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 trusted colleague West Hodkwitz. We're coming to you
Speaker 1: here from the Pottawatami Sportsbook Studio inside the walls of
Speaker 1: Lambeau Field, and we've got a lot to cover on
Speaker 1: this show because Sunday's full pads practice that we saw
Speaker 1: at Nichgie Field was a big one with a lot
Speaker 1: of stuff happening. But before we get to that, we
Speaker 1: need to talk about that preseason opener in Pittsburgh last
Speaker 1: Thursday night, where I think you and I both agree
Speaker 1: the headliner at the top of the list was rookie
Speaker 1: kicker Trace Smack.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I was a quintessential performance there by Smack. When
Speaker 2: we spend all this time talking about these practices, all
Speaker 2: these times, talking about OTAs and mini camp and training
Speaker 2: camp in the Hudson Center and Raynichkie Field, at the
Speaker 2: end of the day, this game of kicking comes down
Speaker 2: to when the lights are on, you're out there on
Speaker 2: the field, can you make the kicks? And it just
Speaker 2: so happens that Tray Smack made to the longest ones
Speaker 2: in Packers' history. In that game against Pittsburgen, and that's
Speaker 2: what this was all advertised as. Right when they drafted him,
Speaker 2: everybody talked about the leg strength and the leg power.
Speaker 2: Ten made field goals from beyond fifty yards and you
Speaker 2: see it. It's a natural kicking motion. He is not
Speaker 2: wailing at it. He is not just trying to put everything.
Speaker 2: The guy is just a natural kicker. And for him
Speaker 2: to go out there and make all three of his
Speaker 2: field goals, unfortunately that first fifty eight yard got waved
Speaker 2: off because of a penalty. On for end of the show,
Speaker 2: former Packers' defensive lineman Dean Lowry roughing the snapper, moved
Speaker 2: the Packers fifteen yards ahead. He ends up still making
Speaker 2: Smack that is, ends up making a thirty seven yard
Speaker 2: field goal, and then right before halftime goes out there
Speaker 2: and makes a fifty eight yarder. It was the biggest
Speaker 2: bright spot and for the Packers making that investment in
Speaker 2: us talking both some of the ebbs and flows that
Speaker 2: Smack has been through here early on. I think it
Speaker 2: was an encouraging performance for everybody involved.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and I thought it was really interesting. Couple interesting things.
Speaker 1: One is that as I believe we talked about or
Speaker 1: if we didn't talk about it on the show. I
Speaker 1: know I mentioned it in some of the writing from
Speaker 1: last week that Akrascher Stadium formerly known as Hinz Field
Speaker 1: in Pittsburgh is not normally kind to kickers. And I
Speaker 1: don't know for sure what officially the longest field goal
Speaker 1: made in that stadium is. I know that nobody has
Speaker 1: made a fifty eight yard or in the regular season there. Obviously,
Speaker 1: you know, August in Pittsburgh is a lot different than
Speaker 1: you know, November and December and Pittsburgh, and you know,
Speaker 1: there are no such thing as official preseason records and whatnot.
Speaker 1: But the fact that, the fact that Smack did that,
Speaker 1: and at the time on that opening drive, the word
Speaker 1: from Matt Lafleur was that special team's coordinator Cam Acord
Speaker 1: was saying, no, we're not gonna We're not gonna try
Speaker 1: a fifty eight yarder, and Lafleur's like, yes, we are,
Speaker 1: and he sent the rookie kicker out, I mean, his
Speaker 1: first kick in as a rookie in an NFL preseason
Speaker 1: game fifty eight yards in a tough venue, and he
Speaker 1: drilled it. Obviously that you know, just put that much
Speaker 1: more confidence in him when he was called on for
Speaker 1: another fifty eight yarder as you mentioned, right at the
Speaker 1: end of the first half. So it was it was
Speaker 1: a special night for Smack and maybe the best thing
Speaker 1: on the mental side of things, aside from the confidence boost,
Speaker 1: is then you were talking to him after the game
Speaker 1: in the locker room and he was even saying, you know,
Speaker 1: I've already moved on to Denver. You know, he's already
Speaker 1: thinking about the next game, the next challenge. You know,
Speaker 1: the altitude, the different stadium, everything that's going to be
Speaker 1: facing him this week. As he needs to go out
Speaker 1: now and begin to as they say, stack the success.
Speaker 1: That's the next challenge for Trace Mack.
Speaker 2: He we got him in the locker room. Larry mccahron
Speaker 2: asked a very fair question of him, you know, basically
Speaker 2: boiling down for you, what'd you think about your day?
Speaker 2: And Smack just said, matter of factly, I hit the
Speaker 2: ball pretty well, and that was it. This is the
Speaker 2: way the guy's going to approach it. And certainly when
Speaker 2: you look at the kicking position, there is an element
Speaker 2: what ties all these guys together, whether it's Chris Boswell
Speaker 2: in the other locker room, whether it was Mason Crosby
Speaker 2: who did it for here for so many years, or
Speaker 2: Ryan Longwell, who we found out was at practice last
Speaker 2: week for a couple days and was having some conversations
Speaker 2: with Trey Smack. What binds all these guys together, It's
Speaker 2: the idea that whatever you did today, you got to
Speaker 2: go and try to be consistent about it and repeat
Speaker 2: it again tomorrow. It's not always going to happen that way,
Speaker 2: but then when there is a miskick, it's how do
Speaker 2: you bounce back from it. I think Smack has that
Speaker 2: right approach and understanding that this is a very long game.
