Speaker 1: Hi, everybody, Welcome to another edition of Packers Unscripted from
Speaker 1: Packers dot Com. I am Mike Spafford, joined as always
Speaker 1: by my trusted colleague Weston Hodkowitz. We're coming to you
Speaker 1: here from different locations at lambeau Field, wes. We are
Speaker 1: in the final week of OTAs for the Packers, with
Speaker 1: the mandatory mini camp to follow next week. That will
Speaker 1: be the final week of the off season program, and
Speaker 1: we have been witness as members of the media to
Speaker 1: three practices so far throughout OTAs. I wanted to share
Speaker 1: maybe some of us just our observations where something sit
Speaker 1: on the depth chart, what we've noticed here and there,
Speaker 1: and again, as we talked about before OTA's even started,
Speaker 1: you take it a little bit with a grain of
Speaker 1: salt at this time of year, because coaches are trying
Speaker 1: out different guys in different spots, and nobody's put any
Speaker 1: pads on yet, nothing's full contact. But that being said,
Speaker 1: one thing, one competition that has certainly gotten under way
Speaker 1: and to a certain extent, lived up to its billing,
Speaker 1: at least so far, is what's been discussed with regard
Speaker 1: to the starting safety position alongside Darnell Savage. Because in
Speaker 1: the practices that we have been witnessed to, and we've
Speaker 1: only witnessed three of the of the eight or nine
Speaker 1: or however many there have been so far. But we
Speaker 1: have seen Rudy Ford with the number one defense with Savage,
Speaker 1: We've seen Jonathan Owens in that spot, and most recently,
Speaker 1: we've seen Tarvarius More in that spot. So you're talking
Speaker 1: about one hole over from last year, two guys who
Speaker 1: were brought in as free agents. That competition truly appears
Speaker 1: as wide open as it gets for a starting spot
Speaker 1: on this defense.
Speaker 2: As wide open as I can remember, Mike among basically
Speaker 2: veteran players. In a way, it almost reminds me of
Speaker 2: when Charles Woodson was moving back to safety and the
Speaker 2: Packers were trying to figure out how they were going
Speaker 2: to replace him as a perimeter cornerback. You know, you
Speaker 2: obviously had I think Casey Hayward was coming in that year,
Speaker 2: but it was like Jared Bush and like all these
Speaker 2: veteran players. Sam Shields was trying to get back into
Speaker 2: the conversation after a down year in twenty eleven. So
Speaker 2: here we are a wide open race with Ruby Ford
Speaker 2: coming back started a handful of games last year Jonathan
Speaker 2: Owens started every game last year for the Houston Texans,
Speaker 2: and then Tarvarius Moore is kind of this wild card.
Speaker 2: I don't know if it's because of Owens and you
Speaker 2: know the connections with Simone Biles and that storyline, but
Speaker 2: he's definitely been the more heralded, attention drawing signing for
Speaker 2: the Packers. But Moore was actually like one of the
Speaker 2: first signings Green Bay made this offseason. I remember I
Speaker 2: was at actually the WA State Boys basketball tournament watching
Speaker 2: Rob Demowski's son play when we saw the message come
Speaker 2: through that More was going to be signing, and I
Speaker 2: remembered a little bit about him from his time with
Speaker 2: the forty nine ers. But I think the bigger thing
Speaker 2: was he had that catastrophic injury, misses a full season
Speaker 2: and he came back, and it had always been a
Speaker 2: really solid, dependable, core special teams player fro him, but
Speaker 2: it seemed like he wasn't able to get that opportunity
Speaker 2: on defense again like he did before the injury. Well,
Speaker 2: if you look at his pedigree, mic a former third
Speaker 2: round draft pick, a guy that you know did have
Speaker 2: a lot of speed and attributes you look for coming
Speaker 2: into the NFL, a few years back. Now he gets
Speaker 2: a fresh starting Green Bay. And when you're talking about
Speaker 2: trying to make a positive impression that two minute drill
Speaker 2: to end practice, you know, Jordan Love makes an ill
Speaker 2: advised throw across the middle late trying to hit Christian
Speaker 2: Watson for a twenty nine yard touchdown. Moore shows his
Speaker 2: veteran savviness, kind of hides in the background a little
Speaker 2: bit back in the weeds, darts out, gets the pick,
Speaker 2: and that's what ended practice. So those are the type
Speaker 2: of plays that you're going to need to make if
Speaker 2: you're one of these safeties that wants to step up
Speaker 2: and grab that starting position.
