WEBVTT - #534 Packers Unscripted: Sideline views 0:00:00.960 --> 0:00:15.120 Hi, everybody. Welcome to another edition of Packers Unscripted social 0:00:15.200 --> 0:00:18.440 distancing Style from Packers dot com. I am Mike Spofford, 0:00:18.520 --> 0:00:22.599 joined as always by my trusted colleague west hod Koit's 0:00:22.640 --> 0:00:24.360 coming to you from our homes as we have for 0:00:24.440 --> 0:00:27.400 the past couple of months. Weston, how are you doing? 0:00:27.440 --> 0:00:30.160 My friend? I'm good now I'm depressed. And he said 0:00:30.200 --> 0:00:31.720 they we've been here for the last couple of months. 0:00:31.760 --> 0:00:34.760 I mean, technically that's accurate, but doesn't doesn't make it 0:00:34.800 --> 0:00:39.080 any easier to digest. It doesn't. It doesn't. Well, late 0:00:39.159 --> 0:00:43.479 last week we heard from the Packers three coordinators, defense 0:00:43.520 --> 0:00:47.000 coordinator Mike Petton, offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett, and Special teams 0:00:47.040 --> 0:00:52.160 coordinator Sean Meninga. They did a media session over zoom 0:00:52.200 --> 0:00:54.920 All a chance to for lots of the Green Day 0:00:54.960 --> 0:00:57.760 med Core to ask some questions, get the updates on 0:00:58.440 --> 0:01:00.279 where they're at with things with the verse you, off 0:01:00.320 --> 0:01:03.280 season program and all of that. Um, I'll just throw 0:01:03.320 --> 0:01:05.360 it out to us. I'll leave it wide open for you. 0:01:05.640 --> 0:01:11.399 What was your biggest takeaway, the strongest impression that anyone 0:01:12.040 --> 0:01:14.520 made as far as what they said to you, Well, 0:01:14.520 --> 0:01:16.600 it was Mike Petton and I think everybody wanted to 0:01:16.640 --> 0:01:19.040 hear what pet had to say, not only coming off 0:01:19.040 --> 0:01:21.680 of last year in the NFC Championship game against the 0:01:21.760 --> 0:01:24.759 San Francisco forty Niners, but just in general with where 0:01:24.800 --> 0:01:26.960 he wants this defense to go now in year three 0:01:26.959 --> 0:01:29.360 and the challenges that he's going to face with this 0:01:29.400 --> 0:01:33.959 truncated offseason, starting off with that NFC title game. First 0:01:33.959 --> 0:01:36.319 and foremost, this is the big thing I think I 0:01:36.440 --> 0:01:39.919 was my takeaway from this. We you cannot just plan 0:01:40.319 --> 0:01:44.920 for one specific game, one specific opponent. It has to 0:01:44.959 --> 0:01:48.200 be a full vision of what you want your defense 0:01:48.240 --> 0:01:50.640 to be. And so when people look at the two 0:01:50.640 --> 0:01:54.560 thousand uh you know it's nineteen NFC championship game in 0:01:54.560 --> 0:01:57.760 San Francisco, Yeah, everyone's gonna look at Well, it didn't 0:01:57.760 --> 0:01:59.800 go so hot for the Packers there the run, defense 0:02:00.000 --> 0:02:02.640 and hold up there were challenges that they faced. But 0:02:02.760 --> 0:02:05.040 at the end of the day, as much as that 0:02:05.200 --> 0:02:08.760 is the truth, you can't focus on that one performance 0:02:08.800 --> 0:02:10.760 when you build for two thousand twenty because the forty 0:02:10.800 --> 0:02:12.280 Niners are not going to be the same, the NFL 0:02:12.360 --> 0:02:14.000 is not going to be the same. And it goes 0:02:14.040 --> 0:02:15.519 back to something that I wrote about this week in 0:02:15.560 --> 0:02:18.720 an Insider inbox. You remember the two thousand thirteen, two 0:02:18.720 --> 0:02:21.840 thousand twelve thirteen playoff game against the forty Niners when 0:02:21.840 --> 0:02:24.440 Colin Kaepernick ran for a ton of yards against Green 0:02:24.440 --> 0:02:26.920 Bay Will it came back in the opener in thirteen 0:02:27.000 --> 0:02:29.640 later that year and he threw for four yards. So 0:02:30.160 --> 0:02:32.520 there's always gonna be a check in a balance, and 0:02:32.560 --> 0:02:34.960 I think that's the one thing that Petton is very 0:02:35.000 --> 0:02:37.079 much in tune with. And he also said when you 0:02:37.120 --> 0:02:39.560 