Speaker 2: And he actually was very thankful to the coaching staff
Speaker 2: and Matt Lafleur for how they've handled things too, because
Speaker 2: there was a couple of days where he went out
Speaker 2: there at Nichki and the kicks didn't go in, whether
Speaker 2: it be the win or just a couple of mishits
Speaker 2: on his part. Cam A Cord, Matt Lafleur, they've been
Speaker 2: very adamant and consistent about the messaging as it pertains
Speaker 2: to Smack and the idea that we understood what we
Speaker 2: were doing. When Brian Goodkuin's moved up to take him
Speaker 2: in the sixth round. When you tie yourself to a
Speaker 2: rookie kicker, there's going to be some rough patches. The
Speaker 2: Packers went through that with Mason Crosby. They went through
Speaker 2: that Mason Crosby six years into his NFL career, right,
Speaker 2: But by staying the course with him, that ultimately is
Speaker 2: what sort of led the way to them being able
Speaker 2: to solve that kicking equation for fifteen years. So the
Speaker 2: hope of me is that Smack can be that guy.
Speaker 2: And this was one small victory in what is ultimately
Speaker 2: going to be a much bigger battle.
Speaker 1: Yeah, there's a process here to this, right, and that
Speaker 1: process is just getting going because really the process will
Speaker 1: be his entire rookie season. It's not just training camp
Speaker 1: leading up to Week one. It's everything that happens between
Speaker 1: now in January. As far as the starters in the
Speaker 1: game in Pittsburgh, they got the work that they needed.
Speaker 1: The offense got the one third down conversion which set
Speaker 1: up the long field goal. Then the possession gets extended
Speaker 1: as you mentioned by the penalty on the first kick,
Speaker 1: but then unable to convert that drive into a touchdown.
Speaker 1: So they settle inn for the shorter field goal. The
Speaker 1: number one defense goes out there and gets a three
Speaker 1: and out right away. Aaron Rodgers was not playing. The
Speaker 1: Steelers had their starters out there with Mason Rudolph, and
Speaker 1: not even all their starters. There were other offensive guys gathering. Yeah,
Speaker 1: it was. It was a hodgepodge of kind of ones
Speaker 1: and twos for the Steelers in both instances. But I thought,
Speaker 1: I thought, as far as the ones go, the Packers
Speaker 1: got what they wanted, what they needed out of it.
Speaker 1: We'll see what Matt Lafleur says and decides to do,
Speaker 1: you know, with Regard Denver this week in that regard.
Speaker 1: But then the other headline really for green Bay in
Speaker 1: this game became number three quarterback Kyle McCord, the former
Speaker 1: sixth round pick of the Philadelphia Goals out of Syracuse.
Speaker 1: He comes to Green Bay late last season and he'd
Speaker 1: been battling with the undrafted rookie Chiron Drones from Virginia
Speaker 1: Tech for the number three job, and he won it
Speaker 1: already because the Packers have now released drones. McCord very
Speaker 1: impressive performance in a number of different respects, not only
Speaker 1: the I mean he call it a two minute drive,
Speaker 1: but it was really a thirty eight second drive at
Speaker 1: the end of the first half to get the long
Speaker 1: kick from Smack. But also just some of the things
Speaker 1: that he responded to in terms of when he had
Speaker 1: a guy in his face and when he had to,
Speaker 1: you know, deliver a ball, you know, maybe a little
Speaker 1: bit off schedule or not in the traditional fashion, and
Speaker 1: he was out there making plays and moving the chains
Speaker 1: and it was I thought it was a really impressive
Speaker 1: outing from McCord, and I think everybody's now looking to
Speaker 1: see what he's going to do in his next preseason
Speaker 1: opportunity come Friday night in Denver.
Speaker 2: Yeah, Kal McCord did what Tim Boyle did in the past,
Speaker 2: what Taysom Hill had done. These guys that were undrafted
Speaker 2: free agents or in his case, a late round pick,
Speaker 2: that are that are trying to make a bid for
Speaker 2: the fifty three man roster, you have to go out
Speaker 2: there and make plays. Nobody is. Everybody understands what this is.
Speaker 2: They understand what the offensive line is going to look like.
Speaker 2: They understand sometimes you're gonna be going up against two,
Speaker 2: sometimes threes, maybe even sometimes once. Right, So Graham Harold
Speaker 2: did to make the roster back in twenty twelve. You
Speaker 2: sometimes are going to have to go through challenging circumstances.
Speaker 2: And what I was most impressed with of everything that
Speaker 2: mccorr did, it was setting up that field goal for Smack.
Speaker 2: I mean, the guy has I think, what did we
Speaker 2: end up going on? It was thirty five seconds we
Speaker 2: were going back to it was.
Speaker 1: Well, I thought it was thirty seven because that's what
Speaker 1: I had in my notebook, But then the official play
Speaker 1: by play from the NFL said the first down play
Speaker 1: after the kickoff was run at thirty eight seconds, so
Speaker 1: it was essentially a thirty seven second drive because he
Speaker 1: did the spike them with one tick left on the
Speaker 1: clock for the kicker.
Speaker 2: And as Matt Lafleur said, the threes have not had
Speaker 2: a lot of those opportunities to run a two minute
Speaker 2: situation and for him to navigate that find all these
Speaker 2: receivers think he makes four completions. And then also, I
Speaker 2: mean credit to the offense for being able to set
Speaker 2: they had twelve seconds left, being able to get the
Speaker 2: quick throw and they're able to clock it with one
Speaker 2: second left. I mean, that's about as good of a
Speaker 2: job as you can ask for from a number three
Speaker 2: quarterback or a guy that has projected to be in
Speaker 2: that spot. So absolutely McCord started camp. I thought kind
Speaker 2: of slow, started the offseason program, kind of slow. It
Speaker 2: would look like it was a pretty tight battle there
Speaker 2: for a minute between him and Drones.
