Speaker 1: Hm hi, everybody. Welcome to another edition of Packers Unscripted
Speaker 1: from Packers dot Com. I am Mike Spaffer, joined by
Speaker 1: the one, the only Weston hod Koitz. We're coming to
Speaker 1: you here from our new studio inside the walls of
Speaker 1: lambeau Field.
Speaker 2: How long is it a new studio for? When do
Speaker 2: we when do we pivot away from the new studio?
Speaker 1: That's that's yeah, maybe by training cap it'll be the it'll.
Speaker 2: Be an old studio. And you need to start saying
Speaker 2: that too, the old studio.
Speaker 1: No longer news. So the last couple of days, Wes,
Speaker 1: we have heard from various assistant coaches on both sides
Speaker 1: of the ball had their media sessions on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Speaker 1: Defensive assistance were on Tuesday, Offensive assistance on Wednesday. So
Speaker 1: we'll start on the defensive side here and just your
Speaker 1: I guess your impressions are anything, anything that stood out
Speaker 1: to you? You know, one of those sort of off
Speaker 1: season comments that you will that you will take with
Speaker 1: you between now in training camp when things start to
Speaker 1: get a little more real.
Speaker 2: Yeah, like the way you structured that. The one thing
Speaker 2: I will say, it's it's it's partially laiden in the
Speaker 2: comment and it's also about the person. It was really
Speaker 2: interesting listening to Vince Ogabazi for the first time because
Speaker 2: it's it is always, It's happened a couple times in
Speaker 2: the past. Luke Getzi's one of these guys too, right
Speaker 2: where he was a quality control coach. You don't talk
Speaker 2: to him, you don't interact with him in terms of
Speaker 2: the podium stuff, and then he moves into a receiver's
Speaker 2: coach job, and then suddenly a couple of years later,
Speaker 2: here you are talking to him on a weekly basis.
Speaker 2: Ogabazi came here with Jeff Hafley and he's I believe
Speaker 2: the only guy that's still here from Jeff when he
Speaker 2: came over from Boston College. But he was the assistant
Speaker 2: defensive line coach, so we didn't talk to him the
Speaker 2: last two years of the podium. This is the first
Speaker 2: time this week where we got a chance to really
Speaker 2: interact with them and understand, you know, sort of what
Speaker 2: makes them tick because we've seen him on the field
Speaker 2: as he even asked him. I mean, he's a very
Speaker 2: expressive person. The play ends, he's running over to his
Speaker 2: defensive lineman as soon as it's done. And today was
Speaker 2: the day where this week was where we finally got
Speaker 2: a chance to understand the person a little bit more.
Speaker 2: And what an engaging guy. What an interesting interview to
Speaker 2: kind of hear his perspective on things where he came from.
Speaker 2: Obviously incredibly appreciative that, you know, Matt Lafleur and Jonathan
Speaker 2: Gannon gave him this opportunity to get this promotion. He's
Speaker 2: now fully in charge of that interior defensive line and
Speaker 2: he's super excited about what potentially they have there at
Speaker 2: that position. This is one of those spots, Mike. There
Speaker 2: was only a couple moves made, but it really was
Speaker 2: an invigoration of the position. I feel like, right, I mean,
Speaker 2: you have Javon Hargrave comes in now thirty three years old,
Speaker 2: he's been in the league for ten years, and now
Speaker 2: you're gonna partner him up with Devonte Wyatt, who's been
Speaker 2: the young up and comer guy that was probably on
Speaker 2: the verge of maybe a Pro Bowl season last year
Speaker 2: before his injury. Right, and then Chris McClellan joins that
Speaker 2: group as well. So the philosophy there and he talked
Speaker 2: about it. He's played in three fours, he's played in
Speaker 2: four threes. He's not too concerned about that, but just
Speaker 2: what the mentality of those defensive linemen is going to
Speaker 2: be this season, I think thought was really one of
Speaker 2: the biggest noteworthy things that came out of these availabilities.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I And I asked coach Ogobasi, as you said,
Speaker 1: about sort of his animation on the practice field, because
Speaker 1: it's been really fun the last couple of training camps
Speaker 1: when they get into the eleven on eleven and you know,
Speaker 1: you hear, you know, some helmets cracking and stuff in
Speaker 1: the trenches, and you'll hear just this exclamation from the
Speaker 1: sideline from one of the coaches, and as you said,
Speaker 1: come like running in to talk to his guys, and
Speaker 1: it's v O. He's known as VO around here, Vince Ogbasi.
Speaker 1: And so when I think of when I think of that,
Speaker 1: that's going to be continuing on the sideline at training
Speaker 1: camp this year. And then what I saw from the
Speaker 1: podium as a certain level of intensity I guess from
Speaker 1: Bobby Babbage and from Daniel Bullocks, the two essentially the
Speaker 1: two secondary coaches that the Packers will have this year,
Speaker 1: and those are the new additions to the group. I'm
Speaker 1: getting the feeling that that we're gonna see, you know,
Speaker 1: a certain level of intensity on the practice field at
Speaker 1: training camp, or at least in terms of you know,
Speaker 1: the the animation and the vocals and everything that goes
Speaker 1: on from like play to play during the eleven on eleven.
