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 West Hodkowitz. Were coming to you
Speaker 1: here from our studios at lambeau Field West. The New
Speaker 1: York Jets are in town. We were able to witness
Speaker 1: the first of two joint practices yesterday. We will witness
Speaker 1: number two shortly after we scedattle out of the studio here,
Speaker 1: but quickly before we fast forward to previewing Saturday Nights
Speaker 1: preseason game. Your observations from the first joint practice here
Speaker 1: at at the lambeau Field area in two years a
Speaker 1: cleaner better, Uh, you know, at two thousand nineteen, I
Speaker 1: think everybody's feeling things out. Aaron Rodgers made a really
Speaker 1: salient point talking about how he felt like the relationship
Speaker 1: between Robert Salo and Matt Lafleur really helps. But the
Speaker 1: fact the matter is with the Houston's that they really
Speaker 1: just didn't know each other very well. And if you're
Speaker 1: not comfortable with each other, I don't think there's gonna
Speaker 1: be as much room there to be creative with the practice.
Speaker 1: And it was somewhat disjointed there was a hit on
Speaker 1: Jay Sternberger. It just wasn't It wasn't watched how you
Speaker 1: wanted it to look this year, I thought that was
Speaker 1: an optimal practice. Now we'll have to see what this
Speaker 1: one here in a couple of hours looks like. But
Speaker 1: the you know, they were able to get the work
Speaker 1: in that they did. You had the Jets over on
Speaker 1: Clark Hankle Field, you had the Packers over on Nichki Field.
Speaker 1: At the start of practice, the Jets come over and
Speaker 1: the team periods were competitive. They were able to run
Speaker 1: split squads with the Packers offense going up against the
Speaker 1: Jets offense or Jets defense that with the ones and
Speaker 1: then flipping the page over on the south side of
Speaker 1: the field doing the opposite. And I just you watched
Speaker 1: the offense, I watched a lot of the defense. I
Speaker 1: just was really impressed by the work. And I agree
Speaker 1: with what Matt Lafleur said. I think when you're going
Speaker 1: up against a new opponent, not that everybody doesn't go
Speaker 1: hard in practice, but you know, guys have certain tendencies.
Speaker 1: You pick up on those tendencies. This is a different game,
Speaker 1: and it gives you an opportunity to face some of
Speaker 1: those guys that you know, Yes, Kirk ben Kertz gonna
Speaker 1: play a lot of these guys on Saturday Night, but
Speaker 1: Aaron Rodgers isn't going to. So I mean, like those
Speaker 1: type of things I think can be really valuable here
Speaker 1: for Green Bay as they move forward. Yeah, and you
Speaker 1: certainly see the the the contrast in the two quarterbacks,
Speaker 1: the Packers obviously with the polished Aaron Rodgers, a three
Speaker 1: time m v P, the Jets getting their brand new
Speaker 1: first round draft picks Zack Wilson uh indoctrinated here into
Speaker 1: the NFL. So two teams that are obviously just at
Speaker 1: at at completely different points in terms of the development
Speaker 1: of their roster, their offenses, the quarterback play all that. Interestingly,
Speaker 1: Rogers talked afterwards about how it was a little bit
Speaker 1: of a rough day for the new center, Josh Myers,
Speaker 1: in terms of, you know, the declarations, the communication and
Speaker 1: things like that. This is exactly the type of thing
Speaker 1: that the type of experience that a guy that a
Speaker 1: guy like Josh Meyers needs because you know, for all
Speaker 1: the snaps that he is going to take in the
Speaker 1: preseason games and we expect Josh Meyers to play some
Speaker 1: more in the preseason. You're not going to see the
Speaker 1: exotic looks and the blitz is and all that, because
Speaker 1: because coaches don't want to put that stuff on film
Speaker 1: in the preseason, they'll do it in these joint practices
Speaker 1: because the information is not going to get out. This
Speaker 1: is the kind of work that a new rookie center
Speaker 1: for Aaron Rodgers needs. He's getting it this week. You
Speaker 1: could tell Rogers really appreciated the approach that Solid took
Speaker 1: to and and uh, you know, being able to throw
Speaker 1: a little bit more at them, getting them the line blackers,
Speaker 1: blitz the linebackers, blitzing, getting the safety is moving up
Speaker 1: and blitzing a little bit more. That was cool to
Speaker 1: see because the challenge is not only Myers but also
Speaker 1: those guards. There's a big battle right now for both
Speaker 1: of the guard jobs. And you know, getting those guys
Speaker 1: thinking a little bit more, making sure that it isn't
Speaker 1: just going through the motions that they really are you know,
Speaker 1: diagnosing what's happening at the line of scrimmage. And from
Speaker 1: Myer's case, this is such an invaluable time for him. Yes,
Speaker 1: the off season program was great. He got a chance
Speaker 1: to be the one you know, center with Jordan's love.