Speaker 1: I thought so too.
Speaker 2: Practice after practice, throw after throw. It was eighteen that
Speaker 2: kept showing up a little bit more and a little
Speaker 2: bit more. And Mike, you and I have covered these teams,
Speaker 2: whether it was Mike McCarthy or it's been in the
Speaker 2: Matt Leafloor era. When you get to mid August, if
Speaker 2: injuries are not an issue, there's going to be fewer
Speaker 2: opportunities for that fourth quarterback to get snaps. The Packers
Speaker 2: decide to cut bait. Now they're going to presumably see
Speaker 2: a lot of Tyrod Taylor, a lot of Kyle McCord
Speaker 2: the rest of this preseason. We'll see what else happens
Speaker 2: with Jordan Love. And they feel confident about that. So
Speaker 2: d face the first part of this thing. He beat
Speaker 2: out Drones. Now he has two more weeks here to
Speaker 2: show that he's the right guy to be QB three.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and to be sure as well, it wasn't a
Speaker 1: perfect showing by Kyle McCord. I mean, he's going to
Speaker 1: look at the film. The coaches are going to look
Speaker 1: at the film. One of the sacks that he took.
Speaker 1: I think it's one of those that is kind of
Speaker 1: on the quarterback because the protection was there, but he's
Speaker 1: trying to make a play, held the ball too long,
Speaker 1: you know, didn't get out when he had an opportunity,
Speaker 1: or didn't get rid of the ball when he had
Speaker 1: an opportunity. So those are the moments even within a really,
Speaker 1: really good performance. Kyle McCord is going back to the
Speaker 1: practice field this week and he's going to be heading
Speaker 1: into Denver knowing that, Okay, that's the kind of play
Speaker 1: that I can't let that happen again. Right, So, still
Speaker 1: plenty to work on there, But as you mentioned, he's
Speaker 1: going to get a lot more practice reps now because
Speaker 1: they aren't splitting the threes between two different quarterbacks. He's
Speaker 1: the guy who gets to take all of those and
Speaker 1: it should only benefit him. So that said, the Packers
Speaker 1: were then back on the practice field. Actually they were
Speaker 1: back on the practice field on Saturday, but that was
Speaker 1: a closed practice, no media, no fans. Then Sunday was
Speaker 1: the traditional open training camp practice, and the big news,
Speaker 1: of course was tight end Tucker Craft was back in
Speaker 1: the eleven on eleven. Now, I wonder if he was
Speaker 1: in the eleven on eleven in the close practice on Saturday,
Speaker 1: and we just did We just didn't know. But whatever
Speaker 1: the case, as I said in our three things video,
Speaker 1: you wrote about it in the five Things from practice
Speaker 1: that's posted on the website, you would not know based
Speaker 1: on how the eleven on eleven went in Sunday's practice
Speaker 1: that that was the first time anybody had seen Tucker
Speaker 1: Craft do eleven on eleven of any type since early November.
Speaker 1: I mean, he looked, he really did look like he
Speaker 1: had never left.
Speaker 2: He said three things, no pun intending trade mark, registered
Speaker 2: trademarker in effect. He said three things in his press
Speaker 2: conferences media scrum afterwards. In all three of them really
Speaker 2: hit home for me. The first one is how different
Speaker 2: this Packers offense is when he's on the field. He
Speaker 2: says that humbly, but it's true. The Packers' offense, it
Speaker 2: operates at a different level when number eighty five is
Speaker 2: out there. I thought you saw it. I love what
Speaker 2: I saw in the two minute periods. I love the
Speaker 2: fact that there were five targets, there were some competitive
Speaker 2: plays out there. Kraft made every single play, in my goodness,
Speaker 2: when he got to the end zone. Ryan Wood even
Speaker 2: made the comment in the media scrum, I mean the
Speaker 2: force that he spiked that ball with when he scored
Speaker 2: on that twelve yard slant, there was you could feel
Speaker 2: like nine months, nine and a half months of just
Speaker 2: there was an aggression built up.
Speaker 1: There was a Catharsis to that spike in the end zone.
Speaker 1: For sure.
Speaker 2: You don't see those typically in the practice, even a
Speaker 2: padded practice at that. And then seeing the way the
Speaker 2: guys embraced him, and I put that in the notes
Speaker 2: package we had, I mean the star fish, as he
Speaker 2: calls it, the chest pumps. I mean, like every single
Speaker 2: guy that was in a vicinity of him, and some
Speaker 2: of them that were even on the sideline, We're going
Speaker 2: out there to celebrate with Tucker Kraft. That's how you
Speaker 2: end up as a captain in year three, right, That's
Speaker 2: what he means to this football team. And the other
Speaker 2: thing he said that I really I loved it. It
Speaker 2: was such an interesting thing. He doesn't follow the trends
Speaker 2: of social media. He doesn't watch television. He reiterates that,
Speaker 2: but he understands that some of the criticisms of his
Speaker 2: game and you know how he is against man and yeah,
Speaker 2: it was. This guy's just you know, kind of a
Speaker 2: zone merchant and being able to break tackles, which, by
Speaker 2: the way, heck of a way to make a career
Speaker 2: if you can do that. He is so motivated to
Speaker 2: become a complete tight end, and that it goes into
Speaker 2: the last point I want to make from his media scrum,
Speaker 2: which is his whole thing. It's a very similar mentality
Speaker 2: to what Micah Parsons has had. It's not about coming
Speaker 2: back the same player that he was, it's about coming
Speaker 2: back even better. He felt like he was in the
Speaker 2: conversation for the best tight end of the league last year.
