WEBVTT - #455 Packers Unscripted: Raider rundown 0:00:00.840 --> 0:00:20.840 Hi, everybody, Welcome to Packers Unscripted from Packers dot Com. 0:00:20.880 --> 0:00:24.040 I am Mike Spofford sitting next to my partner in crime, 0:00:24.079 --> 0:00:27.160 Wes Hodkowitz. Were coming to you here from our studios 0:00:27.160 --> 0:00:29.440 at lambeau Field and West. We are already in week 0:00:29.560 --> 0:00:32.560 seven of the NFL season. That's kind of hard to believe, 0:00:32.800 --> 0:00:35.640 but the seventh game for the Green Bay Packers will 0:00:35.720 --> 0:00:39.319 be at home at lambeau Field Sunday noon Central Time 0:00:39.440 --> 0:00:43.000 kickoff against the Oakland Raiders from the a f C West. 0:00:43.520 --> 0:00:46.519 An interesting thing here. Just a few weeks ago the 0:00:46.520 --> 0:00:49.040 Oakland Raiders, as everybody knows what the schedule, all the 0:00:49.159 --> 0:00:51.879 NFC North teams this year, are playing all of the 0:00:51.920 --> 0:00:54.280 teams in the a f C West. A few weeks ago, 0:00:54.320 --> 0:00:56.720 the Oakland Raiders went into US Bank State EUM in 0:00:56.760 --> 0:00:59.720 Minneapolis kind of got it handed to him a little bit. 0:00:59.760 --> 0:01:01.760 And I think a lot of Packers fans saw that 0:01:01.840 --> 0:01:04.520 result and said, Okay, well, when Oakland comes to lambeau Field, 0:01:04.520 --> 0:01:07.880 that shouldn't be too much of a problem. Well, the 0:01:07.959 --> 0:01:10.800 last couple of weeks, the Oakland Raiders have gone on 0:01:10.880 --> 0:01:15.080 the road to beat the Indianapolis Colts one week before 0:01:15.080 --> 0:01:17.960 the Colts went to Arrowhead and beat the Chiefs, and 0:01:18.000 --> 0:01:21.600 then prior to their bye week last week, the Raiders 0:01:21.640 --> 0:01:24.880 went over to London and beat the Chicago Bears. So 0:01:24.920 --> 0:01:27.680 suddenly this matchup looks a lot different than it did 0:01:28.040 --> 0:01:31.520 a couple three weeks ago. And this Raiders team is 0:01:31.640 --> 0:01:34.000 coming into lambeau Field very much in the thick of 0:01:34.040 --> 0:01:35.960 the race in the f C West. Yeah, Oakland is 0:01:35.959 --> 0:01:37.880 a problem. I mean, they really are. I mean I 0:01:37.880 --> 0:01:40.919 think they've they've shown that this is a young team. 0:01:40.959 --> 0:01:43.520 As John Gruden said in his conference call with Green 0:01:43.520 --> 0:01:47.319 Bay reporters, they're building what they believe is their vision 0:01:47.400 --> 0:01:49.800 for what is going to be a successful run here 0:01:50.480 --> 0:01:53.280 with his stewardship again in a stick, his second stint 0:01:53.680 --> 0:01:56.559 with the organization, and there are going to be lumps. 0:01:56.640 --> 0:01:58.200 I still wonder at the end of the year if 0:01:58.240 --> 0:01:59.920 this probably ends up being like an eight and eight 0:02:00.040 --> 0:02:02.120 hype ball club, because there's just weeks where they they 0:02:02.120 --> 0:02:04.320 don't have it, and there's weeks when they do. But 0:02:04.960 --> 0:02:07.600 you know, Derek Carr, I think you've seen this year 0:02:07.640 --> 0:02:10.200 he's been able to bounce back a little bit. You know, 0:02:10.200 --> 0:02:12.680 their defense is not the sieve that it was a 0:02:12.760 --> 0:02:15.280 year ago. They've they've had some guys that are stepping up, 0:02:15.880 --> 0:02:19.040 and then you've got guys like Darren Waller, who came 0:02:19.080 --> 0:02:22.000 from the practice squad of Baltimore last year. John Gruden 0:02:22.040 --> 0:02:23.919 even said they didn't really even know about this guy 0:02:24.000 --> 0:02:26.480 until they played Baltimore and saw him warming up before 0:02:26.520 --> 0:02:29.480 the game as a converted receiver. They like what they saw, 0:02:29.480 --> 0:02:31.440 they signed him to the roster, and here he is 0:02:31.480 --> 0:02:33.480 now signing a pretty big extension with the team this 0:02:33.600 --> 0:02:37.320 past week. First and foremost, though, if you talk about 0:02:37.320 --> 0:02:39.480 any particular aspect of their offense, I really