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 partner in crime, Weston hod Koitz. We're coming
Speaker 1: to you here from our studios at Lambeufield. Wes here
Speaker 1: to talk about Packer's Family Night. It took place on
Speaker 1: Saturday evening inside Lambellfield. More than sixty thousand fans was
Speaker 1: the official attendance. And I'll just start with this. I've
Speaker 1: covered a lot of family nights over the years, been
Speaker 1: to more than my share, and they all start to
Speaker 1: run together after a while. Unfortunately, the ones that we
Speaker 1: usually remember are for bad reasons, like when Brian Beloga
Speaker 1: tours ACL or when Mason and Crosby had a horrible
Speaker 1: night and we all thought he was going to be
Speaker 1: replaced as the Packers kicker.
Speaker 2: Was the same night?
Speaker 1: Was it? That? Was that that same night?
Speaker 2: Yeah?
Speaker 1: I was thinking they were with back to best seat.
Speaker 1: That's what I mean by it all runs together. I
Speaker 1: thought those were back to back years. Actually those were
Speaker 1: on the same night. Okay, Well, anyway, My point is
Speaker 1: we usually don't remember family nights for good reasons or
Speaker 1: really exciting things. But I'm gonna remember this one because
Speaker 1: of that young man who was in front of those
Speaker 1: sixty thousand fans and was catching those punts like nobody's
Speaker 1: business man. What a night, what a what an event,
Speaker 1: what an activity, and a lifetime memory for that young
Speaker 1: football player from Wapawon, Wisconsin, just down the road.
Speaker 2: I was doing my little walk down to the locker
Speaker 2: room with Rob Dumovsky match Schneidman after the practice and
Speaker 2: what was that after the game, and we were kind
Speaker 2: of like, so what happened tonight? Like what was the
Speaker 2: big storyline? And we all agreed it was that young
Speaker 2: dude from upon, like we should have him at the
Speaker 2: podium because sometimes like when there's a big game that
Speaker 2: guys have Aaron Jones, you know, four touchdowns or Shan
Speaker 2: Gary three sacks, they'll go to the podium in addition
Speaker 2: to the quarterback and the head coach. We should have
Speaker 2: had that dude fucking there too. Get a little stepping
Speaker 2: stool he can get up on the podium.
Speaker 1: Absolutely, boy.
Speaker 2: I'll tell you what, though, have you ever seen, especially
Speaker 2: in a family night practice, a sideline come alive the
Speaker 2: way that the Packers did. Jordan Love running out there.
Speaker 1: Those guys were fired up.
Speaker 2: Man, everybody was just so geeked for this kid. And
Speaker 2: you know, watching Rich Bisaccia, who can be kind of
Speaker 2: a stoic, cerebral serious man, just come on glued for
Speaker 2: him and everybody. Once the kid had the two, everybody
Speaker 2: wanted him to get the third one.
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, oh yeah, nobody wanted that third hit the
Speaker 1: ground like yeah, it was, it was, it was. It
Speaker 1: was impressive. I give him a lot of credit. He
Speaker 1: had he had those first two, he shoved him over
Speaker 1: into his left arm, had him cradled there, and then
Speaker 1: he managed to pin the third one kind of on
Speaker 1: his chest and against the other footballs like right in
Speaker 1: the you know, the same moment. Man. He couldn't have
Speaker 1: drawn it up anybody.
Speaker 2: No, it was fun. And to hear the crowd, you know,
Speaker 2: over more than sixty thousand people in attendance respond to
Speaker 2: that and just get that type of ovation. I mean,
Speaker 2: that's a memory that's gonna last a lifetime for him.
Speaker 2: But by and large, I thought it brought a lot
Speaker 2: of energy to lambeau Field as well on one of
Speaker 2: the most fun nights of the year.
Speaker 1: Well as far as the actual Packers players are concerned,
Speaker 1: I thought we kind of go through family, just back
Speaker 1: and forth talking about who we thought stood out here
Speaker 1: and there, starting with the offensive side of the ball.
Speaker 1: For me, I thought Jordan Love got off to a
Speaker 1: fast start in that practice. I thought early on in
Speaker 1: the eleven on elevens things were really clicking, especially with
Speaker 1: regard to play action passes. He was finding some throwing
Speaker 1: lanes and having his way with the defense a little bit.
Speaker 1: That started to shift later on, as we'll talk about
Speaker 1: I knew you wrote about Romeo Dobbs. He was very
Speaker 1: impressive once again continuing a very strong training camp, and
Speaker 1: I'll let you expand on that as well. But another
Speaker 1: guy that actually we didn't really write or talk too
Speaker 1: much about it when we did our three things and
Speaker 1: the stories we wrote and whatnot, But I thought Sean
Speaker 1: Clifford had a pretty solid night. Not to say that
Speaker 1: everything went perfect or that he was lighting things up
Speaker 1: or whatnot, but there were moments in that practice where
Speaker 1: I felt like Sean Clifford was was, I guess, I
Speaker 1: would say, more in command of the offense and everything
Speaker 1: that was going out there. Then maybe we had seen
Speaker 1: in some places earlier in camp or during the spring,
Speaker 1: and I thought it was. I thought it was a
Speaker 1: really nice step forward for him with the preseason now
Speaker 1: where we're expecting him to play quite a bit. The
Speaker 1: preseason now is right around the cour.
