Speaker 1: Hi everyone, Welcome to Packers Unscripted from Packers dot Com.
Speaker 1: I am Mike Spofford, sitting next to my partner in crime,
Speaker 1: West hod Kuwitz. Were coming to you here from our
Speaker 1: studios at lambeau Field West. Were another day closer to
Speaker 1: Sunday night football at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City Packers
Speaker 1: against the Chiefs in a big Week eight showdown. And
Speaker 1: as we stand right now, we're taping this episode on
Speaker 1: Thursday morning, before the Packers hit the practice field on Thursday,
Speaker 1: before the Chiefs hit the practice field on Thursday. There's
Speaker 1: a lot of uncertainty with what's going on with injuries
Speaker 1: to some key players. Here. Patrick Mahomes, the m v
Speaker 1: P quarterback for the Kansas City Chiefs. He actually was
Speaker 1: listed as a limited participant in the Chiefs Wednesday practice.
Speaker 1: He made some throws, he was involved a little bit
Speaker 1: in practice. They're leaving the door open that he could
Speaker 1: potentially play on Sunday night. And on the Packers side
Speaker 1: of things, Davante Adams went through stretching in warmups with
Speaker 1: the team for the first time since his turf toe injury.
Speaker 1: Now he did not ultimately participate in practice, but just
Speaker 1: wondering maybe what kind of a sign this is. Does
Speaker 1: this mean the door is open for Davante Adams to
Speaker 1: play on Sunday night? A lot of uncertainty, but what
Speaker 1: do you make of it right now? Well, I will
Speaker 1: say this, the door is definitely there for Davante Adams
Speaker 1: because last week Mark Quisvelde, Scantling and Geronimo Elison didn't
Speaker 1: practice at all and then there they were on Sunday
Speaker 1: playing a fifty four combined snaps that matchups. So I
Speaker 1: wouldn't discount anything at this juncture in terms of Adams. Now,
Speaker 1: there's a lot of things they have to weigh out,
Speaker 1: much like with Allison and Valdes Scantling. I'm guessing it
Speaker 1: is something on Sunday morning they'll take a look at
Speaker 1: and they'll exactly where he's at and if he could
Speaker 1: potentially go. The thing that's interesting about the Mahomes thing.
Speaker 1: I tackled this an insider inbox a little bit on
Speaker 1: Thursday morning. This one's peculiar to me on a number
Speaker 1: of different levels. If this would if they be playing
Speaker 1: the New England Patriots. I totally get the gamesmanship. I
Speaker 1: totally understand that, you know what you're trying to do right.
Speaker 1: Is there some kind of subterfuse your gamesmanship going on here?
Speaker 1: I think that's what a lot of people are wondering
Speaker 1: and I and my thought is, if there is, I
Speaker 1: don't see why what it? What's the value in it?
Speaker 1: If there isn't, I don't see what's the value in
Speaker 1: pushing out a quarterback that just had a dislocated need.
Speaker 1: That's your franchise that's gonna be up for a contract
Speaker 1: extension soon for the sake of of wanting to push it,
Speaker 1: you know, in nine days or whatever, it would be
Speaker 1: removed from that injury. That doesn't make a whole lot
Speaker 1: of sense to me. I'm not going to coach their
Speaker 1: team though, I'm not gonna, you know, look at this
Speaker 1: situation and try to act like I know what's going on.
Speaker 1: If they feel like he's healthy enough to go after
Speaker 1: and throw passes. Certainly, the reports were that there was
Speaker 1: no ligament damage, you know, so so coudas them for that.
Speaker 1: But man, there's a big thing and play here for
Speaker 1: the Kansas City Chiefs. They are looking at Super Bowl.
