Speaker 1: Hi, everybody. Welcome to another edition of Packers unscripted from
Speaker 1: Packers dot Com. I am Mike Spofford, joined as always
Speaker 1: by my trusted colleague Weston Hodkowitz. We're coming to you
Speaker 1: once again from different locations at Lambeufield and West.
Speaker 2: That's so much different this time, Mike. You're right down
Speaker 2: the hall from me now, right.
Speaker 1: But things are things are so busy and so crazy
Speaker 1: during training camp that I can't even get in the
Speaker 1: studio today, let alone both of us being able to
Speaker 1: get in the studio to.
Speaker 2: We're gonna do it for the storage closet here soon, yeah.
Speaker 1: For so they'll just keep moving us around as we
Speaker 1: get through our various episodes. But the logistics aside. Packers
Speaker 1: are in the midst of training camp here and conducted
Speaker 1: another full padded practice on Tuesday since we had recorded
Speaker 1: our previous show. There'll be another practice not long after
Speaker 1: we get this show recorded. One thing I wanted to
Speaker 1: touch on here, Wes, and you wrote about it. There's
Speaker 1: a story on packers dot com for those who want
Speaker 1: to check it out. We talked a lot on our
Speaker 1: last show about the one on ones, which kind of
Speaker 1: get cranked up when the players put the pads on
Speaker 1: and whatnot. And one guy who's really been standing out
Speaker 1: in those one on one drills is the second year
Speaker 1: defensive lineman Davante Wyatt. It looks like he is off
Speaker 1: to a very very good start, the former first round
Speaker 1: pick in his second season.
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeahs Mike. And it was really interesting talking to
Speaker 2: him at his locker earlier this week because Pete Doherty
Speaker 2: was actually there, and you know, we were talking about
Speaker 2: the first rep that he took actually might have been
Speaker 2: the second one against Josh Myers, and obviously it was
Speaker 2: a big victory for Wyatt, but he hit him with
Speaker 2: the spin move, and Pete Doherty asked him that. He's like,
Speaker 2: you know, is that is that kind of like one
Speaker 2: of your big moves. He's like, oh, yeah, that's my
Speaker 2: special move, and we all kind of got a big
Speaker 2: laugh on it because then later on in practice going
Speaker 2: up against I believe it's Gene Delance. I want to
Speaker 2: make sure you get that right, one of the practice
Speaker 2: squad holdover from last year. Then he switched over and
Speaker 2: he converted to his power and again was able to
Speaker 2: get the offensive lineman on the ground while keeping his
Speaker 2: own balance, mind you, and I think what we've seen
Speaker 2: with Devonte White in year two is the game has
Speaker 2: slowed down. I know that's a big cliche, but now
Speaker 2: he's been able to do this rep after rep after rep.
Speaker 2: They don't have Dean Lowery anymore, they don't have Jaron Reid.
Speaker 2: When you look at that base defensive front, and specifically
Speaker 2: that nickel front with him and probably Kenny Clark at
Speaker 2: the three tech spots, this is a huge opportunity for
Speaker 2: the young man, and I think he's really taken advantage
Speaker 2: of it so far. Now, again, these are just practices.
Speaker 2: We just put the pads on. But if you were
Speaker 2: looking for the indicators that DeVante White is ready for
Speaker 2: this opportunity, I think you're seeing them because again, played
Speaker 2: I think just over two hundred snaps last year. He
Speaker 2: only missed one game all regular season, but he just
Speaker 2: he was averaging about ten snaps a game. But when
Speaker 2: he started to build some momentum at the end of
Speaker 2: the season, I think that helped his confidence. And now
Speaker 2: he's coming back looking a lot more. I don't want
Speaker 2: to say dominant, because again, we got to see some
Speaker 2: we got see some joint practices, we got to see
Speaker 2: some preseason games we got to get in the regular season.
