WEBVTT - #897 Packers Unscripted: Full-fledged battles 0:00:07.160 --> 0:00:10.319 Hi, everybody. Welcome to another edition of Packers Unscripted from 0:00:10.320 --> 0:00:13.560 Packers dot Com. I am Mike Spafer, joint as always 0:00:13.600 --> 0:00:16.000 by my trusted colleague West Hodkowitz. We're coming to you 0:00:16.079 --> 0:00:20.000 here from the Potawatamie Sportsbook Studio inside the walls of 0:00:20.120 --> 0:00:22.439 lambeau Field and West. We've got a lot of ground 0:00:22.440 --> 0:00:24.840 to cover since our last show because there has been 0:00:24.960 --> 0:00:28.720 Family Night, there's been a couple of other padded practices, 0:00:29.600 --> 0:00:33.600 there's the preseason opener on the way in Pittsburgh. But 0:00:33.680 --> 0:00:37.280 I think the conversation today starts with this. Over the 0:00:37.360 --> 0:00:42.240 last handful of days, we have seen two distinct competitions 0:00:42.479 --> 0:00:47.920 starting competitions developing within this training camp. One at cornerback, 0:00:48.320 --> 0:00:50.559 one at right guard on the offensive line. I'll let 0:00:50.640 --> 0:00:54.080 you start wherever you'd like, but both of those are 0:00:54.760 --> 0:00:59.560 very intriguing, and neither one appears close to being decided. I. 0:01:00.160 --> 0:01:01.920 My heart of hearts, wants to start at the right 0:01:01.960 --> 0:01:04.839 guard position, but you wrote a wonderful story on Jacob 0:01:04.920 --> 0:01:07.360 Monk and I and the main reason I want to 0:01:07.400 --> 0:01:09.800 say this, I'm going to transition over to cornerbacks. But 0:01:10.640 --> 0:01:13.800 I've been so impressed by what Monk has done. This 0:01:13.920 --> 0:01:16.040 is a guy that he reminds me so much of 0:01:16.080 --> 0:01:19.600 that Lane Taylor type where the Packers put a fifth 0:01:19.680 --> 0:01:21.200 round pick into him and they wanted him. This is 0:01:21.200 --> 0:01:23.399 a guy they really were desiring coming out of Duke. 0:01:23.440 --> 0:01:25.280 He played a bunch of ball there. Yeah, you know, 0:01:25.280 --> 0:01:27.160 over those COVID seasons, I think he was like I 0:01:27.160 --> 0:01:29.440 want to say, like sixty two games or something like that. 0:01:30.040 --> 0:01:32.280 And it's just like every single time it appears like 0:01:32.280 --> 0:01:34.400 he's on the cusp of like maybe contending for a 0:01:34.440 --> 0:01:37.840 starting position. Something happens last year in training camp ended 0:01:37.880 --> 0:01:40.080 up being the hamstring takes him out half the season. 0:01:40.440 --> 0:01:42.680 Then you go to this past offseason, as you wrote 0:01:42.680 --> 0:01:45.480 about the biceps injury that he finished last year with 0:01:45.680 --> 0:01:48.040 that wipes him out of the offseason program. Right, But 0:01:48.720 --> 0:01:51.400 his body, the way he's built and for that guard position, 0:01:51.480 --> 0:01:53.720 I just think there's so many things that translate there. Well, 0:01:54.960 --> 0:01:56.720 maybe I'll just transfer this over to you because you 0:01:56.720 --> 0:01:58.360 did a nice job of surmising that and just kind 0:01:58.360 --> 0:02:01.600 of what why Jacob Monk has suddenly entered the chat 0:02:01.680 --> 0:02:04.000 now in regards to that starting right guard job. 0:02:04.120 --> 0:02:06.040 Yeah, for those who want to check out the details 0:02:06.080 --> 0:02:09.080 the story is posted on packers dot com and had 0:02:09.120 --> 0:02:13.680 an interesting conversation with Jacob and a couple of other reporters. 