WEBVTT - #787 Packers Unscripted: Preseason progress 0:00:14.880 --> 0:00:18.480 Hi, everybody. Welcome to another edition of Packers Unscripted from 0:00:18.480 --> 0:00:21.599 Packers dot Com. I am Mike Spofford, joined by the 0:00:21.640 --> 0:00:23.760 one and only Wes Hodkowitz. We're coming to you here 0:00:23.800 --> 0:00:27.240 from our studios at lambeau Field West. Since our last show, 0:00:27.280 --> 0:00:30.760 the Packers have practiced twice more on nizchegie Field. Not 0:00:30.960 --> 0:00:34.040 long after we wrap up this show, we'll be headed 0:00:34.080 --> 0:00:36.440 to the airport because we are off to Denver the 0:00:36.560 --> 0:00:41.520 joint practice on Friday. The preseason game. Preseason number two 0:00:41.880 --> 0:00:45.760 is on Sunday night. So a lot to cover here 0:00:45.920 --> 0:00:49.160 as we go through, but I'll just start with what 0:00:49.600 --> 0:00:52.840 news and notes you have from these last two practices 0:00:52.840 --> 0:00:55.440 here in Green Bay. A couple of things to note 0:00:55.520 --> 0:00:57.840 very quickly on the health front, as far as some 0:00:57.880 --> 0:01:02.080 of the bigger names, Jordan Morgan and Carrington Valentine both 0:01:02.080 --> 0:01:04.839 have returned from their injuries and are back in practice, 0:01:04.880 --> 0:01:08.360 but thus far only doing individual drills. They are not 0:01:08.480 --> 0:01:11.440 yet cleared for eleven on eleven. Don't know what that 0:01:11.520 --> 0:01:14.360 means as far as Denver on Friday and in the 0:01:14.400 --> 0:01:18.120 game on Sunday, but good news that a couple of 0:01:18.160 --> 0:01:22.400 guys who were expecting to have a pretty significant impact 0:01:22.840 --> 0:01:27.120 on this twenty twenty four Packers team that those injuries 0:01:27.160 --> 0:01:28.399 hopefully are in the review mirror. 0:01:28.480 --> 0:01:30.560 Yeah, you hope. You know, from Morgan's standpoint, I don't 0:01:30.600 --> 0:01:32.360 know whether or not he'll be out there, but obviously 0:01:32.400 --> 0:01:33.920 that the hope would be get him in at least 0:01:33.920 --> 0:01:35.920 in one of these preseason games, if not next week 0:01:35.920 --> 0:01:38.880 with the joint practice against Baltimore and then before that game. Yeah, 0:01:38.920 --> 0:01:41.720 because he was doing some really good things Mike at 0:01:41.840 --> 0:01:44.280 right guard right before the shoulder injury popped up there 0:01:44.319 --> 0:01:47.160 in practice last week. You look at his size, his 0:01:47.200 --> 0:01:49.400 body type. He was talking to the media on Wednesday 0:01:49.400 --> 0:01:51.240 and even mentioned, you know, he's getting more comfortable in 0:01:51.280 --> 0:01:53.560 that guard role again. And one of these guys, much 0:01:53.600 --> 0:01:55.720 like Sean Ryan whom we talked about earlier this week, 0:01:55.960 --> 0:01:58.480 somebody that didn't play that position at all in college, 0:01:58.560 --> 0:02:01.040 was just stationed at left tackle and having to make 0:02:01.080 --> 0:02:03.760 that adaptation now in the NFL. So when you look 0:02:03.800 --> 0:02:05.960 at Valentine, when you look at Morgan, obviously, I think 0:02:05.960 --> 0:02:07.640 Morgan's probably the one that you want to make sure 0:02:07.680 --> 0:02:09.880 you get out in these preseason games and see as 0:02:09.919 --> 0:02:12.240 much of them as possible and give him those live reps, 0:02:12.480 --> 0:02:15.200 whereas a guy like Valentine played so many snaps last year, 0:02:15.240 --> 0:02:17.800 started twelve games with such a vital part of that 0:02:17.880 --> 0:02:20.280 defense with all the injuries that had crept up. I 0:02:20.320 --> 0:02:21.760 think the other thing that really stood out to me 0:02:21.800 --> 0:02:24.720 with these practices this week is the more opportunities that 0:02:24.760 --> 0:02:28.280 Michael Pratt has been receiving at quarterback. And I think 0:02:28.320 --> 0:02:29.880 a lot of people make too much out of the 0:02:29.960 --> 0:02:33.760 first