Speaker 1: I think we're gonna be hearing it this summer because
Speaker 1: because it just seems like that's how this defensive coaching
Speaker 1: staff is built.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and it's funny too listening to Babbage and Bullocks
Speaker 2: because they're they're different, like they're terms of like how
Speaker 2: their personalities are. Where Bobby, I mean, there's definitely he
Speaker 2: walks into the room, there's an aura involved there, right,
Speaker 2: I mean we and we talked about it a couple
Speaker 2: of years ago when he was in the process of
Speaker 2: interviewing for the defensive coordinator job. He ended up staying
Speaker 2: in Buffalo at the time with Sean McDermott, but now
Speaker 2: he has the opportunity to come to Green Bay. He
Speaker 2: said he's had some connections and interactions not only with
Speaker 2: Jonathan Gannon having run in those circles, but then also
Speaker 2: kind of being sort of an offshoot of that Kyle
Speaker 2: Shanahan tree. He was on those fabled Mike Petton coaching
Speaker 2: staffs in the early twenty tens. I mean these Cleveland Browns,
Speaker 2: you know that were seven to nine and there was
Speaker 2: I think the Johnny Menzel things sort of overcame everything.
Speaker 2: And then you look at that coaching staff and what
Speaker 2: it produced, the amount of head coaches, the amount of
Speaker 2: offensive coordinators, defensive coordinators. It's quite the you know, extension
Speaker 2: right in terms of how that the Shanahan's from Washington
Speaker 2: sort of got to Cleveland and then now it's just
Speaker 2: taken off. Yeah, and Babbie was a part of that.
Speaker 2: Whereas with Bullocks, I mean, he's very interesting in that
Speaker 2: this is a guy that was a second round pick
Speaker 2: in the NFL in the late two thousands from Detroit,
Speaker 2: had a slew of injuries and has worked his way up.
Speaker 2: Also off the Shanahan coaching tree, Kyle over in San Francisco,
Speaker 2: So there is a certain I thought it. One of
Speaker 2: the interesting things about the conversation where it went with
Speaker 2: both of them was the idea of takeaways. And obviously
Speaker 2: last year Green Bay just really struggled to get the interceptions.
Speaker 2: I mean, if I remember correctly, I think Xavier McKinney
Speaker 2: had more picks in twenty twenty four than the Packers
Speaker 2: had defensively last year, I think, to seven. So figuring
Speaker 2: out exactly what that formula is. I mean, you obviously
Speaker 2: don't want to chase it, but at the same time
Speaker 2: being able to pull those opportunities down when you get them.
Speaker 2: And as Bavich even talked about, it is about taking
Speaker 2: the ball away. That is the goal of that secondary
Speaker 2: And certainly you look at his track record with Micah Hyde,
Speaker 2: with Jordan Poyer, all those guys in Buffalo for those years.
Speaker 2: I mean, they were prolific at finding ways to make
Speaker 2: explosive plays on the defensive side of the ball, and that's
Speaker 2: what he hopes to bring now a Green Bay. Yeah.
Speaker 1: I thought it was an interesting comment too from coach Bullocks,
Speaker 1: and because he was talking about the takeaways, as you said,
Speaker 1: and he made the comment and I don't have the
Speaker 1: exact wording in front of me, but it was something
Speaker 1: along the lines of the hardest thing for the defender
Speaker 1: is essentially to finish the takeaway. It's the challenge at
Speaker 1: the catch point. Yes, right, And that's exactly what we
Speaker 1: saw was the issue with the Packers last year because
Speaker 1: the opportunities were there. The Packers had numerous opportunities for
Speaker 1: takeaways and they just woren't able to secure the interceptions
Speaker 1: which they did secure the previous year as McKinney and
Speaker 1: others racked up a you know, an impressive total for
Speaker 1: the defense as a whole, and that just didn't happen
Speaker 1: last year. And it wasn't just one guy. I mean
Speaker 1: McKinney missed his, you know, Carrington Valentine missed his, Keshawn
Speaker 1: Nixon missed his. I mean, all those guys went into
Speaker 1: the offseason, I'm sure you know, looking at when they
Speaker 1: went back through the going back through the clips and
Speaker 1: everything from last year, they were reminded, Oh yeah, they
Speaker 1: look at those opportunities, look at those chances that we had.