0:02:14.280 --> 0:02:17.360 And you know, he's not getting caught up in all 0:02:17.400 --> 0:02:19.320 of this, like, Oh, he's running with the ones and 0:02:19.320 --> 0:02:21.200 he's got a shot at a starting job. I mean 0:02:21.639 --> 0:02:24.760 he when I asked him about basically, hey, what do 0:02:24.800 --> 0:02:26.760 you think of this opportunity in front of you? Like 0:02:26.960 --> 0:02:30.600 they're running you with the first team offense at right 0:02:30.600 --> 0:02:33.240 guard on a regular basis now so you can see 0:02:33.240 --> 0:02:36.120 what's in front of you. And his answer was just 0:02:36.160 --> 0:02:38.800 a reflection of everything he's gone through with the hamstring 0:02:38.840 --> 0:02:40.959 and the biceps injuries, like I'm just grateful to be 0:02:41.040 --> 0:02:45.639 out on the field. You know, he really just has 0:02:45.720 --> 0:02:49.720 this gratitude for where he is right now because of 0:02:49.760 --> 0:02:53.000 everything he's gone through. Everything we've heard from the coaching staff, 0:02:53.280 --> 0:02:56.519 they absolutely love the way this young man plays. You 0:02:57.520 --> 0:03:00.440 can't get into, you know, one sentence of an answer 0:03:00.480 --> 0:03:02.720 from a coach on this coaching staff without the word 0:03:02.760 --> 0:03:06.000 play style coming up with regard to Monk, he is 0:03:06.200 --> 0:03:09.120 quick off the ball, he is tenacious. He doesn't play 0:03:09.200 --> 0:03:11.399 to the whistle, he plays through the whistle. I mean, 0:03:12.240 --> 0:03:15.760 it's He's the embodiment of what how they'd like everybody 0:03:15.800 --> 0:03:19.120 to play out there on the field, and that's why 0:03:19.120 --> 0:03:22.119 he's made the strides that he has. As of right now, 0:03:22.200 --> 0:03:25.000 I would say he's ahead of Anthony Belton for the 0:03:25.040 --> 0:03:28.160 starting right guard job, but don't write off Anthony Belton. 0:03:28.200 --> 0:03:30.400 This thing is not over. You know, this is a 0:03:30.440 --> 0:03:33.679 young guy, a second year pro, a second round draft 0:03:33.720 --> 0:03:35.960 pick a year ago, who is a mountain of a man, 0:03:37.320 --> 0:03:39.440 and he's going to get his opportunities to play in 0:03:39.480 --> 0:03:42.440 the preseason and shore up some of the things that 0:03:42.920 --> 0:03:45.040 you know, some of the rough days that he's had 0:03:45.080 --> 0:03:47.960 in training camp so far. So this is a long 0:03:48.000 --> 0:03:52.560 way from over. And I'm not ruling out Jagger Burton either, 0:03:53.080 --> 0:03:56.240 the rookie out of Kentucky. Now, he's been taking a 0:03:56.240 --> 0:03:58.920 lot of first team snaps at left guard because Aaron 0:03:58.960 --> 0:04:02.760 Banks is not yet better back into eleven on eleven reps, 0:04:03.080 --> 0:04:05.960 but I think he is kind of in this competition 0:04:06.040 --> 0:04:08.560 as well. He missed a little bit of time early 0:04:08.600 --> 0:04:11.680 in training camp because of the hamstring, but he got 0:04:11.720 --> 0:04:14.600 back out there pretty quickly. And again, the preseason games 0:04:14.600 --> 0:04:16.680 are going to be a big time proving ground for 0:04:16.720 --> 0:04:17.520 a young guy like that. 0:04:17.640 --> 0:04:19.200 It's such a great point, Mike. I think there were 0:04:19.200 --> 0:04:21.120 so many people that want to pencil in a starting 0:04:21.160 --> 0:04:23.440 five at the starting training camp, and this is what 0:04:23.560 --> 0:04:24.600 I was guilty of it too. 0:04:25.040 --> 0:04:26.880 I'll say it. I was guilty of it as well. 0:04:27.120 --> 0:04:30.200 But sometimes it doesn't necessarily go that way. And you're 0:04:30.240 --> 0:04:34.960 reminded the way this played out that if Jacob Monk 0:04:35.000 --> 0:04:37.479 had not had the hamstring injury that kept him out 0:04:37.480 --> 0:04:41.240 almost like into October last year when they needed a 0:04:41.279 --> 0:04:43.680 new right guard when Sean Ryan had to play center 0:04:43.720 --> 0:04:46.880 for Elton Jenkins, Monk might have gotten that shot, but 0:04:46.960 --> 0:04:49.200 they gave it to Belton because he had been there 0:04:49.279 --> 0:04:51.599 all along and he wasn't coming off of an injury. 0:04:51.680 --> 0:04:54.440 So it's just the way these things fall sometimes, and 0:04:54.839 --> 0:04:56.719 now maybe things might be taken a different direction. 