team, second team to third team, you know, designations 0:02:33.800 --> 0:02:36.560 and who's running with whom. But the thing is is 0:02:36.600 --> 0:02:38.679 they did put more on Pratt's plate this week. He 0:02:38.760 --> 0:02:42.040 got a chance in the practice on Tuesday to close 0:02:42.080 --> 0:02:45.919 out the two minute drive there and the arm talent 0:02:45.960 --> 0:02:49.040 he has, the moxie. This is a guy much like 0:02:49.080 --> 0:02:51.240 Clifford last year, who played a lot of college football 0:02:51.280 --> 0:02:53.920 and I think has shown that he isn't just going 0:02:54.000 --> 0:02:55.399 to be a deer in the headlights when he makes 0:02:55.400 --> 0:02:57.120 this jump to the NFL. There's a lot there and 0:02:57.160 --> 0:02:59.280 a lot of that he can lean back on as 0:02:59.320 --> 0:03:00.720 he starts to make that transition. 0:03:01.000 --> 0:03:03.080 Yeah, there is a lot to watch with regard to 0:03:03.919 --> 0:03:07.440 the backup quarterback situation. Now, as you said, Michael Pratt 0:03:07.680 --> 0:03:09.760 getting a little bit more put on his plate taking 0:03:09.800 --> 0:03:12.240 some reps with the twos as opposed to just with 0:03:12.400 --> 0:03:16.880 the threes. And with regard to Sunday night's preseason game 0:03:16.880 --> 0:03:20.120 in Denver, the starters are not going to play. They're 0:03:20.160 --> 0:03:23.800 going to essentially get their work ones versus ones against 0:03:23.840 --> 0:03:28.400 the Broncos in the joint practice on Friday. So then 0:03:28.680 --> 0:03:30.480 it is the twos and the threes that are going 0:03:30.520 --> 0:03:33.120 to be getting all the work in the Sunday night game. 0:03:33.160 --> 0:03:36.520 And it'll be interesting to see because with what Pratt 0:03:36.520 --> 0:03:40.320 did in his NFL preseason debut in Cleveland, he certainly 0:03:40.360 --> 0:03:45.120 acquitted himself well. But I came out of that game thinking, Okay, 0:03:45.640 --> 0:03:48.920 Michael Pratt looks like he belongs in the NFL. I 0:03:48.960 --> 0:03:52.600 want to see him go against better than third string 0:03:52.800 --> 0:03:55.480 units on the other side, right, So that's the next 0:03:55.520 --> 0:03:58.520 step with Pratt. So we'll see how the reps ended, 0:03:58.640 --> 0:04:02.480 you know, get divided up on Saturday night. I'm sorry, 0:04:02.560 --> 0:04:03.840 on Sunday night in Denver. 0:04:04.040 --> 0:04:05.720 I keep doing that this week too. 0:04:05.840 --> 0:04:08.640 I know I keep saying Saturday preseason on a Sunday night. 0:04:08.680 --> 0:04:11.160 I had to look back at all of my schedules, 0:04:11.200 --> 0:04:13.720 which are in a big stack at home since we 0:04:13.800 --> 0:04:16.040 had to pack up all of our office step to 0:04:16.120 --> 0:04:19.240 this temporary location we're working in. I don't know if 0:04:19.279 --> 0:04:23.520 I've ever covered a preseason game on a Sunday night 0:04:23.720 --> 0:04:26.880 like this might be, this might be a first, but regardless, 0:04:28.360 --> 0:04:31.680 I think we're all going to be curious to see 0:04:31.720 --> 0:04:35.080 if Michael Pratt is able to get into a preseason 0:04:35.160 --> 0:04:38.440 game where it's not just the threes versus threes, but 0:04:38.480 --> 0:04:40.919 where he gets to work with the Packers twos but 0:04:41.000 --> 0:04:45.240 also goes against more of a second string unit defensively 0:04:45.279 --> 0:04:47.920 as opposed to a third string unit. Then we'll see 0:04:47.920 --> 0:04:51.640 how things go. It's interesting to watch it unfold. I 0:04:51.680 --> 0:04:56.400 would say, I think it's going to be hard. It's 0:04:56.480 --> 0:04:59.640 going to be difficult to not Clifford out of that 0:04:59.720 --> 0:05:03.120 spot barring some kind of a disaster, just because of 0:05:03.160 --> 0:05:05.240 his experience and that he has the one year under 0:05:05.240 --> 0:05:07.400 his belt. But you can't rule it out. You definitely 0:05:07.400 --> 0:05:10.080 can't rule it out. And then there's gonna be the 0:05:10.120 --> 0:05:12.800 decision when push comes to shove. Are the Packers going 0:05:12.839 --> 0:05:15.320 to keep three quarterbacks on the fifty three years going 0:05:15.360 --> 0:05:17.680 to be two? And those are all things that we 0:05:17.760 --> 0:05:20.080 still have to let these last two preseason games play 0:05:20.120 --> 0:05:23.000 out before we really get into those conversations. 