Speaker 1: I just thought it was interesting that Bullooks had said,
Speaker 1: you know, it's as though everything you have to do
Speaker 1: defensively to put yourself in the right position to make
Speaker 1: the play, and you have to time your brake on
Speaker 1: the ball or whether it's the leaving your feet to
Speaker 1: jump in whatever, but the hardest thing is to finish
Speaker 1: it is to catch the ball. It's like your your
Speaker 1: concentration on your focus level has to get even higher
Speaker 1: when the ball arrives than everything that it takes to
Speaker 1: just be in that position in the first place. So
Speaker 1: I thought that I thought that was just a very
Speaker 1: poignant comment relative to how things went for the Packers
Speaker 1: last year when Bullocks wasn't even here.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and I'm reminded too of that play where you know,
Speaker 2: Isaiah McDuffie ends up colliding with Javon Bullard right where bullet.
Speaker 2: If you look at his season last year, what is
Speaker 2: separating Javon Bullard from a Pro Bowl? It's just the picks.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's just the stats. That's it.
Speaker 2: If you watched him week in and week out, you
Speaker 2: don't just look at a stat sheet or a box score.
Speaker 2: You saw how impactful he was for this defense, how
Speaker 2: good he slid into the slot and made that his home.
Speaker 2: It was just a matter of just trying to get
Speaker 2: those takeaways and when he had the opportunity for it. Unfortunately,
Speaker 2: it's kind of like two fielders coming in colliding with
Speaker 2: each other, you know, underneath the fly ball. Yeah, when
Speaker 2: him and McDuffie kind of ran into each other. But
Speaker 2: unfortunately that's sort of underscored. I think some of the
Speaker 2: issues for the Packers defensively last year they were better,
Speaker 2: I feel like than the twenty twenty four unit in
Speaker 2: terms of playing to their identity and what they wanted
Speaker 2: to do, but they weren't able to cash in as
Speaker 2: much as they did in that debut season with Jeff Hafley.
Speaker 2: So that is going to be the challenge for them
Speaker 2: now moving forward. And I think the really exciting aspect
Speaker 2: of it is too, is that you bring back virtually
Speaker 2: everybody in the secondary, whether it was the corners or
Speaker 2: the safeties, and you got to imagine a guy like
Speaker 2: Zavier McKinney, who still did get a second team All
Speaker 2: Pro nod, but someone that's talked about wanting to establish
Speaker 2: himself as a Pro Football Hall of Famer and have
Speaker 2: that type of career. That is his goal, his long
Speaker 2: term aspiration. That he's going to be energized now to
Speaker 2: show out now that they got this scheme going.
Speaker 1: Yeah, And one last thought on the defensive side before
Speaker 1: we switch to the offensive coaches. The new linebackers coach here,
Speaker 1: Sam sifkis interesting story because a Wisconsin native, he's from Economawalk,
Speaker 1: went to college at uw Lacrosse and now here he
Speaker 1: is coaching with the Green Bay Packers. Now he's been
Speaker 1: other places and you know, certainly has an impressive coaching resume.
Speaker 1: I need to get a chance to talk to him, however,
Speaker 1: about I was waiting for this, Yes, his thoughts about
Speaker 1: a about my hometown of Platteville, because for a few
Speaker 1: years earlier in his coaching career, he was the defensive
Speaker 1: coordinator for the UW Platteville Pioneers the Ralph E. Davis
Speaker 1: Pioneer Stadium, which my parents' house is in the shadow of,
Speaker 1: almost the shadow of the just Dock Stadium there. So
Speaker 1: I need to talk to I need to talk to
Speaker 1: coach Sikis about his memories of Platville and what stood
Speaker 1: out to him. But you talk about you talk about
Speaker 1: a guy living out a dream, right, I mean, you
Speaker 1: go into coaching, you're from Wisconsin and still fairly young,
Speaker 1: fairly early in his coaching career. When you look at
Speaker 1: the big picture, here he is as the linebacker's coach
Speaker 1: of the Greenmaer.
Speaker 2: I'm trying to think I'm gonna look this up. Remember
Speaker 2: we had the whole conversation years ago, all now like
Speaker 2: thirteen years ago, about how Randall Cobb was the first
Speaker 2: player that was drafted from the nineteen nineties birth year. Yeah,
Speaker 2: I'm wondering if Cekus is no actually Sean Manyon probably
Speaker 2: I was gonna say, is he the first position coach
Speaker 2: for the Packers that was born in the nineties. Man,
Speaker 2: it might have been, though, because I think Manion was
Speaker 2: only thirty two. Okay, so, but because we're seeing it
Speaker 2: now now, obviously they got some quality control guys, some
Speaker 2: dudes in their twenties be in terms of actually having
Speaker 2: a position. Yeah, this guy has climbed very quickly. I
Speaker 2: honestly was waiting at the press conference for you to
Speaker 2: bring up Platfelm. I know, I was stunned that that
Speaker 2: did not come out. Their word plattevill had not been
Speaker 2: uttered at least fifteen times during that press conference. But
Speaker 2: listen to this, though, Mike, I think this is such
Speaker 2: an intriguing and actually another conversation probably is, Hey, are
Speaker 2: you how familiar are you with Brian Gudikun's story, because honestly,
Speaker 2: him and Sefhkiss their stories almost are parallel to each other,
Speaker 2: right where they.