Speaker 1: There's a chance that this wouldn't just be the only
Speaker 1: matchup between the Packers and Chiefs. So I just I
Speaker 1: look at the Blong game here, and Matt Moore looked
Speaker 1: okay last week. And if you feel like he can
Speaker 1: guide the offense and give you a chance to win,
Speaker 1: I don't see the reason you'd push Mahomes early other
Speaker 1: than this week. You just want to create a little
Speaker 1: bit more chaos in the mind of the Packers. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and I wonder if that that may be what's going
Speaker 1: on here. But at the same time, if you're a
Speaker 1: Packers fan, I think you look at this as Hey,
Speaker 1: if Patrick Mahomes is maybe going to be back sooner
Speaker 1: than later, but if it's not this Sunday, does that
Speaker 1: mean he might be on the field the following Sunday
Speaker 1: when the Chiefs are playing the Vikings. So there's a lot,
Speaker 1: you know, a lot of um ramifications here going on
Speaker 1: with this with regards to Adams and the Packers. Though
Speaker 1: here's here's a question for you. Now. Obviously, as I say,
Speaker 1: the Packers haven't hit the practice field on Thursday, they
Speaker 1: also have another practice on Friday. Adams has been out
Speaker 1: for multiple weeks. It's not quite the same situation as
Speaker 1: MVS and Alison, who basically just missed one week of practice,
Speaker 1: they got them ready to go, and they played on Sunday.
Speaker 1: Matt Lafleur said on Wednesday after practice that the decision
Speaker 1: on Adams could go all the way up to game time.
Speaker 1: What I'm wondering is, with missing multiple weeks, if Adams
Speaker 1: doesn't practice at all this week, would he really be
Speaker 1: ready to get out there and play. Or when a
Speaker 1: guy has been out for a stretch of time, does
Speaker 1: he need to at least see some practice reps. I'm
Speaker 1: not sure, And this is Matt la Fleury is the
Speaker 1: first time head coach. We always could get a feel
Speaker 1: for things with Mike McCarthy a little bit. In these instances,
Speaker 1: we really don't know how la Fleur is going to
Speaker 1: handle us. So that's just another element of the uncertainty
Speaker 1: as the week goes along. The answer to your question
Speaker 1: is whether or not Adams can one get out of
Speaker 1: his stance explosively and if you can get out of
Speaker 1: his breaks, So you don't necessarily need to be in
Speaker 1: an in game setting to know that. If you can
Speaker 1: actually simulate that practice or in a you know, a
Speaker 1: rehab or walk through with some of the trainers to
Speaker 1: get a feel for that, that's gonna be a Davante
Speaker 1: Adams decision. That's gonna be him knowing his body. Because
Speaker 1: if you remember Mike from the very first interview he
Speaker 1: did about this, he wants to come back when he's
Speaker 1: fully healed, when he knows he can help the football team.
Speaker 1: The Green Bay Packers are three no without Davante Adams.
Speaker 1: Do they win those three games more decisively with him? Sure?
Speaker 1: But they still the ends justify the means, And I
Speaker 1: think he understands that they need him for the long
Speaker 1: run here. So if it needs to take another week,
Speaker 1: you'd be smart with it. But I'll tell you what.
Speaker 1: If he can go out there and he feels like
Speaker 1: he's Davante Adams and can do what he needs to do,
Speaker 1: that's gonna be I think really the biggest test for
Speaker 1: him him at least being able to go out and
Speaker 1: do the stretching, because we've seen it in practice the
Speaker 1: last few weeks. He's done a little more than just
Speaker 1: walking around to at least make that advancement. I think
Speaker 1: bodes well that if even if it isn't this Sunday night,
Speaker 1: Davante Adams is getting closer that return of the field. Yeah, well,
Speaker 1: elsewhere on the injury report for the Packers UH safety
Speaker 1: Darnell Savage, the rookie first round pick out of Maryland.
Speaker 1: He was back on the practice field for the first
Speaker 1: time since his ankle injury from the Dallas game. Now,
Speaker 1: the Packers had a very light workout on Wednesday. They
Speaker 1: were not in helmets, not in pads. It was pretty
Speaker 1: much a walk through speed type of practice. They did
Speaker 1: some drills, UH position drills that were a little closer
Speaker 1: to full speed, but then the bulk of the other
Speaker 1: work was walked through in terms of installing the game plan.
Speaker 1: Savage was listed as a full participant. I guess we'll
Speaker 1: see what happens on Thursday, assuming they're putting pads on
Speaker 1: for a more full speed practice later today. But this
Speaker 1: is an interesting development here because, um, we've seen some
Speaker 1: issues obviously with the big plays being allowed by the
Speaker 1: Packers defense. And I'm one who maintains it's never just
Speaker 1: one person. But you know, guys on defense have to
Speaker 1: have to do their jobs and you have to make
Speaker 1: it work. But if you get Savage back, that could
Speaker 1: change the look of things here on the defensive side
Speaker 1: of the ball. The one position that's been hit hardest
Speaker 1: with injuries to this point of the season, seven weeks
Speaker 1: in is safety you already lost, you know, Raven Green,
Speaker 1: who was the primary backup to both of those guys
Speaker 1: and had a really big role as that hybrid linebacker.
