Speaker 1: M Hi, everyone, Welcome to Packers Unscripted from Packers dot Com.
Speaker 1: I am Mike Spofford. He is the one and only
Speaker 1: Wes Hodkowitz. Were coming to you here from our studios
Speaker 1: at lambeau Field and West. The first quarter of the
Speaker 1: Packers season is over. The second quarter will get underway
Speaker 1: officially on Sunday down at a T and T Stadium
Speaker 1: in Dallas. The Packers are three and one. The Cowboys
Speaker 1: are three and one. You don't want to make too
Speaker 1: many over arching conclusions after just four games of a season,
Speaker 1: but the sense that I get listening to Matt Lafleur talk,
Speaker 1: listening to some of the guys in the locker room talk,
Speaker 1: is that this week of preparation here leading up to
Speaker 1: the Cowboys is going to focus on two things that
Speaker 1: the Packers are not doing as well as they want
Speaker 1: to right now, and it's about running the ball and
Speaker 1: stopping the run. Do you get that sense that this
Speaker 1: this week one quarter of the season done. The opponent
Speaker 1: that's coming up, the Dallas Cowboys, These are really high
Speaker 1: priorities here for absolutely, to be fair. If you have
Speaker 1: the number one run defense in the league and you
Speaker 1: have Zeke Elliott coming up on your schedule, It's gonna
Speaker 1: be a big moment. But but that being said, I mean,
Speaker 1: you look at some of even the stories that I've
Speaker 1: written so far this week. You know, with or and
Speaker 1: Burke's returning to practice, people are asking Montrevius Adams how
Speaker 1: he's doing with the shoulder because there is that emphasis there,
Speaker 1: and you understand that. You know, these last few weeks,
Speaker 1: the Packers have talked about it. This is not the
Speaker 1: type of run defense that they feel they can be.
Speaker 1: You know, one of the things I think is really
Speaker 1: important to point out with this is I guess maybe
Speaker 1: I'd have a little bit more concerned if the Packers
Speaker 1: were running traditional base and traditional nickel and they were
Speaker 1: unable to stop this. But the reality is is because
Speaker 1: of the injuries they've had it inside linebacker and now
Speaker 1: at the defensive line, they've had to kind of shift
Speaker 1: a little bit. We've had to see them use more
Speaker 1: hybrid packages. Raven Green, who I thought did an exceptional
Speaker 1: job against the run in the first game against Chicago
Speaker 1: for being a box safety, sort of reminded me that
Speaker 1: Morgan Burnett type of guy that is quicker, faster, can
Speaker 1: go with the tight ends. But also can take on
Speaker 1: a running back charging full steam at him, Well you
Speaker 1: lose him. So you have to adjust there, and there
Speaker 1: really isn't a backup so to speak, at that hybrid
Speaker 1: safety spot, so they've had to get creative. But here's
Speaker 1: the thing, Mike, is that when all the chips are
Speaker 1: on the table, you look at Ezekiel Elliott coming up
Speaker 1: on the schedule. You have to be on top of
Speaker 1: your p's and ques with this matchup because he can
Speaker 1: hurt you in so many ways. He can burn you
Speaker 1: for the short yardage, he can get the third and shorts,
Speaker 1: he can break a big run. The New Orleans States
Speaker 1: did an exceptional job of defending him. So for Mike
Speaker 1: Petton and his crew looking at that film last week
Speaker 1: and see how that can translate, that has to be
Speaker 1: a big, prime, primary objective for how you attack this
Speaker 1: football game. Yeah. I mean, when you look at football
Speaker 1: just in general, there may be nothing more team work
Speaker 1: oriented then running the ball and stopping the run. Because
Speaker 1: and the reason I say that, when you're trying to
Speaker 1: run the ball, I say, if you're the Packers, you're
Speaker 1: trying to get Aaron Jones on an outside zone. If
Speaker 1: one guy in the run blocking unit breaks down, the
Speaker 1: play can get blown up and by the same token
Speaker 1: on the other side, when you're trying to stop the run,
