances, you know,
Speaker 1: he ended up getting I believe he started roughly half
Speaker 1: the games.
Speaker 2: Yeah season he started eight yeah, eight as a spots starter.
Speaker 1: Eight games as eight games as a starter last year.
Speaker 2: Four positions each, four for Kuway Walker, for for uh
Speaker 2: Devondra Campbell.
Speaker 1: Yeahs for Campbell. Yeah. So he ends up over these
Speaker 1: last couple of years now, he started to get a
Speaker 1: lot more action on defense he's been involved a lot
Speaker 1: more and all he's done is, you know, it's the cliche,
Speaker 1: but all he's done is do everything that these coaches
Speaker 1: ask him to do. And if you line up Isaiah
Speaker 1: McDuffie and have him run a forty yard dash, he's
Speaker 1: not going to impress anybody. And that's why he was
Speaker 1: still on the board in the sixth round coming out
Speaker 1: of Boston College. As a tackling machine at Boston College,
Speaker 1: but he was still there in the sixth round. But
Speaker 1: he's one of these guys that, as you said, the
Speaker 1: forty time doesn't matter because he plays so much faster
Speaker 1: than that, because because when he knows a system and
Speaker 1: he's in a system and then he's able to he's
Speaker 1: able to use his instincts to read what the offense
Speaker 1: is doing. He plays so much faster than any forty
Speaker 1: time on a stopwatch. And as he has worked his
Speaker 1: way into more and more defensive snaps over the last
Speaker 1: couple of years, and this year could be his biggest yet,
Speaker 1: depending on what happens with the rookies and those injuries
Speaker 1: and when those guys can get back and really start
Speaker 1: to try to compete for playing time. He's he's going
Speaker 1: to have a major role in this defense, and to
Speaker 1: his advantage, it's Jeff Hafley's defense. He worked, you know,
Speaker 1: he played for him at Boston College. This is a
Speaker 1: system that he knows. The transition or whatever you want
Speaker 1: to call it to this system was probably the easiest
Speaker 1: for Isaiah McDuffie than anybody else on this Packers defense.
Speaker 1: And it looks like he's taken advantage of that.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and just seeing that again, everything he did in
Speaker 2: college has been applicable to what he's doing in the NFL.
Speaker 2: And you know, and not to throw him too far
Speaker 2: under the bus at the forty, I mean, he ran
Speaker 2: a four to six one. But you look at what
Speaker 2: these linebackers are doing now and that people want stronger, faster,
Speaker 2: all these different things they're asking these positions to do.
Speaker 2: He's the throwback. He is the guy that is the gritty,
Speaker 2: hard nosed dude. And you saw it in practice even
Speaker 2: I believe it was on Wednesday where it was a
Speaker 2: free play. You had TJ. Slayton jump off the guys
Speaker 2: the offset. Jordan Love drops backs trying to make something happen,
Speaker 2: throws a ball across the middle. Isaiah McDuffie's skies tips
Speaker 2: it quay Walker interception. If that happens in a game,
Speaker 2: it's all for not because the guy jumped off sides
Speaker 2: and it was a free play, but what the potential
Speaker 2: ramifications of that play are by giving them the free
Speaker 2: opportunity to take a shot down field. Those are huge
Speaker 2: and it just shows you the type of football player
Speaker 2: and the type of headiness he has. The Packers have
Speaker 2: set themselves up well here depending on what happens with
Speaker 2: Cooper and Hopper, because you have McDuffie and Wilson who
Speaker 2: have both played a lot of football and can be
Speaker 2: counted on and relied upon be in there with kuay Walker. Again,
Speaker 2: it's just it's unfortunate where you made that heavy investment
Speaker 2: in an inside linebacker to day two inside linebackers, and
Speaker 2: you just are hoping to be able to give them
Speaker 2: as much opportunity as possible to learn this defense, to
Speaker 2: get familiar with it, because it is it's a long
Speaker 2: seventeen game regular season.
Speaker 1: Yeah. Absolutely, I want to look ahead to Denver a
Speaker 1: little bit here, but I'll take care of some sponsor business.
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Speaker 1: subs fifty plus years of better. All right, joint practice
Speaker 1: coming up Friday in Denver. I already mentioned this is
Speaker 1: going to be where the starters for the Packers, both
Speaker 1: on offense and defense, are going to get the bulk
Speaker 1: of their work because they will not be playing, according
Speaker 1: to Mattlefloor, in the game on Sunday night. So my
Speaker 1: question to you, Wes is what are you looking for?