0:04:56.800 --> 0:04:58.839 Yeah, and credit to Anthony too, because I mean he's 0:04:59.040 --> 0:05:01.240 taken on this tab of trying to play right guard 0:05:01.279 --> 0:05:02.880 head on, as is a guy that did not do it. 0:05:02.920 --> 0:05:05.120 At NC State. He was a right tackle. That was 0:05:05.120 --> 0:05:08.120 his spot. He played against really good competition, but that 0:05:08.240 --> 0:05:10.240 was his home. So now he's kind of been in 0:05:10.279 --> 0:05:13.320 a little bit of this limbo spot where obviously still 0:05:13.360 --> 0:05:15.599 factoring into the right guard thing. But now that Zach 0:05:16.440 --> 0:05:20.159 Baku Boele I almost said Tom Baku Boele is back 0:05:20.160 --> 0:05:22.760 in the lineup and taking team reps again, as we've 0:05:22.800 --> 0:05:25.880 seen this past week. Now you have Belton sort of 0:05:26.400 --> 0:05:28.839 rotating in for him with the first team unit in 0:05:28.880 --> 0:05:32.280 that spot after Zach takes usually the first first two snaps. 0:05:32.279 --> 0:05:34.560 I think it's been a team and then transitions out, 0:05:34.680 --> 0:05:37.120 so everybody's still in this competition. But I thought you 0:05:37.320 --> 0:05:40.279 raised a salient point too about Jacob Burton, because this 0:05:40.360 --> 0:05:43.400 guy would not be in the conversation for a starting 0:05:43.440 --> 0:05:46.440 spot with all of these various people competing for these 0:05:46.480 --> 0:05:49.600 positions if he wasn't showing the pack or something right 0:05:49.640 --> 0:05:52.360 away as a rookie. I think he maximized those reps 0:05:52.400 --> 0:05:54.640 that he took in the off season program. He's having 0:05:54.640 --> 0:05:56.400 a chance right now to work at left guard with 0:05:56.520 --> 0:06:00.679 Aaron Banks still sort of getting worked back into team periods. 0:06:00.680 --> 0:06:03.200 He's been obviously on a little bit of a maintenance 0:06:03.200 --> 0:06:06.920 program with his knee. But Burton's a guy man. I've 0:06:06.960 --> 0:06:08.720 said it time and time again. When you look at 0:06:08.720 --> 0:06:10.880 the starting five, you need the chemistry, you need the 0:06:10.920 --> 0:06:13.880 camaraderie Matt Lafuer said to himself, there's a time that 0:06:13.920 --> 0:06:16.560 comes that you need to have that locked down, but 0:06:16.640 --> 0:06:18.200 you also have to have guys that are ready for 0:06:18.200 --> 0:06:21.160 those moments too, And I think Burton and Monk collectively 0:06:21.600 --> 0:06:23.120 what they've been able to do on the interior has 0:06:23.120 --> 0:06:23.960 been very valuable. 0:06:24.040 --> 0:06:26.200 Yeah, and this we'll have to just see how this 0:06:26.240 --> 0:06:29.200 competition plays out over the next few weeks. The other one, 0:06:29.240 --> 0:06:33.920 of course, is at cornerback. Jonathan Gannon's new defense Carrington 0:06:34.000 --> 0:06:36.960 Valentine is currently sidelined by a hamstring injury, and now 0:06:37.000 --> 0:06:39.760 over the last few practices, we have seen a steady, 0:06:40.080 --> 0:06:44.440 essentially a constant rotation as far as who the two 0:06:44.600 --> 0:06:48.000 starting cornerbacks are. With the first team defense, they paired 0:06:48.120 --> 0:06:51.719 Nixon and Brandon Sisay, then it's Brandon Sisa with Benjamin 0:06:51.800 --> 0:06:54.720 Saint Jus, and then it just keeps flipping back and 0:06:54.760 --> 0:06:58.159 forth as they go from from team period to team period. 0:06:58.640 --> 0:07:03.080 The one thing that seems constant, Brandon Ceesay continues to 0:07:03.120 --> 0:07:05.800 take first team reps. He's not getting relegated to the 0:07:05.839 --> 0:07:10.040 second team. The rookie, We've talked about him a lot already, 0:07:10.040 --> 0:07:12.360 the rookie second round pick out of South Carolina has 0:07:12.400 --> 0:07:16.480 done nothing but impress. And I mean he from what 0:07:16.520 --> 0:07:18.520 we've seen on the practice field. I hate to say 0:07:18.520 --> 0:07:20.760 this about a rookie in the middle of August, but 0:07:20.840 --> 0:07:22.960 he looks like he's ready to go. He looks like 0:07:23.040 --> 0:07:25.760 he's ready to play in the NFL right now. 0:07:25.640 --> 0:07:28.120 Which I cannot believe at twenty one years old. Yeah, 0:07:28.120 --> 0:07:31.480 for being a true junior coming out. I'll tell you what, Mike, 0:07:32.040 --> 0:07:34.640 all these years that I've covered Packer training camp practices 0:07:35.200 --> 0:07:37.320 in terms of the non takeaway because we always so 0:07:37.400 --> 0:07:40.400 we perseverate so much on interceptions. By the way, Jalen 0:07:40.440 --> 0:07:42.760 Simpson had a nice one to end practice on Monday, 0:07:43.120 --> 0:07:45.200 but it's always about hey, who has these big picks. 