WEBVTT - #511 Packers Unscripted: Pieces to the puzzle 0:00:00.840 --> 0:00:14.320 Hi, everyone, Welcome to Packers Unscripted from Packers dot Com. 0:00:14.360 --> 0:00:17.600 I am Mike Spofford, sitting next to my partner in crime, 0:00:17.640 --> 0:00:20.760 West Hodkowitz. Were coming to you here from our studios 0:00:20.760 --> 0:00:23.079 at lambeau Field West. Were another day closer to the 0:00:23.200 --> 0:00:26.560 NFC Championship Game, which we played on Sunday at Levi 0:00:26.840 --> 0:00:31.120 Stadium in Santa Clara. Packers forty Niners, five pm Central 0:00:31.120 --> 0:00:33.279 Time kickoff. I want to start the show today by 0:00:33.320 --> 0:00:37.239 talking about a couple of offensive players for the Packers, 0:00:37.280 --> 0:00:39.360 one who has been around for quite a while and 0:00:39.479 --> 0:00:42.000 one who's only been around for a couple of months. 0:00:42.920 --> 0:00:44.960 First off, the one has been around for a while, 0:00:45.000 --> 0:00:50.800 wide receiver Davante Adams. Some interesting discussion yesterday with both 0:00:50.840 --> 0:00:53.600 Aaron Rodgers Davante Adams going to the podium in the 0:00:53.680 --> 0:00:57.800 lambeau Field Media Auditorium here during Championship Week, kind of 0:00:57.840 --> 0:01:02.240 following up on obviously adams big performance against the Seattle Seahawks. 0:01:02.640 --> 0:01:06.080 Rogers comments after that game about the chemistry that he 0:01:06.160 --> 0:01:09.119 feels now with Adams approaching that level that he had 0:01:09.640 --> 0:01:15.240 with Jordy Nelson, and quite frankly, this is a connection. 0:01:15.840 --> 0:01:20.200 It's definitely reaching that special level, and if it stays 0:01:20.240 --> 0:01:24.320 at that level against a very, very formidable San Francisco defense, 0:01:24.800 --> 0:01:27.280 it'll be really interesting to see what the Packers can 0:01:27.440 --> 0:01:31.280 do out there on Sunday afternoon. Yeah. One thing that 0:01:31.480 --> 0:01:34.040 stands out is obviously how important Davante Adams is to 0:01:34.080 --> 0:01:37.040 the offensive rhythm of this team. When he was playing 0:01:37.080 --> 0:01:39.319 in that first game against San Francisco, they were still 0:01:39.400 --> 0:01:41.959 kind of getting back into a rhythm once again. It's 0:01:41.959 --> 0:01:44.360 funny how that discussion has kind of gone by the wayside, 0:01:44.360 --> 0:01:46.679 that whole thing about oh, Davante Adams is gone or 0:01:46.760 --> 0:01:50.080 is back, but the offense is playing worse. It's it's 0:01:50.080 --> 0:01:52.520 crazy how that that can that can quickly change, and 0:01:52.640 --> 0:01:54.920 no one seems to ever I really want to address 0:01:54.960 --> 0:01:57.440 it at that point. That's cool, um, But here we 0:01:57.480 --> 0:01:59.960 are now with him. You know, you look at that 0:02:00.080 --> 0:02:02.760 game last week and it was arguably one of Aaron 0:02:02.840 --> 0:02:07.120 rodgers best performances, certainly in the postseason, and Davante Adams 0:02:07.280 --> 0:02:09.560 was a big reason for it. That the connection that 0:02:09.639 --> 0:02:12.440 they had not only on the scripted stuff, but even 0:02:12.480 --> 0:02:14.560 the plays that they're drawn up in the sands, so 0:02:14.600 --> 0:02:17.000 to speak, you know, before before the snap, like that 0:02:17.080 --> 0:02:19.440 thirty two yard catch off the fade route, the route 0:02:19.480 --> 0:02:23.079 adjustments and uh and those uh, those split second decisions 0:02:23.080 --> 0:02:25.000 in the heat of the moment. Yeah. And you know, 0:02:25.120 --> 0:02:29.360 Davante Adams for everything that he's accomplished, you know, in 0:02:29.360 --> 0:02:32.000 in this maturation that he's been on here these last 0:02:32.000 --> 0:02:34.320 few years, I don't think he gets enough credit, not 0:02:34.400 --> 0:02:37.360 only for the building that relationship with Rogers, but doing 0:02:37.360 --> 0:02:40.200 it as quickly as he did. You know, Jordy Nelson 0:02:40.240 --> 0:02:43.040 was in this offense for three years, most of three 0:02:43.120 --> 0:02:48.160 years before he became an elite receiver, a go to 0:02:48.320 --> 0:02:50.280 guy in this offense. That happened during the Super Bowl 0:02:50.360 --> 0:02:52.519 run of two thousand and ten and and he took 0:02:52.520 --> 0:02:55.680 off from there in eleven. But Davante Adams, for all 0:02:55.720 --> 0:02:58.720 intensive purposes, was doing this right off the bat. He 0:02:58.760 --> 0:03:01.800 had performances like that in his rookie season. Now he 0:03:01.919 --> 0:03:04.079 was the third option, but he still was an important 0:03:04.080 --> 0:03:07.640 part of that NFC championship run. Two thousand sixteen was 0:03:07.680 --> 0:03:09.919 his breakout year. They get to the NFC Title Game 0:03:10.240 --> 0:03:13.680 and here they are again. Statistically twenty years from now, people, 0:03:13.760 --> 0:03:15.600 I might not look at this as his finest season 0:03:15.600 --> 0:03:17.639 because he missed the four games at the turf Toe. 0:03:18.040 --> 0:03:22.760 But Davante Adams definitely is the primary playmaker in this offense. 0:03:22.800 --> 0:03:25.720 And when you develop a relationship with Rogers and a 0:03:25.760 --> 0:03:27.880 trust with Rogers that he's willing to put it out 0:03:27.880 --> 0:03:29.600 there that this is right there with how he felt 0:03:29.639 --> 0:03:32.639 it with Jordy Nelson after spending ten seasons with him, 0:03:32.840 --> 0:03:35.000 I just feel like that's the ultimate praise. Yeah, I 0:03:35.040 --> 0:03:39.840 think so too. And it's really special here where Davante 0:03:39.880 --> 0:03:44.120 Adams is putting himself in the Packers postseason record books, 0:03:44.440 --> 0:03:47.720 because not only did he break Jr. Michael Finley's single 0:03:47.760 --> 0:03:51.200 game record getting a hundred and sixty yards against Seattle 0:03:51.800 --> 0:03:56.360 last week, but he now has six touchdown catches in 0:03:56.440 --> 0:03:58.880 the postseason in his career, which is tied for second 0:03:59.000 --> 0:04:02.960 in Packer's history. And Sunday's game against Seattle was his 0:04:03.160 --> 0:04:07.600 third one yard performance receiving performance in the playoffs, which 0:04:07.680 --> 0:04:11.360 is tied for first in Packer's history. And when you 0:04:11.400 --> 0:04:13.160 look at the way that breaks down in the in 0:04:13.440 --> 0:04:18.839 the record book, last Sunday was only Adam's seventh postseason 0:04:18.880 --> 0:04:21.000 game of his career, and these other guys that he's 0:04:21.040 --> 0:04:23.880 tied for second or tied for first within these categories 0:04:24.160 --> 0:04:28.320 have all played. They all played ten, eleven, twelve postseason 0:04:28.360 --> 0:04:30.720 games in their career and Adams is at seven. So 0:04:31.000 --> 0:04:34.600 I think that speaks a lot too, just his abilities 0:04:34.600 --> 0:04:38.000 when the lights are brightest brightest, so to speak. He 0:04:38.200 --> 0:04:41.080 is a He's a big time performer. He's a clutch 0:04:41.120 --> 0:04:44.720 performer in the big games, and the Packers are certainly 0:04:44.720 --> 0:04:47.360 going to rely on him here against the forty nine. 0:04:47.400 --> 0:04:49.839 And when you think about him and Jordy Nelson, Randall, 0:04:49.920 --> 0:04:53.000 Cob James Jones, all these top top receivers the Packers 0:04:53.000 --> 0:04:55.600 have had, what's the number one trait that stands out 0:04:55.600 --> 0:04:56.880 to you about all of them because they all were 0:04:56.920 --> 0:05:00.160 different types of receivers, but it was in those big 0:05:00.200 --> 0:05:03.600 moments they didn't shy away from it. Uh, Davante Adams. 