Speaker 1: Yeah, Moore is a really intriguing prospect. And I say
Speaker 1: that not because he's a young guy, but prospect for
Speaker 1: the tent starting role because as you said, he you know,
Speaker 1: he he's had some opportunities to start and get playing
Speaker 1: time on defense. Then he's dealt with injuries. He's been
Speaker 1: anytime he's been healthy. With the forty nine ers, he
Speaker 1: was a core special teamer and obviously the Packers are
Speaker 1: going to be looking for that experience as well. Maybe
Speaker 1: the most interesting factoid about him, I think that has
Speaker 1: always stuck out to me, since the Packers signed him
Speaker 1: and we put some information on the website about him,
Speaker 1: is he has one interception in his career in his
Speaker 1: very limited playing time on defense, and it was in
Speaker 1: the Super Bowl against Patrick Mahomes at all of all moments, right,
Speaker 1: So officially he doesn't have a regular season interception as
Speaker 1: a defensive player, but he's got one in the Super
Speaker 1: Bowl against a future Hall of Famer, So he's got
Speaker 1: that going for him, as we like to say. But yeah,
Speaker 1: which is nice. This competition though, to me, it has
Speaker 1: all the markings of one of these that that very
Speaker 1: well might not be decided until the first couple, maybe
Speaker 1: all three of the preseason games are played in terms
Speaker 1: of who will be starting next to Darnel Savage and
Speaker 1: who knows, depending on how Matt Lafleur wants to, you know,
Speaker 1: work things as far as the playing time in the preseason.
Speaker 1: If Savage is is for sure you know the starter
Speaker 1: there as it appears to be, then maybe you know
Speaker 1: the preseason games, a couple of these guys will will
Speaker 1: start in those games and the end there'll be an
Speaker 1: even greater rotation of the reps with with some of
Speaker 1: the top line guys who are out there. So this
Speaker 1: one is is a long ways from over, but we've
Speaker 1: certainly seen in the early stages of twenty twenty three
Speaker 1: here that the Packers are going to explore all their
Speaker 1: options to fill this starting role that has been vacated
Speaker 1: by Adrian Amos.
Speaker 2: Well, keep one thing in mind, too, Mike. We've seen
Speaker 2: so many times now that the safety it's not just
Speaker 2: about who are the two back safeties, it's also about hey,
Speaker 2: who's potentially playing in the dime, who's gonna play in
Speaker 2: dollar If they go really defensive back heavy, there always
Speaker 2: is these opportunities. I think of how last year ended
Speaker 2: for Green Bay. You know, some injuries at cornerback. You're
Speaker 2: seeing in his Gains playing the slot late in the season.
Speaker 2: You saw Darnell Savage playing closer to the line of scrimmage.
Speaker 2: So certainly, the safety body type I think that historically
Speaker 2: has been one that lends itself well to special teams.
Speaker 2: You know, I think that's a really big reason why.
Speaker 2: You know, down Levitt, you look at the path he
Speaker 2: took as an undrafted free agent Utah State, becoming a
Speaker 2: core player for the Raiders, and then last year becoming
Speaker 2: a core special teamer here for Green Bay. It's not
Speaker 2: just about who wins that safety spot. It's about the
Speaker 2: other roles that they could potentially fill, and then all
Speaker 2: very quickly throw out Trek Carpenter and there at that
Speaker 2: as well. Now Tarik is playing now with the inside linebackers,
Speaker 2: learning from Devondre Campbell and Kirk O Lividatti at that position.
Speaker 2: But he's six foot three, six foot, you know, two
Speaker 2: hundred and thirty pounds somewhere in that range. I mean,
Speaker 2: those type of hybrid body types. Even though the league
Speaker 2: has gone back to more of a traditional breakdown between
Speaker 2: inside linebackers and safeties, they're still going to be in
Speaker 2: that conversation when you look at sub packages and where
Speaker 2: players could potentially fit. But obviously you want to be
Speaker 2: a starter. Ruby Ford has tasted it to various more
Speaker 2: has seen some of it. Jonathan Owens did it last
Speaker 2: year for the Houston Texans. That is a hungry, hungry
Speaker 2: group for somebody to grab that opportunity.
