Speaker 1: Hi, everybody. Welcome to another edition of Packers Unscripted from
Speaker 1: Packers dot com. I am Mike Spoffor, joined as always
Speaker 1: by my partner in everything Packers, Wes Hodkowitz. We're coming
Speaker 1: to you here from our studio at lambeau Field and Wes.
Speaker 1: OTAs begin next week for the Green Bay Packers, and
Speaker 1: we will have access to some of the OTAs over
Speaker 1: the next couple weeks, not all of them, but there
Speaker 1: will be a couple of open practices, which means the yeah,
Speaker 1: thank goodness, not all of them. We don't need to
Speaker 1: be there for all of these practices, but we will
Speaker 1: get to see a couple of practices. We'll get some
Speaker 1: locker room interviews, press conferences, all that fun stuff over
Speaker 1: the next couple weeks. So here's what I want to do.
Speaker 1: I want to sort of preview OTAs a little bit
Speaker 1: in terms of what we'll be watching for, what are
Speaker 1: we going to have our eyes on, and over these
Speaker 1: couple episodes, I thought we could split it up. We
Speaker 1: could preview the offensive side with regard to OTAs, and
Speaker 1: then on our next show we'll do the defensive side.
Speaker 1: So offensively heading into OTAs at this stage, what is
Speaker 1: sort of on your radar at the top of the
Speaker 1: list in terms of your your observational priorities.
Speaker 2: Here, there's only one thing I'm gonna have my eyes
Speaker 2: on offensively throughout these OTAs, and it's gonna be whoever whatever,
Speaker 2: however they're lined up on the perimeter at receiver. We
Speaker 2: always talk about in the past, right, I mean, the
Speaker 2: OTAs is usually the uh it's the skill position Olympics
Speaker 2: in a lot of ways, right, It's it's the cornerbacks,
Speaker 2: it's the defensive backs, it's the receivers. I remember there
Speaker 2: was that one time, I want to say it was
Speaker 2: probably twelve years ago where Mike McCarthy was even downscaling
Speaker 2: how many running drills they did during OTA team periods
Speaker 2: because it was like, well, you couldn't thought up, you
Speaker 2: couldn't do all that type stuff. So you know, what's
Speaker 2: the point of even going through the motions, right, Let's
Speaker 2: get some let's get some passes out there. Yeah. But
Speaker 2: more than any other position, I think you're going to
Speaker 2: see a significant change at the wide out because you know,
Speaker 2: with Romeo Dobbs, we all knew he was going to
Speaker 2: be moving on. I think everyone had a pretty good
Speaker 2: feeling for that, and kudos to him and congratulations to
Speaker 2: him for the contract that he got for the for
Speaker 2: the Patriots, and I think is a really good addition
Speaker 2: for that offense. But the one that surprised all of
Speaker 2: us was the fact that Dantavian Wicks then got traded,
Speaker 2: So that made it very clear what the Packers' receiving
Speaker 2: corps is going to look like, or at least who's
Speaker 2: standing atop that top three on the podium with Christian Watson,
Speaker 2: Jaden Reid who was recently extended, and then certainly Matthew Golden,
Speaker 2: the first round pick from last year that everybody's expecting
Speaker 2: to take a massive step forward now, especially with more
Speaker 2: playing time in twenty twenty six. So just seeing what
Speaker 2: that trifecta looks like together is going to be really
Speaker 2: is going to be one of the big things. And
Speaker 2: then also how many reps does Sky morget? Where is
Speaker 2: bo Melton playing? Is he going to be at receiver again?
Speaker 2: Is he going to be at defensive back? We're gonna
Speaker 2: have to wait and see and then save on Williams,
Speaker 2: the third round pick from life year.
Speaker 1: That was the other one I was gonna mention too,
Speaker 1: because to me if if we're talking and we're going
Speaker 1: to be talking a lot about Matthew Golden obviously with
Speaker 1: the two veteran receivers you mentioned that are no longer here.