Speaker 2: Now he wants to make sure that there's no doubts
Speaker 2: about it. So he said, he watched all the film
Speaker 2: three times over of all the Packer games. He went
Speaker 2: back and he was watching San Francisco film to see
Speaker 2: how George Kittle operates in a very comparable offense with
Speaker 2: what Kyle Shanahan runs in San Francisco. This guy left
Speaker 2: no stone unturned. So in so many ways, everything that
Speaker 2: we saw in the practice field on Sunday. Probably shouldn't
Speaker 2: come as a surprise.
Speaker 1: Yeah, absolutely, And he expressed continue to express his confidence
Speaker 1: that this new contract is going to get done, and
Speaker 1: you know, yeah, the goal is to get it done
Speaker 1: by week one. But it's the way he talked about it.
Speaker 1: It's not something that he seems overly concerned about. He's
Speaker 1: focused on. You know, he's getting ready to play a
Speaker 1: full season here for the Green Bay Packers, knowing what
Speaker 1: he means to the team, knowing what he means to
Speaker 1: all those guys in the locker room, and it absolutely
Speaker 1: should something.
Speaker 2: Yeah, you've covered this team a long time. When was
Speaker 2: the last time, truly, I know there was ended up
Speaker 2: being a second deal with Jramichael Finley, but when was
Speaker 2: the last time the Packers had a tight end on
Speaker 2: this roster where you're like, my goodness, this thing has
Speaker 2: to get done. Yeah, respectfully, Like when I think about
Speaker 2: Tucker Craft, because people always say this, like and they
Speaker 2: always want to worry about it. Whatever guy's contract is
Speaker 2: coming up, they want to worry about it. Hey, when
Speaker 2: are we going to take care of Jaden Reied? When
Speaker 2: are we going to take care of Christian Watson? When
Speaker 2: is the Jordan Love deal going to be done? Jordan
Speaker 2: Love's not practicing this week, when are they going to
Speaker 2: get it done? I don't know. In all my time,
Speaker 2: which is again several years fewer than your tenure here,
Speaker 2: I don't know if there's ever been a deal where
Speaker 2: I've just said I have no concern about it. I
Speaker 2: think the Packers are going to do right by him,
Speaker 2: and I think Tucker Craft was cut out of rock,
Speaker 2: cut out of Marble to be a Green Bay Packer,
Speaker 2: and so again we'll see how it all shapes up.
Speaker 2: But this it makes sense from a personal standpoint, but
Speaker 2: also from the same point, the Packers haven't had a
Speaker 2: tight end like this, at least during my time covering
Speaker 2: the team.
Speaker 1: And I'll make a couple of points here. One the
Speaker 1: reason I'm also not worried about it is because of
Speaker 1: what the Packers did with Christian Watson over the course
Speaker 1: of the last couple of years and how they treat
Speaker 1: did everything with regard to his ACL injury. Obviously, the
Speaker 1: injury history of the two players is very different. But
Speaker 1: but I think what went on with Christian Watson is
Speaker 1: is certainly a sign that this thing with Tucker Craft
Speaker 1: is going to get done. The other thing, I'll say
Speaker 1: a little bit more to your point, the last when
Speaker 1: when Tucker Craft went down last November and then we
Speaker 1: found out the next day whatever it was, that that
Speaker 1: it was a season ending injury and he was done.
Speaker 1: The last time that I can remember being legitimately concerned
Speaker 1: about what was going to happen with the offense missing
Speaker 1: a tight end of that caliber was when Jermichael Finley
Speaker 1: went down in twenty ten, because he was such a
Speaker 1: big part of things. And now Finley's injury was even
Speaker 1: earlier in that season, which in a lot of ways
Speaker 1: benefited the team because they had that much more time
Speaker 1: to adjust and by the end of the season, you
Speaker 1: had almost like forgotten that Jermichael fle was even part
Speaker 1: of the team. And I don't mean that in any
Speaker 1: just disrespect to him, but injuries in November compared to
Speaker 1: injuries in September early October are very different in terms
Speaker 1: of how they affect a football team. So that's that's
Speaker 1: what sticks in my mind about Craft, because because that's
Speaker 1: the last time that I felt that way about the
Speaker 1: Packers losing a tight end. This wasn't just oh, somebody
Speaker 1: else can step in and do what he does or
Speaker 1: come close like no, that that's that's not the case
Speaker 1: and U And yeah, I mean, more power to him.
Speaker 1: I I agree with you that that I don't think
Speaker 1: there should be major concerns about this contract. It's just
Speaker 1: the kind of thing that it's just the kind of
Speaker 1: thing that takes time because they're they're complicated and there's
Speaker 1: a lot of things to consider from both sides and
Speaker 1: U and so they're gonna take their time and get
Speaker 1: it done.
Speaker 2: You just you just don't see tight ends get to market.
Speaker 2: They just don't. They always get done. I mean, it's
Speaker 2: I'm trying to think the last time I'm talking about it.
Speaker 2: I'm not talking about Evan Ingram like randomly anding up
Speaker 2: in Jackson. I'm talking about the last time like a
Speaker 2: premiere tight end reach the market. It just doesn't happen.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: So uh And the other thing is too, that I
Speaker 2: think is really exciting. Tucker Craft is not worried about it. Yeah,
Speaker 2: you know, I mean if there's if he wasn't being
Speaker 2: asked the question, Tucker Craft wouldn't be talking.
Speaker 1: He wouldn't even be talking about it. Yeah, he's exactly.