Speaker 1: So he's out of the equation. Then you lose Savage
Speaker 1: right when he's you know, looks like he's really coming on,
Speaker 1: flying all over the field, making plays, you know, deflecting passes,
Speaker 1: hitting hard. Uh. He seemed to really be building that
Speaker 1: rapport with Adan Amos back there, you know, is that
Speaker 1: one to punch and then he goes out of the equation.
Speaker 1: I think Will Redman has really stepped up, but there
Speaker 1: was even some domino effects with how they've been able
Speaker 1: to utilize Amos without Green and without Savage. So if
Speaker 1: you can get him back in the fold, I think
Speaker 1: that goes a long way for how this defense defends
Speaker 1: the middle of the field. And this is gonna be
Speaker 1: interesting again. We're gonna have to see how Thursday's padded work,
Speaker 1: what it looks like, and how this team is gonna
Speaker 1: you know, who's going to be available, who isn't when
Speaker 1: you get into that type of practice. But the fact
Speaker 1: that you know, the walkthrough was what it was, but
Speaker 1: they did individual periods of fact that he was out
Speaker 1: there and he was able to do all of it.
Speaker 1: It at the very least tells you that they feel
Speaker 1: after bole that the ankle can handle that type of exercise,
Speaker 1: that type of work, and you know they'll be smart
Speaker 1: with it and hopefully get him back in the folds
Speaker 1: here on Sunday night. Yeah. And another guy who has
Speaker 1: returned to practice for the Packers, young tight end Robert Tanyan.
Speaker 1: He's missed the last couple of games with a hip injury.
Speaker 1: He injured the hip in the Dallas game, same game
Speaker 1: that Darnell Savage got hurt. And we've seen obviously the
Speaker 1: production from the tight ends over the last couple of games.
Speaker 1: They've been worked in to everything that's going on on offense.
Speaker 1: Certainly with Adam's being out. You get Robert Tanyan back
Speaker 1: in the mix here with what Jimmy Graham has been
Speaker 1: doing lately. And Marcedes Louis Lewis had kind of a
Speaker 1: quiet game against the Raiders, but we know what he
Speaker 1: did against the Detroit Lions in the Monday night game.
Speaker 1: You start to round out that position group a little bit.
Speaker 1: And and just as much as that position has been
Speaker 1: involved in what's going on here, it could really get
Speaker 1: interesting if the group as a whole is back to
Speaker 1: full strength. Well, Tanyan is the hybrid, right, I mean,
Speaker 1: he's the cross between your Graham and your and your
Speaker 1: Louis and learning from both of those guys. It was
Speaker 1: a story I wrote during training camp. He wants to
Speaker 1: be the past catcher that Graham is, He wants to
Speaker 1: be the blocker that Lewis is. Those are the goals,
Speaker 1: Those are the perfection that he's trying to attain and
Speaker 1: for him to continually improve over the last two and
Speaker 1: a half years now with Green Bay, I think really
Speaker 1: speaks to him and his maturity level and understanding where
Speaker 1: he needs to get to as a former receiver at
Speaker 1: that position. Robert Tonyan made a phenomenal catch and going
Speaker 1: back to I believe it was the Dallas game if
Speaker 1: I remember that, Yeah, it was that sideline play, kind
Speaker 1: of an off schedule busted play and uh and he
Speaker 1: turns his route up the sideline, you know, and on
Speaker 1: the fly adjustment and Rogers throws it out there and
Speaker 1: uh and he leaps and not only makes the grab,
Speaker 1: but then gets both feet and bounds. I think it
Speaker 1: was the play that he heard his hip on the
Speaker 1: basically the way he landed. He tried to gut it
Speaker 1: out and and play some more snaps. But then at
Speaker 1: the end of that drive, when um, he was throwing
Speaker 1: a block when the Packers were getting close to the
Speaker 1: end zone there, that ended up being his last play
Speaker 1: he had to He was limping and he came out
Speaker 1: kind of holding that hip. Yeah. I mean, and to
Speaker 1: be honest with you, I didn't get the big, you know,
Speaker 1: brunt of the Jamachael Finley era. I got kind of
Speaker 1: the end of it in terms of the time I
Speaker 1: covered this team, and the end was very up and
Speaker 1: down with what you were getting from him week to week.