look at this run defense, yeah, there are structural changes 0:02:39.600 --> 0:02:42.000 they need to make, but he still feels like this 0:02:42.080 --> 0:02:44.400 personnel and especially now with Christian Kurtsey coming in an 0:02:44.400 --> 0:02:47.280 inside linebacker, that's gonna give the Green Bay Packers what 0:02:47.320 --> 0:02:50.519 they need in order to to take that next step. Yeah, 0:02:50.560 --> 0:02:52.960 the biggest thing I took away from Petton's comments is, 0:02:53.240 --> 0:02:57.079 you know, he's not going to change what the defense is. 0:02:57.120 --> 0:02:59.840 He's it's not going to be some wholesale change just 0:03:00.040 --> 0:03:03.639 based on one performance. I think he obviously said they 0:03:03.639 --> 0:03:06.480 were lacking in the execution, the effort, the energy, all 0:03:06.480 --> 0:03:08.920 of those kinds of things. It wasn't their day and 0:03:08.960 --> 0:03:11.760 it was their worst performance at the worst possible time. 0:03:12.919 --> 0:03:15.040 But Mike Patton is not going to change who the 0:03:15.080 --> 0:03:18.519 Packers are on defense. He's not suddenly going to make 0:03:18.560 --> 0:03:22.080 the run defense a bunch of two gapping laterally moving 0:03:22.560 --> 0:03:25.280 guys up front. He still wants to attack, he still 0:03:25.320 --> 0:03:28.799 wants to control the line of scrimmage. And I think 0:03:28.840 --> 0:03:32.000 as much as it's on the players that obviously things 0:03:32.040 --> 0:03:34.880 went wrong out there on the field, I think he's 0:03:34.960 --> 0:03:37.720 taking his share of the blame himself in terms of 0:03:37.760 --> 0:03:42.360 not emphasizing the run defense principles that got away from 0:03:42.400 --> 0:03:45.040 them at the end of the season there in in 0:03:45.360 --> 0:03:48.600 the championship games. So he said, hey, this is a performance. 0:03:48.600 --> 0:03:50.640 Everybody has to own it. We can't run from it. 0:03:50.680 --> 0:03:53.920 And he's talking about coaches and players and everybody. But 0:03:54.000 --> 0:03:57.120 as you said, this is not about completely changing the 0:03:57.160 --> 0:04:01.120 defensive identity and changing who you are based on one performance. 0:04:01.160 --> 0:04:05.600 It's about emphasizing things getting buttoned down in certain areas 0:04:05.640 --> 0:04:08.680 that obviously things went wrong at the wrong time. But 0:04:09.840 --> 0:04:12.000 Mike Petton believes in his scheme, he believes in this 0:04:12.160 --> 0:04:14.840 defense and uh and with the players he has coming back, 0:04:14.880 --> 0:04:18.240 and obviously you're swapping out Kirksey for Martinez in the 0:04:18.279 --> 0:04:20.159 middle of it all. But with all the players that 0:04:20.200 --> 0:04:22.839 are coming back, the experience that everybody has gained in 0:04:22.839 --> 0:04:25.280 the system, he has confidence that this defense is going 0:04:25.320 --> 0:04:27.880 to get back to where it was when it was 0:04:27.960 --> 0:04:30.800 peaking in twenty nineteen. Well, he mentioned that too. I mean, 0:04:30.960 --> 0:04:33.599 this defense and this team won fourteen games last year. 0:04:33.640 --> 0:04:35.120 So you don't just throw out the baby with the 0:04:35.120 --> 0:04:38.200 bathwater and just restart. I mean, you got to build 0:04:38.200 --> 0:04:39.920 off of what you did well and improve on where 0:04:39.920 --> 0:04:42.920 you fell short. That's where his main objective is going 0:04:42.960 --> 0:04:44.840 to be, and he laid out some of the preliminary 0:04:44.880 --> 0:04:47.000 plans for that already. He said, you know, you can't 0:04:47.040 --> 0:04:50.719 have Kenny Clark playing of the defensive snaps. You have 0:04:50.800 --> 0:04:52.640 to pick your poison with him. Do you want him 0:04:52.880 --> 0:04:55.360 in there on third downs rushing and going after the passer, 0:04:55.720 --> 0:04:57.279 or do you want him in there every first and 0:04:57.320 --> 0:04:59.440 second down trying to defend the run. When you got 0:04:59.440 --> 0:05:01.680 a guy like Clark that can do so many things, well, 0:05:01.720 --> 0:05:03.560 it's appetizing to just want to put him on the 0:05:03.560 --> 0:05:06.160 field as much as possible. The Packers can't do that. 0:05:06.200 --> 0:05:09.240 They need to be more multiple. He talked about a 0:05:09.240 --> 0:05:12.040 guy like Kingsley Kiki their fifth round pick last year 0:05:12.040 --> 0:05:14.320 out of Texas Tech Texas A and M excuse me. 0:05:14.720 --> 0:05:16.599 He feels like that's a guy that can get into 0:05:16.640 --> 0:05:19.760 that rotation and take some snaps off of Clark and Lowery. 