Speaker 2: But I think the Packers have to be feeling really
Speaker 2: good right now that, Okay, we're gonna stick with him
Speaker 2: and TJ. Slayton. We're not going to bring any other
Speaker 2: veterans to replace Lowery and Reid. I think the Signs
Speaker 2: have been really promising that they made the right choice.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think the question the question that's still out
Speaker 1: there with Wyatt. To me, the Packers drafted him you
Speaker 1: as as an interior defensive lineman. You're a first round
Speaker 1: pick when you show you can rush the passer from
Speaker 1: that spot. The Packers didn't have any questions. I don't think.
Speaker 1: I don't think anybody does with regard to the pass
Speaker 1: rush is going to come. It's going to be there
Speaker 1: for Wyatt from uh, you know, from that three tech
Speaker 1: spot or wherever he may line up on the interior.
Speaker 1: The question at this level is going to be will
Speaker 1: he be able to will he be able to hold
Speaker 1: up and be the type of disruptive force against the
Speaker 1: run that he was in college? And things can be
Speaker 1: a little bit different in the NFL. It's not as
Speaker 1: easy as just beating your man and getting into the
Speaker 1: backfield to stop the run, because if that play is
Speaker 1: not coming at you, you know, it's really easy for
Speaker 1: a gap or a hole to to open up and
Speaker 1: uh and then boom, suddenly you know, a run is
Speaker 1: out the gate. The run defense has played a little
Speaker 1: bit a little bit differently in the NFL in that regard,
Speaker 1: and I'm not saying that DeVante Wyatt can't do it,
Speaker 1: but because he had such limited playing time as a rookie,
Speaker 1: I think we have to see if he's going to
Speaker 1: be able to be a run stopper down after down,
Speaker 1: just as I think he's going to be able to
Speaker 1: consistently put pressure on the quarterback when given those opportunities.
Speaker 1: The comment, the quote that has that has stood out.
Speaker 1: It's shown up in our coverage and and coverage elsewhere.
Speaker 1: When defensive lineman Jerry Montgomery with the media during the spring,
Speaker 1: I can't remember exactly if it was OTA's or mini
Speaker 1: camp or exactly what it was, but he was talking
Speaker 1: about Week eighteen against the Lions. Obviously that was a
Speaker 1: disappointing loss for the Packers, but in the midst of
Speaker 1: that game, Wyatt got a strip sack of Jared Goff
Speaker 1: of Detroit and it was probably the biggest highlight play
Speaker 1: of his rookie campaign, and Montgomery said when Wyatt came
Speaker 1: off the field after that play, he commented like, hey, coach,
Speaker 1: I think I'm starting to get it, you know. And yes,
Speaker 1: it was week eighteen and everybody was hoping that maybe
Speaker 1: it would come around a little bit sooner for Wyatt,
Speaker 1: but there he had such a strong finish to the season,
Speaker 1: not just with that play but over the last month
Speaker 1: of the regular season last year, that what we're seeing
Speaker 1: now at the start of training camp is not necessarily surprised.
Speaker 1: It really looks like he is building off of what
Speaker 1: he did last December.
Speaker 2: Yeah, absolutely in that That's what I kind of was
Speaker 2: talking about. And I asked him about that, the momentum
Speaker 2: that he kind of derived from the end of that season,
Speaker 2: and he said there was a little bit, but he's like,
Speaker 2: I feel much more confident now. And I think that
Speaker 2: was the totality of his offseason. I feel like that
Speaker 2: was everything that he put in with the reps with
Speaker 2: Kenny Clark and you know, TJ. Slayton during the offseason program.
Speaker 2: And then the other thing that's interesting too. You mentioned it,
Speaker 2: like the Packers the run defense, that's the big thing
Speaker 2: for them this year. Whatever you want to put it on,
Speaker 2: whatever the issues were last season, twenty six is twenty six.
Speaker 2: Then Green Bay knows they need to do better against that.
Speaker 2: They can't give up five yards a clip against the
Speaker 2: run this season, I feel like getting back to a
Speaker 2: more traditional nose tackle and TJ. Slayton is a big
Speaker 2: piece to that. You know, for years you'd see not
Speaker 2: just Green Bay, but a lot of teams in the NFL.
Speaker 2: As teams got faster, we saw, you know, safeties playing linebacker.