Speaker 1: But then Savion Williams being a second year guy just
Speaker 1: like Matthew Golden and you know a little obviously a
Speaker 1: different body type, different skill set and whatnot. How does
Speaker 1: he get worked into the offense now with really you know,
Speaker 1: a higher profile than he had as a rookie. And
Speaker 1: also hopefully he's healthy. Same thing for Golden, because both
Speaker 1: of those guys as rookies dealt with some injuries.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and where does Savion line up? Right? We saw
Speaker 2: him last year on the end a rounds, sometimes taken
Speaker 2: direct snaps as a running back in the backfield and
Speaker 2: some of those two RB pony looks. But then by
Speaker 2: the way he showed downfield, he can make some plays
Speaker 2: on the ball too. I mean it had a really
Speaker 2: impressive catch radius and was responsible despite his limited workload
Speaker 2: for a couple of the Packers' you know, best catches
Speaker 2: of the twenty twenty five season. So yeah, as much
Speaker 2: as these moves were made to clear the way for
Speaker 2: or Matthew Golden and making your first round pick and
Speaker 2: giving him as many opportunities as he needs to really
Speaker 2: showcase his talent. Savion Williams was a third round pick
Speaker 2: last year, there would have been a lot of years, Mike,
Speaker 2: where that third rounder might have been the Packers first
Speaker 2: receiver that they took in the draft that might have
Speaker 2: actually had a big role right away, like Romeo Dobbs
Speaker 2: did as a fourth rounder in twenty twenty two. But yeah,
Speaker 2: when you talk about Jordan Love developing that chemistry and
Speaker 2: then also the Green Bay Packers having to find their
Speaker 2: offensive identity with these receivers. When you know how many
Speaker 2: times I wrote about it an inbox, but you've talked
Speaker 2: about it too. You know, Romeo Dobbs was the go
Speaker 2: to target in third down situations, in red zone situations.
Speaker 2: Who's going to pick up that mantle? Now? What is
Speaker 2: Jaden Reid gonna look like now? Coming back off of
Speaker 2: last year and unfortunately having the collar bone issue, but
Speaker 2: then being there for the stretch run and being able
Speaker 2: to get into an off season relatively healthy and Honestly, Mike,
Speaker 2: I think the thing that we're all going to be
Speaker 2: talking about is for as good as Christian Watson looked
Speaker 2: last year coming off of the ACL mid season, returning
Speaker 2: to my goodness, what that young man might do now
Speaker 2: entering this upcoming year with a full offseason preparation.
Speaker 1: Yeah, no doubt about it. And I think for all
Speaker 1: the talk about, you know, exactly how this receiving depth
Speaker 1: chart lines up and whatnot, And I know Matt Lafleur
Speaker 1: is not worried about the depth chart in the traditional
Speaker 1: sense of things. But Christian Watson is the number one
Speaker 1: wide receiver on this team not only because of what
Speaker 1: he's done and what he means to the offense and
Speaker 1: to Jordan Love, but as we've talked about so many times,
Speaker 1: he's the guy who changes how defenses line up and
Speaker 1: how defenses have to prepare because he just he you know,
Speaker 1: he strikes fear into opponents. And that's not taking anything
Speaker 1: away from Matthew Golden or Jaden Reid. But when you
Speaker 1: can when you can run in the four threes and
Speaker 1: you're six foot four with the catch radius that Christian
Speaker 1: Watson has, that's a matchup problem. And that's where you know,
Speaker 1: that's why he's the number one wide receiver is because
Speaker 1: is because of the attention defenses have to pay.
Speaker 2: He kind of reminds me too of the Preston Smith
Speaker 2: of the offense too, right where Presson never wore a
Speaker 2: captain's letter here in Green Bay, but everybody knew he
Speaker 2: was one of the leaders of that unit. So absolutely,
Speaker 2: you know, Tucker Craft, Josh Jacobs, Jordan Love, you have
Speaker 2: some guys with some really established credentials, some very talented
Speaker 2: dudes that are the heartbeat of this team. But Christian
Speaker 2: Watson's there too, and I think you saw that when
Speaker 2: he came back as well as he played. Also the
Speaker 2: uptick that that brought, the offense, that brought the locker room.