Speaker 1: if one guy gets pushed out of his gap too far,
Speaker 1: or say one guy takes a chance and shoots one
Speaker 1: gap when maybe he's got a two gap responsibility, but
Speaker 1: he takes a shot and then boom, the run hits
Speaker 1: in the area that he vacates. All it takes is
Speaker 1: one guy to mess up, essentially, and uh, and things
Speaker 1: can start to get sideways in a hurry. I think
Speaker 1: in some ways that's what happened against Philadelphia. And when
Speaker 1: Philadelphia got that momentum going running the ball, they just
Speaker 1: kept after it. And on a short week, and you know,
Speaker 1: you have defenders who are wearing down and all of
Speaker 1: that kind of stuff. So the Packers they've got some
Speaker 1: injuries to deal with, but hopefully the extra rest, all
Speaker 1: the extra film study and everything that can go into
Speaker 1: a game like this against Ezekiel Elliot, They've they've got
Speaker 1: to get it short up. Yeah, And I don't want
Speaker 1: to be a victim of the moment here with some
Speaker 1: recency bias. But the thing is, Mike, I looked at
Speaker 1: that Philadelphia game from the beginning. And I'm not saying
Speaker 1: the Packers obviously there were seven points away from winning it,
Speaker 1: but I just thought that was gonna be troublesome because
Speaker 1: of the way the defense is configured, in the way
Speaker 1: that they're running these rotations. Right now, you play those
Speaker 1: you know, there's seven eight core guys that play relatively
Speaker 1: every snap, and now you've got to come back on
Speaker 1: four days, you know, three days rest and play again
Speaker 1: in that type of environment against another run heavy team.
Speaker 1: It's not like they went up against Arizona. I mean,
Speaker 1: this is a unit with Tug Peterson. Again, they're off
Speaker 1: to a slow start with some of their running concepts,
Speaker 1: but when they're at their peak, they want to be
Speaker 1: able to push the ball. That's why they brought in
Speaker 1: Jordan Howard. That's one of the focuses and emphasis that
Speaker 1: they've had for this season is to play the way
Speaker 1: they played on Thursday night. Now you're gonna get a
Speaker 1: couple of days to decompressed, and you're gonna get a
Speaker 1: full week of preparation for this matchup for Alice. The
Speaker 1: way I look at it, and again, you need to
Speaker 1: get it short up. We're a quarterway through the season,
Speaker 1: right now. But it is team fundamental football. When guys
Speaker 1: are fresh and playing together, and you know they're playing
Speaker 1: in Unison, that's when a run defense is at its best,
Speaker 1: and that's what the Packers are looking for right now. Yeah. Well,
Speaker 1: both teams, the Cowboys and the Packers have some injuries
Speaker 1: to deal with heading into this one. We don't necessarily
Speaker 1: have full and complete updates on everything going on, but
Speaker 1: with regards to the Cowboys, they're all Pro left tackle
Speaker 1: Tyron Smith, it sounds like from reports that are leaking
Speaker 1: out that he is going to miss the game against
Speaker 1: the Packers. Although the long term prognosis for Smith and
Speaker 1: that Cowboys off offensive line it doesn't sound as bad
Speaker 1: as initially feared. But that could be a big loss
Speaker 1: for Dallas here as they're trying to get Ezekiel Elliott
Speaker 1: going after a rough game against the Saints. And on
Speaker 1: the Packers side, you mentioned Orn Burke's is back in practice.
Speaker 1: This is a player who's missed more than a month
Speaker 1: and a half, almost two months really since getting injured
Speaker 1: in the preseason opener back in early August, so it's
Speaker 1: hard to say just how soon he's going to be
Speaker 1: completely back up to speed. And ready to contribute defensively.
Speaker 1: Jamal Williams is back with the team, though he's not
Speaker 1: back on the practice field because he is officially in
Speaker 1: the concussion protocol, and then other guys were just going
Speaker 1: to be waiting. As the week goes along here, the
Speaker 1: Packers will be back on the practice field on Wednesday.