Speaker 2: Well, and there is a big difference when you're taking
Speaker 2: on that number two defense as opposed to having you know,
Speaker 2: Rashaun Gary breathing down your neck, you know, quite a
Speaker 2: bit just because he is Rashaun Gary. And I feel
Speaker 2: like since Sean went back, you know, with that number
Speaker 2: two unit here over the past week and a half,
Speaker 2: you've seen a difference in him, particularly in those two
Speaker 2: minute periods. He was not without flaw. In the final
Speaker 2: drive of practice on Saturday, almost got picked by Robert Rochelle,
Speaker 2: but he survived that and led the offense down to
Speaker 2: accomplish what they needed to accomplish, which was getting into
Speaker 2: field goal range. And again I think he was five
Speaker 2: to nine on that series, fifty two yards maybe somewhere
Speaker 2: around there, and got him in the position that they
Speaker 2: wanted to get into, although they did push back the
Speaker 2: kicks to try a longer attempt when Andras Carlson and
Speaker 2: Greg Joseph did go on the field. So this quarterback
Speaker 2: battle in seeing how it all plays out. I always
Speaker 2: tell people don't rush to conclusions and what you see,
Speaker 2: and that goes for whether it's Jordan Love, Sean Clifford,
Speaker 2: or Michael Pratt, because this death as a marathon, and
Speaker 2: if you are not even at the preseason games yet,
Speaker 2: you really have not learned a whole lot other than
Speaker 2: just seeing maybe some of the adverse moments that guys
Speaker 2: have gone through and how they respond to it. So
Speaker 2: Clifford is a guy that has been here, I thought,
Speaker 2: put together a tremendous training camp, a tremendous offseason to
Speaker 2: run away with that number two job last year.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: And while I think Michael Pratt has done some good things,
Speaker 2: seeing Clifford still run with the twos and Pratt with
Speaker 2: the threes shows you just how much of a difference
Speaker 2: there can be as opposed to, you know, having a
Speaker 2: full year in the system and understanding exactly what Matt
Speaker 2: Lafluur is looking for.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and I think as this training camp moves forward now,
Speaker 1: the from what we've heard anyway from Matt Lafleur, it
Speaker 1: sounds like the installation phase of the playbook is pretty
Speaker 1: much done. So now you're going to get into reviewing
Speaker 1: things there's going to be even more of the situational
Speaker 1: stuff in some respects. You know, they'll be doing some
Speaker 1: preparing for the preseason games, particularly with those reserve units.
Speaker 1: And I'll be interested to see the steps forward that
Speaker 1: these backup quarterbacks takes. As that you know, the basic
Speaker 1: installs of the offense are done, I think that can
Speaker 1: start to free up the mind a little bit, maybe
Speaker 1: not quite so much thinking and just reacting and playing
Speaker 1: football out there. And I'm eager to see what those
Speaker 1: young guys do, because the talent with both of those
Speaker 1: quarterbacks is evident. It's it's just about continuing to progress,
Speaker 1: to gain, to gain the command, to gain the command
Speaker 1: of the offense, both sort of physically and mentally well.
Speaker 2: And the way I like in it too is it's
Speaker 2: almost like you got the undergraduate degree with everything.
Speaker 1: You know.
Speaker 2: Both of those guys played a huge number of snaps,
Speaker 2: a huge number of games in college, basically full starters
Speaker 2: their entire time they were in college.
Speaker 1: Both had forty plus college start Yeah, but.
Speaker 2: Once you finally transition over to the National Football League,
Speaker 2: now you're in the graduate school. I mean, now you're
Speaker 2: starting to learn the ins and outs of an NFL
Speaker 2: offense and how quickly things speed up. And you know,
Speaker 2: Sean Clifford is such a gamer. I've always I felt
Speaker 2: like that's what makes him a really good prospect as
Speaker 2: a backup quarterback because he can enter into that chaos
Speaker 2: and he can find production, he can find success. How
Speaker 2: does Michael Pratt respond to those moments? Both of those guys.
Speaker 2: I don't know how much we're going to see Jordan
Speaker 2: Love this preseason. I'm sure that's the question that is
Speaker 2: going to be asked day in and day out this week.
Speaker 2: But by and large, the preseason is going to belong
Speaker 2: to Sean Clifford, with getting some Michael pract you know,
Speaker 2: sprinkled in there as well. So that's where this test comes.