Speaker 1: One went into coaching, one win into scouting. But yeah,
Speaker 1: very similar.
Speaker 2: They both played at lacrosse and their careers both ended
Speaker 2: due to injury, and they both ended up as student
Speaker 2: assistance at Lacrosse, and then that was sort of their
Speaker 2: gateway into getting into this thing. But the thing here
Speaker 2: with sef Kiss, it was lacrosse, and then he got
Speaker 2: a really quick internship down at FIU Florida International. The
Speaker 2: conversation came up about how he kind of got in
Speaker 2: with Wisconjohnson and being able to help out there with
Speaker 2: Dave Randa for a year, and then it was do
Speaker 2: it You talk about a guy that just completely crawled
Speaker 2: his way up, just tooth and nail, just one step
Speaker 2: after another. The two years at plattfor at Platteville, goes
Speaker 2: to Wafford for three years, and then he gets the
Speaker 2: defensive quality control job with Minnesota and that was sort
Speaker 2: of his entry way two things. He ends up latching
Speaker 2: on with Jonathan Gannon and Arizona has the time there
Speaker 2: with him. Goes to Virginia Tech as a defensive coordinator.
Speaker 2: Now here he is in Green Bay back with Gannon.
Speaker 2: So certainly you don't go that far, you don't climb
Speaker 2: that quickly if you don't have the aptitude for it,
Speaker 2: if you don't have the skills for it, and like
Speaker 2: he talked about, and we'll talk about this with the
Speaker 2: offensive coaches too, but how many of these young guys
Speaker 2: have come up and yeah, they're football players, they obviously
Speaker 2: have aspirations, but they also are teachers, right, And he
Speaker 2: mentioned that too, that he was kind of going down
Speaker 2: the teaching route and regardless of what the subject matter is,
Speaker 2: he likes working with kids, he likes working with players,
Speaker 2: and that's what allowed him to kind of stick, you know,
Speaker 2: go down this path. But thirty four years old now
Speaker 2: taking over the line back room. I think he's what
Speaker 2: four years older than Xavier zier Franklin.
Speaker 1: Yeah, so that's right.
Speaker 2: Now he's gonna be coaching that position.
Speaker 1: Yeah, there you go. Well it's been it's been fun
Speaker 1: to get to know at least get that introduction to
Speaker 1: some of the new coaches. And I do want to
Speaker 1: switch over to the offensive side of the ball. But
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Speaker 1: to seven, three sixty five. Welcome back to Packers unscripted.
Speaker 1: All right, Wes offensive assistant coaches that we heard from
Speaker 1: on Wednesday. I'm gonna let you start with this one
Speaker 1: because I know it's someone that you've developed a connection
Speaker 1: with over the years, going back to when Christian Watson
Speaker 1: was drafted by the Green Bay Packers in the second
Speaker 1: round a handful of years ago. And that is the
Speaker 1: new receivers coach Noah Pauley, who also was Watson's receivers
Speaker 1: coach at for the entirety of his career at North
Speaker 1: Dakota State.
Speaker 2: Yeah, almost all of that, other than I think maybe
Speaker 2: as freshman year and he got recruited there. But poly,
Speaker 2: I mean, this guy has had an unbelievable rise. He
Speaker 2: kind of like Sef Kiss as well. But I mean
Speaker 2: he's been with you know, Matt Campbell at Iowa State.
Speaker 2: He was going to go to Penn State with him. Yea,
Speaker 2: now that he got that job. He mentioned he had
Speaker 2: that seven weeks there, had been living in an airbnb
Speaker 2: with the other coaches. He's getting ready to move his
Speaker 2: family out there, and then this opportunity comes along and
Speaker 2: obviously he had to jump at it. Duluth Minnesota was
Speaker 2: a really good player there too. Smaller, dude, you know,
Speaker 2: he's on my eye level, so it's always gives you
Speaker 2: an idea of kind of the type of player you're
Speaker 2: looking at here. But the thing that's really neat about
Speaker 2: him that I enjoyed is when you go back and
Speaker 2: you know, we've all done these stories when you talk
Speaker 2: to college coaches or just people that know these prospects
Speaker 2: when they get drafted, when you hear them talk about
Speaker 2: a particular player and then you get to know the player, right.
Speaker 2: It was something I always go back to in twenty
Speaker 2: twenty when I did my profile on Jordan Love and
Speaker 2: you know, talking to the people around him and his
Speaker 2: cool demeanor and just the way he led and all that,
Speaker 2: and then here we are six years later. No, those
Speaker 2: are all the staples now with number ten on the field.
Speaker 2: Christian Watson was the same way. This is a guy
Speaker 2: that was extremely lightly recruited despite being in Tampa. He
Speaker 2: ends up in North Dakota State, Polly and that staff
Speaker 2: come on and he ends up becoming a legitimate NFL prospect,
Speaker 2: And you know, mentioning Polly had talked about the relationship
Speaker 2: that they had built together and just coincidentally, that same
Speaker 2: year that Watson got drafted in the second round by
Speaker 2: Green Bay. Polly ended up coming up here for the
Speaker 2: Bill Walsh internship that summer during the off season pro Right,
Speaker 2: so he got a chance to be around Jason Vrabel.