Speaker 1: They had a short practice Monday Tuesday as an off
Speaker 1: day for the players. But on Wednesday, Davante Adams, Brian Blaga,
Speaker 1: and Kevin King, all of whom were injured against the
Speaker 1: Philadelphia Eagles. We don't really know the status of those
Speaker 1: players yet and we'll just have to see if they'll
Speaker 1: be held out of practice with limited participants. But really,
Speaker 1: for the first time this season, the Packers kind of
Speaker 1: dealing with with an injury list that raises your eyebrows
Speaker 1: a little bit because it's coming to multiple spots and
Speaker 1: on different sides of the ball. Yeah, the biggest positive
Speaker 1: coming out of this weekend was the fact that Jamal
Speaker 1: Williams was walking through the locker room. Yeah, because his
Speaker 1: typical smiling self. Uh. The thing was is that you know,
Speaker 1: because you're in the concussion protocol, how that procedure works
Speaker 1: for the league you're not allowed to speak to the media,
Speaker 1: so we didn't talk to him yet, But just seeing
Speaker 1: him come out of the meetings with the other running
Speaker 1: backs like it's any other day. When you see that
Speaker 1: type of blow, I mean, that's that's what you hope
Speaker 1: to eventually see as him to be continuing. Well, and
Speaker 1: I'll clarify too, I don't want to read too much
Speaker 1: into it, but we know with this concussion protocol stuff,
Speaker 1: sometimes guys aren't even in the meetings because of the
Speaker 1: severity of what's going on. So the fact that he
Speaker 1: was in the meetings with the team. No, he hasn't
Speaker 1: been cleared from the concussion protocol yet, but he's at
Speaker 1: a certain stage where he's not being completely held out
Speaker 1: of all activity, which is something that we've seen in
Speaker 1: certain instances in the past. I mean, I go back
Speaker 1: to the Sam Shields thing. I go back to Jamichael
Speaker 1: Finley in two thousand thirteen when he had that hit
Speaker 1: across the middle and then he kind of just disappeared
Speaker 1: for a bit. You weren't sure what was going to
Speaker 1: happen there. So just to see I mean, for what
Speaker 1: that could have potentially been a big sigh relief from
Speaker 1: just a human standpoint, seeing Jamal Williams, you know, appearing
Speaker 1: to be okay. From that perspective, Matt la Floor is saying,
Speaker 1: you know, by all accounts him walking around the building
Speaker 1: good signs there or in Burke's is interesting because he
Speaker 1: was the one that returned to practice on Monday, and
Speaker 1: as you pointed out, this is gonna be you know,
Speaker 1: those soft muscle injuries, Mike, especially when you're coming off
Speaker 1: a terror like he did with his pack. It's not
Speaker 1: a bone, right, it's not six weeks. You've got to
Speaker 1: play it by ear. You gotta go by how you feel.
Speaker 1: You have to communicate that to the trainers. The big
Speaker 1: goal and emphasis for Burkes this week is just being
Speaker 1: able to redevelop the strength start to bang again if
Speaker 1: you can get some of those reps in there he's had.
Speaker 1: You know, it's been about six seven weeks now since
Speaker 1: it happened against Houston, So just trying to gain the
Speaker 1: confidence back because as he mentioned and I asked him
Speaker 1: this in the locker room on Monday, now, he was
Speaker 1: feeling really comfortable in the scheme and what they were
Speaker 1: asking him to do after you know, kind of being
Speaker 1: thrown into the fire and then sort of having to
Speaker 1: take a backseat to Antonio Morrison. He felt prepared and
Speaker 1: ready to be that secondary option to like Martinez. So
Speaker 1: just seeing how this plays out for him is going
Speaker 1: to be critical because I really do believe not only
Speaker 1: does it give you depth at the position, but with
Speaker 1: some of these things that are ailing the Packers trying
Speaker 1: to find a hybrid safety, trying to find a coverage
Speaker 1: linebacker that can play next to Blake Martinez. If Burkes
Speaker 1: can be you know, solid against the run, I mean
Speaker 1: that's a major upgrade for this defense moving forward. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I think it could be as well. I just, uh,
Speaker 1: I think it's it's smart to temper the expectations a
Speaker 1: little bit because, I mean, let's face it, a guy
Speaker 1: who's missed as much time as he has, and once
Speaker 1: you get into the regular season where the Packers are,
Speaker 1: they're only putting the pads on once a week in
Speaker 1: terms of when you talk about the banging and really
Speaker 1: trying to get back into football shaped. So to expect
Speaker 1: a guy to just you know to walk back into
Speaker 1: practice for a couple of days after seven weeks of
Speaker 1: very limited and sometimes no activity and then uh, you know,
Speaker 1: walk out there on Sunday and try to tackle Ezekiel
Speaker 1: Elliott doesn't really work that way. So there'll be a
Speaker 1: process here to get Burke's back up to speed and
Speaker 1: ready to go, and we'll just see week to week,
Speaker 1: um how things go in terms of getting him ready.