Speaker 1: He's answering the questions because he's being asked. But honestly,
Speaker 1: it feels to me like his his focus is uh,
Speaker 1: as he likes to say, and as a lot of
Speaker 1: guys like to say, his focus is on the things
Speaker 1: that he can control, and he's not in control of
Speaker 1: the contract situation. So he's going to let the people
Speaker 1: he hired and let the packers figure it out.
Speaker 2: And what was the juice like in that practice too?
Speaker 2: And maybe you're going to talk about after the break?
Speaker 2: I mean we had we had a scuffle out there.
Speaker 2: You know, it's hire Franklin mixing it up with Chris Brooks,
Speaker 2: I mean, Franklin and Tucker Again. It just the vibes
Speaker 2: were high on the field, like it just it just
Speaker 2: seemed like it everything went to just another gear on Sunday.
Speaker 2: Now maybe that was a two hour and ten minute practice,
Speaker 2: I don't know, but it felt like football. Sunday felt
Speaker 2: like a football, Yeah, it really did.
Speaker 1: I want to talk some more about that, but we
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Speaker 1: Packers unscripted. You said it wes that practice on Sunday,
Speaker 1: it was at a different level it And yes, I
Speaker 1: don't know if if if it was just a combination
Speaker 1: of all of Tucker craft being in the eleven on
Speaker 1: eleven of being back in front of you know, a
Speaker 1: good crowd of fans at Nichegi, you know, for the
Speaker 1: first time since you know, prior to going to Pittsburgh.
Speaker 1: You know, it was you know, I won't say hot,
Speaker 1: but it was muggy and a little uncomfortable. You know.
Speaker 1: The humidity out there was a factor. Guys were sweating,
Speaker 1: and it was it was long. There were a lot
Speaker 1: of eleven on eleven reps for one practice and Matt
Speaker 1: Lafleur had actually said in when he spoke with the
Speaker 1: media before practice, he said basically said, yeah, they're gonna
Speaker 1: go hard because then Monday is just like a walkthrough.
Speaker 1: And then they'll be back to more of like the
Speaker 1: normal practice on Tuesday and Wednesday. So yeah, there was
Speaker 1: something about There was something about that Sunday afternoon at
Speaker 1: Nichiki Field that was different than what we've seen and
Speaker 1: felt throughout training camp so far. And I guess from there,
Speaker 1: we'll see how the rest of the week goes.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and just for the average fan, making sure we
Speaker 2: lay it out so people understand. The reason you do
Speaker 2: that is because most of the starters didn't play very long,
Speaker 2: right The offense had one series, the defense had three plays,
Speaker 2: So you want to be able to get guys more work,
Speaker 2: want to be able to go down the field with
Speaker 2: Jordan Love and get him into rhythm, and also try
Speaker 2: to sort through this offensive line situation right now, which
Speaker 2: got we gained a little bit more perspective on this
Speaker 2: past week. But overall, I don't remember, and maybe you
Speaker 2: can correct me, because your memory is better than mine.
Speaker 2: I don't recall a time in which we had three
Speaker 2: straight team periods this camp. I don't even remember how
Speaker 2: many times that happened last year at all. But through
Speaker 2: that I thought there was an important lesson to be learned,
Speaker 2: because that's where the attrition comes into it right, And
Speaker 2: I think that's also what turns up my attention when
Speaker 2: you see guys make plays. I mean, you look at
Speaker 2: katano Aladappo, who's learning how to play this nickel spot
Speaker 2: with Javon Bullard, his you know, twenty twenty four classmate,
Speaker 2: him coming through and stepping up and making a nice
Speaker 2: interception there on a play out to the flat and
Speaker 2: stepping in front of one days after he's chasing down
Speaker 2: you know, Will Howard for a sack in Pittsburgh. Those
Speaker 2: are the plays that you need to make as the
Speaker 2: Packers try to sort through not only what the fifty
Speaker 2: three is going to be like, but who's the next
Speaker 2: man up if there is something happens during the season.
Speaker 2: I thought, you know, Jalen Simpson moving back to perimeter.
Speaker 1: Cornerback, that was the next guy I was going to
Speaker 1: talk about it.
Speaker 2: We're learning something about him and it's very interesting that
Speaker 2: he has a safety nickel background, but my goodness, to me,
Speaker 2: it looks like his most natural position is cornerback. And
Speaker 2: I say that with no disrespect and no Jalen was
Speaker 2: talking to us in the locker room on Sunday. He
Speaker 2: said he doesn't quantify himself as anything. He thinks he's
Speaker 2: a defensive back. He can play anywhere. But he did
Speaker 2: mention there were some moments that were very difficult in
Speaker 2: that game against Pittsburgh. But he's playing the nickel, a
Speaker 2: spot that he's played historically, but not really concentrated much
Speaker 2: on this offseason just because of numbers, because of what
Speaker 2: the second team in thirteen units look like. In the
Speaker 2: second half, well, then he goes back out to the perimeter,
Speaker 2: and my goodness, I mean that was as nice of
Speaker 2: a reception as you've seen in training camp, let alone
Speaker 2: an interception. Yeah, he's going up against Prather down the
Speaker 2: sideline and Tyrod Taylor's trying to work that thing in there.
Speaker 2: He keeps inside leverage, he keeps Prather out to the
Speaker 2: sideline and makes a wonderful over the shoulder catch and
Speaker 2: nearly had another one. As he said, that doesn't count.
Speaker 2: You got to catch him. Yeah, Yeah, he read an
Speaker 2: outrow perfectly. He had been off for a pick six.