Speaker 1: Yeah, no question about it. I wanted to share a
Speaker 1: little bit too, as far as what we've seen, what
Speaker 1: we've observed with regard to the offensive line, because people,
Speaker 1: you know, folks are asking a lot of questions in
Speaker 1: terms of how this is going to shake out again,
Speaker 1: no definitive answers at this point, but in what we
Speaker 1: have observed in the practices we've been able to attend.
Speaker 1: We've seen Zach tom the second year fourth round pick,
Speaker 1: a year ago second year player out of Wake Forest.
Speaker 1: We've seen him take some snaps with the number one
Speaker 1: offense at right tackle. We've seen him take snaps with
Speaker 1: the number two offensive line at center. We've also seen
Speaker 1: Yash Nyman earlier in OTAs was taking snaps at left
Speaker 1: tackle when David Baktiari was not doing eleven on eleven drills.
Speaker 1: But we've also seen Nyman obviously take his share of
Speaker 1: snaps at right tackle. Yester, I'm sorry. On Tuesday, I
Speaker 1: gotta get my days straight here. On Tuesday, when Baktiari
Speaker 1: was not taking eleven on eleven snaps, we saw both
Speaker 1: Rashid Walker and Caleb Jones taking taking snaps at left
Speaker 1: tackle with the number one offensive line. When Elton Jenkins
Speaker 1: took a break at left guard, we saw Royce Newman
Speaker 1: step in with the number one offensive line there. So
Speaker 1: there's a lot, there's a lot going on. There's still
Speaker 1: a lot to sort out on the offensive line in
Speaker 1: terms of what what the pecking order is is going
Speaker 1: to be. But with that, I'll turn it over to
Speaker 1: you and if you have any other observations as far
Speaker 1: as things you've seen with regard to the depth chart
Speaker 1: as mandatory MENI caamp is right around the corner.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, it's funny how it's a year later,
Speaker 2: but yet it's still very much the same where you're
Speaker 2: seeing Zach Tom play right tackle, center, left tackle, all
Speaker 2: these different spots that he's sort of been immersed in,
Speaker 2: and continuing that because as both you know, Luke Buckiss
Speaker 2: and Matt Lafleur and certainly Adam Senovich have talked about,
Speaker 2: they want to give him an opportunity to compete for
Speaker 2: a starting job this year and and with the very least,
Speaker 2: you know, you need to have a backup center. If
Speaker 2: it is Josh Myers again, who's going to be the
Speaker 2: next guy up there? That could be Tom because I
Speaker 2: think it does feel like Elton Jenkins. They kind of
Speaker 2: want to stop that circle that Mary go around a
Speaker 2: little bit, keep him at left guard, let him get
Speaker 2: settled there and be the Pro Bowl player that we've
Speaker 2: learned him to be. But the right side is such
Speaker 2: an interesting spot because as much rotation as we're talking
Speaker 2: about John Runyon Junior, as John Runyon Junior is wont
Speaker 2: to do, it just continues to hold down that position,
Speaker 2: and I think he's turned out to be a really
Speaker 2: a big pillar there. He kind of reminds me a
Speaker 2: little bit of a Lane Taylor where it's just as
Speaker 2: steady as they go type of player that you can
Speaker 2: sort of hitch your offensive line to and then try
Speaker 2: to figure out what's happened at right tackle. That's not
Speaker 2: to say that he won't be competing to shoot. He's
Speaker 2: been doing some snapping as well. But the fact is
Speaker 2: is that the Packers know they have David Baktiari Elton
Speaker 2: Jenkins and a lot of opportunity. They want to give
Speaker 2: that opportunity to a group that has so many players
Speaker 2: returning this season. Michael, and you know, even a guy
Speaker 2: like Caleb Jones that I don't think he's necessarily in
Speaker 2: the conversation for a starting spot right now, but the
Speaker 2: fact that he's been able to work a little bit
Speaker 2: at left tackle when yosh Niman is concentrating on right tackle,
Speaker 2: those are valuable reps for a guy that was an
Speaker 2: undrafted free agent and on college rookie last year out
Speaker 2: of Indiana. That's what camp is all about. And you know,
Speaker 2: we're going to talk about some of these other things
Speaker 2: that are going on right now, and not to shift
Speaker 2: it away from the offensive line, but I asked Matt
Speaker 2: Lafleur about the cornerback situation during our media availability with
Speaker 2: him on Tuesday, because here's Carrington Valentine. Where a guy
Speaker 2: that otherwise a rookie, seventh round pick, who would not
Speaker 2: get reps with the number ones this time of year
Speaker 2: while Jay Ry, Alexander Rasoul Douglas aren't here. So here
Speaker 2: he is working against Romeo Dobbs getting a pass deflection.