Speaker 1: But I agree with you that, I mean with the
Speaker 1: way things started with Raven Green in that spot and
Speaker 1: then he gets hurt, and there's been kind of some
Speaker 1: mixing and matching going on with Mike Petton in terms
Speaker 1: of personnel and how they want to do things. Just
Speaker 1: getting another option available for the different packages he wants
Speaker 1: to run. I think it's going to help us, and
Speaker 1: just getting back to a preferred starter, right, I mean,
Speaker 1: when you originally line up your depth charger, O, T
Speaker 1: A S and in minicamp, the way you want things
Speaker 1: to align, the way you prepare, and and how you're
Speaker 1: figuring in your mind you're gonna move the chess pieces around.
Speaker 1: Raven Green was a major chess piece. Mike. I just thought,
Speaker 1: I mean, people, that's not gonna be a name that's gonna,
Speaker 1: you know, sound off a lot of alarms. Yeah, it's not.
Speaker 1: It's not like he was suddenly going to become a
Speaker 1: pro Bowl player anything. But you're right in terms of
Speaker 1: the usage and the way Mike Patton wanted to employ
Speaker 1: him in different situations. He was a key piece take
Speaker 1: because it wasn't just him being the hybrid linebacker. He
Speaker 1: was the next man up with the two safety spots.
Speaker 1: And now you saw Will Redmond come down, you know,
Speaker 1: working through something. Now I believe he was in the
Speaker 1: getting evaluated for concussion. I don't know where that went
Speaker 1: after that, but you know, he was the guy that
Speaker 1: sort of moved in and Green was out. But then
Speaker 1: that pushed Adrian Amos to the you know, to the box.
Speaker 1: I've wrote about this an insider Inbox, looking specifically at
Speaker 1: offensive line because people are asking about Alex light a
Speaker 1: little bit. I cannot stress to you the value of
Speaker 1: being able to take a backup and plug them into
Speaker 1: a starting spot because it allows you to stay strong
Speaker 1: at your other points and doesn't diminish you at two
Speaker 1: different spots. That's not an indictment against Adrian Amos, but
Speaker 1: everybody understands he was brought in for what he provides,
Speaker 1: as you know, that strong, traditional strong safety type role,
Speaker 1: you know, not just moving the box and playing the
Speaker 1: hybrid linebacker. Spot. You know, if you have to end
Speaker 1: up moving Billy Turner to right tackle because you don't
Speaker 1: have Brian Blog and then you have to put in
Speaker 1: another guard at that spot. It there are so many
Speaker 1: different variations of it, but when you can just go
Speaker 1: to one specific player, that's so valuable for Green Bay.
Speaker 1: So seeing how all this works against Dallas again, there's
Speaker 1: four or five days separating today in that game, but
Speaker 1: what the Packers can potentially have and who could potentially
Speaker 1: play in that game is gonna be critical for that
Speaker 1: matchup at and T Stadium. Yeah, definitely what we'll certainly
Speaker 1: be talking about it a lot as the week continues. Um.
Speaker 1: Before we go here today though, wes uh. Shortly before
Speaker 1: we came into the studio here to tape this episode,
Speaker 1: you were you were in attendance at a press conference
Speaker 1: involving Mason Crosby October. UM, the month of October, the
Speaker 1: Packers will be involved in some different cancer awareness initiatives
Speaker 1: and things like that as the month goes along, and
Speaker 1: a little bit of news coming out of of of
Speaker 1: this news conference with Mason Crosby. What did you find out? Yeah,
Speaker 1: so well, for first and foremost Packers versus cancer. This
Speaker 1: is an initiative they've been doing for the last three years.
Speaker 1: Mason is one of the heads of the Vince Lombardi
Speaker 1: Cancer Foundation, something he's been doing for a number of years.
Speaker 1: I can't even tell you, probably six seven years at
Speaker 1: this point. He's been heavily involved with that and as
Speaker 1: one of the spokespeople for this campaign along with Blake Martinez.