0:07:46.040 --> 0:07:51.760 The coverage that Brandon Ceesay had on that corner route, 0:07:52.000 --> 0:07:54.160 I want to say, near the end of practice working 0:07:54.200 --> 0:07:57.440 against the ones, Jordan Love trying to hit Christian Watson, 0:07:57.960 --> 0:08:00.160 one of the toughest receivers to match up again in 0:08:00.240 --> 0:08:03.600 terms of the speed and the size, and Love forced 0:08:03.640 --> 0:08:07.080 the ball in there and Cisa plastered the coverage. Yeah, 0:08:07.120 --> 0:08:09.800 there was not a window to get that ball into 0:08:09.840 --> 0:08:13.080 Christian Watson. I haven't seen a lot of that in 0:08:13.160 --> 0:08:17.960 terms of rookie ballplayers coming in here and showing that 0:08:18.080 --> 0:08:22.920 type of ability straight away, especially being as young as Brandon. 0:08:22.920 --> 0:08:25.960 Cisa is so for a guy again, kind of like 0:08:26.000 --> 0:08:27.560 we were talking about with Burton in the offense, this 0:08:27.560 --> 0:08:29.040 is a guy that played a lot of ball, took 0:08:29.080 --> 0:08:31.200 a lot of first team reps in the spring, a 0:08:31.200 --> 0:08:33.920 lot of the because of how things sort of shaped out. 0:08:34.920 --> 0:08:38.960 Now he's putting that all to work and it creates 0:08:38.960 --> 0:08:41.080 a lot of competition. I think that's a positive. That's 0:08:41.120 --> 0:08:43.480 a net positive for Green Bay, especially considering some of 0:08:43.480 --> 0:08:47.400 the injuries they're dealing with in the secondary. But it 0:08:47.440 --> 0:08:49.160 now leads to this question of Okay, well you got 0:08:49.240 --> 0:08:51.880 Keyshan there, you got Benjamin Saint Jus who the more 0:08:51.920 --> 0:08:54.800 I watch him, the more I understand how the Packers 0:08:54.800 --> 0:08:57.040 back in March, we're looking at his skill set, his 0:08:57.160 --> 0:09:00.120 size and being like, yep, this guy is prototypical for 0:09:00.200 --> 0:09:02.719 what we want in a Jonathan Gannon defense. Brandon two 0:09:02.720 --> 0:09:04.520 weeks ago was saying that to me and some of 0:09:04.559 --> 0:09:06.720 the other reporters. He felt like this was the perfect 0:09:06.760 --> 0:09:09.760 fit for him defensively, it's looking like it and then 0:09:09.800 --> 0:09:12.719 karenon Valentine working through that hamstringer is kind of in 0:09:12.760 --> 0:09:16.000 the back shadows too, So a lot for Green Bay 0:09:16.040 --> 0:09:18.520 to consider at a very very important position for them 0:09:18.600 --> 0:09:19.880 entering the twenty twenty sixth season. 0:09:19.960 --> 0:09:23.119 Yeah, and it's really interesting. This is where this competition 0:09:23.280 --> 0:09:26.400 feels so different from the right guard one because, aside 0:09:26.400 --> 0:09:30.079 from CSA being a rookie, when you're talking about Keishawn Nixon, 0:09:30.160 --> 0:09:33.640 Benjamin Saint, Jus Carrington Valentine when he gets healthy, you're 0:09:33.679 --> 0:09:36.760 talking about veteran guys who have been there and done that, right, 0:09:36.800 --> 0:09:40.160 And because of that, I think, however this shakes out 0:09:40.320 --> 0:09:44.240 and whoever the starting cornerbacks are come Week one, that's 0:09:44.280 --> 0:09:46.600 not the end of the competition, right, because we know 0:09:46.720 --> 0:09:49.000 Jonathan Gannon is going to use different guys, He's going 0:09:49.040 --> 0:09:52.640 to use different packages, and the guys who are playing