Speaker 1: But I think with this particular group, what I like
Speaker 1: about it is you're seeing it probably is the deepest
Speaker 1: group the Packers have had here at least during my time.
Speaker 1: And you know, covering this locker room in that Marcedes
Speaker 1: Lewis looks much more comfortable in this offense. We'll talk
Speaker 1: about it in a second. But Jimmy Graham, the way
Speaker 1: that he stepped up in that ballgame, you know, kind
Speaker 1: of a little bit of a must need, must have
Speaker 1: type performance. From him, especially in some critical off schedule plays.
Speaker 1: And then you have Jay Sternberger now who's coming off
Speaker 1: of injured reserve here, being one of the two that
Speaker 1: they designated to return. So with that group, there's a
Speaker 1: lot of potential in it in in every single one
Speaker 1: of those guys. If even when you throw if you
Speaker 1: want to throw Evan Bayliss in there, they all bring
Speaker 1: something different to the party. So it's gonna be interesting
Speaker 1: here if you can get Tanying back, get back into
Speaker 1: more of your two tight end sets. Because one thing
Speaker 1: we really haven't seen during Tanyan's injury, Packers don't play
Speaker 1: Jimmy Graham and Mercedes Lewis on the field together hardly
Speaker 1: at all, Like they like, they script their stuff differently
Speaker 1: for them. Tanya will play with both of them, Yeah,
Speaker 1: but it's very rarely the two veterans together. So this
Speaker 1: is gonna be something that I think if you get
Speaker 1: Tanya back in the fold and you get Sternberger maybe
Speaker 1: being able to contribute down the line here, that could
Speaker 1: be a position group that the Packers really lean on
Speaker 1: in the second half of the season. Yeah, well, where
Speaker 1: do you think things are with Jimmy Graham Because Aaron
Speaker 1: Rodgers very effusive in his praise of the game that
Speaker 1: Graham had against the Raiders this past weekend. In some
Speaker 1: of the games leading up to that, there was production
Speaker 1: from Graham, but also some missed opportunities that he'd be
Speaker 1: the first one to wish that he had him back obviously.
Speaker 1: Do you think what we saw against the Oakland Raiders
Speaker 1: four catches for sixty five yards plus a touchdown? Do
Speaker 1: you think what we saw is the beginning of something
Speaker 1: here with Jimmy Graham moving forward? Is this is? Uh?
Speaker 1: Is this the kind of game that gets a veteran
Speaker 1: who maybe hasn't produced the way he's the way he
Speaker 1: would have wanted to through his first season and a
Speaker 1: half in Green Bay? Is this the kind of game
Speaker 1: and and the kind of vote of confidence from the
Speaker 1: quarterback that gets the guy going. I think so, I
Speaker 1: really do. Because the thing is, and I've said this
Speaker 1: to you before, they don't need Jimmy Graham to be
Speaker 1: two thousand eleven Jimmy Graham. That isn't why he's here. Uh,
Speaker 1: they don't need Aaron Rodgers, you know. I mean, everybody evolves,
Speaker 1: Everybody adapts in terms of what they were years ago.
Speaker 1: To what they are today, and Graham plays a position
Speaker 1: that has had a lot of success into the thirties.
Speaker 1: Look at Marcedes Lewis still doing it in your thirteen now, um.
Speaker 1: But they all do in their own ways, right. I
Speaker 1: thought that this game was a perfect, you know, symbol
Speaker 1: of what Graham can bring to this offense when they
Speaker 1: don't have Davante Adams, when they have to spread the
Speaker 1: ball around. Because as Roger said, and I believe it
Speaker 1: was to your question, Mike, there was only one of
Speaker 1: those catches that he had where the play was really
Speaker 1: strictly designed for him. Everything else sort of came on
Speaker 1: on feel, on instinct and being able to just play
Speaker 1: the drive out, play the you know, the series out
Speaker 1: and he had some critical moments in that football game.