0:05:22.600 --> 0:05:24.880 One hundred percent. And I like what you said there 0:05:24.880 --> 0:05:27.760 because I think one thing that people aren't giving Clifford 0:05:27.839 --> 0:05:31.159 enough credit for I've said even last year, in a 0:05:31.160 --> 0:05:33.120 lot of ways, he's sort of an agent of chaos, 0:05:33.160 --> 0:05:35.240 it seems like, in terms of he goes out there 0:05:35.240 --> 0:05:38.040 in these games and you talk about a gamer, a winner, 0:05:38.080 --> 0:05:40.360 a guy that was a four year starter at Penn State, 0:05:40.960 --> 0:05:44.520 Clifford shows it in those instances when when the fire 0:05:44.560 --> 0:05:46.880 gets on his toes, when when the heat gets turned 0:05:46.920 --> 0:05:48.960 up a little bit, the guy doesn't panic. He looks 0:05:49.000 --> 0:05:52.240 to make plays, he doesn't look to recoil. That's what 0:05:52.320 --> 0:05:54.760 made him successful last preseason. Honestly, I think that's what's 0:05:54.800 --> 0:05:57.160 gonna make him a successful NFL quarterback. I think I 0:05:57.200 --> 0:06:00.000 think so too, if he gets thrown into those situations 0:06:00.040 --> 0:06:01.680 where you need a guy to go out there. The 0:06:01.800 --> 0:06:04.000 question was asking me an insider inbox this week, and 0:06:04.040 --> 0:06:05.400 I don't know how you feel about it, but it 0:06:05.480 --> 0:06:07.599 was brought it up again about hey, should the Packers 0:06:07.640 --> 0:06:09.520 have a Joe Flacco type? Should they have a veteran 0:06:09.600 --> 0:06:13.599 quarterback behind Jordan Love one no, because the money that 0:06:13.640 --> 0:06:16.200 you have to invest in those players is so astronomical. 0:06:16.200 --> 0:06:19.000 People get so over the top about well, these quarterbacks 0:06:19.000 --> 0:06:22.320 are making fifty million dollars a year to start, Well, 0:06:22.360 --> 0:06:24.600 we're paying backup quarterbacks eight million dollars a year. That 0:06:24.640 --> 0:06:26.920 all still comes out of the same salary caps You. 0:06:26.920 --> 0:06:29.800 Got to understand you're talking about a different salary cap 0:06:29.839 --> 0:06:32.760 wise when you have a couple developmental quarterbacks that even 0:06:32.760 --> 0:06:34.919 if the Packers do keep them both and have three, 0:06:35.320 --> 0:06:38.279 you're talking about a couple million dollars invested in a 0:06:38.320 --> 0:06:42.200 couple of backup quarterbacks salary cap wise versus a six 0:06:42.320 --> 0:06:45.200 or eight or nine million dollar a year deal for 0:06:45.720 --> 0:06:48.800 a proven you know, NFL veteran, you know that whole thing. 0:06:49.279 --> 0:06:53.520 That's a completely different financial equation and it's something that 0:06:54.000 --> 0:06:56.600 the Packers would rather not have to go down that road. 0:06:57.000 --> 0:06:59.599 And they believe in their process of developing quarterbacks and 0:06:59.600 --> 0:07:03.160 getting as ready to play if indeed it happens is. 0:07:03.040 --> 0:07:05.360 With w they did last year with Clifford, which they're 0:07:05.400 --> 0:07:07.800 doing now with Michael Pratt. I love the decision to 0:07:07.880 --> 0:07:10.280 draft Pratt in the seventh round. The Packers have had 0:07:10.520 --> 0:07:13.920 this barrage of seventh round picks the last couple of years. 