Speaker 2: And if you go back and look at what Jordan
Speaker 2: Love did when he was shadowing you know, Aaron Rodgers
Speaker 2: for those three years, at least two years that he
Speaker 2: had the preseason with it, he had to make the
Speaker 2: most of those chances. And now this will be Clifford's opportunity.
Speaker 1: Yeah, And I don't know if there's another player on
Speaker 1: the offensive side of the ball for the Packers that
Speaker 1: looks more ready for Week one right now than Romeo Dobbs.
Speaker 1: That guy looks like he could go out and you know,
Speaker 1: like he did in the Dallas playoff game, you know,
Speaker 1: nine catches for one hundred and fifty yards or whatever.
Speaker 1: He looks like he'd go out and do that tomorrow.
Speaker 2: Yeah, so many people have tried to draw comparisons with
Speaker 2: him a lot of times two Packers receivers. I didn't
Speaker 2: cover the beginning of Jordan Nelson's time with the Packers.
Speaker 2: I didn't cover full on as a full time writer.
Speaker 2: You know, Randall cobbs first few seasons. But what strikes
Speaker 2: me about Dobbs and why I don't think there's a
Speaker 2: great comp for him, is that he came in as
Speaker 2: a rookie fourth round pick two years ago and looked
Speaker 2: like a legitimate NFL receiver from day one. I'm not
Speaker 2: saying he did everything perfect, but just how calm and
Speaker 2: cool and collected he was, and how he handled that
Speaker 2: adversity year one when both him and Christian Watson were
Speaker 2: sort of thrown out there with all the other injuries
Speaker 2: and things that happened with this receiving court. And since
Speaker 2: then he has just continued to expand his resume. But
Speaker 2: the number one thing when people ask me about Romeo
Speaker 2: Dobbs or all these different receivers, that just jumps out
Speaker 2: of the page about him is how proficient he is
Speaker 2: in the red zone. It shouldn't be that easy, Michael.
Speaker 2: You will have thousand yard receivers in the National Football
Speaker 2: League that'll have one or two touchdown catches an entire season. Yeah,
Speaker 2: because that's just not a part of their game. Romeo Dobbs,
Speaker 2: whether it was on that goal line fade that he
Speaker 2: caught over Keshawn Nixon, whether it was on the slant
Speaker 2: that he ran before that, the guy has just an
Speaker 2: unquantifiable ability to find space, and even when he doesn't,
Speaker 2: he gets his hands on footballs and finds touchdowns. When
Speaker 2: you talk about what you want in a National Football
Speaker 2: League receiver, the way he carries himself, the way he
Speaker 2: runs routes, the way his hands have been since the
Speaker 2: day he walked in the building. I don't know what
Speaker 2: it equates to. I don't know what the numbers are
Speaker 2: gonna look like. But when number eighty seven is on
Speaker 2: the field for the Green Bay Packers, you feel really
Speaker 2: good about their offensive chances.
Speaker 1: Yeah, Romeo Dobbs is He's practically the definition of a
Speaker 1: receiver who attacks the football. He doesn't catch the football,
Speaker 1: he attacks it and and that's the thing that stands
Speaker 1: out about him that is so impressive. Hard at this point,
Speaker 1: you know, we're two weeks into training camp, really hard
Speaker 1: to get a sense of where things are with the
Speaker 1: Packers running game. Obviously, we've talked before about in earlier
Speaker 1: episodes on the show about some of the shuffling going
Speaker 1: on in the offensive line. The good news there, it
Speaker 1: sounds like Zach Tom will be back in eleven on
Speaker 1: eleven drills this week, according to Matt le Floor when
Speaker 1: he was asked about that after the family night workout. So,
Speaker 1: getting Zach Tom back as you're starting right tackle, hopefully
Speaker 1: that can help to stabilize some things. And when we
Speaker 1: get into the preseason games, you know, I know the starters,
Speaker 1: if they're gonna play, they're not gonna play a whole bunch.
Speaker 1: But it's really not until the preseason games that we
Speaker 1: get an idea of where the Packers are with their
Speaker 1: running game, because then it's finally the live tackling and
Speaker 1: and you know things are are for real. It's so
Speaker 1: hard to tell. It just does it just doesn't feel
Speaker 1: like this Packers ground game has has gotten itself established
Speaker 1: like where where it wants to be and and Josh
Speaker 1: Jacobs has missed some practices. That's certainly a factor there
Speaker 1: as well. But that's gonna be something I'll be keeping
Speaker 1: my eye on as as we get closer to the
Speaker 1: to the preseason games. Here. On the defensive side of
Speaker 1: the ball, we've already mentioned his name, Rashaun Gary. There
Speaker 1: hasn't been a backup right tackle on this Packers offensive
Speaker 1: line that can block him. I mean, let's just be honest.