think it 0:02:39.520 --> 0:02:41.880 comes down to Josh Jacobs. This is a guy that 0:02:41.919 --> 0:02:43.800 they had to kind of project on a little bit. 0:02:44.160 --> 0:02:46.240 He was not in every down back at Alabama, but 0:02:46.280 --> 0:02:48.680 they felt like he had those tendencies. And I think 0:02:48.720 --> 0:02:50.640 when you look at their win loss record this year, 0:02:50.800 --> 0:02:53.280 that team has gone as he has gone. And that's 0:02:53.280 --> 0:02:55.880 a guy that the Packers run defense, while improved last 0:02:55.919 --> 0:02:58.880 week against Detroit, is really gonna have to take into account. Yeah, 0:02:58.919 --> 0:03:01.359 well you said it. While and Jacobs are the two 0:03:01.400 --> 0:03:05.440 guys offensively as far as those perimeter players who stand 0:03:05.480 --> 0:03:09.160 out statistically, Waller has I believe more than twice as 0:03:09.200 --> 0:03:14.400 many receptions as anybody else on the Raiders roster. And 0:03:14.400 --> 0:03:19.680 then Jacobs. We got a glimpse because the London game 0:03:19.720 --> 0:03:22.320 between the Raiders and the Bears was going on leading 0:03:22.400 --> 0:03:25.960 up to the Packers Cowboys game the kickoff, and we 0:03:25.960 --> 0:03:28.200 were in Dallas, so we were keeping an eye on 0:03:28.240 --> 0:03:30.000 that game when we got to a T and T 0:03:30.200 --> 0:03:34.040 stadium that day, and Jacobs was having a pretty nice 0:03:34.120 --> 0:03:37.240 day running the ball. And then when push came to 0:03:37.280 --> 0:03:41.200 shove after the Raiders had actually blown a seventeen nothing 0:03:41.320 --> 0:03:44.240 lead to Chicago, the Bears came roaring back and took 0:03:44.280 --> 0:03:47.920 the lead in the second half. The Raiders were backed 0:03:48.000 --> 0:03:50.800 up to their own three yard line in the fourth quarter, 0:03:50.840 --> 0:03:53.800 and they went ninety seven yards on the Chicago Bears 0:03:53.840 --> 0:03:58.040 defense to win that ballgame, and Josh Jacobs was a 0:03:58.080 --> 0:04:00.600 big part of it. Remind me quickly where he played 0:04:00.640 --> 0:04:04.800 in college. It's escaping Alabamment Alabama. Okay um. But this 0:04:04.880 --> 0:04:07.720 is a guy that if there's if there's one guy 0:04:07.840 --> 0:04:10.160 that they seem to be other than the quarterback obviously 0:04:10.200 --> 0:04:13.320 Derek Carr, that they're building their offense around, it seems 0:04:13.360 --> 0:04:15.480 to be just Jacobs. Well, and it's not just Jacobs, 0:04:15.480 --> 0:04:18.159 it's their offensive line too, right. I mean, Rodney Hudson 0:04:18.279 --> 0:04:20.039 was a big signing for them last year. He's a 0:04:20.040 --> 0:04:23.080 team captain, a big time center in this league. I 0:04:23.080 --> 0:04:24.920 think he's one of the best past protectors right now 0:04:24.960 --> 0:04:29.000 according to Pro Football Focus this season, Richie Incognito. I 0:04:29.040 --> 0:04:30.800 know he's been a lightning rod for a lot of things, 0:04:30.800 --> 0:04:32.840 but he came out of retirement again and he's playing 0:04:32.880 --> 0:04:36.159 pretty good football at their left guard position now. Trent Brown, 0:04:36.240 --> 0:04:38.760 who they've made a huge investment in, the biggest investment 0:04:38.800 --> 0:04:41.919 of any offensive lineman in history. He now has some 0:04:42.000 --> 0:04:44.119 off the field things. He's also dealing with, I believe 0:04:44.160 --> 0:04:46.919 as a calf injury. UM, so his status is not 0:04:47.000 --> 0:04:49.599 really certain. But I just think that not only it 0:04:49.680 --> 0:04:51.599 was the investment of Jacobs, it was the building of 0:04:51.640 --> 0:04:54.839 that offensive line, that restructuring of that offensive line that 0:04:54.920 --> 0:04:56.960 has allowed him to have the success. Because here's the thing, Michael, 0:04:56.960 --> 0:04:59.279 you talked about Waller having twice as many catch as 0:04:59.279 --> 0:05:03.880 anybody else. The receiver position has been a continual, you 0:05:03.920 --> 0:05:06.320 know rotation. Here you have Ryan Grant now