well. 0:09:52.679 --> 0:09:56.480 When you're a veteran player who's proven yourself, if somebody 0:09:56.559 --> 0:09:59.440 isn't up to the task, they'll make the switch. And 0:09:59.480 --> 0:10:01.480 then you know, if you go out there and show 0:10:01.559 --> 0:10:02.880 that you can do it, you have a chance to 0:10:02.920 --> 0:10:05.480 hang on to the job. So this is one of 0:10:05.559 --> 0:10:09.680 those things that could go well into the regular season 0:10:09.720 --> 0:10:12.760 before we really know who's at the top of the 0:10:12.800 --> 0:10:15.320 depth chart, but there will have to be decisions made 0:10:15.440 --> 0:10:17.960 at the end of camp when Week one rolls around. 0:10:18.000 --> 0:10:20.480 I'm very interested to see how this plays out because 0:10:20.640 --> 0:10:23.160 you know, Keishawn Nixon has been playing on the perimeter 0:10:23.240 --> 0:10:26.199 now for two seasons. Yeah, he broke his way into 0:10:26.520 --> 0:10:29.120 the starting lineup three years ago as a nickel cornerback, 0:10:29.160 --> 0:10:30.920 as a dime cornerback in the slot, so he does 0:10:30.960 --> 0:10:34.559 have that versatility. But you also have you know, Javon 0:10:34.640 --> 0:10:37.080 Bullard is locking down the nickel spot, although there's an injury. 0:10:37.080 --> 0:10:38.880 I'm sure we'll be talking about here with him right now. 0:10:39.360 --> 0:10:43.160 They've had so much perimeter depth now that you go 0:10:43.280 --> 0:10:46.080 back fifteen years ago, ten fifteen years ago, a lot 0:10:46.160 --> 0:10:48.000 of times those competitions, well, if it didn't work out 0:10:48.040 --> 0:10:49.360 for somebody on the perimeter, they would be in the 0:10:49.400 --> 0:10:51.880 nickel spot. That isn't necessarily the case. So I mean, 0:10:52.120 --> 0:10:55.080 it's extremely high stakes right now. But I'll say this, 0:10:55.280 --> 0:10:58.000 when you were going back to April, after the moves 0:10:58.000 --> 0:11:00.480 that the Packers made in the offseason program, these are 0:11:00.520 --> 0:11:02.360 the problems that you'd want to have. You want to 0:11:02.360 --> 0:11:04.600 have a problem where Brandon sees is pushing that entire 0:11:04.679 --> 0:11:07.480 room straight away. Yeah, you want to have an issue 0:11:07.480 --> 0:11:10.480 there where you know BSJ has come in and is impressing. 0:11:11.120 --> 0:11:13.040 That's what the Packers wanted to do, That's what Brian 0:11:13.080 --> 0:11:16.680 Gudikuntzk was going out to accomplish when he acquired those players. 0:11:17.080 --> 0:11:19.720 And certainly in the long term that depth is going 0:11:19.760 --> 0:11:20.720 to be necessary as well. 0:11:20.840 --> 0:11:23.880 Yeah, I think so. And that that's what I like best, 0:11:24.040 --> 0:11:26.120 is that I think you and I would both agree 0:11:26.679 --> 0:11:29.240 the depth at cornerback is in a better spot right 0:11:29.280 --> 0:11:31.360 now than it was a year ago. 0:11:31.640 --> 0:11:33.640 And you know, the best example that Michael, the fact 0:11:33.679 --> 0:11:36.000 that Kamal had and who just can't got back from 0:11:36.000 --> 0:11:37.800 his ankle injury. This is a guy that was on 0:11:37.840 --> 0:11:40.839 the starting perimeter. Conversation with the assid he's now learning 0:11:40.880 --> 0:11:43.839 how to play nickel at the NFL level because of 0:11:43.880 --> 0:11:46.440 all the bodies that they have on the outside. Yeah, 0:11:46.720 --> 0:11:48.880 that just tells you right away that the Green Bay 0:11:48.920 --> 0:11:51.240 not only are they that deep now on the perimeter, 0:11:51.600 --> 0:11:53.880 but now they want to figure out, Okay, which of 0:11:53.920 --> 0:11:55.720 these guys can now push inside if we need them there? 