Speaker 1: They've all they've been rotating different guys in Zach Tom's absence,
Speaker 1: and they've all had their trouble with Rashaan Gary. So
Speaker 1: that's the other matchup to watch here moving forward is
Speaker 1: now that Zach Tom will be back at right tackle.
Speaker 1: You know, how how does he do against Rashaun Gary.
Speaker 1: I thought in the defensive back field a few guys
Speaker 1: really stood out to me in terms of their play
Speaker 1: on Saturday night. I thought Eric Stokes had a defent
Speaker 1: night at corner. I thought Javon Bullard really showed some
Speaker 1: aggression attacking the ball from the defensive side of things,
Speaker 1: breaking up a couple of passes and I'll give another
Speaker 1: tip of the cap to uh to Kylan King, the
Speaker 1: rookie seventh round pick out of Penn State. I was watching,
Speaker 1: I know, you had your binoculars on and you were
Speaker 1: watching the offensive defensive line one on ones that were
Speaker 1: way at one end of the field. I was watching
Speaker 1: the pass catcher, pass defender one on ones that were
Speaker 1: in the that were in the other end zone. And
Speaker 1: Kaylan King he goes out there, he's he's he's a
Speaker 1: slot guy for a couple of one on one reps. Now,
Speaker 1: slot cornerback one on one in the end zone, You've
Speaker 1: got no chance. I mean, you know, when you're an
Speaker 1: outside corner, okay, you take inside leverage, you make the
Speaker 1: guy run the fade, and then you try to defend
Speaker 1: the fade. Right, Well, if you're in the slot and
Speaker 1: it's a one on one in the end zone and
Speaker 1: there's nobody else out there, there's nothing you can I mean,
Speaker 1: it is it is way too easy for these quarterbacks
Speaker 1: and receivers to hook up for a touchdown. And King
Speaker 1: gave up a couple of touchdowns on his first couple
Speaker 1: of reps, and it looked like, you know things just
Speaker 1: you know, he wasn't quite into it. Well. Then by
Speaker 1: the end of that drill he did get a pass
Speaker 1: breakup on I believe it was his third rep and
Speaker 1: the one on ones in the end zone. And as
Speaker 1: I've as I, you know, I said with caylen King
Speaker 1: when he got the interception of Jordan Love earlier in
Speaker 1: training camp, when that young guy makes a play, then suddenly,
Speaker 1: like you know, his game starts to rise, his game
Speaker 1: goes to another level. And I thought we saw him
Speaker 1: really getting after it in the eleven on eleven and
Speaker 1: I thought it was, you know, kind of his pass
Speaker 1: breakup at the end of the one on ones that
Speaker 1: that sparked him a little bit. And and again for
Speaker 1: a young guy crowded position room trying to make his
Speaker 1: way see where he fits, you know, earn a place
Speaker 1: on this roster and on this team, I thought he
Speaker 1: had another He acquitted himself pretty well for the first
Speaker 1: time under the lights at Lambo.
Speaker 2: To expand this out to the entire secondary, I feel
Speaker 2: like the Packers have gotten what they wanted out of
Speaker 2: this draft class in terms of being able to push
Speaker 2: the guys that have already been on this roster, looking
Speaker 2: specifically at safety first, Matt Lafleur talking last week about
Speaker 2: the camp that Anthony Johnson Junior has put together as
Speaker 2: a guy that's trying to sort of defend a potential
Speaker 2: starting position in the secondary after being there for most
Speaker 2: of the off season program. The thing that I get
Speaker 2: a kick out of is that whenever time they put
Speaker 2: in Bullard like they did on Saturday Night, or they
Speaker 2: have Evan Williams in there, it just seems like whoever
Speaker 2: the safety has been, I've walked away from that practice
Speaker 2: going yeah, that could be the guy, and then the
Speaker 2: next guy comes in and does something good. They all
Speaker 2: offer something different. What's gonna help Williams and Bullard is
Speaker 2: the fact that they have that versatility to play the slot.
Speaker 2: I think we very easily could see either of them
Speaker 2: in the dime at some point as well, absolutely, just
Speaker 2: based on what their credentials are and their ability to
Speaker 2: move down. But looking at cornerback, it's such a unique
Speaker 2: position because that was the one that Green Bay didn't address.
Speaker 2: They drafted three safeties before they drafted a cornerback. They
Speaker 2: waited until day three, fourth the last pick I believe
Speaker 2: it was to draft King and this guy, Mike. It
Speaker 2: happens all the time in the league. You see it.
Speaker 2: Guys like Micah Hyde. They don't run the world's fastest
Speaker 2: forty time, and everybody kind of puts them in a box.
Speaker 2: But it's how do they play the game? Do they
Speaker 2: play at that speed or do they play faster? What
Speaker 2: has impressed me about King is just how quickly he plays,
Speaker 2: And you are one hundred percent right when the confidence
Speaker 2: is there, when the snowball starts building, this guy gets
Speaker 2: faster and faster and more confident and triggers even quicker.