Speaker 1: But now he's with Aaron Rodgers and there's gonna be
Speaker 1: so many things that are gonna happen in week one
Speaker 1: and week two that those two are going to be
Speaker 1: able to build together on. It's funny, my for seven years,
Speaker 1: you and I didn't know what it was like to
Speaker 1: look at a rookie center and and now we're back
Speaker 1: at that spot because that's just the way the National
Speaker 1: Football League goes. Corey Linsley is the best at his
Speaker 1: position and being is being paid as such by the Chargers.
Speaker 1: So for for Myers now to be able to understand
Speaker 1: what Rogers is looking for and also just staying up
Speaker 1: on his blocking assignments a very very valuable time for him. Yeah,
Speaker 1: it was interesting. Rogers said that he needs to get
Speaker 1: the team, needs to get Josh Meyer's thinking as quickly
Speaker 1: as he does. Well, that's probably not gonna happen because
Speaker 1: I'm not sure if anybody thinks quite as quickly as
Speaker 1: as Aaron Rodgers out there in the heat of the battle.
Speaker 1: But it gives you a sense of of what they're
Speaker 1: working on here. It's about it's about the speed of
Speaker 1: the game. It's the recognition, it's making the adjustments on
Speaker 1: the fly in order to make things work. Um, in
Speaker 1: the heat of the moment. There quickly though, before we
Speaker 1: move on to what we'll be looking for on Saturday,
Speaker 1: I gotta get your opinion the new throwback uniforms, then
Speaker 1: the classic nineteen fifties. Look, what do you think? Well?
Speaker 1: I was slightly disappointed. I'm not really, yeah, because I
Speaker 1: got a preview of all the photos ahead of time
Speaker 1: and all the people that were going to be portrayed,
Speaker 1: and there were Mike Spofford photos in there. And when
Speaker 1: they announced the uniforms on Thursday morning, suddenly there was
Speaker 1: David bat there was Jr. Alexander, there was Aaron Jones,
Speaker 1: all these really wonderful athletes. But there was no Smike
Speaker 1: Spofford in the nineteen fifties. Reporter Garb, I was really
Speaker 1: disappointed by that. I'm sorry. I just took forty five
Speaker 1: seconds of the show to say my own inside joke.
Speaker 1: But no, it's cool. Um. I actually thought about wearing
Speaker 1: my lap my acme packer like Polo for the last time,
Speaker 1: just to be able to get one more repetition. Yeah. Yeah,
Speaker 1: we don't get to wear the blue and gold because
Speaker 1: for so long basically in my whole adulthood, it's that's
Speaker 1: been the look. So for Green Bay to mix it
Speaker 1: up now it's a nineteen fifties inspired uniform. It's it
Speaker 1: has you know, the green and yell. You can find
Speaker 1: it everywhere now. I love it, and I love the
Speaker 1: fact that it was able to incorporate the helmet more naturally.
Speaker 1: That was something one of the criticisms with the old
Speaker 1: actor thing is you had a very different type of
Speaker 1: helmet with the brown. This is a pretty easy fix,
Speaker 1: I think for Red Batty and his equipment staff to
Speaker 1: basically just get the g off there. But yet it's
Speaker 1: still blends really nicely with the uniform. A really cool look.