0:05:03.640 --> 0:05:05.760 If it's fourth in one and we've seen plays I 0:05:05.760 --> 0:05:07.640 think Detroit was one of them where it's fourth in 0:05:07.680 --> 0:05:09.960 one and they need a yard and yeah, that was 0:05:10.000 --> 0:05:12.720 a big time conversion there that that was that was 0:05:12.760 --> 0:05:15.280 a crucial part of that comeback. Yeah, and you need 0:05:15.320 --> 0:05:16.800 a yard and you need to be able to move 0:05:16.839 --> 0:05:19.680 the chains and Davante Adams is it. He's that guy. 0:05:19.760 --> 0:05:21.640 He's become that guy. And for so many years that 0:05:21.720 --> 0:05:24.480 was Jordy Nelson and Randall Cobb and the guys that 0:05:24.520 --> 0:05:26.839 are just you know, when the chips are down, who 0:05:26.880 --> 0:05:30.440 do you trust? And for Rogers to have that faith 0:05:30.560 --> 0:05:34.400 in Adams at this juncture of his career is incredible. 0:05:34.560 --> 0:05:37.280 And the other thing is too, you know, this is 0:05:37.360 --> 0:05:39.920 an offense that I think is it's always been rhythm based. 0:05:40.000 --> 0:05:42.400 We've talked about that since the beginning. Even when they 0:05:42.480 --> 0:05:44.240 you know, they do some of the unscripted stuff and 0:05:44.240 --> 0:05:47.400 playoff schedule. The way that they moved the ball down 0:05:47.480 --> 0:05:50.960 the field and the momentum that they derived that from, 0:05:51.160 --> 0:05:54.120 it's all based on rhythm. And I think one of 0:05:54.120 --> 0:05:57.000 the things I've always said was when you look at 0:05:57.040 --> 0:06:00.120 Nelson and probably James Jones and specific, I feel like 0:06:00.760 --> 0:06:03.839 Adams and capsulaves both of their games, both of their strengths. 0:06:03.839 --> 0:06:05.880 He can run the stop routes, he can be consistent, 0:06:05.920 --> 0:06:07.760 he can look for the change and move them. But 0:06:07.880 --> 0:06:11.000 there's still that dynamic, big play aspect to his game. 0:06:11.360 --> 0:06:14.040 Down the field. He can make those huge catches over 0:06:14.080 --> 0:06:18.080 the shoulder um you know, being covered, and it doesn't 0:06:18.160 --> 0:06:20.160 he doesn't bat an eye at it now you look 0:06:20.200 --> 0:06:22.600 at a game like San Francisco and as I wrote 0:06:22.600 --> 0:06:25.760 an insider inbox on on Thursday, I don't know what 0:06:25.880 --> 0:06:27.839 their game plan is going to be. I don't know 0:06:27.880 --> 0:06:30.840 if they're gonna have a lot of Richard Sherman on him, 0:06:30.880 --> 0:06:33.080 if the safeties are going to be on top of him. 0:06:33.120 --> 0:06:35.279 But as Adams, as he was speaking at the podium, 0:06:35.360 --> 0:06:38.800 is part of the news conferences on Wednesday, he doesn't 0:06:38.800 --> 0:06:41.480 really care. He feels like he's going to be able 0:06:41.480 --> 0:06:44.440 to win and get open and he that goes back 0:06:44.480 --> 0:06:46.320 to the very beginning with him, and he kind of 0:06:46.320 --> 0:06:50.640 expounded on that about whether he was at Fresno State 0:06:50.720 --> 0:06:52.559 or even back to his high school days. He always 0:06:52.600 --> 0:06:55.120 felt like, if I run my route better than you, 0:06:55.279 --> 0:06:59.320 then then I know I can. You don't know what 0:06:59.360 --> 0:07:02.359 I'm gonna do, so I inherently have the advantage in that. 0:07:02.640 --> 0:07:05.520 Then you met, you want to throw in the athleticism, 0:07:05.560 --> 0:07:08.240 the vertical, the forty times, those type of things that 0:07:08.640 --> 0:07:11.640 really separate him. So it's just it's been really fun 0:07:11.680 --> 0:07:14.240 to watch. And again, he's twenty seven years old. He's 0:07:14.280 --> 0:07:18.400 in the primaries career. Conversely, I think Shorty's twenty seven 0:07:18.520 --> 0:07:21.040 year mark was in two thousand and twelve, So I 0:07:21.040 --> 0:07:23.600 mean Davante Adams. There's a lot of football left to 0:07:23.600 --> 0:07:25.560 be played and he's on path to be a real 0:07:25.600 --> 0:07:28.240 special player. Yeah. Well, I had asked Aaron Rodgers when 0:07:28.280 --> 0:07:30.800 he was at the podium yesterday. I asked him specifically 0:07:30.840 --> 0:07:34.640 about Adams. We all know that Rogers has thought very 0:07:34.720 --> 0:07:37.040 highly of Adams throughout his career, from the day he 0:07:37.160 --> 0:07:39.920 arrived and as you said, the performances, a couple of 0:07:40.000 --> 0:07:42.800 really big performances he had as a rookie. But I 0:07:42.800 --> 0:07:45.520 asked him, Okay, so