Speaker 2: Who stands out, who makes an impression for my eye,
Speaker 2: whether it's offensive line defense, any of these positions, you've
Speaker 2: seen a lot of young guys sort of grab the
Speaker 2: brass ring, I feel like in the three practices that
Speaker 2: we've been exposed to and really make a case for themselves.
Speaker 2: Because at the end of the day, when you have
Speaker 2: less proven experience in your lineup, you want to see
Speaker 2: the young guys that really step up and grab that
Speaker 2: To bring it full circle, I think Zach Tom has
Speaker 2: been the epitome of that. I think a few years earlier,
Speaker 2: John Runyan was a great example of that. In the
Speaker 2: more guys that kind of step up and grab those opportunities,
Speaker 2: and in allow that twelve person offensive line that returned
Speaker 2: from last year, the cream rises to the top and
Speaker 2: the Packers have plenty of opportunity and options to look at,
Speaker 2: you know, when you're trying to formulate who's going to
Speaker 2: be those starting five come this summer.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and you have to believe, as you talked about,
Speaker 1: with the opportunity on the right side, that that is
Speaker 1: something that is going to continue all through training camp
Speaker 1: and through the three preseason games as the Packers make
Speaker 1: their way toward final roster decisions and then obviously starting
Speaker 1: lineup decisions for Week one. So a couple other topics
Speaker 1: to get to here, West, but I'll take care of
Speaker 1: some sponsor business. First. Serious XM NFL Radio delivers hard
Speaker 1: hitting analysis and up to the minute NFL news that
Speaker 1: true football fanatics need twenty four to seven, three sixty five.
Speaker 1: And at Cousin Subs, we have something for everyone like
Speaker 1: our Wisconsin Cheese Kurts, mac and Cheese, Golden Fries and
Speaker 1: creamy shakes, all paired with your favorite sub or sub
Speaker 1: and a bowl cousin subs.
Speaker 2: Fifty years of better.
Speaker 1: All right, A bit of a follow up that was,
Speaker 1: you know, maybe a couple of weeks in the making.
Speaker 1: A while back, we had a media availability with the
Speaker 1: whole gamut of assistant coach and one of the interesting
Speaker 1: topics that came out of that was when the media
Speaker 1: was discussing with Ben Sermons AJ Dillon's twenty twenty two season,
Speaker 1: and Sermons sort of, you know, opened the door a
Speaker 1: little bit to some discussions that he's had with Dylan
Speaker 1: in terms of, you know, Dylan not being satisfied with
Speaker 1: how he played, looking to uh, you know, looking to
Speaker 1: take some major steps forward here in his in his
Speaker 1: fourth season with the Packers. And then after practice on Tuesday,
Speaker 1: you were a part of a group of reporters talking
Speaker 1: with Dylan at his lockers. So I'm interested in what
Speaker 1: you learned from that conversation and what you can share
Speaker 1: with us on the show.
Speaker 2: First and foremost, Mike, I just want to say how
Speaker 2: much I love Ben Sermons, and you know, in the NFL,
Speaker 2: how many times have you and I when we look
Speaker 2: at a new incoming coach coming in or maybe just
Speaker 2: looking around the NFL. Do we see these Wikipedia pages
Speaker 2: where these guys that in God bless them, but they
Speaker 2: have these long resumes where it's been at this place
Speaker 2: and then this place in two years here and one
Speaker 2: year there. Ben Sermons has been the Packers running backs
Speaker 2: coach now for seven years, very quietly, has just done
Speaker 2: his job, developed Aaron Jones and Jamal Williams and made
Speaker 2: the transition with time Montgomery to running back and now
Speaker 2: his latest pupil has been AJ Dillon, longest tendered member
Speaker 2: of the Packers' offensive staff right now. Second longest tendered
Speaker 2: I think to Jerry Montgomery on the entire team in
Speaker 2: terms of the coaching staff, and when you have a
Speaker 2: relationship with the player when you've been around them for
Speaker 2: three years, I think you can speak frankly, even in
Speaker 2: the media about where you feel like they need to grow.