Speaker 2: So as we sort of chart out what this depth
Speaker 2: chart is going to look like, and guys that are
Speaker 2: making a bid for the fifty three, Jalen Simpson continually
Speaker 2: finding ways to get noticed.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I thought it was a great bounce back practice
Speaker 1: for Simpson. And again we don't necessarily, we don't really
Speaker 1: know what happened on the practice field Saturday when they
Speaker 1: got back out there, But Sunday was a great bounce
Speaker 1: back for a young player who had been doing a
Speaker 1: lot of really good things. And we talked about him
Speaker 1: on the show last week leading into the Pittsburgh game.
Speaker 1: And but then he had some rough moments in Pittsburgh
Speaker 1: with you know, falling down and coverage and he got
Speaker 1: flagged for past interference and so he needed a rebound
Speaker 1: moment and he got it and now he's you know,
Speaker 1: he'd been looking for another one. In the second preseason game,
Speaker 1: you talked about next man up, so not a long
Speaker 1: term injury, but Lucas Vanes is currently sidelined with a
Speaker 1: shoulder injury. He spoke to reporters and said it's not
Speaker 1: something that you know, is really a big deal, you know,
Speaker 1: being very cautious about it right now. But the next
Speaker 1: guy up was Brenton Cox junior. Well, Breton Cox Junior
Speaker 1: got a sack in Pittsburgh when the second team defense
Speaker 1: was out there on the field, and again that's a
Speaker 1: player he's not a rookie by any stretch, but he's
Speaker 1: still a young player because of the time that he's
Speaker 1: missed due to injury and you know, the sort of
Speaker 1: inconsistent playing time that he's had over the course of
Speaker 1: his career. But Breenton Cox Junior is a player to
Speaker 1: watch on this team as the Packers are going to
Speaker 1: work their way through this stretch on defense until Michael
Speaker 1: Parsons comes back Number fifty seven. I've always felt I mean,
Speaker 1: you know, I think we probably talked about it on
Speaker 1: this show. When he first arrived as an undrafted guy.
Speaker 1: You could see immediately the pass rush ability that he has.
Speaker 1: Everything to me with Breenton Cox Junior has been and
Speaker 1: can he round out his game to be to also
Speaker 1: be a stout edge setter against the run to them
Speaker 1: where the coaches can trust me. He doesn't need to
Speaker 1: be a specialized player for a certain package or a
Speaker 1: certain down and distance. He can be an every down
Speaker 1: guy because the well rounded game is there. It was
Speaker 1: probably going to come sooner for him if not for
Speaker 1: the injury last year that wiped out such a big
Speaker 1: portion of the season. But it feels like it's coming
Speaker 1: for Brenton Cox Junior now.
Speaker 2: Man, It's just he has it all. He has all
Speaker 2: the tools that you want to see in a pass rusher,
Speaker 2: and I think he has improved as an edge setter
Speaker 2: too against the run. And I feel like this transition
Speaker 2: now with Jonathan Gannon's defense getting back to more of
Speaker 2: a three to four, I think that's also going to
Speaker 2: benefit him. You're seeing these edge rushers stand up a
Speaker 2: little bit more. Lucas Vaness was doing that as well.
Speaker 2: The way I don't know who you're gonna give the
Speaker 2: sack to, but the one that him Nxire Franklin both
Speaker 2: contributed to, and Franklin came on the a gap blitz
Speaker 2: in Pittsburgh that came from a two point stance in
Speaker 2: him rushing off to the side. It just seems like
Speaker 2: everybody's so comfortable in their own skin right now. But
Speaker 2: with Cox, it's fascinating because I don't think I've covered
Speaker 2: a guy like him in Green Bay so far. Mic
Speaker 2: in which basically red shirts two seasons and honestly a
Speaker 2: bulk of his third season, and unfortunately for Brenton, special
Speaker 2: teams have never been part of his real big job
Speaker 2: description and something he's worked hard at. But whether it
Speaker 2: was because of Kings Leannigbari and then Baron Surrell and
Speaker 2: obviously Lucas Vaness has played in that phase for three years.
Speaker 2: It was hard for him to get on the game
Speaker 2: day roster, so it was sort of like, Okay, either
Speaker 2: he's pass rushing or he's going to be down. They
Speaker 2: trade Preston Smith last year or two years ago. Excuse me.
Speaker 2: Now he comes out of the gates. He's flying four
Speaker 2: sacks in seven games, seven quarterback hits, and I think
Speaker 2: we all expected him to be able to pick up
Speaker 2: right where he left off, and in some regards he did,
Speaker 2: but unfortunately he gets that core injury just derails year
Speaker 2: three for him. But the Packers bring him back, and
Speaker 2: I think Mike when they did that and they worked
Speaker 2: through all those restricted free agents, if you put together
Speaker 2: that list, it was like, man, if they could find
Speaker 2: a way to keep him in the fold and just
Speaker 2: see year four, what does he have? Yeah, I think
Speaker 2: we're so close to figuring that out. I mean that
Speaker 2: bull rush that he had, I mean the way that
Speaker 2: this guy is put together and the strength that is
Speaker 2: in his body, it's special. So for him to be
Speaker 2: able to have that performance. And I chatted with him
Speaker 2: about it afterwards. You know, he mentioned he just saw
Speaker 2: what Lucas did, what the defense did, he had to
Speaker 2: keep that going. There's just so many guys in that
Speaker 2: edge rushing competition right now that it's not just about
Speaker 2: who makes the fifty three. It's about who is going
Speaker 2: to be contributing in the month of September when Micah
Speaker 2: Parsons isn't out there and for LVN not being on
Speaker 2: the field right now, I think this is a great
Speaker 2: chance for BC to show what he's all about.