Speaker 1: Some amazing photos by Evan siegelan packers dot com right
Speaker 1: now and also Tyler Gyski our video department doing a
Speaker 1: fantastic job with the hype video on it. It's a
Speaker 1: good look. Yeah, you gotta check out all. I think
Speaker 1: it's a really cool look to I. I love it.
Speaker 1: I was hoping that it was going to be something
Speaker 1: of that, uh you know that green with the gold
Speaker 1: accent from the nineteen fifties and the Packers will be
Speaker 1: for those wondering the Packers will be wearing that uniform
Speaker 1: for the home game against Washington this year, which is
Speaker 1: also the game when the newly inducted Hall of Famer
Speaker 1: from the nineteen fifties, Bobby Dylan, will have his name
Speaker 1: added to the lambeau Field facade. So October, I believe
Speaker 1: is the date of the Washington game. So uh wes
Speaker 1: see rious x M. NFL Radio delivers hard hitting analysis
Speaker 1: and up to the minute NFL news that true football
Speaker 1: fanatics need. Seven three and at Cousin Subs, we have
Speaker 1: something for everyone like our Wisconsin cheese curds, mac and chess,
Speaker 1: golden fries, and creamy shakes, all paired with your favorite
Speaker 1: sub or sub in a bowl. Cousin Subs, we believe
Speaker 1: in better. He just jumped over the golden fries, bro.
Speaker 1: I mean, yes, we love the shakes and we love
Speaker 1: the cheese kurds, but you gotta give the proper respect
Speaker 1: to the golden the golden fries. We just said it.
Speaker 1: So it was like, and we got the golden frid. No,
Speaker 1: we got the golden fry. I'll work on that. Show
Speaker 1: me someplace in the Green Bay area where you can
Speaker 1: get a nice, delicious sub with fries, golden fries next
Speaker 1: to it. You tell me that spot, I'll work on that.
Speaker 1: I'll work on that teachable moment. Boy, I'm really under
Speaker 1: some scrutiny here today, all right, preseason game number two
Speaker 1: Saturday afternoon, actually, which I have to keep reminding myself
Speaker 1: for I'm gonna show up late for work on PM.
Speaker 1: Kickoff on Saturday at lambeau Field. The Packers will be
Speaker 1: taking on the Jets following these two joint practices they
Speaker 1: are having this week. A lot of things to watch
Speaker 1: for here West. What's top of the list for you? Well,
Speaker 1: first off, we gotta see what's going on with Jordan's love.
Speaker 1: Matt LaForce said earlier this week that he probably won't
Speaker 1: practice here against the Jets. I'm using my regular season mindset,
Speaker 1: which typically means that that guy is not going to
Speaker 1: play in the game. They're not going that far. They're
Speaker 1: not ruling them out quite yet at the time in
Speaker 1: which we're taping this. But you gotta imagine whatever happens
Speaker 1: with Love, We're going to see a healthy dose of
Speaker 1: Kurt Ben Kurt. And the real reason I'm very intrigued
Speaker 1: about that is so often and you saw it last
Speaker 1: year with Jordan's Love the year before that with Tim Boyle,
Speaker 1: it's really difficult for that number three quarterback to get reps.
Speaker 1: But now in this age where Aaron Rodgers isn't playing
Speaker 1: in the preseason, those guys are able to basically get
Speaker 1: the most amount of work in the preseason games as
Speaker 1: opposed the actual practices. It's a really interesting change that
Speaker 1: sort of happened, and ben Kurt I really liked a
Speaker 1: lot of things he did in that preseason game. He's
Speaker 1: he's got to kind of slow down the mechanism a
Speaker 1: little bit. You know. Obviously there was the fumbled exchange
Speaker 1: and there was the pick, but he plays tenaciously. And
Speaker 1: the fact of the matter is, Mike, if you're number
Speaker 1: three quarterback in this league, you've got to do something
Speaker 1: to get attention. You're not going to be able to
Speaker 1: go out there and just dink and dunk in these
Speaker 1: preseason games and impress anybody. He had. He's shown his arm,
Speaker 1: he's shown his ability to stand tall in the pocket.