signing with 0:05:06.360 --> 0:05:09.680 the Packers. He started the season with open Trevor Davis 0:05:09.680 --> 0:05:12.479 gets traded to Oakland from Green Bait. Now he's a 0:05:12.520 --> 0:05:16.120 starter for them. Terrell Williams, who is there, Tyrolle Williams, 0:05:16.120 --> 0:05:18.920 who is their leading receiver, might not play in this game. 0:05:19.040 --> 0:05:22.640 So dealing with planter fasciitis, and and drewden't even saying 0:05:22.680 --> 0:05:24.880 on his conference call with us that yeah, it's not 0:05:24.960 --> 0:05:27.279 really looking like it's getting much better right now. So 0:05:28.000 --> 0:05:31.680 the receiver position has sort of been you know, non 0:05:31.720 --> 0:05:34.000 existent for them, So they needed to get production from 0:05:34.040 --> 0:05:36.599 their tight end, and they've needed their ground game to 0:05:36.640 --> 0:05:40.280 do it. And with you know, Derek Carr pulling all 0:05:40.279 --> 0:05:42.800 the strings of this thing, it's been enough of a 0:05:43.200 --> 0:05:45.920 you know, a success here for them to call out 0:05:45.960 --> 0:05:47.480 some victories to be at the point and they are 0:05:47.560 --> 0:05:50.960 right now sitting at I believe what two and three? 0:05:50.880 --> 0:05:53.400 Ye dyslexic? Sorry, well, no, that the other part that's 0:05:53.440 --> 0:05:55.760 interesting to me. And now we're taping this episode on 0:05:55.839 --> 0:05:59.120 Thursday morning and Thursday evening the Kansas City Chiefs and 0:05:59.160 --> 0:06:03.320 Denver Broncos to play Thursday Night Football. The interesting thing here, 0:06:03.560 --> 0:06:05.200 the Chiefs have lost a couple of games in a 0:06:05.320 --> 0:06:08.600 row after a hot start, and the Broncos are kind 0:06:08.600 --> 0:06:11.960 of picking up their game after a slow start. If 0:06:12.200 --> 0:06:16.640 Denver beats Kansas City tonight, Oakland is coming into lambeau 0:06:16.680 --> 0:06:19.080 Field with a shot at first play, taking over first 0:06:19.080 --> 0:06:21.760 place through seven weeks in the a f C West. 0:06:21.800 --> 0:06:25.000 So this could be a highly motivated team. I think 0:06:25.000 --> 0:06:28.880 they'll be highly motivated regardless because they really have started 0:06:28.920 --> 0:06:31.120 to turn things around here and they're coming off their 0:06:31.160 --> 0:06:33.400 bye week to to get some extra rest. It doesn't 0:06:33.440 --> 0:06:36.680 seem like that has helped their receiver situation, as you 0:06:36.720 --> 0:06:42.280 mentioned with with Williams still dealing with his injury. But 0:06:42.440 --> 0:06:44.760 this is this is a really this is an interesting 0:06:44.760 --> 0:06:47.840 team that I think they already look a lot different 0:06:47.880 --> 0:06:50.479 in mid October than they looked in September, and I 0:06:50.480 --> 0:06:52.240 think this is a team that could look very different 0:06:52.240 --> 0:06:56.760 in December compared to where they are right now. What's 0:06:56.760 --> 0:06:59.559 your take on the defensive side of the ball. Because 0:06:59.560 --> 0:07:02.360 the Packer has obviously played the Raiders in the preseason 0:07:02.480 --> 0:07:05.800 in Winnipeg, but both teams rested all their starters, we 0:07:05.839 --> 0:07:08.560 didn't really get a look at what these clubs look like. 0:07:08.600 --> 0:07:10.720 What stands out to you on the defensive side of 0:07:10.720 --> 0:07:12.440 the ball for them? I will give you that answer. 0:07:12.480 --> 0:07:14.440 There's one more thing I just want to say about 0:07:14.440 --> 0:07:17.040 the office. No, No, that's all right. Just Elec Ingold 0:07:17.080 --> 0:07:21.000 coming back to Green Yestely. Alec is a kid from 0:07:21.040 --> 0:07:25.280 town that played at bay Port. Uh, football, wrestling, even 0:07:25.400 --> 0:07:29.520 baseball his his senior year. Uh. Just a remarkable talent. 0:07:29.960 --> 0:07:31.560 If you know anything about Green Bay area, you and 0:07:31.600 --> 0:07:35.119 I talked about it a little bit during training camp. Um, 0:07:35.160 --> 0:07:37.520 there's not a whole lot of NFL prospects that come 0:07:37.560 --> 0:07:40.360 out of here. Ingold ended up going to Northern Illinois. 