Speaker 1: Each person was allowed to come up and sort of
Speaker 1: speak very quickly. It's well documented by now, obviously what
Speaker 1: Mason's sister in law, Brittany has been battling over the
Speaker 1: last three years. I wrote about it two years ago. Um,
Speaker 1: you know, in her condition and being diagnosed at a
Speaker 1: very extremely young age with a varying cancer and how
Speaker 1: that sort of impacted their lives. Well unfortunately now, Mason's
Speaker 1: wife was diagnosed with a lung tumor during the summer,
Speaker 1: which she ended up having removed at the I think
Speaker 1: it was the day after the Packers preseason finale. So
Speaker 1: a couple of different layers to this one is Mason
Speaker 1: pointed out this was not a cancerous tumor. You know,
Speaker 1: there was cancer like, but it wasn't. It hadn't metastasized,
Speaker 1: so We didn't want to put it in the same
Speaker 1: category as you know, what the drastic nature of what
Speaker 1: Brittany is dealing with. But at the same time, I
Speaker 1: also thought it was a somewhat heartwarming story because, um,
Speaker 1: this sort of shows you the tight knit nature of
Speaker 1: the Packers, especially with those players. Um Molly actually sees
Speaker 1: one of the team doctors as a physician of Prime
Speaker 1: Ry Care, physician Dr Evan, So it was Dr Gray,
Speaker 1: John Gray and Dr Even that Actually she was complaining
Speaker 1: of some discomfort. She'd been dealing with some sinus infection
Speaker 1: type stuff. They end up running some scans on her
Speaker 1: and she was dealing with this, um very healthy, you know,
Speaker 1: lady in her early thirties, mother of five. I was
Speaker 1: going to say, with a lot of kids running around
Speaker 1: the house, the big message that and I'm going to
Speaker 1: write about it for our website. We'll get in all
Speaker 1: the details there. But I mean, the message that Mason
Speaker 1: wanted to convey was the importance of screening with things
Speaker 1: like this and in early detection. And you know, certainly
Speaker 1: it's timely giving what they've gone. You know that the
Speaker 1: Packers first Cancer campaign, the emphasis in the month of
Speaker 1: October throughout sports and entertainment media. UM, in the emphasis
Speaker 1: that has been placed now in all cancers, not just
Speaker 1: you know, one specific variety. UM. Just another wake up
Speaker 1: call and unfortunately for a family that probably didn't need
Speaker 1: another one. But certainly the positive aspect of it is
Speaker 1: Molly's doing well. They don't believe she's gonna need the
Speaker 1: additional treatment. She had it removed through a surgery. Actually
Speaker 1: the day after the Kansas City game and the Saturday.
Speaker 1: It was kind of wild because in the same day
Speaker 1: in which they were told by the doctors that you know,
Speaker 1: everything was looking good, they felt like they got everything.
Speaker 1: They were able to save more of her lung than
Speaker 1: they were initially anticipating. Uh. Shortly after that, he ended
Speaker 1: up getting a call from Brian Goodkin's telling him he
Speaker 1: was gonna be the Packers kicker again here for fourteen season.
Speaker 1: Well that that That's what I wanted to point out,
Speaker 1: is that now that now that some of this news
Speaker 1: and what what Molly Crosby was dealing with throughout the
Speaker 1: summer and a lot of uncertainty is to exactly what
Speaker 1: was going on and what was ailing her. You know,
Speaker 1: Mason Crosby was fighting for his job in training camp
Speaker 1: with Sam Ficken and everything, and and Mason was dealing
Speaker 1: with an injury of his own he missed some time
Speaker 1: with with a strained calf. I mean, you look back
Speaker 1: now at the month of August and everything that was
Speaker 1: going on. I mean the uh um, I don't want to,
Speaker 1: you know, stereotype. Mason Crosby is sort of that you know,
Speaker 1: ice in his veins type of you know, kicker, you
Speaker 1: know that whole cliche that you hear. But when you
Speaker 1: look back at the month of August and everything that
Speaker 1: was going on in Mason Crosby's life, um and uh
Speaker 1: and and the fact that that he came through it
Speaker 1: and obviously kept his job, the packers are thrilled that
Speaker 1: he has remained their kicker. But then u um, but
Speaker 1: now fortunately some really good news at least coming out
Speaker 1: of coming out of Molly's procedure to get the tumor removed. Yeah.