Speaker 2: And when he's made plays, that's when he's doing it.
Speaker 2: He's triggering, and I could see why. That's why the
Speaker 2: Packers feel like that could potentially be a good spot
Speaker 2: for him in the slot, because it's allowing him to
Speaker 2: use his body more and it's allowing him to use
Speaker 2: those deductive skills to go out there and do it.
Speaker 2: Preseason is gonna be a huge challenge. That's gonna be
Speaker 2: the next step for him. The joint practice with Denver.
Speaker 2: I can't wait to watch it. But for the Green
Speaker 2: Bay Packers to invest the resources that they did in
Speaker 2: the draft in that safety and secondary, in cornerback, the secondary,
Speaker 2: I love everything I've seen because all these guys, I've
Speaker 2: looked at them and said to myself, that's what you
Speaker 2: want to see in terms of being able to rise
Speaker 2: the standard in that room.
Speaker 1: Yeah, you have to. There's you know, we always talk
Speaker 1: about the short memory and things like that at cornerback,
Speaker 1: and that's something that anybody who plays that position you
Speaker 1: have to learn. You have to have that mentality. There's
Speaker 1: also a fearlessness you have to have to play that position.
Speaker 1: You can't be you can't be afraid that you're gonna
Speaker 1: get flagged for past interference or some kind of contact.
Speaker 1: It's gonna happen. I mean, nobody's gonna go through a
Speaker 1: season or even a month, you know, flag free. At
Speaker 1: that position, you have to have the fearlessness. And we
Speaker 1: saw that. We saw sort of that level of fearlessness
Speaker 1: early on last year with Carrington Valentine as a seventh
Speaker 1: rounder when he got thrown into the mix because of
Speaker 1: the injuries and he was playing in games like more
Speaker 1: than we ever expected. I'm seeing a little bit of that,
Speaker 1: you know already with with Cale and King, and I'm
Speaker 1: eager to see, you know, kind of where he goes
Speaker 1: and where he takes it from here. I got to
Speaker 1: take care of some sponsor business here Wes before I
Speaker 1: forget serious. XMNFL 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 had cousin subs.
Speaker 1: 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 and a bowl Cousin Subs.
Speaker 1: Fifty plus years of better for as shift gears touring
Speaker 1: their topic, any anybody, anything else on the defensive side
Speaker 1: of the ball from Family Night that you want to
Speaker 1: point out.
Speaker 2: If I can just mention quickly, it veers more into
Speaker 2: the offensive side of things because I was watching those
Speaker 2: one on ones and hearing and seeing Caleb Jones talk
Speaker 2: about it. This is the first time Caleb Jones, the
Speaker 2: huge left tackle prospect, tackle prospect the Packers have been
Speaker 2: developing the past two years, he was able to get
Speaker 2: in there with the number ones a little bit in
Speaker 2: this practice, and he was talking to Paul Brettel about
Speaker 2: this in the locker room afterwards, and the challenge of
Speaker 2: trying to block Overshawn Gary and acknowledging that he got
Speaker 2: him on a play, and then there was a play
Speaker 2: where he got him too.
Speaker 1: Yep.
Speaker 2: On the other side of things, I'm telling you, man,
Speaker 2: when it comes down to it, the way that Rashaun
Speaker 2: Gary plays his position and the way he practices, there
Speaker 2: might be better outside linebackers and pass rushers in the
Speaker 2: National Football League than Gary. You're not going to get
Speaker 2: anybody that goes harder at you in a practice than
Speaker 2: he does. That is the ultimate litmus test for I
Speaker 2: think these tackles and these guys that are competing for
Speaker 2: that swing tackle role, which is now you look at
Speaker 2: Caleb Jones being back from the hamstring, He's in that.
Speaker 2: Kadem Telford has gotten a lot of number one reps camp,
Speaker 2: and then certainly Andre Dillard is the veteran, and then
Speaker 2: Luke Tanuda I thought had a really good family night
Speaker 2: as well. He looked good on some of the right
Speaker 2: guard stuff he was doing. In addition to later in
Speaker 2: the practice working at tackle, You're not going to see
Speaker 2: a stiffer test than Rashaun Gary. But I'll close on
Speaker 2: this when spinging it back to the defense, what Green
Speaker 2: Bay has done on the defensive line, Michael it is
Speaker 2: so gosh darn deep, and they're so healthy right now
Speaker 2: at that position. Yeah, knock on wood Yeah, but you
Speaker 2: look at last year like I was sitting there and
Speaker 2: I've had this conversation with eight people already about Jonathan Ford,
Speaker 2: the seventh round pick from two years ago. The fact
Speaker 2: that he hasn't been able to get up on the
Speaker 2: fifty three. Well, I don't think it's for a lack
Speaker 2: of talent. I think it's because of how healthy the
Speaker 2: Packers have been there. When you have a TJ. Slayton
Speaker 2: that's made the strides that they've been looking for. When
Speaker 2: you have a DeVante Wyatt that took a ginormous jump
Speaker 2: last year, going from a very rotational player to a
Speaker 2: guy that had five and a half sacks. Kolby Wooden
Speaker 2: has put on weight and looks more dynamic and has
Speaker 2: been playing a little bit of defensive end as well.