Speaker 1: What are you watching for? When we are at the
Speaker 1: practice field out there in the Rocky Mountains on Friday
Speaker 1: afternoon or Friday morning, I should say.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I'll be Friday morning, get ready for that bus ride. Yeah,
Speaker 2: I'm going to start it off. And this isn't just
Speaker 2: lip service or trying to like, oh hey, go read
Speaker 2: my story, but Emmanuel Wilson is a big name that
Speaker 2: sticks off the page for me for two reasons. One,
Speaker 2: no running back in the National Football league since the
Speaker 2: start of the twenty twenty three preseason has more rushing
Speaker 2: yards than Emmanuel Wilson led last year. He's currently one
Speaker 2: yard off of the lead for this year with those
Speaker 2: sixty seven rushing yards he had last week in Cleveland, fifty.
Speaker 2: As you said on our Tuesday podcast after the contact,
Speaker 2: So you're taking an already talented, already motivated, five two
Speaker 2: hundred and twenty six pound running back and now you're
Speaker 2: sending them back to Denver, where his NFL career began
Speaker 2: when he signed with them as an undrafted free agent
Speaker 2: out of Ford Valley State. He gets cut three days
Speaker 2: after that rookie mini camp, and for as quiet as humble,
Speaker 2: as determined as a manual is, you can tell how
Speaker 2: that affected him because he was saying to us this
Speaker 2: past week, you know, he thought that was the end
Speaker 2: of the road. He thought football wasn't going to be
Speaker 2: for me anymore. Well, I think it was ten or
Speaker 2: eleven days later the Packers signed him. He comes in
Speaker 2: and Mike, how many times have the Packers signed an
Speaker 2: undrafted running back that's fifty or six on the depth
Speaker 2: chart that is sort of the the guy that's just
Speaker 2: coming in. We'll see what he can do. You got
Speaker 2: to eat snaps in the preseason. Emmanuel Wilson from the
Speaker 2: time in which he signed with the Packers that towards
Speaker 2: the end of May in over the next three months,
Speaker 2: made himself undeniable with that roster spot. An eighty yard
Speaker 2: touchdown run against the Cincinnati Bengals will help that, but
Speaker 2: it was what he did day in and day out,
Speaker 2: and even how he looked last season before the shoulder injury,
Speaker 2: just in real spot duty. This is a talented, really
Speaker 2: hungry young man. I'm really interested to see how the
Speaker 2: Packers in him are able to run this football. It
Speaker 2: could be a lot of Wilson in this game. I
Speaker 2: think it's gonna be a lot of Wilson in these
Speaker 2: practices too. Although Josh Jacobs this is going to be
Speaker 2: his game day, so to speak. I mean, you're not
Speaker 2: going to run him into the ground. And they're currently
Speaker 2: without Marshawn Lloyd and also Jarvin Howard, who neither of
Speaker 2: whom practice this week, so great opportunity to build on
Speaker 2: what they did in Cleveland, and certainly Wilson is going
Speaker 2: to have a lot of motivation to do to do
Speaker 2: really well.
Speaker 1: Yeah, the thing I still have to get used to
Speaker 1: with Emmanuel Wilson, and I'm starting to What I have
Speaker 1: to get used to with him is seeing that body
Speaker 1: type five ten, two hundred and twenty six pounds with
Speaker 1: legit speed, like because you just you look at him,
Speaker 1: you know, sort of that that first impression, and yes,
Speaker 1: he looks like a running back, but he doesn't look
Speaker 1: like a running back who would have the type of
Speaker 1: breakaway speed that he does. And when he broke off
Speaker 1: that eighty yard touchdown in Cincinnati last August, and when
Speaker 1: he broke to the outside with you know, Michael Pratt
Speaker 1: throwing that extra block for him in Cleveland last week,
Speaker 1: when he gets in the open field, man, he can
Speaker 1: turn it on and that's you know, that's really impressive
Speaker 1: because because at two hundred and twenty six pounds, you know,
Speaker 1: he's got the power between the tackles like that's there
Speaker 1: and that's that's not a question and h and his speed,
Speaker 1: his speed is always is always impressive to me. The
Speaker 1: other thing I want to watch for, and I don't
Speaker 1: know how this is going to go in the Friday
Speaker 1: joint practice, but with the fact that this will be
Speaker 1: you know, the action for Jordan Love and the number
Speaker 1: one offense is are the Broncos going to dial up
Speaker 1: some blitzes? Are they going to get a little exotic?