Speaker 2: He explained some of the six degrees of Kevin Bacon
Speaker 2: as far as what their connection is, and then being
Speaker 2: able to get around Matt Lafleur four years past. He
Speaker 2: works himself up the coaching ladder and then here he
Speaker 2: is now with this with this chance and in kind
Speaker 2: of like I said with Sefkiss, I mean this guy
Speaker 2: again who you know he talked about his dad, you know,
Speaker 2: working in criminal justice in that sort of thing. I mean,
Speaker 2: he was a guy that just wanted to help people,
Speaker 2: it didn't matter if it was a kid. He even
Speaker 2: mentioned one of the years that he was out of
Speaker 2: football and coach, he was putting together a k through
Speaker 2: a curriculum you know, and a sports plan you know
Speaker 2: for a school. These are the type of paths that
Speaker 2: these guys sometimes travel. And for Polly to come in
Speaker 2: now and inherit that room, I think it's really important
Speaker 2: because yeah, Jason Brabel is obviously we always he'll go
Speaker 2: to the podium, We ask him tons of questions about
Speaker 2: the receivers. But Polly's the one that's going to be
Speaker 2: in there in the weeds with them, and to have
Speaker 2: that relationship with Christian Watson and how far they go
Speaker 2: back and using those in roads now to understand and
Speaker 2: learn about the rest of the guys in that room.
Speaker 2: There's probably no position, I don't think Mike with a
Speaker 2: higher ceiling going into twenty twenty six in the Green
Speaker 2: Bait Packers' receivers room, and Matt Leflour has entrusted Polly
Speaker 2: to be the one that helps them get there.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and that brings me to another comment. There are
Speaker 1: a couple of comments that stood out to me from
Speaker 1: the Packers coaches and for the most part, other than
Speaker 1: Polly on the offensive side, these are all guys that
Speaker 1: we know that you know, they've been been around here.
Speaker 1: But when you talk about the receivers, we heard from
Speaker 1: Jason who had been the receivers coach and he's the
Speaker 1: passing game coordinator. He's been with Matt Lafleur now for
Speaker 1: a long time.
Speaker 2: One of the originals.
Speaker 1: And yeah, and we're gonna spend certainly plenty of time
Speaker 1: talking about Christian Watson. Jaden Reid Matthew Golden looks like
Speaker 1: very clearly the Packers top three at wide receiver you're
Speaker 1: heading into twenty twenty six. But what I heard from
Speaker 1: Vrabel was sort of a very subtle message of don't
Speaker 1: sleep on Saveon Williams. Right. Did you hear it too?
Speaker 1: I mean he he talked about Savion coming back, you know,
Speaker 1: dealing with the foot injury his rookie year. It kept
Speaker 1: him out of practice, you know, so he was just
Speaker 1: you know, basically practicing when he could, but on a
Speaker 1: limited basis. And and you know, he was out there
Speaker 1: doing some of the return game during the season. The
Speaker 1: Packers were trying to work him in offensively and then
Speaker 1: and then at at some point it got to where
Speaker 1: they just had to shut him down and and and
Speaker 1: that was it. But when you hear Jason Vrabel talk
Speaker 1: about the size and the power in the body of
Speaker 1: Savion Williams and what they feel he can potentially do
Speaker 1: with the ball in his hands, this is a guy
Speaker 1: I think, even though he will probably be listed on
Speaker 1: you know, everybody's depth chart as wide receiver four, Yeah,
Speaker 1: I think this is a guy who's who's going to
Speaker 1: have a role in some way, shape or form on
Speaker 1: this Packers offense and potentially on special teams as well.
Speaker 2: Great point you raise, Mike, And for me, the moment
Speaker 2: that he was talking about it, I was almost reminded
Speaker 2: the old Buzz Williams Marquette paint touches, where every possession
Speaker 2: he wants that ball in the paint at some point,
Speaker 2: right because of what it does to collapse a defense.
Speaker 2: That's kind of what I'm thinking now with Savian Williams
Speaker 2: me personally, I even wrote this in inbox. I really
Speaker 2: want to see him run more routes this year because
Speaker 2: he's a really good contested catcher. Like that's why. It's
Speaker 2: not like this guy's just oh, he has some blazing speed.