0:07:14.240 --> 0:07:16.320 When you looked at that draft board, he was the 0:07:16.360 --> 0:07:17.880 guy that I had on there. When I was looking 0:07:17.920 --> 0:07:19.560 at it, I was like, this is the dude if 0:07:19.560 --> 0:07:21.120 they want to go to try to draft somebody late, 0:07:21.160 --> 0:07:23.160 and it was the guy they ended up picking. I 0:07:23.200 --> 0:07:24.760 love what he brings to the table. I love his 0:07:24.840 --> 0:07:26.520 arm strength. I love the fact that this has been 0:07:26.520 --> 0:07:30.120 a real live competition between these two. Pratt is moving 0:07:30.200 --> 0:07:32.560 up from just the entry level one hundred level class 0:07:32.760 --> 0:07:34.600 to more than two hundred level stuff now with some 0:07:34.600 --> 0:07:36.560 of these reps he got this past week. But at 0:07:36.560 --> 0:07:38.320 the same time, I think Sean Clifford's done a lot 0:07:38.320 --> 0:07:40.680 of good things too. A little bit of confusion at 0:07:40.680 --> 0:07:43.760 the end of the two minute series on Wednesday, but 0:07:44.040 --> 0:07:46.200 the fact that he drove them down as quickly as 0:07:46.240 --> 0:07:49.679 he did, looked poised, look confident, got the ball quickly 0:07:49.720 --> 0:07:51.520 out of his hand. There wasn't a timeout to be 0:07:51.600 --> 0:07:54.280 used during that series was a minute forty with no timeouts. 0:07:54.520 --> 0:07:56.720 He had a really nice scene pass to Ben Simms 0:07:56.720 --> 0:07:59.600 for twenty three yards. He is looking to make those 0:07:59.640 --> 0:08:02.080 plays downfield with his arm in addition to keeping the 0:08:02.160 --> 0:08:04.720 drive moving and again, I think Clifford has talked about 0:08:04.760 --> 0:08:07.360 it at nauseum. Now it was a different beast winning 0:08:07.400 --> 0:08:09.320 that first week when he was trying to step in 0:08:09.360 --> 0:08:11.680 there for Jordan Love. Now he's having a chance to 0:08:11.680 --> 0:08:13.560 get back in with twos, and I think you're seeing 0:08:13.600 --> 0:08:15.240 the development process take it from there. 0:08:15.320 --> 0:08:19.680 Yeah, And the quarterback, the quarterback situation is definitely going 0:08:19.720 --> 0:08:23.600 to be worth monitoring here as training camp wraps up, 0:08:23.640 --> 0:08:25.560 and there are a lot of snaps to be had 0:08:25.640 --> 0:08:28.880 in these last two preseason games because even if Jordan 0:08:28.920 --> 0:08:32.440 Love and the starters do return to preseason action in 0:08:32.480 --> 0:08:35.600 that finale against Baltimore, I don't expect it to be 0:08:35.800 --> 0:08:37.800 a whole lot much more. You know, it might be 0:08:37.880 --> 0:08:41.600 a little bit more than the really brief cameo in Cleveland, 0:08:41.760 --> 0:08:45.280 But then again, maybe not. And you know, we don't know. 0:08:45.760 --> 0:08:48.400 There are a lot of snaps for Clifford and Pratt 0:08:48.440 --> 0:08:51.160 to take over these last couple of preseason games. A 0:08:51.200 --> 0:08:54.880 couple other thoughts with regard to these last two practices. 0:08:55.400 --> 0:08:58.160 Really too bad on the defensive side of the ball 0:08:58.840 --> 0:09:02.520 that the two rookie draft pick linebackers Edgern Cooper and 0:09:02.520 --> 0:09:05.400 Tyron Hoppert have been injured and have not been able 0:09:05.440 --> 0:09:08.760 to participate. I think Hopper has been going through some 0:09:08.880 --> 0:09:12.400 individual drills, but neither one has been in the eleven 0:09:12.400 --> 0:09:16.760 on eleven at all, and that's really unfortunate. Now there's 0:09:16.800 --> 0:09:19.560 still another week left after the Denver trip, and there's 0:09:19.600 --> 0:09:23.319 still the one more preseason game, but at this point, 0:09:23.679 --> 0:09:26.559 you know, I don't want to put the cart before 0:09:26.559 --> 0:09:30.560 the horses, they say, but it's hard to see any 0:09:30.640 --> 0:09:35.360 sort of an immediate, like week one impact from rookie 0:09:35.360 --> 0:09:39.079 linebackers in this brand new defense when they have missed 0:09:39.080 --> 0:09:42.719 as much time and as much potential opportunity as they have. 0:09:43.440 --> 0:09:46.760 One of the things that I think is interesting about 0:09:46.800 --> 0:09:49.840 this though, and I was actually chatting about