Speaker 2: In Carl Bradford has been a revelation. Brooks, Carl Brooks,
Speaker 2: excuse me, God bless you. Carl Bradford.
Speaker 1: Carl Bradford, Yes, former Packer, former Packer draft pick hasn't
Speaker 1: been around for a while.
Speaker 2: It's been about ten years. But Carl Brooks in four
Speaker 2: sacks last year and looks even more confident this year.
Speaker 2: When you talk about the shift, yeah, a lot of
Speaker 2: that is Jeff Affley, but a lot of it is
Speaker 2: having almost like a college football team now that is
Speaker 2: getting older and more experienced and more confident what's being
Speaker 2: asked of them. And as they build that experience, Mike,
Speaker 2: it just makes them even more dangerous.
Speaker 1: I want to throw this out at you because this
Speaker 1: is something I've been wondering about and we haven't had
Speaker 1: a chance to talk about it on the sideline yet,
Speaker 1: so I'm kind of putting you on the spot. But
Speaker 1: you and I have both been impressed with Carl Brooks
Speaker 1: and what he's done since he arrived here. And what
Speaker 1: I've been trying to figure out, and maybe I'm maybe
Speaker 1: I'm splitting hairs and it's all semantics or whatever, but
Speaker 1: what I've been trying to figure out is did that
Speaker 1: guy last until the sixth round because he was playing
Speaker 1: at Bowling Green, Or did he last until the sixth
Speaker 1: round because he doesn't have You know that he doesn't
Speaker 1: have that physical look to him of a defensive lineman,
Speaker 1: of a typical NFL defensive lineman. You don't look at
Speaker 1: that guy and say, oh, he's he's a classic NFL
Speaker 1: D lineman. He looks different from a physical standpoint, but
Speaker 1: you but then you watch him play. You watch him
Speaker 1: play and it's and it's like it the you know
Speaker 1: whatever the I don't want to say the word limitations
Speaker 1: because that's not right. The the atypical look to his
Speaker 1: physical attributes. Uh, it doesn't matter because because the guy
Speaker 1: has proven he can play. So I'm just wondering, did
Speaker 1: you know when I think about all the stuff that
Speaker 1: goes on, you know, in the pre draft process and
Speaker 1: and you know, the when you look at like, you know,
Speaker 1: the combine and they do the weigh in and like
Speaker 1: all this kind of stuff, did a whole bunch of
Speaker 1: NFL scouts look at him and just go, well, he
Speaker 1: doesn't doesn't have any physic attributes that excite me. So
Speaker 1: I'm gonna, you know, put him down the list. Or
Speaker 1: was it because of the bowling green in the school
Speaker 1: that he came from or some combination of the two.
Speaker 1: I just wonder, because he since the day he got here,
Speaker 1: he's impressed me as a young man who has figured
Speaker 1: out how to hold his own in the NFL and
Speaker 1: I don't think we're anywhere close to seeing how good
Speaker 1: he might be.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and it's a great question you ask. I mean,
Speaker 2: first and foremost, I understand the kickoff is changing this year,
Speaker 2: but when was the last time you've ever seen a
Speaker 2: defensive lineman as an up blocker on a kickoff? I mean,
Speaker 2: that's where they were lining them up when they were
Speaker 2: starting practice, as one of the guys right behind the
Speaker 2: initial line. It shows you with his athleticism mixed with
Speaker 2: his size, there's some interesting intangibles there. Yeah, he was.
Speaker 2: He busted through some definitions with how he played edge
Speaker 2: rusher in college, and I'm sure that equated too. Well,
Speaker 2: he's too big to be a stand up linebacker in
Speaker 2: the NFL.
Speaker 1: Maybe that's it. Maybe just maybe there were a bunch
Speaker 1: of scouts that just did think he fit right or
Speaker 1: something that he just you know, be But I give
Speaker 1: I give, I give the Packers credit. They they they
Speaker 1: found this guy. I certainly wasn't really even aware of him,
Speaker 1: you know, come going into that that draft last year,
Speaker 1: and uh, and I think he's I think he's gonna
Speaker 1: he can be a really really big part of things,
Speaker 1: not only this year, but just as his career progress.