is there something about adams game 0:07:45.600 --> 0:07:48.920 that is different this year that is leading to you 0:07:49.080 --> 0:07:52.240 to talk about the make the comparison to the connection 0:07:52.280 --> 0:07:56.240 that you had with Nelson, and Rogers basically pointed to 0:07:56.320 --> 0:07:59.800 one thing, and it was it's Adam's memory. He focused on. 0:08:00.280 --> 0:08:02.680 Recall was the word that he used. And I remember 0:08:02.760 --> 0:08:06.160 conversations that I've had for doing yearbook stories and other 0:08:06.200 --> 0:08:10.160 features and stuff with Rogers and Nelson, and all of 0:08:10.240 --> 0:08:13.600 the conversations they talked about that they would have, whether 0:08:13.640 --> 0:08:15.880 it would be in the hallway outside the meeting room 0:08:15.960 --> 0:08:18.280 or on the sideline at practice or on the sideline 0:08:18.360 --> 0:08:21.920 during a game, talking about all these different things that 0:08:21.960 --> 0:08:23.600 would come up in the past. Hey do you remember 0:08:23.640 --> 0:08:26.520 this from Miami? And or how about that against the 0:08:26.560 --> 0:08:32.000 Giants in and Rogers and Nelson had that, And what 0:08:32.200 --> 0:08:35.680 Rogers was saying is that he's hearing Davante Adams bringing 0:08:35.720 --> 0:08:39.880 those types of past moments and past situations up in 0:08:40.000 --> 0:08:44.440 conversation now a lot more often. His his recall is 0:08:45.040 --> 0:08:47.960 getting to the level that Nelson's was. And we all 0:08:48.000 --> 0:08:51.640 know about Aaron Rodgers encyclopedic memory when it comes to 0:08:51.720 --> 0:08:55.680 everything that's happened, every third down situation in this stadium 0:08:55.720 --> 0:08:58.880 or that stadium, or that season, or fourth quarter, first 0:08:58.960 --> 0:09:01.840 quarter or whatever. I mean, his mind is incredible in 0:09:01.920 --> 0:09:05.480 that way, and he's able to develop the connection with 0:09:05.679 --> 0:09:11.120 the receivers when they start to remember things in much 0:09:11.160 --> 0:09:13.440 the same ways that he does. And I think that's 0:09:13.440 --> 0:09:15.800 where this thing is headed now with Adam. Yeah, because 0:09:15.800 --> 0:09:19.360 everyone it's it's been a big line and the conversation 0:09:19.440 --> 0:09:21.160 people have had for years now about being on the 0:09:21.200 --> 0:09:22.800 same page with Rogers, and I think one of the 0:09:22.800 --> 0:09:25.400 things about it is, you know, everybody, I'm sure you 0:09:25.400 --> 0:09:27.480 did it too in college. You have your group reports, 0:09:27.640 --> 0:09:30.600 and if you're a tremendous student and you know the 0:09:30.640 --> 0:09:33.160 material really well, if you have four or five people 0:09:33.160 --> 0:09:36.160 in your group and you can lead that group, okay, 0:09:36.280 --> 0:09:39.160 could you still get an A if everybody else is 0:09:39.200 --> 0:09:41.920 just kind of lackluster and you know, maybe not pulling 0:09:41.920 --> 0:09:44.000 their weight. Yeah, you're probably good enough to do that. 0:09:44.760 --> 0:09:48.480 But what can you accomplish When you surround yourself with 0:09:48.760 --> 0:09:51.000 people that are just as motivated as you are, just 0:09:51.120 --> 0:09:53.719 as well researched as you are, you can get a 0:09:53.800 --> 0:09:56.640 lot done. And I think when people always think back 0:09:56.640 --> 0:09:58.560 to two thousand and eleven, there was obviously a lot 0:09:58.600 --> 0:10:00.800 of talent there, but there was a lot of people 0:10:00.840 --> 0:10:03.600 that were at the peak of their athletic primes but 0:10:03.760 --> 0:10:07.760 also very dedicated to their craft. And Davante Adams learned 0:10:07.800 --> 0:10:10.640 from all of these guys. He's known James Jones since 0:10:10.640 --> 0:10:12.520 I think he was in high school, you know, growing 0:10:12.600 --> 0:10:16.040 up in that connection that goes way back historically. He 0:10:16.160 --> 0:10:19.440 worked with Jordy Nelson, you know, for three years. He'd 0:10:19.480 --> 0:10:23.200 been