0:07:40.400 --> 0:07:42.440 At first, he was gonna be a quarterback, just like 0:07:42.480 --> 0:07:45.880 he had been at Bayport. Then you get Paul Chris 0:07:45.880 --> 0:07:48.400 calling him to go over to Pittsburgh. Chris end up 0:07:48.560 --> 0:07:51.640 going to Wisconsin and he takes Ingold along with him 0:07:51.640 --> 0:07:53.800 for the ride. Starts as a linebacker because he wanted 0:07:53.800 --> 0:07:56.400 to play an NFL type position, ends up going to 0:07:56.480 --> 0:07:59.560 the least NFL type position in full full back. Has 0:07:59.600 --> 0:08:03.320 a great career there, gets John Gruden as his coach 0:08:03.320 --> 0:08:06.160 at the Senior Bowl. Gruden takes a liking to the kid. 0:08:06.160 --> 0:08:09.280 They signed him as an undrafted free agent. He makes 0:08:09.320 --> 0:08:12.680 the roster and now he's blocking for Josh Jacob and 0:08:12.760 --> 0:08:14.880 has become sort of a pretty pretty big cog here. 0:08:15.400 --> 0:08:17.520 The thing I love more than anything about Alec though, 0:08:17.560 --> 0:08:20.040 if you talk to him, if you listen to him, 0:08:20.120 --> 0:08:22.440 he's still very much the same kid as he was 0:08:22.480 --> 0:08:24.640 in two thousand fourteen, and I have so much respect 0:08:24.680 --> 0:08:27.560 for that. With all the success he's seen. You saw 0:08:27.600 --> 0:08:29.720 it on Hard Knocks. He was excited to be able 0:08:29.720 --> 0:08:31.880 to gonna say, yeah, the whole that whole scene with 0:08:31.920 --> 0:08:34.920 Clay Matthews on on a Hard Knocks during the summer. Yeah. 0:08:34.920 --> 0:08:37.440 And I tweeted this a month ago, and I really 0:08:37.480 --> 0:08:41.080 hope Alec doesn't lose that because he There's something to 0:08:41.080 --> 0:08:44.400 be said for an attitude like that, because it reminds 0:08:44.400 --> 0:08:46.319 you of why you liked the game in the first place, 0:08:46.320 --> 0:08:48.320 why you fell in love with it. In the fact 0:08:48.320 --> 0:08:50.320 that he's able to live out his dream here, he'll 0:08:50.360 --> 0:08:53.400 be the first player in four years, a Green Bay 0:08:53.440 --> 0:08:57.080 Metro player to play at lambeau Field in a regular 0:08:57.120 --> 0:09:00.800 season a meaningful regular season game since years. Drew Noak 0:09:00.880 --> 0:09:03.320 in September of two thousand fifteen for Seattle when he 0:09:03.320 --> 0:09:06.240 started that game at center. It's just a great story. 0:09:06.920 --> 0:09:08.920 We could talk about the defense now, but I just 0:09:09.000 --> 0:09:11.319 wanted to give a no, you're right, I I had 0:09:11.640 --> 0:09:14.520 I had forgotten about Ingold and the fact that that 0:09:14.600 --> 0:09:16.760 he'd be playing at lambeau Field. We talked in training 0:09:16.760 --> 0:09:19.960 camp about Max sharping from Green Bayed Southwest, playing at 0:09:20.040 --> 0:09:23.040 lambeau Field and practicing right across the street and all that. 0:09:23.080 --> 0:09:26.880 Playing at Lambeau in the preseason, and really kind of 0:09:26.880 --> 0:09:29.520 remarkable when you think about, as you said, the very 0:09:29.600 --> 0:09:32.160 few number of players, not men, come out of the 0:09:32.160 --> 0:09:34.320 Green Bay metro area and go to the NFL, and 0:09:34.400 --> 0:09:37.000 now this will be the second one in the span 0:09:37.040 --> 0:09:39.880 of a few months, actually suiting up to play at 0:09:39.920 --> 0:09:43.400 Lambeau really incredibly special. He mentioned he had a ton 0:09:43.440 --> 0:09:46.000 of ticket requests for this game. Unfortunately, as you know, 0:09:46.080 --> 0:09:48.720 when you're a road team, you don't get as many 0:09:48.720 --> 0:09:52.600 ticket allocations. So he has about twenty really close family 0:09:52.679 --> 0:09:55.160 that are coming, and then there's just gonna be a 0:09:55.200 --> 0:09:58.080 lot of friends and former coaches sort of dispersed throughout 0:09:58.080 --> 0:10:01.440 the stadium. Also they're cheering him on. So