Speaker 2: It's cool when you see a guy come in as
Speaker 2: a rookie in twenty twenty two and here we are
Speaker 2: four years later. I mean, he is unquestionably one of
Speaker 2: the big leaders on this football team.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and sticking with the perimeter weapons for now, I
Speaker 1: think a couple of other things. We will definitely have
Speaker 1: our eyes on Number one Marshaun Lloyd and hopefully him
Speaker 1: getting off to just a good start this offseason or
Speaker 1: continuing through this offseason and then being able to get
Speaker 1: to training camp healthy, where then when the pads go on,
Speaker 1: you get in the preseason game and then and then
Speaker 1: he can show what he's really about and then with
Speaker 1: no Tucker Craft at tight end for now, you talk
Speaker 1: about trying to get off to a good start here,
Speaker 1: I mean, I think Luke Musgrave is a guy that
Speaker 1: you know, a lot of people have their eyes on
Speaker 1: because he's going to be important to this team. Whenever
Speaker 1: Tucker Craft does come back. It doesn't mean that Luke
Speaker 1: Musgrave just gets pushed to the side. But you know, Musgrave,
Speaker 1: Josh Wiley, Messiah Swinson, does the undrafted rookie R. J.
Speaker 1: Maryland start to make any noise here? So those those
Speaker 1: perimeter weapon positions, you know, not necessarily looking at where
Speaker 1: the top of the depth chart is because we know
Speaker 1: where that is. But but some guys I think the
Speaker 1: Packers are going to be counting on. You want to
Speaker 1: see him put a good foot forward this spring.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and by the way, too, just one other thing
Speaker 2: to keep an eye on when when you look at
Speaker 2: the way this football team is orientated. I was thinking
Speaker 2: about this, how do you replicate you know, Tucker Craft
Speaker 2: and practices and training. That's gonna be interesting. So like, no,
Speaker 2: certainly there's gonna be things tailored to to Michah Parsons
Speaker 2: as well, that only Michael Parsons is gonna be able
Speaker 2: to do. But Tucker Craft plays not only that position,
Speaker 2: so much differently than the rest of that group. There's
Speaker 2: no one like him on the football team. I don't
Speaker 2: know if you saw that stat. I guess it was
Speaker 2: more of a chart on social media the last couple
Speaker 2: of days, but showing like one of those like separations
Speaker 2: of all the tight ends of the National Football League
Speaker 2: and just kind of throwing them in different quadrants for productivity,
Speaker 2: and yeah, they're they touch the ball. Tucker Craft like
Speaker 2: was I think he was like maybe three or four
Speaker 2: yards out in his route when he was touching the ball,
Speaker 2: and just his yards overall. Yeah, compared to the rest
Speaker 2: of the National Football The guys in a league of
Speaker 2: his own in that regard. But you know that's still
Speaker 2: being said to your point about Musgrave and the rest
Speaker 2: of that group. It's gonna be guys for you know,
Speaker 2: opportunities for them to get chances. Packers are still gonna
Speaker 2: be looking to identify an in line tight end or
Speaker 2: if they're gonna have to go with the six offensive
Speaker 2: lineman again like they did last year with Darien Kinnard
Speaker 2: some questions there for green bit answer, but certainly, I
Speaker 2: mean that's gonna be the conversation. Maybe not so much
Speaker 2: for ot as a mini camp, especially when we get
Speaker 2: to training camp every single day when you and I
Speaker 2: walk out there doing that you know, checklist, taking attendance
Speaker 2: and then just kind of waiting to see, Hey, when
Speaker 2: is the day gonna come. If it's in training camp,
Speaker 2: whenever it happens, or if it ends up being a
Speaker 2: pup the start season, that is going to be one
Speaker 2: of the big things that I think all of us
Speaker 2: are going to be tracking.