with Randall Cobb for the past four years. These 0:10:23.240 --> 0:10:25.760 guys all left those impressions on him of not only 0:10:26.040 --> 0:10:28.560 how to approach your business, but how to lead. And 0:10:28.600 --> 0:10:31.400 I feel like when he was thrown into that role, 0:10:31.480 --> 0:10:35.520 he was welcoming to it. And there's gonna be receivers 0:10:35.559 --> 0:10:37.640 here in the next few years. Al Lazard might even 0:10:37.640 --> 0:10:40.800 be one of them. Now that they're gonna be guys 0:10:40.840 --> 0:10:43.000 coming in. There's gonna be that next Davante Adams, there's 0:10:43.000 --> 0:10:46.440 gonna be that next Randall Cobb in so much to say, 0:10:46.480 --> 0:10:48.199 you're not going to get the identical guy, but you're 0:10:48.240 --> 0:10:50.720 gonna get players, young receivers that he's going to have 0:10:50.800 --> 0:10:53.839 to mentor just like Nelson and Cobb mentored him. And 0:10:53.880 --> 0:10:56.720 I think he really understands that, appreciates it and knows 0:10:57.200 --> 0:10:59.600 that the more he understands and the more that he 0:10:59.640 --> 0:11:02.199 can call, the better it's going to make that group 0:11:02.200 --> 0:11:05.240 project for Rogers and the Packers. Yeah, no question about it. Well, 0:11:05.360 --> 0:11:08.000 I mentioned we'd also talk about a player who's only 0:11:08.040 --> 0:11:10.560 been here a couple of months with regards to this offense, 0:11:10.600 --> 0:11:14.480 and I'm referring to running back Tyler Irvine. Packers picked 0:11:14.559 --> 0:11:18.800 him up in November, I guess late November. I think, yes, 0:11:19.040 --> 0:11:22.360 I believe his first game was Washington. Yeah, threw him 0:11:22.360 --> 0:11:26.480 in right away on returns, pump returns, kickoff returns made 0:11:26.600 --> 0:11:30.000 a quick impact there. But the interesting thing here about 0:11:30.080 --> 0:11:33.200 the evolution of his involvement and his impact on this 0:11:33.320 --> 0:11:36.880 team is now what he's doing on the offensive side. 0:11:36.920 --> 0:11:41.800 We've seen We've seen some some jet sweeps, handoff pitch 0:11:41.880 --> 0:11:45.560 type of plays. We've seen him run some wheel routes 0:11:45.760 --> 0:11:48.880 out of the backfield. No past receptions or you know, 0:11:48.960 --> 0:11:51.400 deep connections down the field, but those are in the 0:11:51.440 --> 0:11:55.040 playbook as well. This is really interesting how this has 0:11:55.080 --> 0:11:58.760 evolved because Tyler Irvin has always just been kind of 0:11:58.840 --> 0:12:03.640 pegged as a special team's gap, and that's not who 0:12:03.679 --> 0:12:06.800 he is here with the Packers, and he's gotten to 0:12:06.960 --> 0:12:09.719 this expanded role in a very short amount of time. 0:12:09.880 --> 0:12:12.000 So I can't I can't tell you what happened in 0:12:12.040 --> 0:12:16.439 Houston or Baltimore, Jacksonville. I don't know. I didn't follow 0:12:16.520 --> 0:12:18.839 him as much then, but it was really interesting a 0:12:18.920 --> 0:12:21.360 conversation I had with with Aaron Jones. It was about 0:12:21.360 --> 0:12:24.360 a week or two ago about Irvin because he's the 0:12:24.360 --> 0:12:26.240 one that came up with the swerve and Irvan nickname, 0:12:26.360 --> 0:12:28.400 and it has been really complimentary of him, and I 0:12:28.520 --> 0:12:31.199 just that was Jones who came up. I didn't. I 0:12:31.240 --> 0:12:34.160 didn't realize that. So it was funny at least in 0:12:34.200 --> 0:12:36.080 the Green Bay locker room. Maybe he had it elsewhere, 0:12:36.120 --> 0:12:40.040 but he is incredibly familiar with him, and I thought 0:12:40.080 --> 0:12:42.320 that that was interesting. I'm like, because I didn't. To 0:12:42.320 --> 0:12:44.480 be honestly, I didn't know anything about Tyler Irvan until 0:12:44.520 --> 0:12:46.920 the Packers claimed him. And he said, yeah, I went 0:12:46.960 --> 0:12:49.719 back to my time at UTEP because he would look 0:12:49.720 --> 0:12:52.679 at the league leaders, the leaders in the country in 0:12:52.800 --> 0:12:56.800 terms of