Speaker 2: He gets open you throwing the ball. No, we saw
Speaker 2: several times last year when he needed to make a
Speaker 2: catch at the high point he needed to beat a
Speaker 2: cornerback and be physical. He can use that body to
Speaker 2: do that. But it really comes down to I think
Speaker 2: he just needs to touch the ball five six times
Speaker 2: a game and just see what happens with it. I
Speaker 2: think they got to be somewhat pragmatic about how often
Speaker 2: they use him as a as a ball carrier, just
Speaker 2: based on the attrition and what happened with his body
Speaker 2: last year. But listen, so many people focused on, Okay,
Speaker 2: well they're extending Jaden reed. They got to give Matthew
Speaker 2: Golden more opportunities. That's why Dontavian Wicks was traded. That's
Speaker 2: why Romeo Dobbs you know, was like, you know, allowed
Speaker 2: to leave in free agency, and so much that focused
Speaker 2: on those big three and how it affects them. I
Speaker 2: think the other thing is too, is you wanted to
Speaker 2: see Savian Williams as a third round pick last year,
Speaker 2: rise up the depth chart, and then you obviously got
Speaker 2: to build out options too, right, whether it's Bo you know,
Speaker 2: whether it's some of these other guys that are available.
Speaker 2: They brought back a ton of dudes from the practice
Speaker 2: squad two last year. But the fact is is that
Speaker 2: Williams has such a unique skill set that I just
Speaker 2: think the packers got to find a way to integrate
Speaker 2: it in this offense, assuming can keep him healthy. And
Speaker 2: I think that was a lot of this stuff that
Speaker 2: vverybel was talking about. It's all right there for them,
Speaker 2: They just need to get number eighty three out there.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's definitely something that that sort of peaked my
Speaker 1: curiosity in hearing him talk about Savion in that way,
Speaker 1: So something to file away kind of in the in
Speaker 1: the back of our minds as the summer and early
Speaker 1: fall roll around here. Eventually. The other comment that stood
Speaker 1: out to me was the second time, it's really the
Speaker 1: second time this offseason, once from Brian Gutakunst and now
Speaker 1: from Luke Butkus that we've heard that the film of
Speaker 1: the Week eighteen game at Minnesota was really really impressive
Speaker 1: in terms of what Jacob Monk did at center on
Speaker 1: the offensive line. He essentially played the entire game. And
Speaker 1: when you're looking at okay, yeah, the Packers obviously they
Speaker 1: signed Sean Ryan to a three year contract to be
Speaker 1: the center after he played you know, roughly the second
Speaker 1: half of the season last year at that position, and
Speaker 1: they really liked what they saw. When you're talking about
Speaker 1: the depth and how you know, how this is going
Speaker 1: to shake out, the Packers feel like they Jacob Munk
Speaker 1: gave them a really big vote of confidence, or I
Speaker 1: should say he earned their vote of confidence in terms
Speaker 1: of what he can be at any of those interior spots.
Speaker 1: I think in terms of center or either guard they
Speaker 1: drafted jagg Or Burton, who is the same type of
Speaker 1: player in that regard, and as we talked about after
Speaker 1: the draft, it kind of shifts the idea of the
Speaker 1: backup tackles being you know, Travis Glover, Darien Canard, you know,
Speaker 1: guys like that. So just the fact that that it
Speaker 1: was the second time this offseason that we've that we've
Speaker 1: heard some very very positive comments about that Week eight,
Speaker 1: which was otherwise a forgettable offensive performance because of the
Speaker 1: struggles at quarterback. But what Jacob Monk did and what
Speaker 1: he put on film was really something that caught the
Speaker 1: Packer's eye.
Speaker 2: I'm going to put you on the spot here because
Speaker 2: you and I did not talk about this in our
Speaker 2: pre production meeting and staph dining.
Speaker 1: But what was show truly as unscripted folks, Can.
Speaker 2: You tell me the two things that were different about
Speaker 2: that game with Minnesota with Jacob Munk than anything else
Speaker 2: we'd seen the rest of this season. And if you're stumped,
Speaker 2: I'll be able to hit you with him right away,
Speaker 2: if you want to go ahead. He's playing his natural
Speaker 2: position and he was healthy, now you know, and I'm
Speaker 2: with you, like the Packers have cross trained him, they
Speaker 2: worked him at guard. But yeah, let's be honest, when
Speaker 2: they moved up to get him two years ago, they
Speaker 2: moved assets to go get him in the fifth round. Yeah,
Speaker 2: fifth twenty twenty four. He was They were working him
Speaker 2: at different spots, but they and he played different spots.
Speaker 2: But where did he ultimately settle in a duke? What
Speaker 2: was he known for a duke? He was known for
Speaker 2: what he did at center. That is his home base,
Speaker 2: and he was able to go out there despite everything
Speaker 2: that was going against Green Bay that day. He was
Speaker 2: able to play his natural position and the hamstring injury
Speaker 2: was behind him that landed him on injurieserve for half
Speaker 2: the season.
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's and that's why we didn't see him during
Speaker 1: the preseason last year, and there wasn't any talk about
Speaker 1: him and whatnot because he was dealing with the injury
Speaker 1: and just trying to get back on the practice field
Speaker 1: and so he wasn't part of the depth mix last year.
Speaker 1: But then lo and behold, he got himself healthy by
Speaker 1: the end of the season. He got the opportunity against
Speaker 1: Minnesota and showed out pretty well.