0:11:55.800 --> 0:11:56.000 Yeah. 0:11:56.080 --> 0:11:56.320 Yeah. 0:11:56.360 --> 0:11:59.600 The land Yeah, the landscape. The landscape has certainly changed. Well, 0:11:59.679 --> 0:12:02.640 let's go through the health update. As far as where 0:12:02.679 --> 0:12:07.240 things stand right now, you mentioned Zach Bacoboweli. He's been 0:12:07.320 --> 0:12:10.160 working his way into team reps. He's now taking some 0:12:10.240 --> 0:12:14.079 eleven on eleven at right tackle. So is DeVante Wyatt, 0:12:14.080 --> 0:12:16.960 coming off of another season ending injury from last year. 0:12:17.000 --> 0:12:19.400 Wyatt has been working into the eleven on eleven. Both 0:12:19.400 --> 0:12:22.000 of them also doing so in pads, not just in 0:12:22.040 --> 0:12:25.480 the shells practice, but in pads as well. Tucker Craft 0:12:25.559 --> 0:12:27.760 we have not seen him in eleven on eleven yet. 0:12:28.000 --> 0:12:30.960 Aaron Banks dealing with some knee soreness. We have not 0:12:31.080 --> 0:12:34.960 seen him in eleven on eleven yet. New injury since 0:12:35.040 --> 0:12:37.680 our last show. You mentioned Javon Bullard now has a 0:12:37.720 --> 0:12:41.600 foot injury he's dealing with. We've seen Katan Oladappo take 0:12:41.760 --> 0:12:46.040 his spot. As far as the nickel corner with the 0:12:46.120 --> 0:12:49.240 number one defense, Josh Jacobs is currently out with a 0:12:49.280 --> 0:12:52.800 groin injury. It's not considered long term. They're being super 0:12:52.800 --> 0:12:55.840 cautious with Jacob's He missed Family Night because of that 0:12:55.920 --> 0:12:59.200 injury and almost certainly is not going to play in 0:12:59.240 --> 0:13:02.319 Pittsburgh because he hasn't back on the practice field yet. 0:13:02.600 --> 0:13:07.640 And then at wide receiver, Matthew Golden toe injury, Jaden 0:13:07.679 --> 0:13:12.280 Reid ankle injury. Their absences the past couple of practices 0:13:12.440 --> 0:13:15.839 has created a lot of opportunities with the number one 0:13:15.880 --> 0:13:19.760 offense for Saveon Williams, for bou Melton, for sky Moore 0:13:20.520 --> 0:13:23.600 at the receiver position, and to a certain extent Wes. 0:13:24.040 --> 0:13:26.559 All three of those guys have delivered they over the 0:13:26.640 --> 0:13:29.080 last couple of practices. They have all made their share 0:13:29.080 --> 0:13:32.400 of plays with Jordan Love and that's something that's good 0:13:32.440 --> 0:13:36.400 to see because you feel like there's a level of 0:13:36.440 --> 0:13:39.800 reliability there if something were to happen, and if those 0:13:39.840 --> 0:13:43.400 guys were to be counted on, maybe more than expected 0:13:43.440 --> 0:13:45.520 if something like this happens in the regular So. 0:13:45.440 --> 0:13:47.280 You know what bo Melton can do. He's been in 0:13:47.280 --> 0:13:49.640 the league for three years. Sky Moore was a former 0:13:49.679 --> 0:13:52.280 second round pick that has played a lot of football. 0:13:52.559 --> 0:13:54.200 I think he has fit over fifty games under his 0:13:54.240 --> 0:13:57.640 belt now at this point, Yep, Savion Williams is the 0:13:57.760 --> 0:14:02.680 ultimate kind of wild card right now for Green Bay 0:14:03.320 --> 0:14:07.240 and I would maintain maybe you disagree with me, I 0:14:07.240 --> 0:14:09.880 don't know that we this past week we've seen the 0:14:09.920 --> 0:14:12.439 best version of Savion Williams totally in his time with 0:14:12.480 --> 0:14:15.600 the Green Bay Packers, totally, because we've seen the end rounds, 0:14:15.600 --> 0:14:18.959 we've seen some of the gadget playwork. Because of these 0:14:19.000 --> 0:14:22.920 injury injuries, We've seen Savion Williams running more routes. We've 0:14:22.960 --> 0:14:26.280 seen him, you know, being part of more longer developing plays. 0:14:26.280 --> 0:14:30.479 We've seen him work more slants in posts. That's critical, 0:14:30.640 --> 0:14:33.480 I feel like, because realistically, when you think back to 0:14:33.520 --> 0:14:36.560 his rookie season, there's that moment in New York that 0:14:36.680 --> 0:14:39.160 everybody remembers him fifty to fifty in that ball making 0:14:39.160 --> 0:14:42.480 a tremendous catch in a critical situation. But there weren't 0:14:42.480 --> 0:14:44.120 a lot of those moments. It was a lot of 0:14:44.120 --> 0:14:46.600 stuff within five yards or even behind the line of scrimmage. 