Speaker 1: Are they going to challenge the Packers offensive line, the
Speaker 1: protection calls, the unit there, Jordan Love with the hot
Speaker 1: reeds and the receivers to stay on top of everything
Speaker 1: because and I know, the game out in Denver last
Speaker 1: October was before the Packers kind of found their footing
Speaker 1: on offense and got things going. But that Denver defense
Speaker 1: gave the Packers all kinds of problems. Yeah, last year
Speaker 1: in the regular season, to the point that the Packers
Speaker 1: didn't even have any points on the board at halftime.
Speaker 1: It was a first half shutout for Denver. So the
Speaker 1: challenge that it will present, and I hope, I'm hoping
Speaker 1: for Jordan Love and Company's sake that they do get
Speaker 1: the challenge of, you know, some third down blitzes and
Speaker 1: some different calls and different looks that they have to
Speaker 1: react to and respond to to really make that joint
Speaker 1: practice work worth it when when they're not going to
Speaker 1: be playing in the preseason game. So so for me,
Speaker 1: that's that's a big one to watch. And then when
Speaker 1: it comes to the game on Sunday night. The a
Speaker 1: couple of receivers that I'll have my eye on. One
Speaker 1: of course, is Grant Dubo's And as you mentioned, you
Speaker 1: have a story on Packers dot com on Atmanuel Wilson
Speaker 1: coming out of the Cleveland game not long before we
Speaker 1: turn the cameras on here. A story of mine on
Speaker 1: Grant Dubo's has been posted on Packers dot com. So
Speaker 1: if you want to check that out, certainly do so.
Speaker 1: But as I mentioned on our last show too with
Speaker 1: with with a guy like Dubo's, he had such a
Speaker 1: strong game in Cleveland. Now the question is, okay, can
Speaker 1: you do it again? Can you repeat it? Can you
Speaker 1: stack the success in these preseason games? And then on
Speaker 1: the flip side of that in the same competition for
Speaker 1: you know, wide receiver and a difficult place to make
Speaker 1: this roster. Boll Melton had a couple of drop passes
Speaker 1: in Cleveland, but we've seen what boul Melton can do
Speaker 1: in games when he was active last season. This is
Speaker 1: the guy who can help the Packers and he can produce,
Speaker 1: but he's in a really competitive situation to make this
Speaker 1: team right now. So how does bull Melton bounce back
Speaker 1: from a bad day at the office out in Cleveland.
Speaker 1: Now in Denver, can he get back to looking like
Speaker 1: the Bowl Melton that we saw down the stretch last season,
Speaker 1: who was a big part of things for the Packers
Speaker 1: on offense. So at the receiver position, there's always something
Speaker 1: to watch. But those are the two guys that I
Speaker 1: think are going to have the most eyes on them
Speaker 1: heading into this Denver game.
Speaker 2: Yeah, for sure. And I again just seeing Granted bow
Speaker 2: Is just week after week, practice after practice, and preseason
Speaker 2: game after preseason game be able to stack that has
Speaker 2: been really impressive to watch. And as Matt Lafluur also
Speaker 2: said that what he's added as with his pass blocking too,
Speaker 2: He's impressed a lot with the effort he's shown in
Speaker 2: that capacity, which is the off forgotten phase of the
Speaker 2: game when you look at it from a fans perspective,
Speaker 2: but sometimes it's just as critical to a team. I
Speaker 2: love that.
Speaker 1: I love that line Lafleur had in the press conference
Speaker 1: the other day about the receivers no block, no rock.
Speaker 1: If you don't block in the running game, you're not
Speaker 1: going to get your number call to the pass like
Speaker 1: that's that's how much they emphasize it. Here, if you're
Speaker 1: if if you're just going to be a receiver who's
Speaker 1: going to run your routes and then hang around, hang
Speaker 1: out on the periphery when the running plays are called,
Speaker 1: and not stick your nose in there to find a corner,
Speaker 1: find a safety. Maybe it's even a linebacker that you
Speaker 1: got to put a hat on a hat and throw
Speaker 1: a block. It's really really emphasized around here. And we've
Speaker 1: seen it. Whether it's Bull Melton, whether it's Malie Heath,
Speaker 1: whether it's Samari Ture, whether it's Grant Dubo's these guys
Speaker 1: who are fighting for those spots at the bottom of
Speaker 1: the roster. It's not just you know, Romeo Dobbs and
Speaker 1: Christian Watson, who are who are blocking in the running game.