Speaker 1: Yeah, well, OTAs will also give us our first look
Speaker 1: at Tarad Taylor, the new number two quarterback of the
Speaker 1: sixteen year veteran who has been brought in now to
Speaker 1: back up Jordan Love, and we'll see just how much
Speaker 1: you know of the eleven on eleven he gets and
Speaker 1: whatnot with having recently arrived and there's a lot to process.
Speaker 1: But by the same token, he's been there and done
Speaker 1: that when it comes to learning offenses and getting himself prepared.
Speaker 1: So I'm you know, I'll be curious just to you know,
Speaker 1: to see him for the first time.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I don't know if you do this at all.
Speaker 2: I do this. This is one of the things I've
Speaker 2: started the last few years is when the pack now
Speaker 2: that the Packers do sign free agents a little bit
Speaker 2: more frequently than when I first started covering the team,
Speaker 2: going back and watching the locker room interviews of these
Speaker 2: guys who are coming in, and my goodness, is ty
Speaker 2: Red Taylor just an impressive human being. I mean, his
Speaker 2: resume speaks for itself. When you play sixteen years in
Speaker 2: this league, I don't care if you're the first overall
Speaker 2: pick or a six rounder one seventy nine right in
Speaker 2: front of Caleb Schlaberhoff like Taylor was in twenty eleven.
Speaker 2: But just the way that he speaks, you can tell.
Speaker 2: And I thought it was such a great comment. I
Speaker 2: wrote the story last week, but that comment from Jason
Speaker 2: Vrabel about he is a leader of men like this
Speaker 2: is a guy that was born to be a quarterback.
Speaker 2: And I'm just really excited and intrigued about the idea, too,
Speaker 2: of bringing in a guy that has that much experience
Speaker 2: has played you know what, It'll end up being nine
Speaker 2: more seasons in the NFL right now than Jordan Love
Speaker 2: and what that perspective can do for love. You know,
Speaker 2: Jordan is who he is as a quarterback, and he's
Speaker 2: going to keep growing in terms of what he does.
Speaker 2: But having a resource like that during the week of
Speaker 2: preparation in the meeting room on the sideline, Yeah, just
Speaker 2: having someone you can turn to. I mean, how often
Speaker 2: did we hear about Aaron Rodgers talking about what it
Speaker 2: meant to him to have a Matt Flynn that he
Speaker 2: could bounce ideas off of Scott Tolzen. These guys that
Speaker 2: really become a sounding board for NFL starting quarterbacks. And
Speaker 2: Taylor also, pretty much every year of his career has
Speaker 2: also started at least one game, so to have sixty
Speaker 2: two starts under his belt and now bringing all that
Speaker 2: experience to Green Bay now, I talk about it all
Speaker 2: the time. Man, you need a couple of those guys
Speaker 2: on your team. You needed a Mercedes Lewis at the
Speaker 2: turn of you know, twenty twenty, twenty twenty one. I
Speaker 2: think Tyrod Taylor, I think, you know, we'll talk about
Speaker 2: it on next the next show. But Javon Hargrive, you know,
Speaker 2: these are the type of guys that when you have
Speaker 2: young dudes at twenty two, twenty three, twenty four years old,
Speaker 2: that are coming in your locker room, doesn't matter about
Speaker 2: what the position they play. Sure that is an invaluable
Speaker 2: resource for those guys to be able to lean on.
Speaker 1: Yeah, absolutely, I mean it. You know, I can't he
Speaker 1: can't even think of the last time the Packers had
Speaker 1: a backup quarterback as that sounding board that you mention,
Speaker 1: who's got over sixty starts in the NFL. I mean,
Speaker 1: I think that's gonna be.
Speaker 2: I think it literally goes back to Jim McMahon. Yeah,
Speaker 2: for somebody that has that, Yeah, that much of a
Speaker 2: pedigree and that much credential.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's going to be invaluable. I think for for
Speaker 1: Jordan love Is his has his arrow continues to point up.
Speaker 1: We'd be remissive we didn't mention a couple things in
Speaker 1: the trenches, even though there's no pads during OTAs, the
Speaker 1: pass blocking and the run blocking and whatever is not
Speaker 1: real blocking because.