0:14:46.640 --> 0:14:49.240 So for Savion to have a practice like he did, 0:14:49.240 --> 0:14:51.520 a close practice inside the Hudson Center because of weather 0:14:51.560 --> 0:14:53.960 in the area. As Matt Lafleur talked about, they had 0:14:54.040 --> 0:14:56.560 him charted for eight targets. He caught seven of them. 0:14:56.840 --> 0:14:59.040 He had a sixty yard touchdown pass in which there 0:14:59.080 --> 0:15:00.880 was more. There was a blown coverage there, but it 0:15:00.960 --> 0:15:03.760 showed you at six foot six or six foot four, 0:15:03.800 --> 0:15:07.120 excuse me, two hundred and twenty two pounds. How quickly 0:15:07.160 --> 0:15:10.040 that guy can disappear in a secondarya if you give 0:15:10.120 --> 0:15:12.520 him a free rein and that's what he did. So 0:15:13.160 --> 0:15:15.680 I think Savion is in a really interesting spot right now. 0:15:15.720 --> 0:15:18.600 When they made the move to trade Don Tavian Wicks, 0:15:18.600 --> 0:15:22.160 when you made the move to let Romeo Dobbs depart 0:15:22.200 --> 0:15:26.080 in free agency, they were looking to clear opportunities up 0:15:26.120 --> 0:15:28.360 for Williams. They were looking at clear opportunities up for Golden. 0:15:28.600 --> 0:15:30.800 Unfortunately Golden had the toy injury coming out of Family Night, 0:15:30.800 --> 0:15:33.200 but he's capitalized on him and now number eighty three 0:15:33.240 --> 0:15:33.800 is doing the same. 0:15:34.000 --> 0:15:36.440 Yeah, And it's a good point you raise about seeing 0:15:37.080 --> 0:15:41.000 Savion Williams now because of these injuries, seeing him more 0:15:41.080 --> 0:15:45.720 in the conventional part of the of the Packers offense, 0:15:45.760 --> 0:15:49.160 because even his one touchdown as a rookie last year 0:15:49.400 --> 0:15:52.080 was just a wide receiver screen in Pittsburgh. And he 0:15:52.120 --> 0:15:54.160 makes a couple moves, gets a couple of nice blocks. Great, 0:15:54.200 --> 0:15:56.760 he gets into the end zone. But again that it 0:15:57.040 --> 0:16:01.400 has that gadget feel to it, right seeing sort of 0:16:01.400 --> 0:16:05.400 the rest of Savion Williams now, And I agree with you. 0:16:05.520 --> 0:16:07.720 I think it's a great sign. It's a great sign 0:16:07.760 --> 0:16:10.880 heading into his second season, what he's been able to 0:16:10.880 --> 0:16:11.960 show in this training camp. 0:16:12.000 --> 0:16:14.000 And they if they want to keep those concepts in 0:16:14.040 --> 0:16:16.080 the playbook, they have somebody in sky Moore who can 0:16:16.160 --> 0:16:18.760 do them. I mean sky Moore the way he's built. 0:16:18.800 --> 0:16:21.800 It's not a conventional receiver, whereas you have a guy 0:16:21.880 --> 0:16:24.640 like Savion that's six foot four, two twenty. Sky goes 0:16:24.680 --> 0:16:27.400 five ten, two hundred like in that range, right, He's 0:16:27.400 --> 0:16:29.640 more of a shifty underneath receiver. We've also seen him 0:16:29.640 --> 0:16:32.440 in a lot of these practices when Jonathan Gannon's been 0:16:32.480 --> 0:16:35.360 sending heat, he's been the hot read for Jordan Love. 0:16:35.400 --> 0:16:36.800 There's been a lot of times where Love is dump 0:16:36.840 --> 0:16:38.800 stuff off to him in the flat and allowed him 0:16:38.840 --> 0:16:41.680 to make some plays are wheeling underneath. That's going to 0:16:41.720 --> 0:16:46.600 be critical. So yeah, I think I just people they 0:16:46.600 --> 0:16:50.440 see injuries and they think it's so dire, and sometimes 0:16:50.440 --> 0:16:53.480 it is. Sometimes bad things do happen, But like I 0:16:53.600 --> 0:16:55.400 just think they looked people were looking for a reason 0:16:55.440 --> 0:16:57.640 to kind of panic about the red and Golden thing. 