Speaker 2: We saw three hundred and fifteen pound nose tackles. We'd
Speaker 2: gotten kind of away from the Ryan Pickett sort of
Speaker 2: generation of three hundred and forty pounds and just an
Speaker 2: absolute handful for interior alignment to deal with. Slayton is
Speaker 2: a little bit more out of that mold, right at
Speaker 2: three hundred fourty pounds. With as much athleticism that he has,
Speaker 2: He's going to be a big piece at the one tech.
Speaker 2: But it's not just one player. It is on Wide,
Speaker 2: it's on Clark, it's on everybody behind them to hold
Speaker 2: up their end of the bargain. I think the Packers
Speaker 2: are going to be able to get after the quarterback
Speaker 2: this season. I feel pretty confident saying that with Rashaun
Speaker 2: Gary coming back, Lucas Fanas is the first round pick,
Speaker 2: the athleticism they have on the interior defensive line, and
Speaker 2: even guys like you know, Devondre Campbell and Kuay Walker
Speaker 2: behind that, it's about okay. Right out of the gate, Mike,
Speaker 2: You're going to see New Orleans, You're going to see Atlanta.
Speaker 2: There's a first round pick that Detroit drafted. You're going
Speaker 2: to see a lot of running backs that are either
Speaker 2: top of the line or considered, you know, that next
Speaker 2: wave of elite backs, and Green Bay has to be
Speaker 2: able to stop them.
Speaker 1: And you're going to see a quarterback in week one
Speaker 1: who likes to run the ball, not just from a
Speaker 1: scrambling standpoint, you know, busted plays, but actually designed runs,
Speaker 1: you know, justin fields and the Chicago Bears. He likes
Speaker 1: to play running backs sometimes as quarterback, and that's going
Speaker 1: to be a challenge right out of the gate in
Speaker 1: Week one at Soldier Field as well. So shifting gears
Speaker 1: to the other side of the ball for a minute.
Speaker 1: One thing that we will be watching pretty closely here
Speaker 1: as training camp continues, starting to see some more shuffling
Speaker 1: on the offensive line with the number one unit in
Speaker 1: terms of where guys are lining up specifically, we've now
Speaker 1: seen Zach Tom starting to take some snaps at center
Speaker 1: with the number one offensive line in place of Josh Myers,
Speaker 1: with Yosh Niman playing right tackle. So that's a combination
Speaker 1: that the coaches are are going to take a look at,
Speaker 1: and I think the best way to try to understand
Speaker 1: what's going on here. Larry articulated it very well in
Speaker 1: our three Things video after practice on Tuesday. I tried
Speaker 1: to do the same thing in our Insider Inbox column
Speaker 1: on Wednesday morning. If you go by what Matt Lafleur
Speaker 1: has been saying all along that it's about getting the
Speaker 1: best five on the field, it really looks like right
Speaker 1: now three of those best five our David Baktiari Elton Jenkins,
Speaker 1: and John Runyon. We haven't seen really anything but those
Speaker 1: guys being in their traditional spots. But then it's between
Speaker 1: yash Niman, Josh Myers, and Zach Tom. Two of those
Speaker 1: three guys will be will round out the best five.
Speaker 1: So it's three guys competing for two spots. Obviously, Meyer's
Speaker 1: only a center. Nyman only plays tackle, Zach Tom can
Speaker 1: play either one, so in some respects if you look
Speaker 1: at it as well, if Zach Tom proves that he's
Speaker 1: one of the best five, and I'm not saying that
Speaker 1: that's been decided yet, but say if it evolves that way,
Speaker 1: and Zach Tom proves that he's one of the best five,
Speaker 1: then his position potentially could be determined by who is
Speaker 1: the other guy who joins the best five, and then
Speaker 1: Zach Tom just fills in the other spot. That's one
Speaker 1: way that this could evolve. But it's something that we
Speaker 1: will watch as training camp continues, as we get into
Speaker 1: the preseason games and and where guys are taking reps,
Speaker 1: because nothing's for certain yet, but but it certainly is
Speaker 1: is starting to take a little bit more shape in
Speaker 1: terms of exactly what's being looked at.