Speaker 2: It's just not.
Speaker 1: But Jordan Morgan is taking over at left tackle, so
Speaker 1: that's something to keep an eye on. And then the
Speaker 1: other thing we always look as reporters, we always look
Speaker 1: for the opportunities to get an idea of kind of
Speaker 1: what's going on with the depth chart. Right, And the
Speaker 1: depth chart can always change in OTAs it can change
Speaker 1: day to day in training camp, it can change day
Speaker 1: to day, and it means a lot more in training
Speaker 1: camp than it does right now. But assuming Zach Tom
Speaker 1: is not going to be at right tackles as he
Speaker 1: continues to recover from his off season knee surgery, I'll
Speaker 1: be curious to see, Okay, who's running with the ones
Speaker 1: at right tackle. Is it gonna be Darien Kinnard, Is
Speaker 1: it going to be Travis Glover? Is there someone else
Speaker 1: who's who's in the mix there? As the Packers figure
Speaker 1: out their depth at at offensive tackle. That's definitely something
Speaker 1: to watch for as Zach Tom continues to heal.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's funny the other four spots. It's all about
Speaker 2: guys settling in right. I mean Aaron Banks already is
Speaker 2: settled in, But I mean Jordan Morgan, Okay, you're the
Speaker 2: left tackle now, right, Sean Ryan, Hey, you're the center now. Hey,
Speaker 2: Anthony Belton, who wasn't even playing right guard a year
Speaker 2: ago at this time, you are the right guard now?
Speaker 2: Who's going to be that next man up? And and honestly,
Speaker 2: the most proven depth in terms of the bodies really
Speaker 2: is on the interior. So it does go back to
Speaker 2: Darian Canard, it goes back to Glover in some of
Speaker 2: these other guys that that are going to be a
Speaker 2: part of that conversation, and it's gonna be a massive
Speaker 2: opportunity too, because we saw last year, Mike the domino
Speaker 2: effect of losing Zach Tom in what that meant in
Speaker 2: the weekly preparation and especially with what we saw in
Speaker 2: game day, there was always this hope, right we saw
Speaker 2: him practice, he'd get some reps. Then we're kind of
Speaker 2: thinking out coming out of that Denver game, Okay, maybe
Speaker 2: Zach Tom's gonna be okay, maybe he'll be available for
Speaker 2: a playoff run. Ultimately he wasn't. So now the Packers
Speaker 2: get a chance to look at the other side of that,
Speaker 2: because as much as we talk about it, and as
Speaker 2: much as the Packers value the versatility of offensive linemen,
Speaker 2: there's a reason why for many years the Packers had
Speaker 2: designated guys as Okay, well, if Corey Lensley isn't available,
Speaker 2: it's j C. Tredder. If j C. Tredder isn't available,
Speaker 2: it's Corey Lensley right right tackle. It was Don Barclay
Speaker 2: behind Brian Bloga. I mean, they just they knew who
Speaker 2: that next man up was going to be. And I
Speaker 2: think a byproduct of the Packers just having so many
Speaker 2: offensive linemen that they've added over the last few years,
Speaker 2: they have it through the draft. Mainly there hasn't been
Speaker 2: like that designated guy other than maybe Morgan behind Rashid Walker.
Speaker 2: So yeah, it's gonna be It'll be interesting to see
Speaker 2: how that plays out. But certainly, when we're talking, you
Speaker 2: know about the top five to eight players on this
Speaker 2: football team, you know number fifty is one of those guys.
Speaker 1: Yeah. Well, another piece of big news in the NFL.
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Speaker 1: Welcome back to Packers unscripted wes big news here in
Speaker 1: the NFL. It's official. Aaron Rodgers is back with the
Speaker 1: Pittsburgh Steelers, is back with Mike McCarthy, and has announced
Speaker 1: officially that this is it. To use his words, twenty
Speaker 1: twenty six will be the last season for the future
Speaker 1: first ballot Hall of Fame quarterback. Just your thoughts on
Speaker 1: how just kind of how how this happened, and in
Speaker 1: my opinion, how cool it is for the league that
Speaker 1: Aaron Rodgers and Mike McCarthy are are going to be
Speaker 1: together for one more season. I think it's awesome.