Speaker 1: Yeah, no doubt about it. As far as the competitions go.
Speaker 1: I mean, we're the cornerback competition is continuing, Brandon CSA,
Speaker 1: Keishawn Nixon, Benjamin Saint Jus. In Sunday's practice, it was
Speaker 1: pretty much CISA and Nixon with the ones for the
Speaker 1: bulk of practice. So we'll see what happen happens as
Speaker 1: the rest of the week goes. Carrington Valentine's still currently
Speaker 1: sidelined with the hamstring injury, but that remains a competition
Speaker 1: to watch. And then on the offensive line at guard,
Speaker 1: we've talked about Jacob Monk. He's been playing right guard.
Speaker 1: Jagger Burton is playing left guard because Aaron Banks has
Speaker 1: still not taken any eleven on eleven. He's dealing with
Speaker 1: an issue with his knee. But you know, the longer
Speaker 1: this goes on, then you wonder, okay, like how is
Speaker 1: this going to sort itself out on the offensive line.
Speaker 1: So those are competitions we continue to watch, and as
Speaker 1: you said, the edge rusher one is definitely at the
Speaker 1: top of the list.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and Baron Surrell, I mean what he's done with
Speaker 2: that opportunity to And I said it, Mike, I don't
Speaker 2: know if you caught my tweet about this during the game.
Speaker 2: Obviously you're working on the live chat. But you know,
Speaker 2: I picked Baron as my player to watch, and I
Speaker 2: did that because I thought he was a player to watch,
Speaker 2: but also because I thought he would play into the
Speaker 2: first quarter. I thought he'd be kind of like Warren
Speaker 2: Brentson and some of these other guys, they would stay
Speaker 2: in the game. They took him out after that first series.
Speaker 2: That speaks volumes about what they think about this kid,
Speaker 2: what he's put on tape already, and how important he
Speaker 2: is to the defense. It could have easily rotated him
Speaker 2: and without denying Dennis Sutton. They needed ed rushers in
Speaker 2: this game, but they felt that good about what they've
Speaker 2: seen from Sorell and wanted to protect him there that
Speaker 2: his night was over after that first series. So in
Speaker 2: terms of the offensive line, there's so much to learn
Speaker 2: there still. And you know, you have Anthony Belton, who
Speaker 2: I thought took a step forward at right tackle in
Speaker 2: that game. The more I watch him, it just it
Speaker 2: does seem like that is the spot he's most comfortable with.
Speaker 2: He talked very openly about how learning right guard has
Speaker 2: been a new thing for him. Whereas you see guys
Speaker 2: like Jacob Munk, who played there a lot at Duke,
Speaker 2: you see a guy like jag Or Burton who played
Speaker 2: everywhere on the interior line at Kentucky. That's traits that
Speaker 2: you develop and you learn, and it doesn't just happen
Speaker 2: overnight for you. I mean, there is a workload in
Speaker 2: a background that I think sometimes shows itself up. But
Speaker 2: for both of those guys getting those shots and for
Speaker 2: Aaron Banks not being out there right now, I think
Speaker 2: they've done the most with it, and Burton to be
Speaker 2: able to, you know, Matt Lafleur said, he's like, you know,
Speaker 2: the way he's played, he's given the packers a lot
Speaker 2: to consider, and I think that's a credit to him
Speaker 2: and the mentality that he came in with four year
Speaker 2: starter in the SEC you cannot just come in and
Speaker 2: be a guy like. There's a reason why you were
Speaker 2: able to do that, and it's because he's accountable and
Speaker 2: it's because he has a skill set.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and one other competition we certainly need to talk about.
Speaker 1: This will be the last one here before we go,
Speaker 1: but you and I have seen it. We talk about
Speaker 1: it on the sideline. We talked about it. You know
Speaker 1: here at our desks, when you look at what's going
Speaker 1: on at defensive tackle here, we know that when everybody's
Speaker 1: healthy and things are good to go, that the main
Speaker 1: two guys are DeVante Wyatt and Javon Hargrave. But it
Speaker 1: seems like when we're watching practice, like every other minute,
Speaker 1: when we look up from our phones or look up
Speaker 1: from our notebooks and you know the notes that we're taking,
Speaker 1: whatever we're seeing Carl Brooks or Chris mccollin or Nasstackhouse
Speaker 1: or Warren Brinson making a play, and I'm probably leaving
Speaker 1: out a guy here too. Anthony Campbell is Yeah, is another.
Speaker 1: I mean the now it's It's not perfect for any
Speaker 1: of those guys either, but it's interesting to me to
Speaker 1: see how many different guys at that position seem to
Speaker 1: just show up here and there on the practice field
Speaker 1: where you know, you can't just ignore it, especially when
Speaker 1: the practices are in full pads. I mean, we'll see
Speaker 1: what the rest of the practices this week have in store,
Speaker 1: and and when we get to the second preseason game
Speaker 1: in Denver, there isn't room for all these guys on
Speaker 1: the roster. There isn't. There are going to be some
Speaker 1: tough decisions made, and maybe the decisions made at defensive
Speaker 1: tackle might be the toughest ones that Goody and company
Speaker 1: are going to have to make. And we're a long
Speaker 1: way from that. You know, there's still maybe some of
Speaker 1: these guys will start to separate themselves, but collectively as
Speaker 1: a group, you can't point to any one guy and
Speaker 1: say like, oh, where's he been. It's like, no, we're
Speaker 1: seeing these guys are showing up on a daily basis
Speaker 1: on the practice field in a pretty large group and
Speaker 1: a large competition, and it's definitely something to follow.