Speaker 2: First off, what Zach Tom is doing is just the
Speaker 2: darnedest thing I think I've ever seen during an NFL
Speaker 2: training camp. We've seen that, right, you know, Elton Jenkins
Speaker 2: plays guard and tackle, and we've seen these guys. I
Speaker 2: don't know if I've ever seen a guy in team
Speaker 2: period switch between right tackle and center depending on which
Speaker 2: which package is in and the look that they're getting.
Speaker 1: I mean, yeah, and sometimes from period to period, like
Speaker 1: he doesn't just get to play one spot for like
Speaker 1: a whole practice like he's he's he gets, you know,
Speaker 1: three snaps at one spot and then he's taking three
Speaker 1: or four snaps at the other. It is. It is
Speaker 1: pretty amazing. And uh and you know, the not just
Speaker 1: the physical challenge but the mental challenge in terms of
Speaker 1: the plays and executing the responsibilities at two different spots
Speaker 1: within the same practice. That that can't be easy.
Speaker 2: No, And it takes a smart kid to do that.
Speaker 2: And obviously, as we've talked about numerous times now, he
Speaker 2: has put on the weight this offseason, kind of anchored
Speaker 2: down a little bit. He feels like that's helped him.
Speaker 2: But because of that, it's also allowed him to have
Speaker 2: that flexibility to challenge at multiple positions. And you know,
Speaker 2: as much as Zach Tom I'm sure loves to be
Speaker 2: versaal and loves to play different spots, I'm guessing his
Speaker 2: goal at the end of the day. I don't think
Speaker 2: I'm going too far dow a limb saying this is
Speaker 2: to be a Week one starter when the Packers travel
Speaker 2: to Soldier Field, that the interesting aspect of this though,
Speaker 2: that I find the most funny is right off the bat,
Speaker 2: you say, David back Terry Delton Jenkins. That goes without saying.
Speaker 2: I love the trajectory that John Runyan has been on,
Speaker 2: where you know, he was in the lineup and he
Speaker 2: was out of the lineup, and then it was Lucas Patrick,
Speaker 2: and then it wasn't Lucas Patrick and it's Runyon and
Speaker 2: then the last two years, I don't even know if,
Speaker 2: like the gathered media has even talked to the kid
Speaker 2: that much. He just does his job. He's owned now
Speaker 2: right guard. He started last year at left guard before
Speaker 2: they made the flop with you know, the switch with
Speaker 2: with Yash and he's just steady as they go. I mean,
Speaker 2: I feel like John running has just been an ultimate
Speaker 2: premium pick for the Packers coming out of that twenty draft.
Speaker 2: But because of that, you know, in Zach Tom competing
Speaker 2: the way he is, it creates some questions there about
Speaker 2: if he could potentially push Fitz center too. So competition
Speaker 2: brings out the best in everybody. Mike, you and I
Speaker 2: have said that since the beginning of time, and the
Speaker 2: Packers ultimately they're gonna need all six of those guys
Speaker 2: this year. I doubt there's a scenario in which they
Speaker 2: all end up healthy from week one to week thirty
Speaker 2: eight or whatever the season runs now. So the fact
Speaker 2: of the matter is you have to have options, and
Speaker 2: Zach tom gives the Packers a heck of a lot
Speaker 2: of them.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and what you said about Runying is spot on too,
Speaker 1: you know. For a guy to come in as a
Speaker 1: sixth round pick and he was an All Big Ten
Speaker 1: tackle at Michigan, and the Packers you know, saw him
Speaker 1: as as an interior lineman, you know, from the start,
Speaker 1: and he's learned the guard spot. He's played both sides,
Speaker 1: he's played on either side of the center, and suddenly
Speaker 1: now he's kind of entrenched at right guard and nobody
Speaker 1: you know, putting up a serious challenge for him at
Speaker 1: that spot. When you can find when you can find
Speaker 1: a reliable, like don't have to worry about it type
Speaker 1: of player in the sixth round of the draft and
Speaker 1: he's actually playing in the NFL at a position that
Speaker 1: he didn't even play in college, that says something about
Speaker 1: the scouting evaluation, but also says something about that player,
Speaker 1: that individual in particular, and how he's gone about the
Speaker 1: transition to the NFL. It's it's been pretty impressive on
Speaker 1: Runyan's part.