Speaker 2: I think it's awesome. I think it's great for the league.
Speaker 2: I think the way you saw them even schedule the
Speaker 2: team out the last two years, whether it was how
Speaker 2: they had made sure the Packers and Steelers were in
Speaker 2: primetime last year before we even knew if Aaron Rodgers
Speaker 2: is gonna end up with Pittsburgh. But they're like, you
Speaker 2: know what, that's worth putting a chip on that one, right,
Speaker 2: Maybe it'll end up working out to even this year.
Speaker 2: I think they're going to Ireland, right, and they have
Speaker 2: some other real big primetime games that are scheduled in
Speaker 2: international games. This is what the game's all about. And
Speaker 2: I don't know if you've got a chance to see
Speaker 2: the board as far as how it looks right now
Speaker 2: for NFL quarterbacks and longevity. But Aaron Rodgers is on
Speaker 2: an island by himself now, especially since I'm pretty sure
Speaker 2: Philip Rivers is finally retired. I mean he is. It's him,
Speaker 2: and then honestly, it switches over to like Joe Flacco, Johnson,
Speaker 2: all these other guys that are in like that, Matthew
Speaker 2: Stafford twenty eight, twenty oh nine, Yeah, twenty eleven, draft claps,
Speaker 2: and then it's Aaron Rodgers. I've reminded. I don't know
Speaker 2: if you've ever seen the movie Eternal Sunshine of the
Speaker 2: Spotless Mind have not great movie, by the way, two
Speaker 2: thousand and four Focused Films Focus Features with Jim Carrey
Speaker 2: and Kate Winslet, and there's a line in the at
Speaker 2: near the end of the movie of this is it Joel,
Speaker 2: what are we gonna do? And he looks at her
Speaker 2: and he just says, enjoy it. And that's kind of
Speaker 2: where I'm at. Twenty two seasons. In some shape or form,
Speaker 2: Aaron Rodgers has been attached to the Green Bay Packers,
Speaker 2: whether he's playing here or not. And that's really my
Speaker 2: challenge for Packer fans out there. It was kind of
Speaker 2: the point of what I wrote an Insider inbox on Thursday,
Speaker 2: was that this is the guy that authored so many
Speaker 2: incredible stories that we're going to pass down to our children,
Speaker 2: our grandchildren. People are gonna be talking about those moments
Speaker 2: in local bars and establishments and vfw's for the next
Speaker 2: forty fifty years. And I wasn't around to see bart star, right,
Speaker 2: but I got to hear my grandfather talk about him.
Speaker 2: And you know, that's there's so much passion, there's so
Speaker 2: much energy, there's so much emotion tied into the NFL
Speaker 2: in the present day. But if you can just take
Speaker 2: that out for a second, take out how things ended
Speaker 2: with green Bay, take out how the reconciliation happened with
Speaker 2: Green Bay, and just appreciate that for a guy that
Speaker 2: you cheered on for so long, for a guy that
Speaker 2: you wore his number on your back, we all get
Speaker 2: a chance to watch him play some football every now
Speaker 2: and then in Pittsburgh this season, and I think that's special.
Speaker 2: And it was really I was another conversation I had
Speaker 2: this morning on my way into work. I was talking
Speaker 2: my buddy Scott about this. It didn't even compute my
Speaker 2: head that Aaron Rodgers is gonna be forty three years
Speaker 2: old this December.