Speaker 1: He's not afraid to get hit. As just say. One
Speaker 1: thing we know about Kurt Benkert from what we've seen
Speaker 1: in him so far, is he is fearless. He played.
Speaker 1: He plays the game with no fear, and I think
Speaker 1: that's what we're gonna see on Saturday. So it starts
Speaker 1: with Ben Kurt. But but let's be real, what's the
Speaker 1: number one storyline this preseason game. It is the guard
Speaker 1: situation because now this week we saw the shift John
Speaker 1: Runyon Jr. At left I left guard excuse me, and
Speaker 1: over at right guard. They're using now Ross, Royce Newman,
Speaker 1: the rookie fourth round pick, Lucas Patrick still right guard
Speaker 1: with the twos and Ben Braden was at left guard
Speaker 1: with the twos. But the thing was earlier this week
Speaker 1: they were flipping those guys. They were basically running like
Speaker 1: two and two with the first team. In the practice
Speaker 1: we saw on Wednesday, it was just running and Newman.
Speaker 1: This is a major opportunity right now for Royce Newman
Speaker 1: to put his name in the hat for that starting gig. Yeah,
Speaker 1: the Packers are going to be looking at that guard
Speaker 1: situation very closely, and particularly with Newman now in that
Speaker 1: competition for a starting guard spot, and they want to
Speaker 1: get that running game going. I know, mostly the preseason
Speaker 1: is about the individual evaluations and individual improvement, but with
Speaker 1: these twos and threes, the backup units. You also want
Speaker 1: to see some collective improvement. And the Packers want to
Speaker 1: be able to run the ball better. They want to
Speaker 1: be able to perform better on special teams. They also
Speaker 1: like to see their run defense. You know, if if
Speaker 1: you know, a guy like t J. Slaton is going
Speaker 1: to play forty plus snaps again, they want to see
Speaker 1: the run defense have more longev than not just the
Speaker 1: first half, but be able to hold up through the
Speaker 1: second half as well. So all of those things um
Speaker 1: here in the mix. But um but I'm with you.
Speaker 1: It's it's it's seeing what happens at that guard spot.
Speaker 1: And I think, honestly, in some respects how the running
Speaker 1: game looks is going to be um uh, certainly a
Speaker 1: significant piece of that evaluation as to how those interior
Speaker 1: guys are doing on the offensive line. The Packers want
Speaker 1: to get this running game going well. And then you
Speaker 1: saw what happened at the end of that game where
Speaker 1: Dexter Williams is able to break off four runs for
Speaker 1: thirty two yards. And and I'm not going to be
Speaker 1: able to break everything down for you and explain all
Speaker 1: those holes happen, but Dexter Williams is a guy that
Speaker 1: I think a lot of people started kind of slipped
Speaker 1: off the memory a little bit because we're talking about
Speaker 1: Kylan Hill. Obviously everyone's looking at A. J. Dillon's squads,
Speaker 1: and then you know Patrick Taylor was coming back and
Speaker 1: is a really good story after an entire midseason due
Speaker 1: to the list Frank injury. But then there's Dexter, you know,
Speaker 1: making plays. I mean that that competition going into this
Speaker 1: if you want to call it the third turn here,
Speaker 1: this race, it's down to the wire. I think all
Speaker 1: those guys are making a case for himselves. Kylan Hill
Speaker 1: made maybe the art argubably the biggest play in that
Speaker 1: game with the twenty two yard touched on off the
Speaker 1: screen pass, but only had negative two yards rushing because
Speaker 1: some of the issues early on. So seeing how those
Speaker 1: things fit together is gonna be important. And then also
Speaker 1: I do want to throw this out there as well. Yes,
Speaker 1: it's about who's gonna be left guard, right guard, but
Speaker 1: at some point Elton Jenkins is going to be back
Speaker 1: at left guard, David Batr is gonna be back at
Speaker 1: left tackle that right guard spot, Mike. As much as
Speaker 1: we talk about the guards right now, you've got four
Speaker 1: maybe five guys all competing for that job. And you know,
Speaker 1: the also the versatility with you know, Dennis Kelly plays
Speaker 1: right tackle, b j excuse me, Billy Turner can move inside.