Speaker 2: Huge value too, right, you go back, you think Olayne
Speaker 2: Taylor getting eight years out of Green Bay after being
Speaker 2: an undrafted free draft thirteen and again, very same credentials.
Speaker 2: He played guard at Oklahoma State as where you know,
Speaker 2: Runyon was playing tackle but just didn't get enough respect.
Speaker 2: People didn't think he was athletic enough. They weren't sure
Speaker 2: if he could do it at this level. And he
Speaker 2: ends up being a six foot five, three hundred and
Speaker 2: twenty four pound like stalwart on your offensive line for years.
Speaker 2: And I think those are the ties. Those are the
Speaker 2: type of guys that you can't say enough about because
Speaker 2: you can't always be spending first round picks on interior
Speaker 2: defense or interior offensive linemen and run And I think
Speaker 2: kind of, I know I went off on a tangent
Speaker 2: with your point, your original point, but I just think
Speaker 2: it's very funny that that's not even been a conversation.
Speaker 2: He's just been the guy as much as Elton Jenkins
Speaker 2: has been the guy at left guard. Yeah.
Speaker 1: Absolutely, Well, a little bit of sponsor business here, West
Speaker 1: Sirius XM NFL Radio delivers hard hitting analysis and up
Speaker 1: to the minute NFL news that true football fanatics need
Speaker 1: twenty four to seven, three sixty five, and at Cousin
Speaker 1: Subs we have something for everyone, like our Wisconsin cheese curds,
Speaker 1: mac and cheese, golden fries, and creamy shakes, all paired
Speaker 1: with your favorite sub or sub in a bowl. Cousin
Speaker 1: Subs fifty years of Better. I know the fifty years
Speaker 1: thing was last year, so maybe I should be saying
Speaker 1: fifty one years of better. I'll have to check with
Speaker 1: I'll you have to check with your contact at Cousins
Speaker 1: on that for me quest.
Speaker 2: I will, But I also know enough about sales to
Speaker 2: never deviate off the screen.
Speaker 1: I know it's like read read, what's read, what's in
Speaker 1: front of you. That's a that's technically, that's how it works.
Speaker 2: It has been fifty years of better, it's just fifty
Speaker 2: years in change of that.
Speaker 1: Yeah, right, Like that's the other fifty plus years. So well,
Speaker 1: another another topic I wanted to get to that we
Speaker 1: had so much with regard to what was going on
Speaker 1: at practice to to get to on our last show,
Speaker 1: that we didn't get to the fact that at Monday's practice,
Speaker 1: this week, Peyton Manning was in attendance the uh the
Speaker 1: Hall of Fame quarterback, two time Super Bowl champion and
Speaker 1: now very very busy with his own media production business.
Speaker 1: And no, he was not here to talk to Jordan
Speaker 1: Love about the Netflix Quarterback series. That was not part
Speaker 1: of their discussion. But Jordan Love did reveal to the
Speaker 1: media some of the stuff that they did talk about,
Speaker 1: and he was really appreciative of the chance to talk
Speaker 1: with Peyton Manning one on one, and they talked a
Speaker 1: lot about, you know, just preparation, you know, how to
Speaker 1: how to study film and you know, how to be
Speaker 1: that that leader and that that main communicator on the
Speaker 1: offense when it comes to your lineman and your receivers
Speaker 1: and all that, and uh, you know, Jordan Love soaked
Speaker 1: up everything he could from, uh, from that conversation with
Speaker 1: Peyton Manning, and I think he, you know, he really
Speaker 1: appreciated that opportunity.
Speaker 2: Yeah, a neat opportunity for a young guy that you know,
Speaker 2: you always go back to thinking about, like when you know,
Speaker 2: Aaron Rodgers got to Green Bay and he talked about
Speaker 2: the influence that Joe Montana had on him and Steve
Speaker 2: Young and those guys from the Bay Area and and
Speaker 2: obviously quarterbacks learned from quarterbacks, right, It's the way it
Speaker 2: all goes in our profession too. There's writers we aspired
Speaker 2: to be and and and people that we enjoyed reading.