Speaker 2: And listening to AJ Dillon, it reminded me a lot
Speaker 2: of the conversation you had with Kenny Clark last year too,
Speaker 2: where there's this self awareness that is involved with it
Speaker 2: that says, hey, listen, last year wasn't a bad year
Speaker 2: for AJ Dillon. It was fine. But he has big goals,
Speaker 2: and I think what his thought process was is that
Speaker 2: he focused too much much on twenty twenty four when
Speaker 2: he needed to be in the present. And he mentioned
Speaker 2: a line that Sermons talks about with the running backs,
Speaker 2: which is if you think you stink, and it's true.
Speaker 2: It's true for a lot of positions, but especially at
Speaker 2: the running back position where everything is so instinctual. And
Speaker 2: I think when AJ Dillon is at his best, he's
Speaker 2: playing powerful and instinctual. You know, he mentioned Neil. There's
Speaker 2: a lot of things. Not to make excuses, but he
Speaker 2: was just kind of letting us in on his world
Speaker 2: a little bit. He's a new husband, he has a
Speaker 2: son coming, you know, he has a lot of things
Speaker 2: he's thinking about off the field. That's he's trying to
Speaker 2: set himself up for the future. Wants to come out dominate,
Speaker 2: be a powerback and a thousand yard rusher and all
Speaker 2: these different things. He just needed to focus on the
Speaker 2: play that was in front of him. And I think
Speaker 2: you can tell there's a weight lifted off his shoulders
Speaker 2: a little bit going into year two, because Mike, you
Speaker 2: and I have said it for the last two years.
Speaker 2: This offense is at its best when it runs through
Speaker 2: Aaron Jones in AJ Dillon. Doesn't matter if it's Aaron Rodgers,
Speaker 2: Jordan Love or freaking you know, Mike Tomzak back there.
Speaker 2: When they are able to get their running game going,
Speaker 2: they're playing premium football. That's what they need to get
Speaker 2: back to, and I think AJ Dillon appreciates that, listening
Speaker 2: to some of his self reflection and being able to
Speaker 2: sort of break down what happened last year and put
Speaker 2: his best foot forward because now there is no next year.
Speaker 2: This is all about this year and then whatever happens
Speaker 2: happens in terms of his contract. But he wants to
Speaker 2: be able to really maximize his potential and show that
Speaker 2: he is the type of running back the Packers thought
Speaker 2: they were getting in twenty twenty when they use that
Speaker 2: second round pick on him out of Boston College.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's interesting to hear that and hear his perspective
Speaker 1: because we've talked to a lot of young players and
Speaker 1: watched their development and chronicled their development over the years,
Speaker 1: and you hear all the time, you know, guys going
Speaker 1: from that first year to the second year where it's like, hey,
Speaker 1: you know, yeah, I don't have to think as much
Speaker 1: about the playbook. You know, I can just play. I
Speaker 1: just I just react. It's not a thinking man's game
Speaker 1: anymore the way it can be as a rookie when
Speaker 1: you're trying to figure everything out. Well, it almost sounds
Speaker 1: like Age Dylan, you know, he he did that in
Speaker 1: his second year, but then in his third year sort
Speaker 1: of got caught up in the in the thinking again.
Speaker 1: And and that's where a veteran player who knows a
Speaker 1: lot perhaps then is trying to do too much. He's
Speaker 1: trying to he's trying to do everything perfectly. And all
Speaker 1: that does, all that does for an NFL player because
Speaker 1: this game is so fast and and holes, you know,
Speaker 1: for a running back, a hole is open for you know,
Speaker 1: zero point six two seconds. You know, I mean that
Speaker 1: the holes close quickly. You can't you can't think because
Speaker 1: it slows you down too much. It's you know, you
Speaker 1: and I are big fans of the movie Bull Durham,
Speaker 1: and you know there's the great line where Crash Davis
Speaker 1: says to Nuke l Loosh, don't think meat, just throw,
Speaker 1: you know, And that that's how NFL player, the best
Speaker 1: NFL players, they aren't out there thinking. They because every
Speaker 1: all of the mental part of it is automatic. It's
Speaker 1: all it's all reactionary. It's all second nature to them.