Speaker 1: Just so many different variables here that the Packers are
Speaker 1: trying to work through. Yeah, Unfortunately, in the first joint
Speaker 1: practice with the Jets, we saw Dennis Kelly go down
Speaker 1: with an injury. Unfortunately, we don't really have an update there,
Speaker 1: and not the kind of thing that that you like
Speaker 1: to see, but most likely something that is going to
Speaker 1: hold him out of the preseason game on Saturday at
Speaker 1: a minimum. So we'll see what the Packers decided to
Speaker 1: do at right tackle. And then also Devin Funcius at
Speaker 1: wide receiver had such a really strong preseason debut last
Speaker 1: week against Houston. He comes up kind of holding his
Speaker 1: hamstring after a play on um during Wednesday's practice and
Speaker 1: and again we'll have to we'll have to see what
Speaker 1: happens there. But but not what you want to see
Speaker 1: with with guys leaving with injuries. Another thing to mention too, though.
Speaker 1: One of Matt Lafleur's comments after the previous game on
Speaker 1: Saturday night against Houston was wanting to see stickier coverage
Speaker 1: from the cornerbacks, from these guys who are competing for
Speaker 1: these spots behind JayR Alexander, Kevin King, and Eric Stokes,
Speaker 1: and and how that how that competition evolves. Well, one
Speaker 1: decision was made this week because the Packers decided to
Speaker 1: trade Josh Jackson to the New York Giants for Isaac Yeiedem.
Speaker 1: Hopefully I'm saying that correctly, two guys both drafted in
Speaker 1: the two thousand and eighteen draft. Jackson in the second round,
Speaker 1: yea item in the third round, and kind of one
Speaker 1: of these change of scenery things that looks like for
Speaker 1: both players, and you hope it ends up being a
Speaker 1: win win for both teams and for both players. Will
Speaker 1: have to see how it plays out. Because because Ike,
Speaker 1: as he told us, we're we're allowed to call Isaac
Speaker 1: Ike here when he met with the media for the
Speaker 1: first time here in Green Bay, he doesn't have a
Speaker 1: whole lot of time to to land a roster spot here.
Speaker 1: But you know, he's gonna give it everything he's got.
Speaker 1: He's been through this change of scenery thing before. Yes,
Speaker 1: I'm actually surprised the Ike think didn't take off more
Speaker 1: with the Giants. You know, there's pretty good ikes in
Speaker 1: their history as well. But yeah, I'm gonna start with
Speaker 1: Josh Jackson really fast. You had to read about this
Speaker 1: in inbox when you're editing it. It's tough when you're
Speaker 1: a second round pick and you don't necessarily play up
Speaker 1: to that level and the expectations that go along with that.
Speaker 1: The thing I'll keep saying over and over again, and
Speaker 1: I know I took a lot of flak from our
Speaker 1: insider inbox readers for how I defended Josh over the years. Um,
Speaker 1: and I really did see the upside. I mean we
Speaker 1: saw it in practice. I mean last year I started
Speaker 1: to have some doubts and then he comes out and
Speaker 1: I thought he had a really good couple of weeks
Speaker 1: of training camp when they started practicing, and that, ultimately,
Speaker 1: I think probably opened the door to him getting more
Speaker 1: defensive opportunities than he did in two thousand nineteen. But
Speaker 1: at the end of the day, you know, it just
Speaker 1: didn't work out for him. Here I keep saying this
Speaker 1: over and over again, I'll say it one more time.
Speaker 1: Jackson is one of the guys I've really enjoyed getting
Speaker 1: to know the last few years, and unfortunately getting a
Speaker 1: chance to see enough of them the last you know,
Speaker 1: one and a half. But and just because something doesn't
Speaker 1: work out professionally, that's not a detriment to the person.