0:05:19.800 --> 0:05:22.480 There is a law of diminishing returns with defensive linemen 0:05:22.520 --> 0:05:26.080 in this league. Clark has still played above that, but 0:05:26.200 --> 0:05:28.039 you need to be able to give those guys rest. 0:05:28.440 --> 0:05:30.840 You have a good transition and a in a rotation 0:05:30.920 --> 0:05:33.640 going right now at outside linebacker, he mentioned, despite the 0:05:33.640 --> 0:05:36.400 fact that they did lose Kyler Facral, he feels like 0:05:36.440 --> 0:05:39.120 this is still the best and the most deep, you know, 0:05:39.400 --> 0:05:41.760 core of outside edge rushers that he's ever had as 0:05:41.800 --> 0:05:44.800 a defensive coordinator in the NFL. He believes Rashawn Gary 0:05:44.839 --> 0:05:46.480 needs to take another step and they want to give 0:05:46.520 --> 0:05:49.760 him the opportunities to do so. And then certainly there's 0:05:49.800 --> 0:05:51.679 a lot to figure out what the secondary yet, who's 0:05:51.680 --> 0:05:55.080 gonna be holding down Nickel corner. But overall, with the 0:05:55.120 --> 0:05:57.160 additions that they made last year and some of the 0:05:57.200 --> 0:06:00.279 improvements that now they want to make this year, that's 0:06:00.279 --> 0:06:03.719 why Patton really does believe that where they stand right 0:06:03.760 --> 0:06:06.919 now can be a championship caliber defense. Yeah, and I 0:06:06.960 --> 0:06:09.080 agree with you, I think I think he really wants 0:06:09.080 --> 0:06:11.599 to focus on the fact that he doesn't want Kenny Clark, 0:06:11.880 --> 0:06:15.280 Zadarius Smith, and Preston Smith to all be playing eight 0:06:15.440 --> 0:06:18.839 five roughly percentage of the snaps on defense. He wants 0:06:18.880 --> 0:06:21.240 to share the workload a little bit more. It's a 0:06:21.279 --> 0:06:23.760 long season. Every game itself is a long game, but 0:06:23.800 --> 0:06:25.840 it's a long season, especially if you're trying to make 0:06:25.880 --> 0:06:29.320 a playoff run. So all that factors into the plans 0:06:29.320 --> 0:06:32.600 for and trying to see some young players rise up, 0:06:32.640 --> 0:06:37.080 take on more responsibility, take on larger roles, to lessen 0:06:37.120 --> 0:06:39.160 the burden on some of those veteran guys who really 0:06:39.200 --> 0:06:43.120 carried the load last year. Um Moving on offensive coordinator 0:06:43.200 --> 0:06:46.520 Nathaniel Hackett, I think the thing that struck me the most, 0:06:46.560 --> 0:06:48.960 and he's always very entertaining when he talks. He's got, 0:06:49.160 --> 0:06:52.440 you know, I guess, a bubbly personality for for lack 0:06:52.480 --> 0:06:54.320 of a better phrase, off the top of my head, 0:06:55.000 --> 0:06:57.080 but he's very entertaining when he talks. And I thought 0:06:57.120 --> 0:07:00.159 it was interesting the question that he answered about the 0:07:00.160 --> 0:07:03.200 Packers being in year two of the offensive system, but 0:07:03.360 --> 0:07:06.120 you know, having to deal with this virtual offseason and 0:07:06.160 --> 0:07:08.240 you could almost see the look on his face as 0:07:08.240 --> 0:07:10.800 though like, oh my gosh, I can't imagine if we 0:07:10.800 --> 0:07:14.280 were trying to do this in year one, you know, 0:07:14.440 --> 0:07:16.240 which there are some teams in the league who were 0:07:16.280 --> 0:07:19.120 doing that, Mike McCarthy with the Cowboys, other head coaches 0:07:19.120 --> 0:07:21.880 who have gotten new jobs and they've had to work 