Speaker 1: All these guys are and and it speaks to the
Speaker 1: speaks to the mentality and the culture that has been
Speaker 1: created amongst the wide receivers. And I think it's something
Speaker 1: that's existed in the Packers wide receiver room for a
Speaker 1: long time, going back to Donald Driver and James Jones
Speaker 1: and Jordy Nelson and all that. I think the whole
Speaker 1: blocking in the running game has that the mentality has
Speaker 1: been has been even heightened in a sense in this
Speaker 1: particular era with with the way Lafleur emphasizes it and
Speaker 1: the other offensive coaches do as well.
Speaker 2: Yeah, no doubt, and yeah, so to have do Bo's
Speaker 2: get involved with this and looking as good as he's
Speaker 2: looked three weeks into camp, and you know, obviously bow Melt,
Speaker 2: we all know what he can do. Some unfortunate drops
Speaker 2: there and some stuff that didn't really sync up right,
Speaker 2: but incredibly talented. We saw it in the one on
Speaker 2: ones you were watching that with the receivers and defensive backs.
Speaker 2: Had a huge touchdown on that. And then quickly I
Speaker 2: just want to mention also with Malik Heath. I mean,
Speaker 2: Malik Heath's the guy that I thought had some drops
Speaker 2: and had some missed opportunities during the off season program.
Speaker 2: I thought he's really bounced back well. And when you're
Speaker 2: talking about guys that also contribute in special teams, his
Speaker 2: body type and just that's bridge. Pasaccia has deployed him
Speaker 2: in a number of different units, whether it was on
Speaker 2: kickoff return as you know, a blocker, or even on
Speaker 2: I think he's been doing some stuff as a gunner.
Speaker 2: There's a lot of ways to use him as well.
Speaker 2: So it's what you expect. You want to see good
Speaker 2: competition throughout that receiving room. But it's just so interesting
Speaker 2: to me, Like, for example, last week, Mike, I'd be
Speaker 2: challenge you to show me how many teams will start
Speaker 2: with their starters in a preseason game and then after
Speaker 2: that initial series there's four guys that are are not
Speaker 2: going to play anymore. You know, Dantavian Wicks is technically
Speaker 2: I guess you would say the number four receiver. He
Speaker 2: has a sixty five yard touchdown and he's done for
Speaker 2: the afternoon. That's very rare, I would get. I would
Speaker 2: venture to guess that you go back and talk to
Speaker 2: James Jones. I'm guessing James Jones played in a lot
Speaker 2: of preseason games and saw a lot of action despite
Speaker 2: the fact he was the established number three or number four. Yeah,
Speaker 2: but just shows you how deep Green Bay is and
Speaker 2: if those number five, six, seven, eight, Samory two Ray,
Speaker 2: those guys get involved in these games, you have to
Speaker 2: be able to take advantage of it.
Speaker 1: Yeah. I'm glad you brought up Malie Heath too, because
Speaker 1: I think we've seen him on the practice field lately
Speaker 1: looking a lot more like the guy we saw last
Speaker 1: year and knops guy who looked like in the spring
Speaker 1: he was trying to find himself again a little bit.
Speaker 1: And he's another guy to watch to see now if
Speaker 1: he can take what he's been doing on the practice
Speaker 1: field into a preseason game and cash in on what
Speaker 1: I think will be some opportunities for him.
Speaker 2: You know, it's the coolest thing too. I'll close on
Speaker 2: this in terms of the receivers. You're not an Instagram
Speaker 2: social media, but I think something is so cool about
Speaker 2: that room because anybody can say, oh, yeah, we're all
Speaker 2: pulling for each other and everything like that. Grant to
Speaker 2: Bo's has a great game against the Cleveland Browns. I
Speaker 2: would imagine I haven't talked to Bow about it. I'd
Speaker 2: imagine Bo probably wasn't thrilled with this game. You know
Speaker 2: what was on Bo's Instagram story two days ago a
Speaker 2: picture of one of Grant's catches from the Packers account
Speaker 2: reposts it on his That's being a teammate. Yeah, that's
Speaker 2: being somebody to root for and hopefully you know, both
Speaker 2: can get this thing. Yeah again, because he's an explosive
Speaker 2: football player man.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and you talk about culture, that's a great example
Speaker 1: of culture right there. So with that we'll call it
Speaker 1: a rap on this edition of Packers Unscript. You'd be
Speaker 1: sure to follow all of our continuing coverage of training
Speaker 1: camp and everything that's going on in Denver, the joint
Speaker 1: practice on Friday, the preseason game on Sunday night. We
Speaker 1: will have it all for you on Packers dot com
Speaker 1: for Wesiam Mike, thank you for tuning in. Everybody. We
Speaker 1: will see you next time.