a really 0:10:01.440 --> 0:10:04.160 great story in Alec Angold, and certainly as he tries 0:10:04.200 --> 0:10:06.840 to push forward here to an NFL career, you you 0:10:06.880 --> 0:10:09.439 wish the best for him, because it's, uh, it's pretty 0:10:09.480 --> 0:10:11.280 special when an area kid like that who grew up 0:10:11.280 --> 0:10:13.320 a Packers fan, he's been to thirty forty games. He 0:10:13.440 --> 0:10:15.840 estimated to be able to now get a chance to 0:10:15.840 --> 0:10:18.400 play at Lamblefield a second time after he played in 0:10:18.400 --> 0:10:20.400 that LSU game, you know, a few years that's right, 0:10:20.520 --> 0:10:24.720 l s U against Wisconsin in two to open that season, 0:10:24.800 --> 0:10:27.319 which turned out to be a great victory for the 0:10:27.360 --> 0:10:31.480 Badgers in a great season for the Badgers overall. So okay, 0:10:31.520 --> 0:10:36.760 I'm glad you remember that. I didn't um. But Oakland's 0:10:36.800 --> 0:10:42.320 defense what stands out to you? Because to me, you're 0:10:42.360 --> 0:10:45.400 not looking at big name guys or guys that people 0:10:45.400 --> 0:10:47.400 are talking about in terms of going to the Pro 0:10:47.480 --> 0:10:51.679 Bowl or you know, necessarily anything like that. But these 0:10:51.760 --> 0:10:55.960 last couple of weeks against or before their bye week 0:10:55.960 --> 0:10:59.080 against Indian against Chicago, this is a defense that's played 0:10:59.080 --> 0:11:02.360 some pretty good football collectively. Yes, other than that, it's 0:11:02.400 --> 0:11:04.120 not going to jump out of you much. They only 0:11:04.120 --> 0:11:07.000 have nine sacks as a team. A defensive lineman by 0:11:07.000 --> 0:11:09.920 the name of Benson Mayowa has their leading sacks right 0:11:09.920 --> 0:11:11.320 now at four and a half. He's sort of been 0:11:11.360 --> 0:11:14.720 a journeyman. Um you know, been a contributor in the NFL. 0:11:14.760 --> 0:11:16.600 I think this is fifth or six NFL season, but 0:11:16.640 --> 0:11:18.599 not you know, you know a guy that's going to 0:11:18.679 --> 0:11:20.840 jump off the page to you. They made a big 0:11:20.840 --> 0:11:24.200 investment this year. Uh. You know, Cleveland Farrell was a 0:11:24.200 --> 0:11:27.040 guy that you and I had talked to at the combine. Uh. 0:11:27.200 --> 0:11:28.839 I think a lot of people were surprised they ended 0:11:28.920 --> 0:11:30.560 up going with them as early as they did, but 0:11:30.600 --> 0:11:33.800 they certainly feel good about his development and where one 0:11:33.840 --> 0:11:36.480 of one of many high picks off of that Clemson 0:11:36.559 --> 0:11:39.760 defense from a year ago, but right now only ten tackles, 0:11:40.000 --> 0:11:42.600 one sack for him. Arden Keys a guy I liked 0:11:42.600 --> 0:11:45.880 as well coming out of LS. He's been really quiet 0:11:45.920 --> 0:11:49.120 here so far this season. And really realistically, their biggest name, 0:11:49.200 --> 0:11:51.320 Vantez perfect now is out for the season. So you 0:11:51.360 --> 0:11:54.240 have you know white Head, who used I believe was 0:11:54.280 --> 0:11:58.080 with Detroit for some time. Sort of this hodgepodge of 0:11:58.160 --> 0:12:00.679 defensive players. But to your point that you originally made, 0:12:00.720 --> 0:12:02.600 even though they don't have a lot of takeaways, they 0:12:02.600 --> 0:12:04.960 don't have a lot of sex, they're playing good, collective 0:12:05.000 --> 0:12:07.200 team football right now and that's what kept him in 0:12:07.240 --> 0:12:10.839 that game against Chicago. I'm really curious though, when you 0:12:10.880 --> 0:12:13.439 get a quarterback the caliber of Aaron Rodgers going into 0:12:13.480 --> 0:12:16.280 a game like this, how that stresses them because I 0:12:16.320 --> 0:12:19.040 don't know if they've really seen that kind of test yet. Yeah, 0:12:19.080 --> 0:12:21.400 And that's the interesting part here as we go into 0:12:21.400 --> 0:12:24.600 the matchup, because we can start talking about what's going 0:12:24.600 --> 0:12:28.320 on with the Packers offensively. You