rushing, and there was this little, you know, 0:12:56.880 --> 0:13:00.520 smaller back much like himself at saying was a state 0:13:00.559 --> 0:13:05.440 that was just running over everybody, and Irvin had like 0:13:05.679 --> 0:13:08.880 total yards his last two years there, in addition to 0:13:08.880 --> 0:13:12.520 everything he did as a returner. And it was funny 0:13:12.559 --> 0:13:14.680 to me going back and looking at the scouting reports 0:13:14.720 --> 0:13:17.480 of him getting the two thousand sixteen draft, because he 0:13:17.520 --> 0:13:20.080 was a fourth round pick of the Houston Texans and 0:13:20.200 --> 0:13:24.680 everybody was drawing these comparisons Jamal Charles H. Darren sprawls 0:13:24.760 --> 0:13:27.360 that this guy could be a really dynamic playmaker and 0:13:27.360 --> 0:13:28.960 at the time it looked like the Texans we're going 0:13:29.000 --> 0:13:31.840 to pair him with Lamar Miller. So in three years 0:13:31.840 --> 0:13:35.080 with Houston, he only had nineteen touches offensively in addition 0:13:35.120 --> 0:13:37.040 to what he did a kickoff and punt returns. They 0:13:37.120 --> 0:13:39.760 eventually moved on from him. He lands in Baltimore on 0:13:39.800 --> 0:13:42.240 their practice squad, they move on from him, and then 0:13:42.280 --> 0:13:45.400 he ends up being claimed by Jacksonville. The thing that 0:13:45.480 --> 0:13:47.800 ties this all together then is Aaron Rodgers going to 0:13:47.840 --> 0:13:50.640 the podium and talking about the conversations he had with 0:13:50.720 --> 0:13:54.960 John Wojahowski and with John Eric Sullivan, the Packers personnel directors, 0:13:55.559 --> 0:13:57.800 and that the Packers have had an eye on Irvin 0:13:57.880 --> 0:14:00.800 for some time in all the stars finally aligned for 0:14:00.880 --> 0:14:03.320 him to come into Green Bay. So, whether it's the 0:14:03.320 --> 0:14:06.839 Packers personnel department, whether it's Aaron Jones, this guy really 0:14:06.880 --> 0:14:11.360 hasn't surprised anybody, but seeing what he has added to 0:14:11.520 --> 0:14:15.079 those jet sweeps and those pre snap motions, it's important 0:14:15.120 --> 0:14:17.320 because it seemed like all year long the Packers were 0:14:17.360 --> 0:14:19.360 kind of searching for who that guy was gonna be. 0:14:19.520 --> 0:14:22.720 Trevor Davis did a little bit, Geronimo Allison did it, 0:14:22.800 --> 0:14:26.800 and Lazar did it again last week. But with Irvin, 0:14:27.480 --> 0:14:29.320 for the first time that I can recall, last week, 0:14:29.360 --> 0:14:32.440 you actually saw him start to be utilized in that 0:14:32.480 --> 0:14:35.640 pistol formation with the two running backs, and the Packers 0:14:35.640 --> 0:14:38.280 are running plays off of that for a guy that 0:14:38.400 --> 0:14:42.040 wasn't on the roster six seven weeks ago. When you 0:14:42.080 --> 0:14:44.840 talk about differences and why this matchup could be different, 0:14:44.880 --> 0:14:47.120 I just think that this adds a new wrinkle that 0:14:47.160 --> 0:14:49.320 San Francisco is gonna have to prepare for. Yeah, I mean, 0:14:49.320 --> 0:14:52.720 it's definitely a changeup, And in some ways it was 0:14:53.400 --> 0:14:56.680 born out of necessity because Irvin started getting more snaps 0:14:56.680 --> 0:14:59.920 on offense when Jamal Williams was injured and he was 0:15:00.040 --> 0:15:03.080 being rested, particularly in the Detroit game the regular season 0:15:03.080 --> 0:15:05.920 finale in Week seventeen. But then it's just the more 0:15:06.240 --> 0:15:09.640 snaps that Irvin got on offense, the more Matt Lafleur 0:15:09.720 --> 0:15:12.320 and the offensive coaches were saying, yeah, like, I mean, 0:15:12.560 --> 0:15:14.680 Tyler Irvin isn't suddenly going to get the ball twenty 0:15:14.720 --> 0:15:17.040 times on offense, not when you have Aaron Jones and 0:15:17.120 --> 0:15:21.320 Davante Adams and whatnot. But the coaching staff felt like, hey, 0:15:21.360 --> 0:15:23.960 we we there's a role for this guy. There's a 0:15:24.000 --> 0:15:26.560 way that we can use him, and we're going to 0:15:26.600 --> 0:15:29.960 continue to use and moving forward. So um much like 0:15:30.640 --> 0:15:33.560 you know j Sternberger in a sense, the rookie tight 0:15:33.640 --> 0:15:36.040 end who spent the first first half of his rookie 0:15:36.080 --> 0:15:39.360 season on injured reserve and then and then was activated. 