Speaker 2: And that's why I'm really excited about this bunch in general. Now,
Speaker 2: I think there are some I don't want to call
Speaker 2: him limitations, but there are huge question marks right now
Speaker 2: at the tackle position because they were last year you
Speaker 2: had Rashid Walker and you had Jordan Morgan. You had
Speaker 2: two guys that you were pretty confident, both major in
Speaker 2: left tackle. That isn't really there right now. Morgan is
Speaker 2: going to be the incumbent there, but his potential backups
Speaker 2: may be starting at other positions, whether it's Anthony Belton,
Speaker 2: whether it is act tom Over at right tackle. But
Speaker 2: what's still intriguing about, even though you don't have necessarily
Speaker 2: a LT two right now, is how many of these
Speaker 2: guys depth wise green Bay has assembled. Whether it is Monk,
Speaker 2: whether it is Burton coming into this room right now,
Speaker 2: Donovan Jennings returning right, The list goes on and on.
Speaker 2: They re upped Darien Kinard after they traded for him
Speaker 2: last year from Philadelphia. There are so many guys, and
Speaker 2: not every thing on the board is gonna hit right.
Speaker 2: You're not gonna hit every number, but the hope would
Speaker 2: be by green Bay putting this many chips out on
Speaker 2: the table, you're gonna find a guy there that could
Speaker 2: be the dude that's gonna be the next to step
Speaker 2: up and then maybe if they need to be the
Speaker 2: guy that could start this season if injuries happen. You're
Speaker 2: hoping that you can find two or three of those
Speaker 2: guys that are going to differentiate, They're gonna separate themselves
Speaker 2: from the pack and for Monk to be able to
Speaker 2: put the setbacks behind him, and there's been plenty of
Speaker 2: them the last two seasons and finish out the season
Speaker 2: the way that he did. I think that was one
Speaker 2: of the one few silver linings from that game with Minnesota,
Speaker 2: because what were the Packers looking for into that game.
Speaker 2: They wanted to see them come out of that healthy
Speaker 2: going into the wild card weekend, and they want to
Speaker 2: see who's gonna step up and if you're doing the
Speaker 2: three stars of the game that day, For disappointing as
Speaker 2: the outcome was against Minnesota, Jacob Mounk definitely gets one
Speaker 2: of those.
Speaker 1: Yeah, we hear all the time. We hear from the coaches.
Speaker 1: We hear from Matt Lafleur, from Brian Guda Kunst, who
Speaker 1: is going to make the most of his opportunity, who
Speaker 1: is going to seize the day, you know, take advantage
Speaker 1: of that chance when it's handed to him and Jacob
Speaker 1: Monk did that in Week eighteen.
Speaker 2: You know who else did that back in the day,
Speaker 2: Lane Taylor, Right, Lucas Patrick, TJ. Lang. These are the
Speaker 2: when you're gonna be on the bench for a few years. TJ.
Speaker 2: Lank could go in here and do a seminar every
Speaker 2: year with the Packers offensive line. Talk about the fact
Speaker 2: that it took two and a half years for him
Speaker 2: to find that starting spot, whether the opportunity or just
Speaker 2: himself getting him you know, being professional, getting himself I
Speaker 2: maturing as a player into that spot. But it's not
Speaker 2: always going to happen overnight. Everybody wants to be David Bakhtiari, right,
Speaker 2: the Cinderella story, fourth round pick that comes in and
Speaker 2: suddenly you're the starting left tackle the Green Bay Packers.
Speaker 2: It's not always going to be that path, And I
Speaker 2: think that's an important lesson for all these guys to learn. Certainly,
Speaker 2: Sean embodies that too. A guy that barely played his
Speaker 2: rookie year, had to rotate for two years, better part
Speaker 2: of three years before getting a shot, and now he
Speaker 2: is the incumbent at center.
Speaker 1: Yeah, any other before we go, any other thoughts from
Speaker 1: the offensive assistance that stood out to you.
Speaker 2: I got to talk about Marshawn Lloyd. And I know
Speaker 2: it's a little bit of this Voltemore thing. You don't
Speaker 2: want to jinx anything with him. But here's the deal,
Speaker 2: and I use it as my insider inbox headline the
Speaker 2: day that this is airing on Thursday. This guy has
Speaker 2: done every single thing right that he can possibly do right.
Speaker 2: He has listened to every single thing the training staff
Speaker 2: has told him. He's seen the experts in Madison, He's
Speaker 2: seen the experts now on the West Coast. He has
Speaker 2: his own separate workout process now for these practices, this
Speaker 2: warm up for getting ready for practices and knock on
Speaker 2: what he's been healthy so far. This is a massive
Speaker 2: year for him, obviously trying to get his career jump started.
Speaker 2: But Michael, the runway is clear with respect to Chris Brooks,
Speaker 2: because Chris is a very good asset. The Packers signed
Speaker 2: him to a two year deal for a reason. He's accountable.