mentioned Aaron Rodgers, but 0:12:29.240 --> 0:12:34.000 Davante Adams, Marquis Velde Scantling, Geronimo Allison all on the 0:12:34.040 --> 0:12:38.320 injury report right now for Green Bay. Valde Scantling listed 0:12:38.360 --> 0:12:42.520 with knee and ankle injuries and Geronimo Allison with chest 0:12:42.640 --> 0:12:47.200 and concussion protocol. So the Packers have added a veteran 0:12:47.240 --> 0:12:50.440 receiver and Ryan Grant. They signed him. As you mentioned, 0:12:50.480 --> 0:12:53.480 he started the year this year with Oakland, played the 0:12:53.520 --> 0:12:55.720 bulk of his career first four years of his career 0:12:55.720 --> 0:12:59.400 with Washington, had a really solid year in when he 0:12:59.440 --> 0:13:03.800 became a agent, and then there was a failed physical 0:13:03.880 --> 0:13:05.720 with Baltimore when he was going to get a big 0:13:05.800 --> 0:13:08.040 multi year deal as a free agent, ended up spending 0:13:08.120 --> 0:13:10.880 last year with Indianapolis, then started this year with Oakland. 0:13:10.920 --> 0:13:13.800 Oakland released him before the end of September. Now he's 0:13:13.800 --> 0:13:17.040 in Green Bay because the Packers, because of the injuries, 0:13:17.080 --> 0:13:19.760 are are really thin at the position and not really 0:13:19.760 --> 0:13:21.920 sure who's going to be healthy on Sunday as of 0:13:22.080 --> 0:13:24.040 as of this moment. Yeah, there's stands the reason that 0:13:24.120 --> 0:13:26.760 Ryan Grant could play in this game for Green Bay. Yeah, 0:13:26.800 --> 0:13:28.760 and be asked to actually fill a role. Now, how 0:13:28.800 --> 0:13:30.760 much you can really expect of him? How many snaps 0:13:30.760 --> 0:13:32.520 can you give a guy even though he is twenty eight, 0:13:32.600 --> 0:13:35.280 He's in his six NFL season. That is a big 0:13:35.320 --> 0:13:37.360 ask to come in in a four or five day 0:13:37.440 --> 0:13:40.640 notice and actually play in a competitive, meaningful regular season game. 0:13:41.240 --> 0:13:45.000 That being said, if you look at his history, he's 0:13:45.040 --> 0:13:46.880 done a little bit of everything in his career. He's 0:13:46.920 --> 0:13:49.200 a former fifth round pick and the same draft class 0:13:49.240 --> 0:13:52.000 that produced Davante Adams. Those two actually worked out together. 0:13:52.400 --> 0:13:55.400 They had had a common bond there, common thread with 0:13:55.480 --> 0:13:58.200 Keith Williams, the receiver's coach, was at a number of 0:13:58.200 --> 0:14:02.760 different colleges, including Fresno Staton to Lane, where um Grant went. 0:14:03.520 --> 0:14:06.439 They worked out together this offseason, so they had a 0:14:06.480 --> 0:14:09.000 little bit of a common bond there. He's familiar with Adams. 0:14:09.000 --> 0:14:10.760 The rest of it he's kind of catching up on. 0:14:11.240 --> 0:14:13.160 But if you look at his career, his best season 0:14:13.160 --> 0:14:15.320 in two thousand and seventeen, the season that almost got 0:14:15.400 --> 0:14:18.559 him a big contract from Baltimore. They used him everywhere. 0:14:18.600 --> 0:14:21.520 He played the slot, he played outside, even though he's 0:14:21.520 --> 0:14:25.640 six f he tends to slant more towards being a boundary, 0:14:25.680 --> 0:14:29.520 you know, perimeter receiver, but he does give you that flexibility. 0:14:29.800 --> 0:14:31.240 The big thing I'm just curious to see is how 0:14:31.320 --> 0:14:33.360 quickly he can pick this thing up and contribute. Because 0:14:33.800 --> 0:14:35.800 our first injury report, again this is before we get 0:14:35.800 --> 0:14:39.880 to Thursday's practice, but Davante Adams, Mark Quisvelda Scantling, and 0:14:40.120 --> 0:14:43.480 Jonimo Allison currently in the Concussion pro Protocol, none of 0:14:43.520 --> 0:14:46.280 those three guys listed as the starters were actually on 0:14:46.320 --> 0:14:48.440 the practice field. So now you're looking at Al Lazard, 0:14:48.440 --> 0:14:51.440 You're looking at Jake Kumero and Darius Shepard and now 0:14:51.520 --> 0:14:54.520 mixing in Grant into