this on 0:09:49.880 --> 0:09:53.480 the sideline the other day with Paul Brettle, who's a 0:09:53.520 --> 0:09:57.079 relatively new media member on the Packers beat, works for 0:09:57.760 --> 0:09:59.800 ESPN Radio out of Lacrosse. He lives here in the 0:09:59.800 --> 0:10:04.000 Green Bay area, and he was talking about Christian Welch, 0:10:04.600 --> 0:10:09.440 the veteran inside linebacker, and because when training camp started, 0:10:09.880 --> 0:10:12.360 you're looking at, Okay, you've got as far as that, 0:10:12.720 --> 0:10:14.839 as far as that off ball linebacker spot, you have 0:10:14.960 --> 0:10:18.559 Kuay Walker, Isaiah McDuffie, Eric Wilson, you know, has been 0:10:18.559 --> 0:10:20.880 doing his thing. You have the two rookie draft picks. 0:10:21.280 --> 0:10:23.480 How you know how much more room is there? Well, 0:10:23.520 --> 0:10:25.760 now that Cooper and Hopper haven't really been in there, 0:10:25.800 --> 0:10:29.400 Suddenly Christian Weltch the combination of not only the reps 0:10:29.400 --> 0:10:31.960 that he's getting in practice, but then what he brings 0:10:31.960 --> 0:10:34.319 as a veteran guy on special teams and all that. 0:10:34.440 --> 0:10:39.080 It's like, well, the Wisconsin native, I you know, Iola Wisconsin, Uh, 0:10:39.320 --> 0:10:42.040 Christian Welch is is you know, in position to make 0:10:42.080 --> 0:10:45.320 this fifty three man roster again. We'll see again, still 0:10:45.360 --> 0:10:49.600 a long way to go. But a guy that I 0:10:49.600 --> 0:10:52.080 don't like to use the word afterthought, but but a 0:10:52.120 --> 0:10:55.480 guy that you weren't we weren't really talking about him 0:10:55.840 --> 0:10:59.160 right right, But now it's looking like, well, maybe we 0:10:59.160 --> 0:11:01.320 should be talking a little bit more about this guy 0:11:01.400 --> 0:11:03.320 because I think he's going to be in position to 0:11:03.360 --> 0:11:04.200 make the fifty three. 0:11:04.280 --> 0:11:07.480 And I no means do I want to disrespect Christian here, 0:11:07.559 --> 0:11:08.959 but I think one of the reasons why you don't 0:11:09.000 --> 0:11:10.920 think much about him is he didn't play on defense 0:11:10.960 --> 0:11:13.840 for Green Bay last year. He played four defensive snaps 0:11:13.880 --> 0:11:15.360 the year before that, with Baltimore. 0:11:15.440 --> 0:11:18.880 Yeah, he has been a special teams a special teams specialist. 0:11:18.960 --> 0:11:20.720 This is where he has cut his teeth in the league. 0:11:20.720 --> 0:11:22.280 And as Paul was telling us, and I've talked to 0:11:22.320 --> 0:11:24.040 Christian too, I remember talking him at the end of 0:11:24.040 --> 0:11:26.439 the season last year about his desire to come back, 0:11:26.480 --> 0:11:29.520 considering he's ninety minutes from his home, you know, his hometown. Yeah, 0:11:29.600 --> 0:11:32.680 but you know, as he was saying, it's like he 0:11:33.320 --> 0:11:36.440 loves special teams. Yeah, this is a guy and it 0:11:36.559 --> 0:11:38.880 reminds me kind of like the Jared Bushes of the world, 0:11:39.000 --> 0:11:41.800 Guys that Yeah. I mean, certainly everybody wants to play 0:11:41.800 --> 0:11:44.320 on defense. He's in linebacker. That is his position. He 0:11:44.360 --> 0:11:47.880 wants to play linebacker. But there's certain guys that they 0:11:47.920 --> 0:11:51.280 embraced that with open arms, those type opportunities and the 0:11:51.360 --> 0:11:53.040 chance to be able to create a living and have 0:11:53.600 --> 0:11:56.320 a legacy, be able to tell his grandchildren I played 0:11:56.320 --> 0:11:58.720 in the National Football League for seven, eight, nine, ten years. 