Speaker 2: He's obviously really good in pass pro. He can catch
Speaker 2: the ball out of the backfield and he can run
Speaker 2: with the football too. But they drafted Marshawn Lloyd in
Speaker 2: the third round for a reason. There is a reason
Speaker 2: Daniel Jeremiah said that this is the best running back
Speaker 2: in this draft class. He has things that you cannot coach,
Speaker 2: and the Packers have been just trying with all their
Speaker 2: might to get him out on the field. You're crossing
Speaker 2: your fingers, you're dotting your eyes everything to get him
Speaker 2: out there. But Ben Sermons a guy that has talked
Speaker 2: about just the challenges that marshaw On has faced, mentioning
Speaker 2: just how good he's looked here early on. That's the
Speaker 2: best you can do right now. That's all you can
Speaker 2: hope for. We're gonna get some OTA practices, We're gonna
Speaker 2: get some mini camp practices. He's gonna have a small
Speaker 2: break and then it's gonna be go time during training camp.
Speaker 2: But for him to be in this position, you hope
Speaker 2: that his headspace is clear, he's confident and can finally
Speaker 2: start to be the player everybody wants him to, because, honestly,
Speaker 2: the Packers him. He is a change of pace for
Speaker 2: that background that nobody else is right now. And they
Speaker 2: didn't draft a running back. They haven't really. They signed
Speaker 2: Nixon as an undrafted free agent, but there's no veteran
Speaker 2: that just got brought in through unrestricted free agency Marshawn
Speaker 2: Lloyd Brooks. Those are the guys, yeah, and the Packers
Speaker 2: need them to be the guys. Yeah.
Speaker 1: And I and I would just say and you and
Speaker 1: I sort of answer this and insider inbox a lot
Speaker 1: other chats that I've done, whatnot. I understand the frustration
Speaker 1: from the fans of Packers spent a third round pick
Speaker 1: on this guy. He hasn't been able to stay healthy.
Speaker 1: And you know, here we are, he's going into year
Speaker 1: three now and we've hardly seen him on the field
Speaker 1: at all. Right, And and I get it, I get
Speaker 1: the I get the fans. You know, the patient's wearing
Speaker 1: thin and all that kind of stuff. Just take a
Speaker 1: deep breath and realize that however frustrated you are as
Speaker 1: a fan with this situation with a very very promising player,
Speaker 1: just imagine how frustrated he is right and what he
Speaker 1: is working on, what he is putting himself through to
Speaker 1: try to get to the point that he can deliver
Speaker 1: on what everybody believes he can deliver for this team.
Speaker 1: So just always remember there's a you know, there's a
Speaker 1: human behind that face mask, and you know you and
Speaker 1: I have talked to him you've talked to more than
Speaker 1: I have. This is a this is a young man.
Speaker 1: As you said right at the beginning, he does everything right.
Speaker 1: There is ample reason to root for him and hope
Speaker 1: that this is the year that he begins, and hopefully
Speaker 1: it's just the beginning that he begins to fulfill his
Speaker 1: NFL potential.
Speaker 2: Yeah, without a doubt. And obviously his mom raised him right.
Speaker 2: And the fact is too, Mike. I'm not gonna name names,
Speaker 2: but you and I have been in these locker rooms.
Speaker 2: Guys can get really punchy about injuries. And it doesn't
Speaker 2: have to be even a string of injuries like Marshall,
Speaker 2: as it could be one thing that keeps you out
Speaker 2: for a few weeks. Right, I'll name one name. I
Speaker 2: love the guy, but like Jordan Nelson, did not like
Speaker 2: talking about his injuries, Right, Marshawn has been asked about it,
Speaker 2: maybe more than any player that I can ever think
Speaker 2: of here because of the what he plays for a
Speaker 2: position where he was drafted. The light is shining really
Speaker 2: brightly on him, and every single time he does it
Speaker 2: with a smile, he does it with professionalism. He doesn't
Speaker 2: get testy, he doesn't get curt about it. He understands
Speaker 2: where the media is coming from. And I think honestly
Speaker 2: the people that have covered him understand where he's coming from,
Speaker 2: because how many times have we seen him people make,
Speaker 2: you know, their little comments about all he's you know,
Speaker 2: he's with the trains up. That dude is putting everything
Speaker 2: he has into making sure that he can be the
Speaker 2: player that the Packers want him to be. And I'm
Speaker 2: excited to see what happens. And obviously there's a lot
Speaker 2: of question marks. You have to do it on the
Speaker 2: grass at the end of the day, you have to
Speaker 2: be available there in week one. But you know, Marshawn
Speaker 2: Lloyd is here for a reason and hopefully he gets
Speaker 2: a chance to show everybody why absolutely.
Speaker 1: With that, we'll call it a rap on this edition
Speaker 1: of Packers Unscripted. Be sure to follow all of our
Speaker 1: coverage of the team on Packers dot com for Wes.
Speaker 1: I am Mike. Thank you for tuning in, everybody, and
Speaker 1: we will see you next time.
Speaker 2: M