that equation. Yeah, this Keith Williams 0:14:54.520 --> 0:14:58.520 connection is really interesting because because Keith Williams was James 0:14:58.640 --> 0:15:02.400 Jones receiver's co yet San Jose State. Then he was 0:15:02.840 --> 0:15:05.640 he coached Davante Adams in college. He coached Ryan Grant 0:15:05.640 --> 0:15:08.960 in college. Kind of amazing how it becomes such a 0:15:08.960 --> 0:15:11.720 small world sometimes in the NFL with these connections. Yeah. 0:15:11.720 --> 0:15:13.560 And you know the other thing too. I remember talking 0:15:13.680 --> 0:15:16.440 number of years ago, and I'm gonna forget the gentleman's name, 0:15:16.440 --> 0:15:18.200 but the guy who was the position coach for Ha 0:15:18.120 --> 0:15:21.320 Ha Clinton Dicks. Uh, he was already at Louisville at 0:15:21.400 --> 0:15:22.960 that time. If you would have still been in Alabama, 0:15:22.960 --> 0:15:25.640 I wouldn't been able to talk to him. Uh. That's 0:15:25.640 --> 0:15:28.920 another story for another day. But he remember some of 0:15:28.920 --> 0:15:32.400 these coaches, um, even the offensive line coach the Packers 0:15:32.440 --> 0:15:34.440 had as an assistant a number of years ago. These 0:15:34.440 --> 0:15:37.200 guys will go two years in some cases where they 0:15:37.200 --> 0:15:40.360 don't stay in the same spot. Uh. It's just constant 0:15:40.360 --> 0:15:44.320 motion and it creates these sort of you know, step 0:15:44.320 --> 0:15:47.080 brother ships sort of you could say, in where a 0:15:47.160 --> 0:15:49.320 guy knows a guy that knows a guy and suddenly 0:15:49.320 --> 0:15:52.280 those two players get brought together. So it's an interesting story. 0:15:52.560 --> 0:15:55.480 Grant very you know, excited to be in Green Bay now. 0:15:55.520 --> 0:15:58.320 He had a tryout last week with the team, UM, 0:15:58.520 --> 0:16:00.480 and you know he hoped that it kind of would 0:16:00.520 --> 0:16:02.560 lead to this. And now for him being out of 0:16:02.560 --> 0:16:05.240 work for a month being down in Texas, a real 0:16:05.280 --> 0:16:08.120 opportunity for him to get his career back afloat Um 0:16:08.200 --> 0:16:10.200 as he looks to take that next step forward. Yeah, 0:16:10.200 --> 0:16:12.880 all right, Well quickly some sponsored business here West Select 0:16:12.920 --> 0:16:17.160 Cousin Subs locations are now offering delivery. Whether you're ordering 0:16:17.200 --> 0:16:19.840 catering or your favorite sub, they're delivering right to you 0:16:20.160 --> 0:16:23.680 when you order online at Cousin Subs dot com. Cousin 0:16:23.760 --> 0:16:27.520 Subs we believe in better. What's your take here West 0:16:27.600 --> 0:16:31.720 on just how this perimeter group is going to shake 0:16:31.720 --> 0:16:34.920 out for green Bay comes Sunday. You mentioned there's Alan Lazard, 0:16:35.000 --> 0:16:37.200 who came on the scene in a big way obviously 0:16:37.200 --> 0:16:39.960 and helped the Packers win on Monday. There's Jake Kumero. 0:16:40.880 --> 0:16:43.520 There's Darius Shepard, the undrafted rookie who will be looking 0:16:43.560 --> 0:16:47.680 to bounce back from a rough game. Robert Tonyan who 0:16:47.960 --> 0:16:50.920 missed the last game with a hip injury. After he 0:16:50.960 --> 0:16:55.880 was injured in Dallas. He's was estimated as a limited 0:16:55.880 --> 0:16:59.960 participant in practice. So we'll see um here in Thursday's 0:17:00.040 --> 0:17:03.240 practice how much he's doing. We saw Mercedes Lewis get 0:17:03.280 --> 0:17:07.160 two catches for fifty yards Jimmy Graham obviously had opportunities 0:17:07.200 --> 0:17:09.119 for a couple of plays that didn't work out, then 0:17:09.160 --> 0:17:11.640 did make a big catch to move the chains for 0:17:12.040 --> 0:17:15.200 a big first down late in the fourth quarter. It 0:17:15.320 --> 0:17:19.000 just seems like the way things are going that the 0:17:19.119 --> 0:17:22.200 more Aaron Rodgers can continue to spread the ball around 0:17:22.400 --> 0:17:25.240 right now and not necessarily try to zero in on 0:17:25.240 --> 0:17:28.520 one guy, it's what's