Speaker 1: And Josh Jackson, I hope Packer fans realized that that
Speaker 1: that guy gave everything he had and he earned every
Speaker 1: cent on his paycheck to play for this football team.
Speaker 1: I wish him well. I hope it works out for
Speaker 1: him with the Giants. But moving on to the next chapter,
Speaker 1: the Packers needed to get more and they have to
Speaker 1: solidified starters I believe you could say, and in terms
Speaker 1: of established in the league and in jaire Alexander and
Speaker 1: Kevin King, Chandon's Sullivan has been the slot guy for
Speaker 1: a year and a half and the obviously the first
Speaker 1: round pick and Eric Stokes. But you need more from
Speaker 1: a secondary. You need to build that out and you
Speaker 1: have to you have to believe and I know we're
Speaker 1: not gonna, you know, go pick in the roster anything
Speaker 1: like that, but you have to believe six, if not seven,
Speaker 1: cornerbacks are gonna be on thist three man roster when
Speaker 1: when it's all said and done. So, even as we
Speaker 1: talk about Alexander King, Sullivan and Stokes, who are clearly
Speaker 1: the top four packers are looking for at least two
Speaker 1: or three more to be on the fifty three and
Speaker 1: then potentially even have another reserve or two on the
Speaker 1: expanded practice squad. Yeah, and again we're not cutting the roster.
Speaker 1: But you'd have to think Shamar John Charles is in
Speaker 1: that conversation round draft pick. They're going to give him
Speaker 1: a chance to develop. So then you have your deem.
Speaker 1: You have Kaban Ento who had a fantastic game on
Speaker 1: Saturday night. You have Kadar Holman back from two years ago.
Speaker 1: Oh and then by the way, right back here on
Speaker 1: your back end, you've got like three late round undrafted
Speaker 1: safeties that are making strong bids. You know, Vernon Scott
Speaker 1: has looked good though he has a hamstring flare up
Speaker 1: now in his gains was a January signing that typically
Speaker 1: those guys get under the radar, you never hear about
Speaker 1: them again. And here he is, I thought, putting together
Speaker 1: a really strong training campaign. Guys like that get signed
Speaker 1: in January. As you know, those those future signings. A
Speaker 1: lot of times those guys don't even make it to
Speaker 1: training camp. Like somewhere along the line during spring O
Speaker 1: t A S and the you know, the personnel department's
Speaker 1: churn in the bottom of the roster to get the
Speaker 1: ninety man set for training camp. Some of those future
Speaker 1: guys that are signed in January before the playoffs or
Speaker 1: even over, they don't even make it this far. And
Speaker 1: in his gains is he's he's in the running for
Speaker 1: a spot on the fifty three here, no question. Yeah,
Speaker 1: because it's not just what he's doing on defense. I
Speaker 1: mean he's made some nice plays on special teams as well.
Speaker 1: So yes, you're right when you say you don't know
Speaker 1: how many guys are gonna keep at cornerback. I would
Speaker 1: imagine you know, you've seen them keep as many as
Speaker 1: eleven or twelve defensive backs in this era. Now, between
Speaker 1: cornerback and safety, all those guys are competing with each other.
Speaker 1: And Adrian Names touched on it too when we were
Speaker 1: asking about it after the game this week. Uh, after practice,
Speaker 1: there's there's competition there and there's a lot of guys
Speaker 1: vying for familiar roles and seeing who prevails in that
Speaker 1: I think is gonna have real huge repercussions for this
Speaker 1: defense here in two Yeah, well, there will be a
Speaker 1: lot of film to analyze after these two joint practices,
Speaker 1: followed by the preseason game and then one more preseason
Speaker 1: game the road trip to Buffalo next week. But for now,
Speaker 1: we're going to call it a wrap on this edition
Speaker 1: of Packers Unscripted. Be sure to follow all of our
Speaker 1: coverage of training camp and of Saturday's preseason game. We'll
Speaker 1: have it all for you on Packers dot com. For West,
Speaker 1: I'm Mike, thank you for tuning, and everybody, we will
Speaker 1: see you next time.