Speaker 1: Yeah, December, he turns for forty three. Yeah, how quick
Speaker 1: that goes by that. That's the part that you know
Speaker 1: you have to take a step back a minute and
Speaker 1: process because you know, Matthew Stafford is put together a
Speaker 1: tremendous career obviously with the Lions and the Rams, and
Speaker 1: it feels like he's been around forever. Matthew Stafford was
Speaker 1: drafted four years after Aaron Rodgers. Now Rogers didn't become
Speaker 1: a starter until two thousand and eight, and then Stafford
Speaker 1: was drafted in nine and he was a starter right
Speaker 1: away as the number one overall pick for Detroit. But
Speaker 1: you think about that, and it's it's mind boggling to
Speaker 1: a certain extent. I am glad that Aaron Rodgers' last
Speaker 1: NFL pass is not going to be the pick six
Speaker 1: at the end of the playoff game against Houston. I
Speaker 1: am hoping that that playoff game against Houston is not
Speaker 1: his last playoff game. I would like to see Aaron
Speaker 1: Rodgers with whatever the result ends up being. I would
Speaker 1: like to see Aaron Rodgers get another shot in the
Speaker 1: postseason with Mike McCarthy as as head coach and just
Speaker 1: see what happens. Now just getting there from the AFC North,
Speaker 1: when you've got Lamar Jackson and the Ravens, and you've
Speaker 1: got Joe Burrow and the Bengals, and you know those
Speaker 1: guys are standing in your way just to get into
Speaker 1: the playoffs first. Nice, you know, let alone make any
Speaker 1: kind of noise. But yeah, it's I'm glad he's not
Speaker 1: I'm glad he's not done yet. And I'm definitely going
Speaker 1: to try to set aside some time and maybe we'll
Speaker 1: have more because of all these Thursday and Wednesday games
Speaker 1: and all this that you and I are going to
Speaker 1: be covering for the Packers, maybe we'll actually have some
Speaker 1: more time on the weekends to watch Aaron Rodgers play
Speaker 1: for the Pittsburgh Steelers. And it's certainly something I look
Speaker 1: forward to.
Speaker 2: And he touched on it in his press conference with
Speaker 2: the Pittsburgh media this week too. But the chance to
Speaker 2: go full circle now with Mike McCarthy, I think is important. Right.
Speaker 2: You talked about how you're happy that his NFL career
Speaker 2: doesn't end on a pick six. I'm happy that his
Speaker 2: run with Mike McCarthy doesn't just end how things ended
Speaker 2: in twenty eighteen. This is a chance to kind of
Speaker 2: bring those bridges back together. I think it's that mend
Speaker 2: has already happened, but for them to be a part
Speaker 2: for it's crazy how quickly again this moves Mike for
Speaker 2: them to be apart for as long as they have
Speaker 2: been now. Mike ended up going to be becoming the
Speaker 2: head coach of the Dallas Cups for five years. Aaron
Speaker 2: ended up obviously having the success that he did in
Speaker 2: Green Bay, two more MVP awards, goes to New York,
Speaker 2: and now they come back together at this juncture of
Speaker 2: their careers. I think, I don't I would believe this
Speaker 2: would probably be Mike McCarthy's last job in the National
Speaker 2: Football League. For him to be able to start that
Speaker 2: with Aaron Rodgers, it just feels like the passing of
Speaker 2: the torch that needed to happen, and for Rogers to
Speaker 2: extend that olive branch. I don't think he gets nearly
Speaker 2: enough credit. I think it'll come up in years to come.
Speaker 2: I don't think he gets nearly enough credit for the
Speaker 2: work he did with Jordan Love. Certainly, Matt Lafleur his
Speaker 2: coaches they developed Love the quarterback. But to give Jordan
Speaker 2: that type of education in the way and his openness
Speaker 2: with him, that is a part of Aaron Rodgers legacy too,
Speaker 2: So now he gets a chance to do that with
Speaker 2: those young qbs in Pittsburgh.