0:07:21.920 --> 0:07:24.679 on trying to implement their systems without getting their guys 0:07:24.680 --> 0:07:27.840 on the field. But coach Hackett is very very glad 0:07:28.080 --> 0:07:30.560 that that the Packers did what they did in year 0:07:30.600 --> 0:07:33.160 one and now they're dealing with the challenges in year 0:07:33.200 --> 0:07:37.720 two as opposed to having to go through that last year. Yeah, 0:07:37.720 --> 0:07:39.880 and Nathaniel mentioned, I mean he has some friends in 0:07:39.880 --> 0:07:42.320 the teaching profession and he actually reached out to them 0:07:42.320 --> 0:07:43.800 to get some pointers on how they were going to 0:07:43.880 --> 0:07:47.760 be able to do these exercises over zoom overrecorded meetings, 0:07:48.200 --> 0:07:49.800 because he said, you know, so many times you just 0:07:49.800 --> 0:07:52.040 get up and you give your speech. For better or 0:07:52.040 --> 0:07:54.280 for worse, it lives in it, you know, dies in 0:07:54.320 --> 0:07:56.480 that moment. You just move on with your life. Well, 0:07:56.480 --> 0:07:59.040 in this particular case, in those some of those prerecorded 0:07:59.040 --> 0:08:01.040 team meetings that they have, you have to sit there 0:08:01.040 --> 0:08:02.760 and look at yourself and you gotta judge yourself and 0:08:02.800 --> 0:08:05.520 you gotta learn from those experiences. And he said, you know, 0:08:05.560 --> 0:08:07.480 they've talked about trying to find ways to make it 0:08:07.560 --> 0:08:10.240 more interactive and fun for the players. Based on what 0:08:10.280 --> 0:08:12.280 Aaron Rodgers said last week, it sounds like they've been 0:08:12.320 --> 0:08:14.640 largely successful with that. Certainly, we're gonna get a chance 0:08:14.680 --> 0:08:16.160 here soon enough to talk to some of these other 0:08:16.200 --> 0:08:19.440 players to get their perception of it. But the thing 0:08:19.440 --> 0:08:22.800 I loved about Hackett's response, in addition to the realization 0:08:22.840 --> 0:08:24.640 that if you're a rookie coach right now, man, you're 0:08:24.680 --> 0:08:28.800 really up the creek trying to institute your scheme in 0:08:28.840 --> 0:08:31.440 this environment, but even more than that, it's just his 0:08:31.520 --> 0:08:34.240 overall enthusiasm for this offense and where things could go 0:08:34.280 --> 0:08:36.960 in year two. I think they laid a blueprint last year. 0:08:37.320 --> 0:08:39.720 They didn't check every box. Matt Lafleur has been open 0:08:39.720 --> 0:08:42.360 and honest about that, but they did lay a blueprint 0:08:42.400 --> 0:08:45.040 of where they believe this group can go. Now they 0:08:45.040 --> 0:08:48.720 have a very deep and very versatile backfield that they've built. 0:08:48.760 --> 0:08:51.040 You have a guy like Josiah Degure coming in who 0:08:51.040 --> 0:08:53.760 knows what he could potentially be in this offense, and then, 0:08:53.800 --> 0:08:57.400 by the way, Davante Adams is still the receiver, David 0:08:57.400 --> 0:09:00.720 Baxtr is still your left tackle, Corey Linsley's still your center, 0:09:00.920 --> 0:09:02.960 and obviously Aaron Jones and Jamal Williams are still in 0:09:02.960 --> 0:09:05.080 that equation as well. There are a lot of returning 0:09:05.080 --> 0:09:08.360 pieces for this Packers offense in addition to QB one, 0:09:08.480 --> 0:09:11.120 So all those things put together, you can just kind 0:09:11.120 --> 0:09:13.280 of get a sense for what he feels like this 0:09:13.360 --> 0:09:15.760 upside is going to be for this group, trying to 0:09:15.840 --> 0:09:18.240 build upon some of those principles that they put in place, 0:09:18.559 --> 0:09:20.760 and also looking probably a little bit more like the 0:09:20.800 --> 0:09:24.240 offense that Matt Lafleur and vision is now moving into. Yeah, 0:09:24.280 --> 0:09:26.960 and I almost wondered, just because of the limitations of 0:09:27.000 --> 0:09:29.040 the off season and the fact that everything has been 0:09:29.160 --> 0:09:31.960 been virtual to this point, I'm not sure how much 0:09:32.280 --> 0:09:34.720 they're going to be able to implement in terms of 0:09:34.760 --> 0:09:37.240 their changes and the things they want to tweak and 0:09:37.280 --> 0:09:40.040 adjust and everything along the way right now. But I 0:09:40.080 --> 0:09:43.079 think we might see the Packers offense in the season, 0:09:43.080 --> 0:09:46.640 when the actual season gets going, you might see more 0:09:46.679 --> 0:09:49.360 of those adjustments along the way. It may be just 0:09:49.440 --> 0:09:52.360 a more a matter of of spreading them out, so 0:09:52.400 --> 0:09:54.319 to speak, in the calendar in terms of some of 0:09:54.400 --> 0:09:56.480 the changes and where you want to go with some things. 0:09:56.520 --> 0:09:59.400 Just my own speculation there, just because I can't imagine 0:09:59.440 --> 0:10:01.920 you can you can try to implement all of the 0:10:02.000 --> 0:10:03.920 changes you want to make to the playbook in a 0:10:04.040 --> 0:10:07.280 year two of a system when you're not getting the 0:10:07.320 --> 0:10:09.640 players out there to at least, do you know, get 0:10:09.679 --> 0:10:12.280 him together to do walk through eleven on eleven even 0:10:12.400 --> 0:10:14.880 half three quarter speed? Um, you know when that when 0:10:14.920 --> 0:10:18.160 that's not an option. So but definitely a lot of 0:10:18.200 --> 0:10:21.920 optimism for where this offense can go in year two. 0:10:22.360 --> 0:10:26.920 Special teams coordinator Seawan Meninga I wanted to uh touch 0:10:27.000 --> 0:10:29.360 on his comments as well. I think the thing that 0:10:29.400 --> 0:10:32.960 stood out to me about him it is almost the 0:10:33.040 --> 0:10:36.880 relief that he has that he's going into his second 0:10:36.960 --> 0:10:40.560 season as the special teams coordinator knowing who his return 0:10:40.679 --> 0:10:44.520 man is because the Packers did not have a return 0:10:44.600 --> 0:10:48.480 game really on punts or kickoffs until Tyler Irvin showed 0:10:48.559 --> 0:10:51.319 up in December. He became a free agent at the 0:10:51.440 --> 0:10:53.800 end of the season, the Packers re signed him. He 0:10:53.960 --> 0:10:57.000 is back, and I think coach Meninge is very, very 0:10:57.040 --> 0:11:00.959 happy that he's heading into knowing who his return man 0:11:01.040 --> 0:11:03.319 is on punts and kickoffs well, and just the overall 0:11:03.360 --> 0:11:06.440 stability right stuff. I mean, you got Mason Crosby back. 0:11:06.800 --> 0:11:08.520 That would have been a huge hole if the Packers 0:11:08.520 --> 0:11:11.720 were unable to resign him, especially with how excuse me this. 0:11:12.000 --> 0:11:14.200 You look and see how this league has been with 0:11:14.280 --> 0:11:16.640 the kicking position here the last two seasons. When you 0:11:16.640 --> 0:11:18.520 have a good one, you want to keep them. But 0:11:19.000 --> 0:11:23.640 Crosby has been in this position before. They drafted J. K. Scott, 0:11:24.080 --> 0:11:27.200 you drafted Hunter Bradley. You expect those specialists to be 0:11:27.280 --> 0:11:29.600 able to be the players that you want them to be. 0:11:30.320 --> 0:11:32.319 And then you got a guy like Tyler Irvin who 0:11:32.400 --> 0:11:35.240 basically came out of nowhere last year to rescue those 0:11:35.240 --> 0:11:39.520 return units. And Matt Lafleour Brian Goodcuins. They both discussed 0:11:39.520 --> 0:11:41.760 it even before free agency began. The Packers wanted to 0:11:41.760 --> 0:11:43.760 find a way to bring back Irvin and they did. 0:11:44.280 --> 0:11:46.960 And now you've got a dynamic playmaker that could potentially 0:11:47.000 --> 0:11:50.160 help you in that backfield situation, but more than anything, 0:11:50.240 --> 0:11:53.320 gives you a two way kickoff and punt return. I 0:11:53.320 --> 0:11:55.440 think there's something to be said for that. Mike. In 0:11:55.480 --> 0:11:58.079 this league, it's becoming increasingly specialized. You can be a 0:11:58.160 --> 0:12:00.640 kickoff returner, you can be a punt turner, but you 0:12:00.720 --> 0:12:03.559 don't always play both of