0:11:59.120 --> 0:12:01.080 A lot of times those grants there aren't asking, hey, 0:12:01.440 --> 0:12:04.240 were you the starting linebacker in Week two against Chicago. No, 0:12:04.920 --> 0:12:07.480 he played for the Green Bay Packers. It all kind 0:12:07.520 --> 0:12:09.920 of counts the same in that way. Yes, and Welch 0:12:09.920 --> 0:12:12.360 has the right mentality for it. The one thing I 0:12:12.360 --> 0:12:14.720 think is very interesting to me because I went into 0:12:14.760 --> 0:12:17.720 this whole thing even though they drafted Edrin Cooper, even 0:12:17.720 --> 0:12:19.800 though they drafted Tyrone Hopper, And there's a lot to 0:12:19.880 --> 0:12:21.040 like about both of those guys. 0:12:21.080 --> 0:12:23.920 Absolutely, there is a ton to like about what those 0:12:23.920 --> 0:12:24.960 guys bring to the table. 0:12:25.320 --> 0:12:27.480 But the guy I really honestly thought was going to 0:12:27.520 --> 0:12:29.680 be a starter no matter what is I'm Misaiah McDuffie, 0:12:29.920 --> 0:12:32.560 just because of the way he plays the position, and 0:12:32.760 --> 0:12:36.760 he reminds me so much of those those great inside linebackers, 0:12:36.760 --> 0:12:39.160 the guys that I don't care what the forty was, 0:12:39.200 --> 0:12:40.880 I don't care what the bench was when you put 0:12:40.920 --> 0:12:42.760 them on the field. He is just a missile to 0:12:42.800 --> 0:12:46.560 the football. And what I think is interesting now is 0:12:46.640 --> 0:12:49.560 with the injuries they've had it inside linebacker, a guy 0:12:49.600 --> 0:12:51.679 that has been a staple on special teams for a 0:12:51.720 --> 0:12:53.679 number of years, You almost kind of wonder how much 0:12:53.720 --> 0:12:55.480 are they going to be able to play Isaiah McDuffie 0:12:55.520 --> 0:12:57.280 on special teams this year? Because I think he's going 0:12:57.440 --> 0:12:58.719 one way or another, is going to have a big 0:12:58.800 --> 0:12:59.600 role on this defense. 0:12:59.679 --> 0:13:01.600 That's only what it's looking like for sure. 0:13:01.720 --> 0:13:04.199 The tough part though, is this is the time where 0:13:04.240 --> 0:13:05.920 you would have liked to see Cooper and Hopper get 0:13:05.920 --> 0:13:09.120 those reps, because that's what you build off now if 0:13:09.160 --> 0:13:11.520 you get called upon once the regular season starts, that's 0:13:11.520 --> 0:13:14.080 what you build upon when you do get thrown out there, 0:13:14.080 --> 0:13:15.679 and that's one area where they're gonna have to try 0:13:15.679 --> 0:13:17.319 to make up some ground on whenever they get back 0:13:17.320 --> 0:13:17.720 on the field. 0:13:17.840 --> 0:13:20.320 Yeah, I'm glad that you brought up McDuffie because, uh, 0:13:20.600 --> 0:13:22.880 I mean, he's a guy that we've we've watched him 0:13:23.160 --> 0:13:26.440 over the last few years go from you know, being 0:13:26.480 --> 0:13:29.600 a guy who's just playing on special teams, handling his 0:13:29.720 --> 0:13:33.200 role there and and you know, carving out his his 0:13:33.360 --> 0:13:37.600 niche to where because of injuries and other circumstances, you know, 0:13:37.679 --> 0:13:40.440 he ended up getting I believe he started roughly half 0:13:40.480 --> 0:13:40.960 the games. 0:13:41.080 --> 0:13:44.000 Yeah season he started eight yeah, eight as a spots starter. 0:13:44.120 --> 0:13:46.640 Eight games as eight games as a starter last year. 0:13:46.600 --> 0:13:50.839 Four positions each, four for Kuway Walker, for for uh 0:13:50.920 --> 0:13:52.000 Devondra Campbell. 0:13:51.880 --> 0:13:55.880 Yeahs for Campbell. Yeah. So he ends up over these 0:13:56.000 --> 0:13:58.440 last couple of years now, he started to get a 0:13:58.440 --> 0:14:01.200 lot more action on defense he's been involved a lot 0:14:01.280 --> 0:14:06.520 more and all he's done is, you know, it's the cliche, 0:14:06.640 --> 0:14:09.240 but all he's done is do everything that these coaches 0:14:09.280 --> 0:14:13.440 ask him to do. And if you line up Isaiah 0:14:13.480 --> 0:14:16.160 McDuffie and have him run a forty yard dash, he's 0:14:16.200 --> 0:14:19.240 not going to impress anybody. And that's why he was 0:14:19.280 --> 0:14:21.240 still on the board in the sixth round coming out 0:14:21.240 --> 0:14:24.760 of Boston College. As a tackling machine at Boston College, 0:14:24.800 --> 0:14:27.440 but he was still there in the sixth round. But 0:14:27.600 --> 0:14:29.960 he's one of these guys that, as you said, the 0:14:30.000 --> 0:14:33.360 forty time doesn't matter because he plays so much faster 0:14:33.480 --> 0:14:37.560 than that, because because when he knows a system and 0:14:37.640 --> 0:14:41.320 he's in a system and then he's able to he's 0:14:41.360 --> 0:14:44.440 able to use his instincts to read what the offense 0:14:44.560 --> 0:14:47.520 is doing. He plays so much faster than any forty 0:14:47.560 --> 0:14:50.280 time on a stopwatch. And as he has worked his 0:14:50.320 --> 0:14:53.440 way into more and more defensive snaps over the last 0:14:53.480 --> 0:14:56.400 couple of years, and this year could be his biggest yet, 0:14:57.040 --> 0:15:01.320 depending on what happens with the rookies and those injuries 0:15:01.320 --> 0:15:03.440 and when those guys can get back and really start 0:15:03.440 --> 0:15:07.680 to try to compete for playing time. He's he's going 0:15:07.720 --> 0:15:10.240 to have a major role in this defense, and to 0:15:10.320 --> 0:15:13.800 his advantage, it's Jeff Hafley's defense. He worked, you know, 0:15:13.920 --> 0:15:16.800 he played for him at Boston College. This is a 0:15:16.800 --> 0:15:20.040 system that he knows. The transition or whatever you want 0:15:20.040 --> 0:15:22.800 to call it to this system was probably the easiest 0:15:22.880 --> 0:15:26.760 for Isaiah McDuffie than anybody else on this Packers defense. 0:15:26.800 --> 0:15:28.480 And it looks like he's taken advantage of that. 0:15:28.600 --> 0:15:30.800 Yeah, and just seeing that again, everything he did in 0:15:30.840 --> 0:15:33.120 college has been applicable to what he's doing in the NFL. 0:15:33.160 --> 0:15:34.720 And you know, and not to throw him too far 0:15:34.880 --> 0:15:36.200 under the bus at the forty, I mean, he ran 0:15:36.240 --> 0:15:38.560 a four to six one. But you look at what 0:15:38.600 --> 0:15:42.200 these linebackers are doing now and that people want stronger, faster, 0:15:42.960 --> 0:15:45.400 all these different things they're asking these positions to do. 0:15:45.560 --> 0:15:49.400 He's the throwback. He is the guy that is the gritty, 0:15:49.520 --> 0:15:52.880 hard nosed dude. And you saw it in practice even 0:15:52.920 --> 0:15:55.640 I believe it was on Wednesday where it was a 0:15:55.760 --> 0:15:59.480 free play. You had TJ. Slayton jump off the guys 0:15:59.560 --> 0:16:03.040 the offset. Jordan Love drops backs trying to make something happen, 0:16:03.480 --> 0:16:06.800 throws a ball across the middle. Isaiah McDuffie's skies tips 0:16:06.840 --> 0:16:10.080 it quay Walker interception. If that happens in a game, 0:16:10.480 --> 0:16:12.480 it's all for not because the guy jumped off sides 0:16:12.520 --> 0:16:14.840 and it was a free play, but what the potential 0:16:14.920 --> 0:16:18.160 ramifications of that play are by giving them the free 0:16:18.160 --> 0:16:20.960 opportunity to take a shot down field. Those are huge 0:16:20.960 --> 0:16:22.440 and it just shows you the type of football player 0:16:22.480 --> 0:16:24.640 and the type of headiness he has. The Packers have 0:16:24.680 --> 0:16:27.600 set themselves up well here depending on what happens with 0:16:27.640 --> 0:16:29.840 Cooper and Hopper, because you have McDuffie and Wilson who 0:16:29.840 --> 0:16:31.840 have both played a lot of football and can be 0:16:31.880 --> 0:16:35.600 counted on and relied upon be in there with kuay Walker. Again, 0:16:35.640 --> 0:16:38.800 it's just it's unfortunate where you made that heavy investment 0:16:38.840 --> 0:16:43.000 in an inside linebacker to day two inside linebackers, and 0:16:43.160 --> 0:16:45.000 you just are hoping to be able to give them 0:16:45.000 --> 0:16:47.560 as much opportunity as possible to learn this defense, to 0:16:47.640 --> 0:16:50.480 get familiar with it, because it is it's a long 0:16:50.560 --> 0:16:52.040 seventeen game regular season. 