Speaker 1: I can't say enough of at Crosby's mindset and and
Speaker 1: Molly's as well, obviously, you know, having to battle this
Speaker 1: and and go through this mentally during a training camp.
Speaker 1: They found out shortly before camp started they were actually
Speaker 1: initially planning on having surgery straight away, and then it
Speaker 1: was during that process that they discovered that she actually
Speaker 1: had a blood clot in her abdomen as well, just
Speaker 1: through doing the full body examination. So not that that
Speaker 1: necessarily would have turned in anything, but you know, immediately,
Speaker 1: but long term, it's just it makes you and and
Speaker 1: one of the things that Mason really conveyed was that
Speaker 1: it makes you grateful for your family and also, you know,
Speaker 1: for things like playing for the Packers. He said there
Speaker 1: were a lot of days where he would come in
Speaker 1: and you know, this was sort of a little bit
Speaker 1: of a safe haven for him. He got to focus
Speaker 1: on his job and in doing something that he loves
Speaker 1: and being around a team that he really appreciates. So
Speaker 1: a team captain this year on special teams. I mean
Speaker 1: just uh an incredible summer that um, I mean, you
Speaker 1: really tip your cap to the Crosby family and just
Speaker 1: their mental you know, headspace and strength to sort of
Speaker 1: for the fortitude to get through everything that that that
Speaker 1: they were dealing with as a family. And obviously, you know,
Speaker 1: you and I have both known Mason for a really
Speaker 1: long time. I've been here since uh, you know, since
Speaker 1: before he was drafted. I've covered his entire career and
Speaker 1: seven he was drafted in two thousand seven in the
Speaker 1: sixth round. There's there's never been There's never been a
Speaker 1: more stand up guy from the very beginning. Um, because
Speaker 1: he's dealt with position competitions at different stages throughout his career,
Speaker 1: and to think of he was dealing with that as
Speaker 1: well as as well as a lot of uncertainty with
Speaker 1: what was going on with Molly. I just, uh, I'm glad,
Speaker 1: I'm glad it's all worked out the way that and
Speaker 1: didn't lead on at all. I mean, it's not something
Speaker 1: that they were They were kind of playing it close
Speaker 1: to the you know, the vest a little bit and
Speaker 1: then um, you know, obviously his involvement went this and
Speaker 1: he was explaining the reason that came up. He was
Speaker 1: just kind of explained the ways it's impacked him. He
Speaker 1: lost grandmother to cancer, his sister in law, dealing with
Speaker 1: this and unfortunately tumor situation with his wife that you know,
Speaker 1: knock on wood, we don't have any available to us
Speaker 1: right now, but you know, I'll be able to work
Speaker 1: through that well. Certainly, the message of the month in
Speaker 1: this cancer we're in this month is if you got
Speaker 1: anything going on get it checked out. Absolutely. I want
Speaker 1: to mention to the Packers Pro Shop again, we'll be
Speaker 1: selling the Packers Versus Cancer Vince Lombardi caps. It's actually
Speaker 1: a knit cap this year, so for the chilly out. Yeah,
Speaker 1: five dollars from each of those purchases goes to the
Speaker 1: Vince Lombardi Cancer Foundation, and then people that are shopping
Speaker 1: at the Pro Shop also have the option to add
Speaker 1: a dollar to their purchase and support of that. So
Speaker 1: a very cool measure and in a neat cap too.
Speaker 1: If I don't have one with me, I wish I did,
Speaker 1: but yeah, well maybe we'll bring one on later this month.
Speaker 1: Turn on the air conditioning a little bit here. There
Speaker 1: we go get the full effect. Okay, let's do that.
Speaker 1: With that, we will call it a wrap on this
Speaker 1: edition of Packers Unscripted. Be sure to follow all of
Speaker 1: our coverage of the team on Packers dot com. Like us,
Speaker 1: subscribe to us on iTunes and other podcast services if
Speaker 1: you will. On Twitter, He's at west Hot I'm at
Speaker 1: Mike Spofford at Packers for the team account. Thanks for
Speaker 1: tuning in, everybody. We'll see you next time.