those units. Mica Hyde was 0:12:03.600 --> 0:12:06.960 a phenomenal punt returner, wasn't really used that much on 0:12:07.160 --> 0:12:11.160 kickoff returns. Jeff Janice solid kickoff returner, didn't really handle 0:12:11.200 --> 0:12:13.880 punts that often. To have a guy like Irvin that 0:12:13.920 --> 0:12:16.920 can do both and be explosive in both different facets 0:12:16.920 --> 0:12:19.080 of a play that is much different on different sides 0:12:19.080 --> 0:12:21.960 of the spectrum, that's a real fine for the green 0:12:22.000 --> 0:12:24.600 Bay Packers. And just to be able to have that confidence, 0:12:24.600 --> 0:12:26.640 you've got to kind of remember what life was like 0:12:26.679 --> 0:12:29.600 for Green Bay in October and just the uncertainty every 0:12:29.600 --> 0:12:32.160 time fourth down came and and not really knowing, Okay, 0:12:32.200 --> 0:12:34.160 one are you gonna be able to get any yards? 0:12:34.160 --> 0:12:35.960 And two are you gonna be able to maintain possession 0:12:35.960 --> 0:12:39.040 of the ball? Tyler? Irvin alleviated all of that. So 0:12:39.400 --> 0:12:41.640 to to get him back in the fold. It's not 0:12:41.679 --> 0:12:44.480 gonna be nationally a huge thing that's going to register 0:12:44.559 --> 0:12:47.800 on everybody's radar, but especially with an offseason where you're 0:12:47.800 --> 0:12:49.320 not gonna be able to learn a lot about what 0:12:49.360 --> 0:12:52.560 these returns, you know, these receivers and running backs can 0:12:52.600 --> 0:12:55.400 do a returners. There's a real benefit to having a 0:12:55.400 --> 0:12:57.839 guy like Tyler Irvan back in the fold and giving 0:12:57.840 --> 0:13:00.400 Sean Menninger after last year having so many question smarks, 0:13:00.400 --> 0:13:02.480 getting to know his special teams unit for the first time, 0:13:02.920 --> 0:13:05.600 a little bit of a security blanket there, and knowing 0:13:05.640 --> 0:13:08.440 what Irvin is capable of. Yeah, and just to recap 0:13:08.480 --> 0:13:11.720 the statistics quickly. When Irvin stepped in as the Packers 0:13:11.760 --> 0:13:14.880 pump returner in December for the season, the Packers had 0:13:14.960 --> 0:13:18.199 negative pump return yards, and then over the final month 0:13:18.480 --> 0:13:21.480 he averaged nine point six yards per pump return on 0:13:21.679 --> 0:13:25.040 eleven returns, which was really really impressive. And then on 0:13:25.120 --> 0:13:27.920 kickoffs he had a forty five yard kickoff return in 0:13:27.960 --> 0:13:31.120 one game, which was the Packers longest kickoff return since 0:13:31.160 --> 0:13:35.120 Jeff Janis had a forty seven yard in twenty So 0:13:35.920 --> 0:13:40.240 it's not overstating it to say that he really sparked 0:13:40.240 --> 0:13:44.920 and saved the Packers return units in twenty nineteen. All Right, 0:13:44.960 --> 0:13:46.560 we's a couple of other things we want to touch 0:13:46.640 --> 0:13:51.360 on today. Story that uh I posted yesterday on the website. 0:13:51.400 --> 0:13:52.920 Every once in a while, you and I get an 0:13:52.960 --> 0:13:57.079 opportunity to tell the story of an undrafted rookie that 0:13:57.160 --> 0:13:59.480 the packers bring in and sort of tell his long 0:13:59.600 --> 0:14:03.880 shots story of how he, you know, is taking this 0:14:04.520 --> 0:14:08.079 this tough road to try to land a roster spot 0:14:08.240 --> 0:14:13.520 with the Green Bay Packers and Mark Antoine decoy. Hopefully 0:14:13.559 --> 0:14:15.960 I'm saying that correctly. I've had to spel it while 0:14:15.960 --> 0:14:18.960 I've been writing it. But um, he is a twenty 0:14:19.040 --> 0:14:22.600 five year old Canadian rookie. And I tell you, Wes, 0:14:22.760 --> 0:14:24.240 you and I have both been doing this for a 0:14:24.360 --> 0:14:27.440 long time. Every once in a while, you dig into 0:14:27.480 --> 0:14:29.560 a story a little bit, you get to you, you 0:14:29.720 --> 0:14:32.000 find out about somebody, you get a chance to talk 0:14:32.080 --> 0:14:35.160 to him. And this is a story that just that 0:14:35.360 --> 0:14:39.600 just captivates me from so many angles because it's such 0:14:39.640 --> 0:14:43.560 an improbable, unlikely story that and I don't even know 0:14:43.600 --> 0:14:46.600 if I can recap it all here. But three of 0:14:46.680 --> 0:14:48.720 his first four years out of high school he didn't 0:14:48.760 --> 0:14:52.040 play any football. Then when he does return to the 0:14:52.120 --> 0:14:56.160 game of football, he ends up becoming one of the 0:14:56.240 --> 0:15:01.160 more decorated players in the Canadian college game. He gets 0:15:01.280 --> 0:15:04.640 a very prestigious for the on the Canadian side, gets 0:15:04.680 --> 0:15:07.640 a prestigious invite to a college All Star game in 0:15:07.680 --> 0:15:10.240 the US. They only hand out two of those two 0:15:10.320 --> 0:15:12.960 Canadian players. He goes to the East West Shrine game. 0:15:13.240 --> 0:15:16.640 He's practicing all week with a cast on a broken 0:15:16.760 --> 0:15:19.920 forearm because he had broken his forearm in the Canadian 0:15:20.040 --> 0:15:24.520 National Championship game playing for his his Montreal University of 0:15:24.560 --> 0:15:28.520 Montreal team, So he practices all week with a cast 0:15:28.600 --> 0:15:30.640 on his broken forearm. They don't let him play in 0:15:30.680 --> 0:15:33.400 the actual East West Shrine game. He goes back to 0:15:33.520 --> 0:15:37.040 Canada and ends up having a pro day to try 0:15:37.120 --> 0:15:40.440 to get some more attention from NFL scouts. He's only 0:15:40.520 --> 0:15:42.920 the second player in the history of his school to 0:15:43.080 --> 0:15:47.080 even have a pro day. He actually he has like 0:15:47.440 --> 0:15:51.720 not coronavirus, but some sort of bronchitis or respiratory flu 0:15:51.880 --> 0:15:54.400 type of thing, and he runs a four three five 0:15:54.520 --> 0:15:58.480 on his pro day. So suddenly this generates, you know, 0:15:58.720 --> 0:16:02.040 a certain amount of entryist and the Packers end up 0:16:02.120 --> 0:16:06.000 landing him as an undrafted rookie um following the draft, 0:16:06.120 --> 0:16:09.880 and now he's part of the virtual offseason program. He's 0:16:09.920 --> 0:16:13.280 in Canada. He's still working out, communicating by a computer, 0:16:13.480 --> 0:16:15.440 just like you and I are doing with his teammates 0:16:15.480 --> 0:16:17.920 and coaches and all that. And this guy is gonna 0:16:17.960 --> 0:16:21.400 try twenty five year old rookie from Canada is gonna 0:16:21.480 --> 0:16:23.560 try to make the Green Bay Packers roster. I just 0:16:23.640 --> 0:16:26.280 think it's fascinating. Yeah, it was a phenomenal story that 0:16:26.360 --> 0:16:28.800 he has personally. I thought you told it exceptionally well 0:16:28.880 --> 0:16:31.360 in the story, the written story of the thing. I 0:16:31.440 --> 0:16:33.160 love about it too, And I told you about this 0:16:33.280 --> 0:16:35.440 the moment I read the story. His line about on 0:16:35.520 --> 0:16:38.000 the underdog of underdogs, it really spoke to me because 0:16:38.080 --> 0:16:40.840 we do tell a lot of these stories. His reminded 0:16:40.880 --> 0:16:42.960 me the most of Taysom Hill, if I can use 0:16:43.040 --> 0:16:45.240 that expression. You know, out of these last five years 0:16:45.280 --> 0:16:47.000 that we've been doing these, I've been doing these with you. 0:16:47.440 --> 0:16:49.720 You know, Hill was a twenty seven year old rookie 0:16:49.800 --> 0:16:51.800 or whatever that number was where he has mission and 0:16:51.840 --> 0:16:53.800 then he got hurt and he kept, you know, having 0:16:53.840 --> 0:16:56.720 to get delayed, and it was just that type of 0:16:56.800 --> 0:16:59.480 adversity in the response to it. This is a young 0:16:59.520 --> 0:17:02.040 man's game him, no question about it. You there's a 0:17:02.080 --> 0:17:04.240 reason why we talked about Jonathan Garvin the way we 0:17:04.280 --> 0:17:06.359 do at twenty, and we talked about, you know, Kenny 0:17:06.400 --> 0:17:08.040 Clark the way we did when he entered the league 0:17:08.040 --> 0:17:10.280 at twenty. But every once in a while, you get 0:17:10.320 --> 0:17:11.960 these guys that are in their mid twenties or and 0:17:12.040 --> 0:17:16.840 wasn't Taysom Hill's case, late twenties that become real interesting 0:17:16.960 --> 0:17:21.000 NFL prospects, and Decoy fits all of those measurables. It's 0:17:21.040 --> 0:17:23.280 not that he just was a tall defensive back six 0:17:23.320 --> 0:17:26.600 ft three pounds. No, it's that he ran a three 0:17:26.760 --> 0:17:29.480 four three five forty times. It's that, you know, he 0:17:29.600 --> 0:17:32.040 had ball hawking abilities that he showed at that level. 0:17:32.400 --> 0:17:34.840 And I've said this once, I've said it a thousand times. 0:17:34.880 --> 0:17:36.800 It's something I believe. Elliott Wolfe was the one that 0:17:36.880 --> 0:17:39.000 said this. I know a lot of gms and personnel 0:17:39.040 --> 0:17:42.720 executives go towards this. If you're competing at a level 0:17:42.760 --> 0:17:45.680 of football that is not you know, the SEC or 0:17:45.880 --> 0:17:48.760 the Big ten. What what scouts want to see from 0:17:48.800 --> 0:17:51.160 you is dominance. They want to see, you know, spouts 0:17:51.200 --> 0:17:53.960 of greatness. It's the reason why they went and signed 0:17:54.000 --> 0:17:57.199 Reggie Beagleton. Now that the receiver out of Calgary from 0:17:57.240 --> 0:17:59.359 the CFL, and now he'sn't gonna be in camp with 0:17:59.400 --> 0:18:03.240 them in decoite fits that mantra. He's a guy that 0:18:03.440 --> 0:18:06.880 just stood out amongst his peers. And then, by the way, 0:18:07.400 --> 0:18:10.000 it's not like he was supposed to be this absolute stud. 0:18:10.040 --> 0:18:12.720 He went back to football and he became a really 0:18:12.840 --> 0:18:15.480 good football player. Now we're gonna have to see exactly 0:18:15.560 --> 0:18:17.399 how this summer plays out. I don't know what the 0:18:17.560 --> 0:18:20.320 travel restrictions, if if players do come in where he's 0:18:20.359 --> 0:18:23.160 gonna be at with Canada. But all that being said, 0:18:23.240 --> 0:18:25.800 you can tell the Packers really like this guy, and 0:18:25.880 --> 0:18:27.479 this is someone that they're not just looking at as 0:18:27.480 --> 0:18:29.000 a camp body. This is a guy that really they 0:18:29.040 --> 0:18:31.320 could develop. He might take time, he might be raw, 0:18:31.960 --> 0:18:34.680 but man, when you see the measurables and you see 0:18:34.720 --> 0:18:37.000 his production and how he did it in the circumstances 0:18:37.080 --> 0:18:40.879 under which he performed, my goodness, Mike, he has everything 0:18:40.960 --> 0:18:44.240 you look for in a really good undrafted free agent PROCECT. Yeah. Yeah, 0:18:44.280 --> 0:18:46.200 And it's worth pointing out a couple of other numbers. 0:18:46.280 --> 0:18:51.439 To one, he was actually chosen overall in the CFL draft. 0:18:51.640 --> 0:18:54.280 So this is a this is a guy that that 0:18:54.400 --> 0:18:57.280 the Canadian Football League certainly had their eye on. He's 0:18:57.320 --> 0:18:59.920 a very high pick in that draft, but he's focusing 0:19:00.040 --> 0:19:02.920 on trying to make it in the NFL first and foremost. 0:19:03.119 --> 0:19:06.240 And the other thing is, over his last three seasons 0:19:06.280 --> 0:19:10.440 at the University of Montreal West, he intercepted, including playoff games, 0:19:10.800 --> 0:19:14.200 he intercepted twelve passes. He took half of those to 0:19:14.280 --> 0:19:18.880 the house six pick six is out of his twelve interceptions. 0:19:18.920 --> 0:19:22.560 I mean, statistically, it's it's it's almost mind boggling. But 0:19:22.880 --> 0:19:25.280 whichever part of the story of his you want to 0:19:25.359 --> 0:19:28.840 latch onto, there are a lot of different intriguing points 0:19:28.880 --> 0:19:31.159 of entry, so to speak to this story, I just 0:19:31.240 --> 0:19:32.879 think it's a it's a really fun one. You want 0:19:32.920 --> 0:19:34.439 to check outut on the website that I'm sure there 0:19:34.440 --> 0:19:36.880