0:16:52.120 --> 0:16:57.480 Yeah. Absolutely, I want to look ahead to Denver a 0:16:57.520 --> 0:17:00.120 little bit here, but I'll take care of some sponsor business. 0:17:00.160 --> 0:17:04.000 For serious XMNFL Radio delivers hard hitting analysis and up 0:17:04.040 --> 0:17:07.360 to the minute, NFL news that true football fanatics need, 0:17:07.400 --> 0:17:10.720 twenty four to seven three sixty five and cousin subs. 0:17:10.760 --> 0:17:13.440 We have something for everyone like our Wisconsin Cheese Kurds, 0:17:13.480 --> 0:17:16.440 mac and cheese, golden fries, and creamy shakes, all paired 0:17:16.480 --> 0:17:18.560 with your favorite sub or sub and a bowl cousin 0:17:18.640 --> 0:17:23.120 subs fifty plus years of better. All right, joint practice 0:17:23.119 --> 0:17:25.879 coming up Friday in Denver. I already mentioned this is 0:17:25.920 --> 0:17:28.480 going to be where the starters for the Packers, both 0:17:28.520 --> 0:17:31.720 on offense and defense, are going to get the bulk 0:17:31.760 --> 0:17:34.880 of their work because they will not be playing, according 0:17:34.880 --> 0:17:38.240 to Mattlefloor, in the game on Sunday night. So my 0:17:38.359 --> 0:17:41.560 question to you, Wes is what are you looking for? 0:17:41.680 --> 0:17:44.840 What are you watching for? When we are at the 0:17:44.880 --> 0:17:47.480 practice field out there in the Rocky Mountains on Friday 0:17:47.520 --> 0:17:49.439 afternoon or Friday morning, I should say. 0:17:49.320 --> 0:17:52.959 Yeah, I'll be Friday morning, get ready for that bus ride. Yeah, 0:17:53.000 --> 0:17:54.520 I'm going to start it off. And this isn't just 0:17:54.720 --> 0:17:57.200 lip service or trying to like, oh hey, go read 0:17:57.240 --> 0:17:59.480 my story, but Emmanuel Wilson is a big name that 0:17:59.520 --> 0:18:02.040 sticks off the page for me for two reasons. One, 0:18:02.720 --> 0:18:04.600 no running back in the National Football league since the 0:18:04.640 --> 0:18:06.879 start of the twenty twenty three preseason has more rushing 0:18:06.920 --> 0:18:10.000 yards than Emmanuel Wilson led last year. He's currently one 0:18:10.080 --> 0:18:11.960 yard off of the lead for this year with those 0:18:11.960 --> 0:18:15.240 sixty seven rushing yards he had last week in Cleveland, fifty. 0:18:15.280 --> 0:18:18.440 As you said on our Tuesday podcast after the contact, 0:18:19.160 --> 0:18:23.040 So you're taking an already talented, already motivated, five two 0:18:23.119 --> 0:18:24.840 hundred and twenty six pound running back and now you're 0:18:24.840 --> 0:18:27.600 sending them back to Denver, where his NFL career began 0:18:27.680 --> 0:18:29.600 when he signed with them as an undrafted free agent 0:18:29.600 --> 0:18:33.000 out of Ford Valley State. He gets cut three days 0:18:33.000 --> 0:18:36.719 after that rookie mini camp, and for as quiet as humble, 0:18:36.760 --> 0:18:41.480 as determined as a manual is, you can tell how 0:18:41.520 --> 0:18:44.280 that affected him because he was saying to us this 0:18:44.359 --> 0:18:47.119 past week, you know, he thought that was the end 0:18:47.160 --> 0:18:49.000 of the road. He thought football wasn't going to be 0:18:49.040 --> 0:18:51.280 for me anymore. Well, I think it was ten or 0:18:51.320 --> 0:18:53.240 eleven days later the Packers signed him. He comes in 0:18:53.280 --> 0:18:54.960 and Mike, how many times have the Packers signed an 0:18:55.000 --> 0:18:57.720 undrafted running back that's fifty or six on the depth 0:18:57.800 --> 0:18:59.840 chart that is sort of the the guy that's just 0:19:00.280 --> 0:19:02.520 coming in. We'll see what he can do. You got 0:19:02.520 --> 0:19:06.080 to eat snaps in the preseason. Emmanuel Wilson from the 0:19:06.080 --> 0:19:08.080 time in which he signed with the Packers that towards 0:19:08.160 --> 0:19:10.520 the end of May in over the next three months, 0:19:10.520 --> 0:19:13.359 made himself undeniable with that roster spot. An eighty yard 0:19:13.359 --> 0:19:16.520