Speaker 1: The tight end position. I one thing I really liked
Speaker 1: when Graham spoke to the media on Wednesday night that
Speaker 1: he said is that you know, his opportunities will come
Speaker 1: and basically paraphrase him somewhat, it's the nature of his position.
Speaker 1: I'm a tight end. Tight Ends just don't very very
Speaker 1: rarely have those ten catch a d R days that
Speaker 1: like Davante Adams had. They are more economical there's gonna
Speaker 1: be days where a tight end has a good game
Speaker 1: but he only catches two passes for twenty yards if
Speaker 1: he's doing all the other things that are required of
Speaker 1: him as a blocker underneath being able to be an
Speaker 1: outlet for the quarterback. Graham had some of those opportunities,
Speaker 1: as you mentioned, and unfortunately some of them couldn't be converted.
Speaker 1: But where he's at right now, I think that this
Speaker 1: game could be a big boost of confidence, not that
Speaker 1: he necessarily needed it, but just a reminder to everyone that, Okay,
Speaker 1: this is why the Packers signed him, and this is
Speaker 1: what the element and dimension he can bring to this offense.
Speaker 1: Because Mike, you know, as much has been made about
Speaker 1: Graham and the decision to bring him back, you're not
Speaker 1: going to find good tight end talent available every year
Speaker 1: in free agency. And we've talked at nauseum about how
Speaker 1: difficult it is the draft a guy right away and
Speaker 1: have him play right away at that position. It's difficult.
Speaker 1: So I just think the resurgence that you've seen from
Speaker 1: Lewis and in some of these plays that Graham has made,
Speaker 1: you know, it's his third touchdown already this season. That
Speaker 1: gives I think it should give Packer fans hope that, Okay,
Speaker 1: this is a unit that when you turn to it,
Speaker 1: much like it did against Chicago in Week one, it
Speaker 1: can produce for you, and it can be an outlet
Speaker 1: for Aaron Rodgers when he needs it to be well.
Speaker 1: Jimmy Graham certainly has two big believers in his corner
Speaker 1: in Matt Lafleur and Aaron Rodgers, and I think he's
Speaker 1: going to continue to be involved in this offense. And
Speaker 1: if and if he can and if he can continue
Speaker 1: to cash in on those opportunities that come his way,
Speaker 1: this Packer's offense is going to be better for it.
Speaker 1: One other topic I want to get to today West
Speaker 1: before we go. I mentioned earlier in the show the
Speaker 1: Packers had a very light work out on Wednesday. They
Speaker 1: really just put on shorts and helmets or sweats and
Speaker 1: help I mean sorry, shorts and jerseys or sweats and jerseys.
Speaker 1: They did not even have their helmets on. Very unusual
Speaker 1: kind of a Wednesday practice, especially coming off of a
Speaker 1: Sunday noon game, and and practice was even pushed back
Speaker 1: a couple of hours later in the afternoon on Wednesday
Speaker 1: from what has been the norm. So far. But I
Speaker 1: was thinking about this when I was at practice when
Speaker 1: the media was allowed to be at the early portion
Speaker 1: of practice yesterday, and then even when I was driving
Speaker 1: into work this morning, that you know, we saw through
Speaker 1: through O T A S, through training camp, now through
Speaker 1: the regular season, the times that Matt Lafleur has really
Speaker 1: backed off physically on the practice demands on the players.
Speaker 1: And there's a couple of things I think that are
Speaker 1: worth pointing out here. One, he's shone so far that
Speaker 1: he's confident in the players that if they mentally get
Speaker 1: the game planed down and they are locked in mentally
Speaker 1: on what's going on in the game plan, he doesn't
Speaker 1: need to necessarily see all the physical reps during the
Speaker 1: week in practice to be confident in what they're taking
Speaker 1: into the game on Sunday. So that's one. The other
Speaker 1: is that when I think about how this season has
Speaker 1: gone for the Packers, you know, seven games, you're six
Speaker 1: and one. I would argue that five of the seven
Speaker 1: games so far this year, the Packers have clearly, without question,
Speaker 1: been the better team in the fourth quarter of five
Speaker 1: of the seven games. The two I would say they
Speaker 1: haven't been were Philadelphia and Dallas. They weren't able to
Speaker 1: pull it out against Philadelphia, and it worked out in
Speaker 1: Dallas because they built a thirty one to three lead
Speaker 1: and they were able to hang on even though the
Speaker 1: Cowboys were getting the better of it in the fourth quarter.