Speaker 2: I mean, the more I watch McClellan, I've been jokingly
Speaker 2: calling him Chris mcpad level. I mean, it's just the
Speaker 2: low man wins in the sport, and you can see
Speaker 2: how he won as much as he did. And it
Speaker 2: was a conversation I have with Warren Brinson too about
Speaker 2: a week and a half ago, when he said, you know,
Speaker 2: when you lead the sec in sacks as an interior
Speaker 2: defensive tackle at that position, leading them in that position,
Speaker 2: that speaks volumes about what you're doing against these other
Speaker 2: offensive lines and how disruptive you've been. And I think
Speaker 2: you see those traits. It's not gonna happen overnight for him,
Speaker 2: but the fact that you're seeing some of those flashes already,
Speaker 2: I think are very important that the player though. The
Speaker 2: other one to throw into that conversation, and I'm glad
Speaker 2: that Larry mccaerron did in the Three Things video is
Speaker 2: Jonathan Ford because from.
Speaker 1: That's that's the other guy I was forgetting as well,
Speaker 1: which is hard to forget a guy who's three hundred
Speaker 1: and thirty eight pounds, but yes, go ahead.
Speaker 2: Honestly, Michael is when you look at these varying skill
Speaker 2: sets and these guys that have all made place, I
Speaker 2: don't think there's anybody during the time in which Whyatt
Speaker 2: wasn't in team and Hargrave was still on pup. I
Speaker 2: don't know if there's anybody that I don't think showed
Speaker 2: out at some point. Yeah, And what's so intriguing in
Speaker 2: the decision the Packers are going to have to ultimately
Speaker 2: make is they got all these different dudes with different
Speaker 2: skill sets. What do you want behind that starting three?
Speaker 2: You know, who do you want behind Brooks, Wyatt and Hargrave.
Speaker 2: Obviously McClellan is going to be a part of that,
Speaker 2: but you know in Azer Stackhouse came back bigger. He's
Speaker 2: defending the run well. I think he's looked more explosive.
Speaker 2: When you look at Warren Brinson, he's a knifing type
Speaker 2: of defensive tackle, a do it all kind of guy
Speaker 2: that there's an explosiveness there that maybe isn't common at
Speaker 2: his position. But then Jonathan ford Man, there are only
Speaker 2: so many human beings that the Good Lord made six
Speaker 2: foot five and three hundred and thirty five pounds in
Speaker 2: rock solid. I mean, this kid is not carrying bad weight.
Speaker 2: He's just a massive dude. It's what the Packers liked
Speaker 2: about him when they draft him four years ago out
Speaker 2: of Miami, and I think he has shown progress, and
Speaker 2: I think some of the most fun reps I've watched
Speaker 2: throughout the fall, throughout the spring, and into the summer,
Speaker 2: we're seeing him and Anthony Campbell lined up together in
Speaker 2: the three unit because both of those guys were reckon
Speaker 2: shop at times. Now you've got to be able to
Speaker 2: do against the twos, you got to do it against
Speaker 2: the ones. But Ford is a guy that takes this
Speaker 2: job very seriously and understands what is required to Finally,
Speaker 2: he had to wait a very long time to get
Speaker 2: his shot in the NFL. It was brief with Chicago,
Speaker 2: but now he's back in Green Bay and to show
Speaker 2: that progress. There are traits inside that young man's body
Speaker 2: that are not common with most NFL football players, and
Speaker 2: the Packers in these last two preseason games and these
Speaker 2: practices that are be included in that they're going to
Speaker 2: be looking for number sixty four to show them.
Speaker 1: Yeah, there's a lot of evaluation still left to go.
Speaker 1: And as I always say, if the decisions are difficult,
Speaker 1: that's a good problem to have because it's way better
Speaker 1: than the alternative. If the personnel department is sitting down
Speaker 1: and looking at the board and this is easy, like
Speaker 1: bing bing bing bing. You know, move on from those
Speaker 1: like if it's easy, then that's not a good sign
Speaker 1: for your football team, Michael.
Speaker 2: Last year and now, some of this was you know,
Speaker 2: the Packers owned doing because they did trade Kenny Clark
Speaker 2: to acquire a generational player in Micah Parsons. But there
Speaker 2: was a stretch in the final half of that season
Speaker 2: the Packers were picking guys up off of waivers, They
Speaker 2: were signing guys from practice squads, and they were playing
Speaker 2: them the follow the following Sunday at nose Tackle. Yeah.
Speaker 2: So to be in a position where we're talking about
Speaker 2: this many different guys that are potentially contributing, that is
Speaker 2: a very good sign for all this thing's going to
Speaker 2: shape up. And honestly, it makes it really fun to
Speaker 2: head to Denver on Friday to have that joint practice
Speaker 2: against Arizona the following week to see, Okay, some of
Speaker 2: you guys have flashed, some of you guys have shown
Speaker 2: some stuff. Who's going to finish it out here? Yeah,
Speaker 2: who's gonna be the one that takes it all the
Speaker 2: way to the finish line?
Speaker 1: Yeah? Absolutely, Well, we've gone a little long today, but
Speaker 1: that's okay. It's training camp. The practice was long the
Speaker 1: other day, so we'll go along as well, but with
Speaker 1: a lot cooler and here, but with that we will
Speaker 1: call it? Who will call it? A final? On the episode.
Speaker 1: On this episode of Packers on Script, be sure to
Speaker 1: follow all of our coverage of the team and training
Speaker 1: camp on packers dot com. For West, I might thank
Speaker 1: you for tuning in se