Speaker 2: And if one thing of you know, over a decade
Speaker 2: covering the National Football League has taught me and watching
Speaker 2: the evolution of defensive football, you know, from the from
Speaker 2: the Mike Daniels to the to the Ryan Picketts to
Speaker 2: to a guy like TJ. Slayton now is at the
Speaker 2: end of the day, it comes down to can you
Speaker 2: move the man that's in front of you?
Speaker 1: Yeah?
Speaker 2: Can you get the leverage, can you get the pad level?
Speaker 2: Can you do everything there is to check all those
Speaker 2: boxes to win? I think some body types like Kenny
Speaker 2: Clark really lend themselves to it. Six foot three, just
Speaker 2: tough as nails, three hundred and fifteen pounds, is gonna
Speaker 2: put his feet in the dirt. You're gonna have a
Speaker 2: hard time pushing him back.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: But then you got guys like you know Brooks and
Speaker 2: like Kobe Wooden that do things a little bit differently
Speaker 2: but also find ways to be disruptive. And I think
Speaker 2: that's really exciting and in credit to you know, this
Speaker 2: is a new generation. Jason Riverovich has taken this room
Speaker 2: under his wing between the defensive ends and the defensive tackles,
Speaker 2: and these guys have taken to it it's not just rhetoric.
Speaker 2: It's not just you know, platitudes in the locker room
Speaker 2: when they talk about the buy in and when Jeff
Speaker 2: Athley talks about the buy in, I think you've seen
Speaker 2: it in these first ten practices.
Speaker 1: Yeah, absolutely, last thing before we go, big night for
Speaker 1: the kickers on family. They got a lot of work,
Speaker 1: you know, multiple periods where they were out there with
Speaker 1: multiple kicks. Would have been fun to see one, if
Speaker 1: not both of them make the fifty seven yard or
Speaker 1: right at the end. They were really challenged with a
Speaker 1: long kick because previous to that they had both nailed
Speaker 1: kicks from fifty five yards and Anders Carlson's actually from
Speaker 1: fifty five was good by a long shot, like he
Speaker 1: absolutely drilled out one. Unfortunately both guys missed from fifty seven.
Speaker 1: But uh, but pretty decent night for both kickers. When
Speaker 1: I you know, when I get asked you know who's
Speaker 1: who's winning the kicking competition, all that I will say
Speaker 1: is statistically Greg Joseph is ahead. He has missed fewer
Speaker 1: field goals than Anders Carlson. But I don't like to
Speaker 1: pretend to know, you know, what the evaluations are behind
Speaker 1: the scenes, So I will just I will just say
Speaker 1: statistically Joseph has the lead. But but I thought both
Speaker 1: of those guys performed pretty well. And uh, and you know,
Speaker 1: we'll see what We'll see what unfolds in the preseason.
Speaker 2: I'm gonna tell you this, Mike, we again, it's ten practices.
Speaker 2: We have not played a preseason game yet. Things can change. Uh.
Speaker 2: I think it is an absolute tragedy that Greg Joseph
Speaker 2: just isn't already a kicker in this league. I'm this
Speaker 2: guy the way he's performed for two weeks, two and
Speaker 2: a half weeks in indigen impress the offseason program, that
Speaker 2: this guy is an NFL kicker. Yeah, and it's not
Speaker 2: just well he boots the ball far or anything is
Speaker 2: he explained last week and you were a part of
Speaker 2: that scrum. His mentality. This is a guy that has
Speaker 2: been through the wars. He has one jobs, he has
Speaker 2: lost jobs, he has been an unrestricted free agent, had
Speaker 2: to sit there for a month waiting for another opportunity.
Speaker 2: I don't get how it led to this where it
Speaker 2: was like for green Bay, standpoint fantastic for them. This
Speaker 2: has been a great addition And I formally believe I'm
Speaker 2: writing this in the Insider Inbox this week that Andras
Speaker 2: Carlson and Greg Joseph both have what it takes to
Speaker 2: kick in the National Football League. That I agree, it's
Speaker 2: just a question of which guy's doing it for this team, right,
Speaker 2: I agree. But that being said, I think it has
Speaker 2: been the perfect foil. That's not the right connotation to
Speaker 2: the word I want to use to talk about that
Speaker 2: because it's been a very respectful battle between those two.
Speaker 2: But it's been the perfect competition and the guy I
Speaker 2: think to push honors in what you were looking for
Speaker 2: in this because as you said, both guys had good nights.
Speaker 2: The practices haven't been with the exception of maybe one
Speaker 2: well one guy went six for six and another went
Speaker 2: two for six and it was very decided. No, it
Speaker 2: was both of these guys more often than not, one
Speaker 2: six for six, ones five for six. And and to
Speaker 2: be honest with you, that last kick at the end
Speaker 2: of the night, Mike, they had already been on like
Speaker 2: eight or nine full operation. Oh, I know that that's
Speaker 2: the thing. It was.
Speaker 1: That was a That was a long night for those guys.