Speaker 1: They just go out and play the game, and they
Speaker 1: play it extremely, extremely fast. And the fact that the
Speaker 1: fact that aj Dillon recognized that in terms of his
Speaker 1: own season, in terms of watching the film, in terms
Speaker 1: of working with his head coach, I thought that I
Speaker 1: find that very revealing because you know how I am
Speaker 1: about talking about guys being, you know, being self aware,
Speaker 1: because that's more than half the battle in this league
Speaker 1: in terms of improving yourself is knowing who you are,
Speaker 1: what you've done, and what you need to do to
Speaker 1: get better. And it looks like it looks like AJ
Speaker 1: Dillon is perfectly aware of what he wants to do here.
Speaker 2: And that's what I love about Matt Lafleuur's philosophy too,
Speaker 2: because it's not like Lafleur came in in nineteen and
Speaker 2: was like, Hey, we're gonna reset everything. I'm going to
Speaker 2: bring in a new running backs coach. No, he saw
Speaker 2: the work that Ben Simmons was doing with Jamal Williams
Speaker 2: and Aaron Jones and was like, Yeah, we're going to
Speaker 2: stay on that path now. You have aj Dillon coming
Speaker 2: into that equation, and he's he's shown big flashes at times.
Speaker 2: I still think back to that game in December against
Speaker 2: Tennessee a number of years ago where he looked like
Speaker 2: this is going to be one of the top running
Speaker 2: backs in the National Football League. I still think it
Speaker 2: can be. But it's just about making sure that he
Speaker 2: gets back to playing the way he did at Boston
Speaker 2: College when he is the featured guy, when he gets
Speaker 2: the opportunities. Because here's the thing he said, you know,
Speaker 2: there is times and I visualize this when he said it.
Speaker 2: You know, he gets an outside zone and he gets
Speaker 2: the ball and he's thinking about, Okay, this is what
Speaker 2: I'm gonna do with it. I'm gonna be able to
Speaker 2: and you're trying to do the math too quickly. You
Speaker 2: just got to know that four times two is eight sometimes.
Speaker 2: And that's basically where he's trying to get back to.
Speaker 2: The cool thing about it is, though, the foundation with sermons,
Speaker 2: the fact that he has the friendship and relationship that
Speaker 2: he does with Aaron Jones. It's all still out there
Speaker 2: for these guys and trying to show that this year,
Speaker 2: especially in a transitionary period with Jordan Love at quarterback
Speaker 2: guy that he's incredibly close with, that they can be
Speaker 2: the bell Cows that the Packers have really wanted them
Speaker 2: to be.
Speaker 1: Yeah, Well, one more little anecdote to get to that
Speaker 1: I think will be fun to share before we go today,
Speaker 1: and it has to do with veteran defensive lineman Kenny
Speaker 1: Clark and that that position group that he's dealing with.
Speaker 1: And we've talked already this offseason about you know, Dean
Speaker 1: Lowry is gone, Jeron Jaren Reid excuse me as gone,
Speaker 1: they both left in free agency. Kenny Clark is the
Speaker 1: leader of a group now that has TJ. Slayton, who
Speaker 1: is a fifth round draft pick a couple of years ago,
Speaker 1: DeVante Wyatt, who was a first round draft pick a
Speaker 1: year ago. Then you have a fourth round pick in
Speaker 1: Colby Wooden and a sixth round pick if I have
Speaker 1: that right, I believe six round in Carl Brooks. Kenny
Speaker 1: Clark is the is the man. He is, He is
Speaker 1: the real leader of a very very young group on
Speaker 1: the defensive line. And well, it just so happens that
Speaker 1: one of those rookie draft picks that came in this
Speaker 1: year has has actually sort of been Kenny Clark in
Speaker 1: the whole Lake video game thing. You're the one who found.
Speaker 2: That audio game thing.
Speaker 1: You're the one who found that out for I'm from
Speaker 1: kolbe Wood, and so I'll let you tell the story
Speaker 1: better than I can.