Speaker 1: Yeah, they've got they've got a couple of them. They've
Speaker 1: got both Will Howard and Drew Aller, the new draft
Speaker 1: pick from Penn State. I'm really curious to see just
Speaker 1: how Aaron Rodgers plays this year, because yes, he's a
Speaker 1: year older, but he's also just another full year removed
Speaker 1: from that Achilles injury. You know. Now, he obviously was
Speaker 1: much more mobile last season than he was his first
Speaker 1: year back from the Achilles. But you just, you know,
Speaker 1: you wonder sometimes, you know, in the age part of things,
Speaker 1: that if you do put a little more distance between
Speaker 1: where you are and when that injury occurred, you know,
Speaker 1: maybe he's you know, maybe he's gonna be in even
Speaker 1: better shape, in better position physically than he was last year.
Speaker 2: And he's gonna have better resources to around him, I mean,
Speaker 2: with Michael Pittman out there. But then just look at
Speaker 2: the fact that the end of that season for Pittsburgh.
Speaker 2: It was great that they did make the playoffs. Super
Speaker 2: dramatic ending to the regular season, right, that was wild,
Speaker 2: But that offense really sort of reminded me a lot
Speaker 2: of the twenty fifteen Packers where so many guys were out,
Speaker 2: Marcus Veldez, Scantlin gets signed off the street, He's turned
Speaker 2: into one of his main receivers. There were just so
Speaker 2: much that was kind of working against them at the
Speaker 2: end of that year, and Rodgers even talked about he
Speaker 2: had broken bones in his hand and his wrists and
Speaker 2: he just had to keep plugging along. And that also
Speaker 2: does it increases the risk factor for this season because
Speaker 2: there is no encore. I mean, there there is no
Speaker 2: second act. I mean Aaron Rodgers. Every time he steps
Speaker 2: out there, this is it. So yeah, it feels it
Speaker 2: almost makes it feel like it's not just the playoffs
Speaker 2: where it's one and done. It's every single game this
Speaker 2: year is going to have huge implications for him and
Speaker 2: how this last stage of his career is going to
Speaker 2: play out.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's easy to forget. And I didn't even mention
Speaker 1: it because I didn't think of it in the moment.
Speaker 1: But the wrist injury that he dealt with last year
Speaker 1: and that that he played through and and whatnot, and
Speaker 1: he's now, you know, further removed from that, so and
Speaker 1: obviously just he'll have all the motivation in the world.
Speaker 1: You know, he's he's decided, you know, this is it? Okay?
Speaker 2: So here we go, and I should also mention this
Speaker 2: too as we close out. It's not just Mike. He's
Speaker 2: playing for either, right. He talked about James Camp and
Speaker 2: it's on that staff. It's these guys that he grew
Speaker 2: up with. Mark Levatt, the strength and condition coach who
Speaker 2: was here when he got to Green Bay in twenty
Speaker 2: oh five. Grant Thorn is on that staff. Joe Witt
Speaker 2: is on the defensive side of the staff, Patrick Graham.
Speaker 2: Mike brought together a lot of his former coaches from
Speaker 2: different parts of his time in Green Bay, and Rodgers
Speaker 2: has a relationship with all of them. So, yeah, it'd
Speaker 2: be interesting to see this. This feels like the proper reducts, right.
Speaker 2: It felt like the Jets one was sort of forced.
Speaker 2: They're signing guys, they're doing all these type of things.
Speaker 2: Nathaniel Hackett comes in his offensive corner. This one really
Speaker 2: feels like it's Mike McCarthy putting together his coaching tree
Speaker 2: back together, bringing the band back together, and now Aaron
Speaker 2: Rodgers being a part of that equation.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's gonna be fun to watch I think it's
Speaker 1: just another great storyline in what I think is going
Speaker 1: to be a season full of them all across the
Speaker 1: board in the NFL. But with that, we're gonna call
Speaker 1: it a rap on this edition of Packers Script. Be
Speaker 1: sure to follow all of our coverage of the team
Speaker 1: on Packers dot com. On our next show early next
Speaker 1: week after the holiday, we will preview the defensive side
Speaker 1: of things for OTAs and then maybe sometime next week
Speaker 1: Wes and I'll be out there watching a practice and
Speaker 1: getting some interviews and all that. So until then, for Wes,
Speaker 1: I and Mike, thank you for tuning in. Everybody. We
Speaker 1: will see you next time.