Speaker 1: They got a lot of work and uh and yeah,
Speaker 1: to be to be challenged with a fifty seven yarder
Speaker 1: at the end of a long practice like that. That
Speaker 1: was that was tough duty.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it didn't surprise me that that they both ended
Speaker 2: up missing. But I think the competition has been really good.
Speaker 2: And but like I've told people, and I said it
Speaker 2: an insider inbox last week, I saw Georgio Tabaccio get
Speaker 2: out to a commanding lead over Mason Crosby in twenty
Speaker 2: thirteen at that family night, Mason one of his worst
Speaker 2: nights of his career. Yeah, couldn't make anything. And then
Speaker 2: within two weeks Mason had made the corrections, Georgio was out.
Speaker 2: It's even happen that fast, and it's all about as
Speaker 2: Greg Joseph has talked about, the next kick is the
Speaker 2: most important one, and that's kind of where it is
Speaker 2: before we go. Oh, because you're usually the one that
Speaker 2: always throws to my story, I want to make sure
Speaker 2: I throw to yours on Daniel Wheelan, You're not bregadocious
Speaker 2: enough to bring it up on your own, So I
Speaker 2: will some incredible information in that piece that I've found
Speaker 2: very illuminating. In addition to the fact that he put
Speaker 2: on the weight, as you wrote about, he's up to
Speaker 2: bout two thirty six from where he was at a
Speaker 2: two sixteen. But you know what really impresses me about
Speaker 2: this dude. He does not have any on roster direct competition,
Speaker 2: but yet he has not rested on his laurels whatsoever
Speaker 2: as a holder, as a punter, all aspects of the job.
Speaker 2: This guy got a taste of success last year in
Speaker 2: both the XFL and the NFL, and he has continually
Speaker 2: pushed himself. I've just been so impressed by that mindset,
Speaker 2: because that is a thing where when you don't have
Speaker 2: anybody directly competing against you, you could easily take the
Speaker 2: foot off the gas and say this is my gig.
Speaker 1: Yeah. I wrote the story in the spring on Greg
Speaker 1: Joseph one of the first times we got a change
Speaker 1: to talk to him, and sort of the theme of
Speaker 1: that story was his approach of the me versus me
Speaker 1: where he sort of just blocks everything else out. Daniel
Speaker 1: Wheelan is taking the me versus me approach without any
Speaker 1: competition around him, but that's how he's he's working to
Speaker 1: push himself. I don't like to jump the gun, as
Speaker 1: you know, but I will say I'll put it this way.
Speaker 1: I would not be surprised if Daniel Wheelan is a
Speaker 1: long term punter in Green Bay. He looks to me,
Speaker 1: this is just year two. He's only had one actual
Speaker 1: season of NFL games under his belt. He looks to
Speaker 1: me like he's got what it takes to last a
Speaker 1: long time in this league. And I think he might
Speaker 1: last a long time for the Packers. We will have
Speaker 1: to see impressive young man though.
Speaker 2: And I'll tell you what, Mike, I covered a lot
Speaker 2: of punters in Green Bay, especially since Tim Mastey, you know,
Speaker 2: was released six seven years ago now, and God bless
Speaker 2: Jacob Shum He's one of my all time favorites. Ultimately,
Speaker 2: good guy. But you look at how Wheelan is built
Speaker 2: compared to some of these punters in the league. He
Speaker 2: has the physical look. I mean, dude, he looks like
Speaker 2: he could be a tight end. Honestly. Yeah, I get
Speaker 2: it's impressive to watch, and I think that gets translated
Speaker 2: into how he performs at the point.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think my favorite line that he when I
Speaker 1: when I talked to him last week for the story
Speaker 1: that's now on Packers dot com talking about his his
Speaker 1: approach and kind of what he's after this year, and
Speaker 1: he said, hey, yeah, it's it's not all. It's not
Speaker 1: all about hitting the A plus ball. You're gonna hit those.
Speaker 1: You're gonna hit your A ball plenty of times. But
Speaker 1: it's how good is your B plus ball? And if
Speaker 1: you if your B plus ball keeps getting better and better,
Speaker 1: which he feels his is with the with the added size,
Speaker 1: the added strength, and just the experience and everything that
Speaker 1: he's gained. When your B plus ball keeps getting better,
Speaker 1: that's when you know you're in a pretty good spot.
Speaker 1: And I think he's he's definitely getting there.
Speaker 2: Sure looks like it all right.
Speaker 1: Well, with's that, we'll call it a rap on this
Speaker 1: edition of Packers Unscript. You're sure to follow well. All
Speaker 1: of our coverage of the team training camp continues to
Speaker 1: roll along. We'll have it all for you on Packers
Speaker 1: dot com. For Wes, I'm Miike. Thank you for tuning in. Everybody.
Speaker 1: We will see you next time.