keeping this Packers offense effective. I 0:17:28.560 --> 0:17:32.400 actually counted it up. Not only has Rogers completed passes 0:17:32.520 --> 0:17:34.560 when you count the backs, the tight ends, and the 0:17:34.560 --> 0:17:37.960 receivers completed passes to nine different players in each of 0:17:37.960 --> 0:17:41.160 the last two games, it's actually a total of twelve 0:17:41.200 --> 0:17:44.240 different players over the course of two games that have 0:17:44.320 --> 0:17:47.439 caught a pass from Aaron Rodgers. Here, that seems to 0:17:47.480 --> 0:17:52.240 be what's keeping things at least, you know, manageably efficient 0:17:52.720 --> 0:17:55.679 for this offense with some of the big guns, so 0:17:55.760 --> 0:17:58.199 to speak, offensively on the sidelines. You go back to 0:17:58.240 --> 0:18:00.719 a final thoughts that you and I had done. I 0:18:00.760 --> 0:18:03.440 want to say it was after the Philadelphia game going 0:18:03.480 --> 0:18:06.040 into Dallas, and I said, one of my big keys 0:18:06.119 --> 0:18:10.000 for that victory against going up against Dallas was Aaron Rodgers. 0:18:10.560 --> 0:18:12.520 Because you knew you weren't gonna have Davante Adams. You 0:18:12.560 --> 0:18:14.600 had a pretty good idea you weren't gonna have Jamal Williams, 0:18:14.640 --> 0:18:18.119 even though he looked for all intensive purposes. Okay, Aaron 0:18:18.200 --> 0:18:20.280 Rodgers needed to be at his best. I would argue 0:18:20.320 --> 0:18:22.920 these last two weeks, Aaron Rodgers has been at his best. 0:18:22.960 --> 0:18:25.240 And I know there was some things written, There was 0:18:25.280 --> 0:18:28.040 some more mumbo jumbo type saber metrics that were brought 0:18:28.119 --> 0:18:30.919 up to say otherwise, But you can't look at his 0:18:31.000 --> 0:18:35.879 ninety passer rating in that contest last Sunday and actually 0:18:35.960 --> 0:18:38.440 think that that was a reflection of how he performed. 0:18:38.560 --> 0:18:41.120 Matt Lafleur said it himself. There were six drop passes. 0:18:41.320 --> 0:18:44.000 Two of those could have been touchdowns. The way that 0:18:44.280 --> 0:18:47.880 Rogers rallied back I let an insider inbox with this week. 0:18:47.960 --> 0:18:51.560 This week, they followed his lead, they followed his energy, 0:18:51.680 --> 0:18:56.360 and again, as Jon Gruden even pointed out, he loves statistics. 0:18:56.640 --> 0:18:59.640 He doesn't care about all these other weird statistics that happened. 0:18:59.800 --> 0:19:03.359 He looks at wins, He looks at what the threat 0:19:03.520 --> 0:19:06.240 is that a player possesses. In that threat is still 0:19:06.320 --> 0:19:09.080 very much there with a R twelve well, I totally 0:19:09.080 --> 0:19:10.919 agree with you, and it was interesting. I got a 0:19:10.960 --> 0:19:14.119 great question that I posted in this morning's Insider Inbox 0:19:14.200 --> 0:19:17.360 column from a fan asking when was the last time 0:19:17.400 --> 0:19:20.080 Aaron Rodgers through an interception that didn't bounce off of 0:19:20.119 --> 0:19:23.280 his own receiver. And I stopped and thought about it, 0:19:23.320 --> 0:19:25.520 and I went back and looked just to make sure. 0:19:25.840 --> 0:19:28.719 And you actually have to go back to the Carolina 0:19:28.760 --> 0:19:33.240 game when Rogers had come back from the broken collar 0:19:33.240 --> 0:19:35.639 bone ended up being only a one game return because 0:19:35.960 --> 0:19:38.359 the Packers lost the game, But that was the last 0:19:38.359 --> 0:19:41.080 time he threw an interception that actually didn't bounce off 0:19:41.119 --> 0:19:46.199 of his own receiver. And those some of those opportunities 0:19:46.320 --> 0:19:50.320 obviously have gotten away from Green Bay here in the 0:19:50.400 --> 0:19:52.879 last couple of weeks. But I'm with U s I 0:19:53.359 --> 0:19:56.480 what Rodgers is doing it. He brought up the game 0:19:56.680 --> 0:20:00.480 in when the Packers went down to at Anna and 0:20:00.520 --> 0:20:04.320 they were banged up on the perimeter, and in that game, 0:20:04.359 --> 0:20:07.959