0:15:40.120 --> 0:15:42.560 Now he's only made one catch. He made his first 0:15:42.680 --> 0:15:47.600 NFL catch last week, but we've seen him, yeah with 0:15:47.600 --> 0:15:51.680 the fifteen yard penalty attacked on, but we've seen him 0:15:51.720 --> 0:15:54.440 get more and more snaps here down the stretch as 0:15:54.440 --> 0:15:57.360 the season goes along, because every time he's in the game, 0:15:58.160 --> 0:16:00.920 the film shows an impact of some kind, and that 0:16:01.000 --> 0:16:05.000 kind of stuff doesn't go unnoticed. So even though you know, 0:16:05.080 --> 0:16:07.600 here we are talking about two guys that are getting 0:16:08.120 --> 0:16:10.760 upwards of a dozen or even two dozen snaps on 0:16:10.840 --> 0:16:13.640 offense here as the Packers are in the postseason, they 0:16:13.640 --> 0:16:16.320 were getting zero in the first half of the season. 0:16:16.320 --> 0:16:18.600 But it just it just goes to show you how 0:16:18.960 --> 0:16:22.480 a team doesn't stay static, it doesn't stay the same. 0:16:22.520 --> 0:16:26.640 There's this constant evolution and uh and Matt Lafleur and 0:16:26.640 --> 0:16:29.320 and the offensive coaches have certainly paid heed to that well. 0:16:29.320 --> 0:16:30.920 And this is why I also like this move for 0:16:31.000 --> 0:16:33.160 Brian Goodkins, because you know, there was a time there 0:16:33.200 --> 0:16:34.920 that he was you know, the Packers were kind of 0:16:34.920 --> 0:16:38.880 getting sort of railed on for trading Trevor Davis away. Yeah, 0:16:39.000 --> 0:16:40.880 and you know, I think that took a lot of 0:16:40.880 --> 0:16:43.040 people by surprise. They got a six round draft pick 0:16:43.080 --> 0:16:45.480 for it. I'll admit it took me by surprise, just 0:16:45.480 --> 0:16:47.880 just based on just based on how we had seen 0:16:48.360 --> 0:16:51.720 Davis being used in training camp, in the preseason games 0:16:51.720 --> 0:16:55.120 and whatnot. I thought they they had sort of the 0:16:55.240 --> 0:16:57.320 niche for him on offense and that they wanted to 0:16:57.400 --> 0:16:59.160 use him in that way. But then they decided to 0:16:59.160 --> 0:17:01.680 move on. So he goes to Oakland and they claim 0:17:02.200 --> 0:17:05.560 Trey Smith, and things didn't really work out with Smith, 0:17:05.800 --> 0:17:07.719 and they you know, they try again and they go 0:17:07.760 --> 0:17:11.120 and find Tyler Irvin. Now, the one benefit to that 0:17:11.440 --> 0:17:13.160 because a lot of times you want to keep your 0:17:13.240 --> 0:17:17.080 core as consistent as possible through the season. But again, 0:17:17.080 --> 0:17:18.760 this is a conversation I think I've said before on 0:17:18.800 --> 0:17:20.960 the show, but I go back to that the talk 0:17:21.000 --> 0:17:23.320 I had with Tim Mass eight years ago. You know, 0:17:23.359 --> 0:17:25.520 if you're a specialist, if you're a return er, if 0:17:25.560 --> 0:17:28.600 you're even on specially like the playbook isn't as expansive, 0:17:29.320 --> 0:17:31.359 you can come in and make an impact, whether it's 0:17:31.400 --> 0:17:35.000 a kicker, punter, returner, lungs, what what have you, you 0:17:35.040 --> 0:17:37.399 can slide in and Irvin has done that. And I 0:17:37.440 --> 0:17:40.399 think it's a credit to good accounts because you know, 0:17:40.480 --> 0:17:42.680 they wanted to get better on their returns. They also 0:17:42.720 --> 0:17:45.119 were able to get some draft equity for it, but 0:17:45.560 --> 0:17:48.840 they were able to eventually, through that process find an answer. 