Speaker 2: So for Love to be able to have that interaction,
Speaker 2: I thought was really valuable. And as Matt Lafleur said,
Speaker 2: you know, Peyton coming and saying in words to the
Speaker 2: entire team though, those are those are the monumental kind
Speaker 2: of things because as Jordan's talked about, and I think
Speaker 2: we don't discuss this enough, Peyton Manning had a ton
Speaker 2: of pressure on him coming into the National Football League. Now,
Speaker 2: social media twenty five years ago isn't what it is today,
Speaker 2: so he probably didn't have to like look at it
Speaker 2: from every single person giving their opinion at every single second.
Speaker 2: But the fact of the matter is he was Archie
Speaker 2: Manning's son. He was the first overall pick and he
Speaker 2: threw what was it, twenty nine interceptions his first year
Speaker 2: in the National Football League.
Speaker 1: Still has the rookie record for most interceptions in one season.
Speaker 2: Yeah, no, rookies really gonna get that much of a
Speaker 2: leash these days, Xeah Exactly.
Speaker 1: That's the thing It's kind of like what Brett Farres said.
Speaker 1: You know, he holds the all time record for interceptions
Speaker 1: for a career. It's like, well, you have to be
Speaker 1: doing something right if you be allowed to throw that
Speaker 1: many interceptions. And Peyton Manning was allowed to throw that
Speaker 1: many as a rookie because the Colts knew what they
Speaker 1: had and certainly it eventually came around for him.
Speaker 2: And the Colts weren't very good that year either, right,
Speaker 2: and next thing you know, they turn it around and
Speaker 2: they'd become a perennial playoff team and eventually a super
Speaker 2: Bowl champion. But to be able to level with a
Speaker 2: guy like Jordan Love like that, I think that's important
Speaker 2: because it reminds you that whatever the result is today
Speaker 2: doesn't mean that that predestines to you to what tomorrow
Speaker 2: is going to be good or bad. Right, there's going
Speaker 2: to be ebbs and flows to this game. And it's
Speaker 2: the number one thing I talked about all off season
Speaker 2: when we would do these podcasts, when we do unscripted,
Speaker 2: when we talk to Larry, is that Jordan Love, that's
Speaker 2: the biggest transition for me, That that's the biggest hurdle
Speaker 2: I think he needs to climb is just that you're
Speaker 2: going to play a game on Sunday. You're going to
Speaker 2: break it down. You know, unless you start winning a
Speaker 2: bunch of games, you don't have you get victory Mondays.
Speaker 2: But you're gonna have to break it down on Monday
Speaker 2: and you start getting ready for the new game plan
Speaker 2: on Wednesday. That's the That's how the life of an
Speaker 2: NFL quarterback goes. You have to have that short memory
Speaker 2: and you have to keep building towards what's coming next.
Speaker 2: And I feel like that is the personification of what
Speaker 2: Peyton Manning did in his career. That's how you last
Speaker 2: as long as he did in the league, in addition
Speaker 2: to just having a you know a lot of God
Speaker 2: given talent and ability. So I think it's exciting right now.
Speaker 2: I think it's exciting for the Green Bay Packers when
Speaker 2: you get that type of player in here. I mean
Speaker 2: all our eyes immediately from the sidelines started going over there.
Speaker 2: I started when you as soon as you notice Peyton
Speaker 2: Manning there, it is something that's going to catch you.
Speaker 2: And I'm just really happy for Peyton Manning too that
Speaker 2: he got to chat with Red Batty, because when you
Speaker 2: talk about legendary people in the National Football League. Peyton
Speaker 2: Manning's up there. He's pretty good. Hall of Famer, but
Speaker 2: Red Batty Gordon just the cut above. Yeah.