Speaker 2: Mike, when was the last time you picked up a
Speaker 2: video game controller and played like football game techno ball? Yeah?
Speaker 1: Probably probably right around there.
Speaker 2: No, But hey, that's what I loved about the story,
Speaker 2: because hey, dude, I'm getting older now too. But I
Speaker 2: thought it was such a fitting analogy and anecdote that
Speaker 2: Colby Wood And here's Colby Wood in fresh face, you know,
Speaker 2: Auburn senior coming in, new member of the Packers defensive
Speaker 2: line room, and you know he obviously you're going to
Speaker 2: know Kenny Clark is if you played defensive line, two
Speaker 2: time Pro Bowl and everything. But he said, He's like,
Speaker 2: oh no, I'm very familiar with this game. I played
Speaker 2: with the Packers a lot in Madden. And I think
Speaker 2: that speaks to not only the fact that Kenny is
Speaker 2: a veteran now here in Green Bay, but also it
Speaker 2: sort of shows that even a twenty seven year old
Speaker 2: defensive lineman, there is this this age of Madden in
Speaker 2: video games that you're now this is how guys are
Speaker 2: going to know you coming into the league a little bit.
Speaker 2: And the thing that I when I was going through
Speaker 2: story ideas for the spring, when I realize that, Yeah,
Speaker 2: Kenny's been a multiple time team captain, He's been a leader,
Speaker 2: he's been you know what two times, He's won the
Speaker 2: Media Good Guy Award here in Green Bay. He's never
Speaker 2: been the oldest member of his position room. Even after
Speaker 2: Mike Daniels and Detroit guy on Ricky, John Franzoon, all
Speaker 2: these guys, even Jaron Reed, they all moved on. Dean
Speaker 2: Lowry was a year older than him when they both
Speaker 2: arrived here in twenty sixteen. Kenny was twenty true junior.
Speaker 2: Dean was a you know, full fledged Northwestern senior. And
Speaker 2: now here he is one hundred and fourteen NFL games.
Speaker 2: The rest of the room combined has fifty played in those.
Speaker 2: Of those eight players, only two have actually played in
Speaker 2: a regular season game, you know, TJ. Slayton and Devonte Wyatt.
Speaker 2: And Kenny is embracing that role like he doesn't look
Speaker 2: at himself as the old head in the room. He
Speaker 2: looks at himself as a guy that can really be
Speaker 2: an extension of Jerry Montgomery and helped relate to these
Speaker 2: guys what is going to be needed of them this season,
Speaker 2: because here, Mike, the fact of the matter is, much
Speaker 2: like Kenny in twenty sixteen, especially twenty seventeen, the Packers
Speaker 2: need these young guys to play. One of the analogies
Speaker 2: I threw in there was the fact that, well, why
Speaker 2: were we talking to Kobe wood in the first place,
Speaker 2: because last week he was in there with the first
Speaker 2: team defense when DeVante Wyatt dropped out of practice. Why
Speaker 2: it ended up being fine. He was back on Tuesday.
Speaker 2: He is making a couple of plays. But that's the
Speaker 2: next man up for Green Bay right now. It's Brooks,
Speaker 2: it's Wooden. Maybe it's a Chris Slayton, maybe it's Jonathan Ford.
Speaker 2: But none of these guys had played in the National
Speaker 2: Football League before, So Clark is bringing them along and
Speaker 2: letting them know that the standard and sense of urgency
Speaker 2: involved with that. And then the last thing, I'll just
Speaker 2: leave you with the challenge that Kenny has brought on
Speaker 2: himself to be more vocal this year. Now, Kenny is
Speaker 2: one of the more affable people you're going to find
Speaker 2: in the locker room. But again, kind of like Romeo
Speaker 2: Dobbs you were talking about earlier this week, He's not
Speaker 2: the type of guy that's just trying to start the
Speaker 2: party with everybody. You come and you want to talk
Speaker 2: to him, have a nice conversation, he'll have that. But
Speaker 2: he's now the biggest, extroverted, most boisterous player in the
Speaker 2: locker room. But yet he knows that he needs to
Speaker 2: be a guy that's going to tell guys, this is
Speaker 2: the way we got to do it, this is why
Speaker 2: we need you to do it that way, because ultimately
Speaker 2: it's on him and that defensive front to improve because
Speaker 2: even though you lost Dean Lowry and Jaren Reed, there
Speaker 2: is still a huge jump that Green Bay is expected
Speaker 2: to make this year with the defense, and that's going
Speaker 2: to start up front with Kenny Clark and those young
Speaker 2: defensive linemen.