0:17:48.920 --> 0:17:52.280 And you know, I think, I want to say, Dallas 0:17:52.320 --> 0:17:55.160 Morning News wise or with Rick Goslin's ratings, I think 0:17:55.160 --> 0:17:57.080 the Packers are probably gonna end up in that fifteen 0:17:57.119 --> 0:17:59.199 to twenty range for they're going to be somewhere in 0:17:59.200 --> 0:18:01.400 the middle of the past, which when you consider where 0:18:01.400 --> 0:18:02.960 things were looking in the middle of the season, it's 0:18:03.000 --> 0:18:05.640 just incredible what Irvin has been able to add both 0:18:05.680 --> 0:18:08.679 on kickoffs returns and then and punt returns, in addition 0:18:08.720 --> 0:18:11.240 to the fact that the Packers are covering a lot better. 0:18:12.280 --> 0:18:15.320 And for Matt Lafleur and his coaching staff to say, 0:18:15.359 --> 0:18:16.919 you know what, we're seeing what this guy's doing on 0:18:16.960 --> 0:18:19.040 special teams, we think he can help us on offense. 0:18:19.840 --> 0:18:22.520 That's the life of an NFL coach and that's the 0:18:22.560 --> 0:18:26.479 life of an NFL team. Understanding your personnel, learning what 0:18:26.560 --> 0:18:29.200 their strengths are in finding ways to implement It doesn't 0:18:29.200 --> 0:18:31.200 matter which phase of the game it is. I mean, 0:18:31.200 --> 0:18:33.320 we we covered that Detroit game a couple of weeks ago, 0:18:33.400 --> 0:18:35.640 Jamal egg News catching passes, you know, and they're doing 0:18:35.680 --> 0:18:38.359 things with him with the Lions. So I mean, that's 0:18:38.400 --> 0:18:41.240 just the way this game goes. And for the Packers, 0:18:41.240 --> 0:18:43.399 if you're looking for difference makers, if you're looking for 0:18:43.440 --> 0:18:45.760 reasons to believe this game could be different, it's not 0:18:45.800 --> 0:18:48.080 gonna be Tyler Irvin probably having a hundred and fifty 0:18:48.119 --> 0:18:50.560 total yards. But it could be a punt return, it 0:18:50.560 --> 0:18:53.040 could be an end around that goes you know well 0:18:53.080 --> 0:18:56.240 and breaks for a for an explosive gain. All these 0:18:56.280 --> 0:18:57.920 things are things that have to be in the back 0:18:57.920 --> 0:19:01.320 of your mind. So for Irvin as Jamal as Aaron 0:19:01.400 --> 0:19:03.680 Jones says, adding a little bit more lightning to this offense, 0:19:04.040 --> 0:19:08.480 that all creates more mismatches potentially for green Bay to exploit. Yeah. Well, 0:19:08.480 --> 0:19:10.040 one other thing I want to get to before we 0:19:10.080 --> 0:19:12.560 go today, West will switch gears to the defensive side 0:19:12.560 --> 0:19:14.280 of the ball for a minute. Um. Some of the 0:19:14.320 --> 0:19:17.400 conversations that were going on in the locker room with 0:19:17.440 --> 0:19:20.879 players after practice yesterday. It was interesting. Blake Martinez shared 0:19:20.920 --> 0:19:23.160 with a few reporters, including me, I'm gonna be writing 0:19:23.200 --> 0:19:27.240 about this on our website actually later today that when 0:19:27.720 --> 0:19:31.920 the team came back from the blowout loss in San Francisco, 0:19:33.560 --> 0:19:36.119 you're heading into a regular Monday. You're going to come in, 0:19:36.200 --> 0:19:38.920 the coaches are going to show certain aspects of the film. 0:19:38.920 --> 0:19:41.360 It's sort of like a full team, you know, film 0:19:41.680 --> 0:19:46.040 review study. But the defensive guys got together and they 0:19:46.080 --> 0:19:49.000 all showed up an hour early, and they got together 0:19:49.119 --> 0:19:52.600 just as a defense. They had put in a request 0:19:52.720 --> 0:19:56.800 with the video department to say, hey, we want we 0:19:56.840 --> 0:19:59.399 want the video of all of the explosive plays that 0:19:59.400 --> 0:20:01.240 we've given up up on the season to that point 0:20:01.240 --> 0:20:04.719 it was whatever twelve eleven, eleven games into the season. 0:20:05.320 --> 0:20:07.440 We want video of all the explosive plays. We're gonna 0:20:07.440 --> 0:20:09.360 look at them. We're gonna try to, you know, get 0:20:09.400 --> 0:20:12.080 to the bottom of this. And they spent an hour 0:20:12.160 --> 0:20:15.680 in the film room together going over this stuff and 0:20:15.680 --> 0:20:21.440