Speaker 1: But when you're the better team five out of seven
Speaker 1: weeks in the fourth quarter, that's gonna lead to a
Speaker 1: lot of wins. And I just starting to wonder if
Speaker 1: you know, all of this is part of the bigger picture.
Speaker 1: We've We've seen the back off physically and practice. We've
Speaker 1: seen the Packers be the better team in the fourth quarter. Hey,
Speaker 1: there are a million ways to get this done. As
Speaker 1: a head coach in the NFL, guys over decades have
Speaker 1: done it all kinds of different ways. And one games
Speaker 1: and one playoff games and one Super Bowls. This is
Speaker 1: this is an interesting approach that Matt Lafleur is taking
Speaker 1: in so far. You can't argue with the results. Well,
Speaker 1: you certainly can't argue with that absolutely. I mean six
Speaker 1: and one is six and one, however you get to it.
Speaker 1: But what I like about this one, I think you
Speaker 1: make a great point that when you look at how
Speaker 1: fresh the Packers have been in some of these fourth
Speaker 1: quarter situations and how they've been able to close out games.
Speaker 1: You do wonder about the preparation aspect of it. You
Speaker 1: wonder about the conditioning aspect, and certainly both of those
Speaker 1: have been on point. The other thing I've wondered too,
Speaker 1: and it wasn't totally applicable to the Thursday night week,
Speaker 1: but it's definitely applicable to a week like tonight. Excuse me.
Speaker 1: You know, a process like this week is at you
Speaker 1: have the Wednesday practice and if you get the mental
Speaker 1: side of this thing down, if you get the game plan,
Speaker 1: you get a good grasp for that maximizing not only
Speaker 1: that time for guys to get their bodies back, because
Speaker 1: as we've seen, the Packers injury port is still pretty big,
Speaker 1: but to have them ready for that Thursday padded work.
Speaker 1: If you can maximize that actual those padded sessions by
Speaker 1: maybe you know, taking off the gas a little bit
Speaker 1: on Wednesdays. Is there an intrinsic benefit to that as well,
Speaker 1: because there's so many times where I mean, Mike Karthie
Speaker 1: would talk about all the time, like Thursday, that's your
Speaker 1: work day, that's where you you know, you really get
Speaker 1: a feel for your football team. Where things are at
Speaker 1: and how they're going to play. What I like about
Speaker 1: the Flour's theory here is that there's a lot of
Speaker 1: emphasis on the classroom. You know, they have the crick
Speaker 1: over here where they can go through stuff and you
Speaker 1: know see it on the screen. There walk through area
Speaker 1: in and a a video area. So if you have
Speaker 1: and you check all those boxes, and maybe you don't
Speaker 1: have as many reps, you know in those non contact
Speaker 1: Wednesday practices the traditional sense, does it allow you to
Speaker 1: maximize not only a performance on Thursday or performance in
Speaker 1: a Sunday. I think that's something you have to track
Speaker 1: the whole season. But if this season goes the direction
Speaker 1: the Packers are hoping it will now five games above five,
Speaker 1: you start to wonder if they really did, you know,
Speaker 1: find something. Well. It's interesting because you and I both
Speaker 1: work with a couple of gentlemen, Larry McCarron and John Koon.
Speaker 1: I'm talking about who every time something like this happens,
Speaker 1: whether it was a day that Matt Lafleur backed off
Speaker 1: in training camp, maybe they didn't go in pads but
Speaker 1: got in another you know, shorter nonpadded work, or a
Speaker 1: day like yesterday with no helmets on a Wednesday practice
Speaker 1: and kind of a walkthrough thing. Those guys will sit
Speaker 1: there and laugh and say, Man, if they were doing this,
Speaker 1: you know, I'd still be playing, you know. But it's
Speaker 1: just it's it's interesting because because the culture and the
Speaker 1: science and the research and everything behind how these coaches,
Speaker 1: particularly younger coaches now in the NFL, are doing this,
Speaker 1: it's it's changing. It's a very it's a very different
Speaker 1: environment in terms of in terms of the way coaches
Speaker 1: feel is the best way to prepare their team both
Speaker 1: physically and mentally to get ready to play on Sunday.