0:16:57.720 --> 0:17:01.000 Both of those guys are out at practice on you know, 0:17:01.040 --> 0:17:03.520 we'll see what their timeline looks like. But I don't 0:17:03.520 --> 0:17:06.040 get the impression these are significant injuries. They wouldn't be 0:17:06.080 --> 0:17:09.679 out there at practice if there were significant injuries. So again, 0:17:09.880 --> 0:17:13.239 glass half full hod quits here. But yeah, I think 0:17:13.320 --> 0:17:15.320 if anything, it opens up some of these opportunities for 0:17:15.359 --> 0:17:17.679 guys that are going to play deep into preseason games, 0:17:17.880 --> 0:17:19.320 that are going to get a lot of opportunities in 0:17:19.359 --> 0:17:21.119 the next two weeks to show what they can do. 0:17:21.200 --> 0:17:25.320 And it's a reminder to injuries on August tenth are 0:17:25.359 --> 0:17:29.040 treated very differently than injuries on September tenth or October tenth. 0:17:29.119 --> 0:17:31.520 I mean, you know, we're still more than a month 0:17:31.520 --> 0:17:36.160 away from the actual Week one game. So if somebody's 0:17:36.280 --> 0:17:38.680 just being nagged by a little something they don't feel 0:17:38.760 --> 0:17:41.080 quite right, the last thing they want to do is 0:17:41.119 --> 0:17:45.000 make it worse, and so they just they go on 0:17:45.040 --> 0:17:47.440 the high side of caution with this, with this stuff 0:17:47.480 --> 0:17:50.320 all the time. So hopefully both we'll be back soon. 0:17:51.720 --> 0:17:54.560 But there's no need to get them back into things 0:17:54.760 --> 0:17:59.040 too soon, because what matters is Week one, not these 0:17:59.080 --> 0:18:01.240 preseason games. That's for those types of players. 0:18:01.280 --> 0:18:04.080 Andrew Cooper was out of practice on Sunday with a foot. 0:18:04.240 --> 0:18:06.399 Everybody's like, oh, and then he's just out there in 0:18:06.480 --> 0:18:07.200 pads on Monday. 0:18:07.240 --> 0:18:09.280 Yeah, he was back on Monday. This guy take a brother, 0:18:09.480 --> 0:18:12.679 Yeah yeah, absolutely. Well, a couple other topics to get to, 0:18:12.800 --> 0:18:14.680 but we do need to pay some bills, so let's 0:18:14.680 --> 0:18:19.119 hear a quick word from our sponsors. Serious XMNFL Radio 0:18:19.240 --> 0:18:22.240 delivers hard hitting analysis and up to the minute NFL 0:18:22.280 --> 0:18:25.439 news that true football fanatics need. Twenty four to seven, 0:18:25.600 --> 0:18:28.800 three sixty five. Did you know lambeau Field is just 0:18:28.960 --> 0:18:32.800 one of our state's many wonders. Start making unforgettable memories 0:18:32.840 --> 0:18:36.400 on your next vacation. Discover the Apostle Islands and more 0:18:36.760 --> 0:18:42.320 at travel Wisconsin dot com Slash Wonders. Welcome back to 0:18:42.359 --> 0:18:43.320 Packers Unscripted. 0:18:43.359 --> 0:18:44.080 All right, Wes. 0:18:44.600 --> 0:18:47.600 We talked on our last show about one of the 0:18:48.520 --> 0:18:52.320 call it a long shot, the roster hopeful, the underdog story, 0:18:52.440 --> 0:18:56.359 Anthony Campbell at defensive tackle. You mentioned his name earlier 0:18:56.359 --> 0:18:58.400 in the show. He's another guy that in my mind 0:18:58.480 --> 0:19:02.760 falls into this category. And his defensive back Jalen Simpson. 0:19:02.920 --> 0:19:06.040 This is a young man, a fifth round pick by 0:19:06.040 --> 0:19:08.879 the Indianapolis Colts two years ago. Spent time with the Colts, 0:19:08.920 --> 0:19:11.640 also spent some time with the Jets. The Packers get 0:19:11.680 --> 0:19:14.919 him last summer, he spends the bulk of last season 0:19:15.040 --> 0:19:18.000 on Green Bays practice squad, ends up playing in that 0:19:18.040 --> 0:19:21.000 Week eighteen game in Minnesota when it was kind of 0:19:21.040 --> 0:19:25.960 all hands on deck with the starters resting. Jalen Simpson 0:19:26.560 --> 0:19:29.760 is making a push for a roster spot here. Now 0:19:30.200 --> 0:19:33.439 it's crowded in that defensive backfield. It's not an easy 0:19:33.480 --> 0:19:37.399 group to crack. But you mentioned the interception that he 0:19:37.520 --> 0:19:40.520 had on the last play of practice on Monday, an 0:19:40.560 --> 0:19:43.600 impressive play at the front pylon where he jumped a 0:19:43.680 --> 0:19:46.520