Speaker 1: Yeah. What I think is so important too about having
Speaker 1: a guy like Kenny Clarks as the leader of that
Speaker 1: position group. It's not just about his personality and his
Speaker 1: production and how he goes about his business as a pro,
Speaker 1: because all of that is very important, but as a
Speaker 1: leader of that group, he can also say to these
Speaker 1: young guys, hey, look at my stats for my rookie year, Like, yeah,
Speaker 1: I've developed a career where I've you know, I've gone
Speaker 1: to a couple of Pro Bowls, and I, you know,
Speaker 1: get four or five sacks a year as an interior
Speaker 1: defensive lineman.
Speaker 2: But go look look.
Speaker 1: At the stats from my rookie year. I wasn't set
Speaker 1: in the world on fire, and I was a first
Speaker 1: round pick, you know, drafted, you know, mid twenties overall
Speaker 1: out of UCLA. Kenny knows what it takes to progress
Speaker 1: and to get to where you want to be in
Speaker 1: this league. And he's not a guy whoever doubted himself,
Speaker 1: but yet to a certain extent, he still had to
Speaker 1: prove himself because he didn't come in and set the
Speaker 1: world on fire as a rookie. And I think as
Speaker 1: an example as a guy who went through that himself,
Speaker 1: whether you're talking about DeVante Wyatt as a first round
Speaker 1: pick last year or a guy like TJ. Slayton who's
Speaker 1: now in his third year and is going to be
Speaker 1: expected to take on a lot more snaps and play
Speaker 1: a lot bigger role. Kenny Clark is as close to
Speaker 1: the perfect type of leader as you could ask for
Speaker 1: for that group.
Speaker 2: And he was the perfect mentor for Wyatt too, because
Speaker 2: Wyatt talked about, you know, he understood coming in where
Speaker 2: he was being drafted, in the fact that they had
Speaker 2: all this veteran talent there, that he wasn't going to
Speaker 2: be a day one starter. But it does get tough
Speaker 2: when you get into the dog days of the year
Speaker 2: and you're only playing ten defensive snaps on a Sunday.
Speaker 2: You feel like you want to be able to do more.
Speaker 2: But it was actually Kenny kind of relaying his story
Speaker 2: to DeVante. I didn't write about that this time, but
Speaker 2: it was a story at the end of last year.
Speaker 2: It was Kenny kind of telling him his path and
Speaker 2: how he didn't really come on until really towards the
Speaker 2: end of his second NFL season where he really busted
Speaker 2: on the scene. That type of message resonated really well
Speaker 2: with DeVante White because I think you could see the
Speaker 2: weight of the world kind of come off the young
Speaker 2: man's shoulders and understand, Okay, this is a process. I
Speaker 2: am a first round pick. I'm going to be expected
Speaker 2: to produce, but this rome has not been built in
Speaker 2: a day. It's going to take some time to be
Speaker 2: able to become that type of difference maker, just like
Speaker 2: he was at Georgia in the path that he took
Speaker 2: with the Bulldogs. So Kenny Clark Man Casey a bolt
Speaker 2: that life. He's been a huge, huge anchor for this
Speaker 2: football team the last seven years, and certainly going into
Speaker 2: year eight, in addition to his own individual goals, will
Speaker 2: again be a big focal point of this defense.
Speaker 1: Yeah, no question about it. He's a guy that He's
Speaker 1: a guy we've come to know and love, but we
Speaker 1: also enjoy watching him on the football field, and he's
Speaker 1: going to be a vital part of this Packers defense
Speaker 1: as he always is in twenty twenty three. So with that,
Speaker 1: we'll call it a rap on this edition of Packers Unscripted.
Speaker 1: Be sure to follow all of our coverage of the
Speaker 1: team OTAs we got mini camp next week. We've got
Speaker 1: it all for you on Packers dot com. For Wes,
Speaker 1: I'm Mike. Thank you for tuning in everybody. We will
Speaker 1: see you next time.