Speaker 1: Well, the other thing I really enjoyed was hearing Matt
Speaker 1: Lafleur at the podium the other day reminiscing about a
Speaker 1: very bad memory early in his coaching career when he
Speaker 1: had just broken into the league with the Houston Texans
Speaker 1: and they basically blew a seventeen point lead to Peyton
Speaker 1: Manning in the last five minutes of the game. And
Speaker 1: it's funny, West because I, you know, me and my
Speaker 1: curiosity and how you know. So I went and looked
Speaker 1: up the game and exactly like, okay, so, how did
Speaker 1: Peyton Manning pull off this comeback? Well, one, it wasn't
Speaker 1: It wasn't all Peyton Manning. But this is how it unfolded,
Speaker 1: and you have to picture. Okay, if you're Matt Lafleur,
Speaker 1: this is this is like his fourth or fifth game
Speaker 1: as an NFL assistant coach, on the bottom of the
Speaker 1: totem pole quality control level with the Houston Texans. He's
Speaker 1: just just gotten into the league in two thousand and eight,
Speaker 1: and he's a month into his career as an NFL coach,
Speaker 1: and he's watching from the press box and his team
Speaker 1: has a twenty seven to ten lead with about five
Speaker 1: minutes to go. Huge underdogs, the Texans against the Colts,
Speaker 1: and Peyton Manning drives the Colts down for a touchdown.
Speaker 1: It's twenty seven to seventeen. Then the Texans fumble the ball,
Speaker 1: it gets scooped up and run back seventy yards for
Speaker 1: a touchdown, so it's twenty seven to twenty four. And
Speaker 1: then the Texans fumble the ball again. The Colts recover,
Speaker 1: Peyton Manning drives them down and gets the touchdown to
Speaker 1: take the lead with a little bit under two minutes left.
Speaker 1: And then the Texans get one more shot and the
Speaker 1: quarterback throws an interception. So that's actually how that game unfolded.
Speaker 1: So you talk about a game that is going to
Speaker 1: make an impression on a young coach who's just broken
Speaker 1: into the league. He's up against a you know, watching
Speaker 1: a Hall of Fame quarterback on the other side, seeing
Speaker 1: how how you absolutely have to play and execute and
Speaker 1: do things right for sixty minutes in order to win
Speaker 1: games in this league, and how huge a factor turnovers
Speaker 1: can be.
Speaker 2: I mean it was.
Speaker 1: It was all laid out for Matt Lafluor right there
Speaker 1: in that game against Peyton Manning and the Colts. And
Speaker 1: it was fun to hear him talk about that bad memory,
Speaker 1: but then also look up the details of exactly what unfolded,
Speaker 1: because there's no question that that game made a big
Speaker 1: impression on Matt Lafleur and how it's shaped him as
Speaker 1: a head coach.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and people wonder why Matt always talks about turnover
Speaker 2: margin different exactly exactly, Just look at that one first
Speaker 2: month of the two thousand and eight season, twenty seven
Speaker 2: to ten, with five minutes to go.
Speaker 1: Look what happened.
Speaker 2: So it'll turn, it'll turn whatever it is, a seventeen
Speaker 2: point lead into a deficit real quick when you start
Speaker 2: tumbling balls for touchdowns. But but hey, listen, I mean
Speaker 2: it's cool, it's it is the neat thing about training camp.
Speaker 2: I remember, if I can just say one last story
Speaker 2: here before we cut out, The first time I saw
Speaker 2: John Madden at one of our training camps. I was
Speaker 2: still at the Press because ut of the time John
Speaker 2: was a little bit older, but he was here. I
Speaker 2: can't remember what the project was for, but you start
Speaker 2: to see some of these people that have had such
Speaker 2: an impact on the game of football and what the
Speaker 2: sport that we enjoy today. And there's no like goodyear
Speaker 2: blimp saying hey, welcome, Pete mcley just kind of show
Speaker 2: up from time to time during camp, right yep here
Speaker 2: there and and to me, that's that's always the most fun.
Speaker 2: And yeah, a very cool memory. And I think something
Speaker 2: that Jordan love is he ventures off as we talk
Speaker 2: about it, into his first year as a head as
Speaker 2: a head coach, as a quarterback, starting quarterback in the
Speaker 2: National Football League. One of those like tiny moments that
Speaker 2: kind of builds up to something special.