Speaker 1: And and I'll say this too, I mean Mike McCarthy
Speaker 1: back before the the cb A change of two thousand eleven,
Speaker 1: Mike McCarthy was one of the coaches through two thousand
Speaker 1: eight nine ten, he was one of those who was
Speaker 1: backing off on the two days and training camp. He's
Speaker 1: only doing two days, you know, maybe two days a week,
Speaker 1: and then eventually backed off even I think even before
Speaker 1: the entire change with the CBA, he might have been
Speaker 1: doing one to a day a week if that. So
Speaker 1: this is a this is an evolution of process that's
Speaker 1: been that that's been going on for a while now
Speaker 1: and it just still though continues to change now that
Speaker 1: we're seeing how things are going during the season as
Speaker 1: well as what's changed the summers in training camp. And
Speaker 1: there's two things that all this is predicated on, right,
Speaker 1: two p words, preparation and professionalism. And you know, to
Speaker 1: single out of guy like Brian Bulaga for example, blog
Speaker 1: has taken probably a few of reps as he's taken
Speaker 1: in practices his entire career now, but it works for
Speaker 1: them because of his preparation as professionalism. A lot of
Speaker 1: the reasons why the Packers can get away with this
Speaker 1: type of stuff is that, you know, for many of
Speaker 1: these guys, probably honestly, like everybody that's been on this
Speaker 1: roster since April, they've built up that equity. They put
Speaker 1: in the hours in the weight room, they put in
Speaker 1: the hours in the training room and in recovery and
Speaker 1: doing everything to maximize their body. Look at Blake Martinez
Speaker 1: remember in April when we're talking about him, you know,
Speaker 1: shedding seven pounds of fat and adding fifteen pounds of
Speaker 1: muscle and all this stuff. When you are in that
Speaker 1: good of physical condition just naturally independent of the game
Speaker 1: of football, it allows you to be ready for Sundays,
Speaker 1: which allows you to back off of some of the
Speaker 1: physical stuff that you have to do back in the
Speaker 1: Larry mccaren days to prepare your body physically for that.
Speaker 1: I mean a lot of times when you talk about
Speaker 1: the six game preseasons and you know on how long
Speaker 1: training camps would be wild that because they had to
Speaker 1: get guys back into physical shape, not just football shape.
Speaker 1: So yeah, seeing the evolution of this thing well passed
Speaker 1: just the you know, salt tablets to gatorade and things
Speaker 1: like that. I mean the overall, Uh, there there's a
Speaker 1: lot that we know that we didn't once know. But
Speaker 1: there's also the aspect of it that these guys take
Speaker 1: care of their business and handle their business. And one
Speaker 1: of the benefits of that is that, Okay, maybe on
Speaker 1: the wends that you don't have to push yourself as
Speaker 1: physically hard as you traditionally would because you know, I
Speaker 1: kind of already have that hay in the bar. Yeah. Well,
Speaker 1: and let's be honest here, the the the get real
Speaker 1: moment in all of this is that the players have
Speaker 1: rewarded Matt Lafleur for his approach because they've gotten the
Speaker 1: results on Sunday. And that's ultimately the bottom line here
Speaker 1: because it's it's about wins and losses. And Matt Lafleur
Speaker 1: is comfortable with how he's doing things because he's seeing
Speaker 1: the response and the results that he's too in the game.
Speaker 1: And I think that's a big part of it, because yeah,
Speaker 1: if you're one in six and you're not practicing on
Speaker 1: a Wednesday, then people start to ask questions, you know,
Speaker 1: when when you've had the results that the Packers have
Speaker 1: had here and they've won these I think that's a
Speaker 1: great point you make. When you win this many close
Speaker 1: games down the wire, you have that mental toughness in
Speaker 1: that preparation. The more preparation, the more prepared team is
Speaker 1: gonna win nine times out of ten, and for the
Speaker 1: Packer's sake, in six or seven occasions so far, they've
Speaker 1: been that squad. All right. Well, with that, we'll call
Speaker 1: it a wrap on this edition of Packers Unscripted. Be
Speaker 1: sure to follow all of our coverage of the team
Speaker 1: on Packers dot com, Subscribe to us, like us on
Speaker 1: iTunes and other podcast services. On Twitter. He's at West Hot,
Speaker 1: I'm at Mike Spofford at Packers for the team account.
Speaker 1: Thanks for tuning in, everybody, See you next time.