Speaker 1: Yeah, absolutely, and Manning did. He addressed the entire team
Speaker 1: actually after practice on Monday, shared some words of wisdom
Speaker 1: and everything.
Speaker 2: There.
Speaker 1: I know we do have to get going. But I
Speaker 1: want to mention one other thing to all of our
Speaker 1: loyal listeners readers out there. If you have not checked
Speaker 1: out Wes's story on Derek Coleman, the deaf slash heard
Speaker 1: of hearing Super Bowl champion from the Seattle Seahawks who
Speaker 1: is now a member of the Packers' front office in
Speaker 1: the player engagement area, you need to read that story.
Speaker 1: It's really really well done. It's a great story by
Speaker 1: about a great individual. I'll give you just a minute here,
Speaker 1: Wes to talk about how that story came together and
Speaker 1: the impression that it made on you as the writer.
Speaker 2: Well, it was fun, Mike, because I think you and
Speaker 2: I we both remember Derek Coleman and the Duracell commercial
Speaker 2: and everything he was a part of with the Seattle Seahawks,
Speaker 2: good bad and in between, right. I mean, there was
Speaker 2: a touchdown in twenty fourteen and that opener at you know,
Speaker 2: Oughton Seattle that I'll never quite forget either. But that
Speaker 2: being said, from a football perspective and what he means
Speaker 2: to this community, I feel like it was fun being
Speaker 2: a part of that. So basically, myself, Tyler Gaieski, and
Speaker 2: Nick McGahan from our video department all went down to
Speaker 2: Verona Area High School beautiful high school by the way, Michael,
Speaker 2: down in your southern eastern part of the woods, southwestern
Speaker 2: southwestern sorry.
Speaker 1: Near Madison I know is yeah, Verona is very close
Speaker 1: to Madison for those who don't know.
Speaker 2: Terrible at geography. It was my worst subject. Sorry, But
Speaker 2: that being said, I'm really getting off to a great
Speaker 2: start on this promo R and I. But the fact
Speaker 2: was is that being able to be with him in
Speaker 2: the American Sign language. Students from Verona, Wisconsin School from
Speaker 2: the Deaf was also there. Their faculty had came to
Speaker 2: the event and listening to Derek's message, and it's one
Speaker 2: thing to read stories, it's one thing to watch amazing
Speaker 2: video packages that have been put together over the years,
Speaker 2: but when you actually see the way he interacts with kids,
Speaker 2: it was very special. And having a chance to talk
Speaker 2: with Gray Rugemer about him and Matt Lafleur made a comment,
Speaker 2: and then certainly some of the lives he's touched away
Speaker 2: from football. You know, that was the coolest part of
Speaker 2: the experience to me because you see what a certain
Speaker 2: amount of celebrity can do for the good of the
Speaker 2: world if used in channeled properly, and I feel like
Speaker 2: Derek Coleman has really done that. Now, as you mentioned,
Speaker 2: the assistant to Gray Rugemer in the player engagement area,
Speaker 2: it's the perfect role for Derek. He has had such
Speaker 2: an incredible lived experience and his ability to kind of
Speaker 2: relay and tell players what it's like to go through things,
Speaker 2: I think is really important because in a lot of
Speaker 2: ways he had to study this book over and over
Speaker 2: and over again to make it as long as he
Speaker 2: did in the National Football League, And as Aaron Jones
Speaker 2: told me during the offseason when I talked to him
Speaker 2: about it, you know, he feels like he could be
Speaker 2: a real special piece to what this team is building
Speaker 2: now moving forward. Yeah.
Speaker 1: Absolutely, And I encourage everyone to check out that story.
Speaker 1: It was posted on packers dot com Wednesday. Shouldn't be
Speaker 1: too hard to find and uh and I think you'll
Speaker 1: really enjoy it. So with that, we will call it
Speaker 1: a wrap on this edition of Packers Unscripted. Be sure
Speaker 1: to follow all of our coverage of training camp. We've
Speaker 1: got it all for you on packers dot com. For Wes,
Speaker 1: I am Mike. Thank you for tuning in everybody. We
Speaker 1: will see you next time.