Speaker 1: Hi, everybody. Welcome to another edition of Packers Unscripted from
Speaker 1: Packers dot Com. I am Mike Spoffer, joined by my
Speaker 1: partner in crime, West Hodkuwitz. Were coming to you here
Speaker 1: from our studios at lambeau Field West. The preseason finale
Speaker 1: is on deck. It is in Buffalo, a noon Central
Speaker 1: time kick off on Saturday, game being broadcast on NFL
Speaker 1: Network for those who are outside of the Packers television
Speaker 1: network viewing area. And then also we'll have your quarter
Speaker 1: by quarter updates my live game blog on Packers dot Com.
Speaker 1: So all kinds of ways to follow this preseason finale,
Speaker 1: but let's just do a little bit here in each
Speaker 1: of the three phases as far as what to look
Speaker 1: for in this final preseason game on the offensive side
Speaker 1: of the ball. What are you watching well? First and forwards, Mike,
Speaker 1: it feels like just two weeks ago the preseason started well,
Speaker 1: because it did just start two weeks ago. West, it
Speaker 1: still feels that way. But yeah, it's gonna be This
Speaker 1: next week and a half is going to kind of
Speaker 1: be uncharted territory for old veterans like me and you
Speaker 1: that are so used to one's exact sort of format
Speaker 1: for how the end of training camp goes. But you
Speaker 1: know that being said, this is such a huge game,
Speaker 1: and I really look at those guards. I know you
Speaker 1: and I every week it seems like we've stepped on
Speaker 1: this this set and we've discussed this, but I don't
Speaker 1: recall a time in which both guard positions were kind
Speaker 1: of in up in the air, en up for grabs.
Speaker 1: And in this training camp we've seen basically every different
Speaker 1: maschination of of what this art you know, this combination
Speaker 1: is going to look like. And it's Ben Royce Newman,
Speaker 1: the fourth round pick out of Old miss that has
Speaker 1: sort of grabbed that right guard position and really run
Speaker 1: with it. I mean ever since that that the end
Speaker 1: of that preseason game against the Texans where you could
Speaker 1: tell he really impressed the coaching staff with how he
Speaker 1: finished that game. He got an opportunity the following week
Speaker 1: to step in there and he's filled that out. And
Speaker 1: I think over the last week now you never know
Speaker 1: what's going to happen, but it does look like Lucas
Speaker 1: Patrick has sort of settled to that left guard spot.
Speaker 1: John Runyan still rotating there a little bit. Lucas Patrick
Speaker 1: made a bit of a comeback and he really standing camp,
Speaker 1: you know, because he he didn't get off to a
Speaker 1: good start. He was sort of he was always in
Speaker 1: the rotation, but he was kind of relegated to the
Speaker 1: second team offensive line for a while. Now in this
Speaker 1: last week because he did not start the second preseason game.
Speaker 1: But now in this last week, Lucas Patrick is back,
Speaker 1: is back in there as one of the first rotation
Speaker 1: guys with the number one offensive line. Does he I know,
Speaker 1: this was a little bit before he started covering the team,
Speaker 1: and maybe I'm only drawing this comparison because the guy
Speaker 1: actually works for the team now, But does he kind
Speaker 1: of remind you of sort of a modern day Gray
Speaker 1: Rug a little bit, you know, just in terms of
Speaker 1: a guy that he hasn't had like a set spot,
Speaker 1: but he's reliable, he's consistent, and he's been a guy
Speaker 1: here that's now suddenly been in Green Bay for five years.
Speaker 1: It's kind of interesting the way that his story is gone. Yeah. Absolutely,
Speaker 1: and certainly as we know from from his you know,
Speaker 1: humble roots so to speak, and being a tryout guy,
Speaker 1: you know, not only wasn't drafted, but didn't even get
Speaker 1: that initial undrafted free agent contract coming out of the draft.
Speaker 1: He had to earn it by going to uh, you know,
Speaker 1: coming to the Packers rookie orientation for a tryout. Then
Speaker 1: he landed that contract, and you know, practice squad and
Speaker 1: all that at the beginning, and now here he is.
Speaker 1: And I digress from the original point. But the other
Speaker 1: thing I want to say too is John Runyan still
Speaker 1: very much in this thing. Ben Braden has been working
Speaker 1: at right tackle now a little bit. With Dennis Kelly
Speaker 1: being injured with the knee, Josh Naiman has been a
Speaker 1: guy that has kind of run away with that backup
Speaker 1: left tackle job. How do the Packers consider that when
Speaker 1: they get down to final cuts? A guy that has
Speaker 1: basically been running with those big units since Elton Jenkins
Speaker 1: been sitting down, you know, anybody's basically been at that
Speaker 1: one spot. These are all the things that Brian Goodkins
Speaker 1: and his scouts are gonna have to determine when it
Speaker 1: comes down to next Tuesday. But it's the deepest group
Speaker 1: I've ever seen, Mike. I mean, in my years covering
Speaker 1: the team, there, I think a two thousand twelve is
Speaker 1: one of them. You kind of watched the number two units,
Speaker 1: he said, Okay, Evan Smith and Don Barkley, who else
Speaker 1: is there even left? And this year, you know they
Speaker 1: go into that third team unit with guys that I
Speaker 1: think can legitimately play in the National Football League. Yeah,
Speaker 1: with a lot of young guys. Obviously, there are with
Speaker 1: Simon Stepanak having retired their five draft picks on the
Speaker 1: offensive line from the last two years that are trying
Speaker 1: to find their way either onto the fifty three or
Speaker 1: onto the practice squad here. That's all part of the
Speaker 1: offensive line competition as well. And the other position, obviously,
Speaker 1: if Jordan's Love is healthy enough, this will be an
Speaker 1: important developmental game for him at quarterback and we can
Speaker 1: certainly talk about how things go with him next week.
Speaker 1: We talked on our last show about the whole decision
Speaker 1: with Kurt Banker and the number three quarterback, whether that
Speaker 1: will be fifty three or practice squad. Will he be
Speaker 1: exposed to waivers? The other position that a lot of
Speaker 1: people obviously will have their on as wide receiver. And
Speaker 1: we went into this training camp West pretty much knowing
Speaker 1: that the first five wide receivers on this roster, barring injury,
Speaker 1: were set. You have Davante Adams, Marquis Velda scandling Al
Speaker 1: Lazard a Marii Rodgers, the rookie third round pick, and
Speaker 1: then Randall Cobb, the veteran edition who came in right
Speaker 1: at the start of training camp. Are the Packers going
Speaker 1: to keep six? Are they going to keep seven wide receivers?
Speaker 1: We will have to see. Devin Funcius will not be
Speaker 1: one of those wide receivers on the fifty three. The
Speaker 1: Packers placed him on injured reserve on Wednesday, So kind
Speaker 1: of feels like, you know, Malik Taylor has had two
Speaker 1: really solid preseason games, Equinomius st Brown has been in
Speaker 1: and out of practice with injuries. Hasn't played in a
Speaker 1: preseason game yet, could use a really big game on
Speaker 1: Saturday in Buffalo to state his case. Reggie Begelton, who's
Speaker 1: in his second um training camp here with Green Bay,
Speaker 1: the former CFL star who's who's trying to carve out
Speaker 1: his spot. And I would have said Juwan Winfrey would
Speaker 1: be in this mix, except he got injured early in
Speaker 1: camp after a strong start and we haven't seen him
Speaker 1: since then. So those are, you know, kind of the
Speaker 1: guys to be to be thinking about here as the
Speaker 1: as the Packers make their final decisions at that position.
Speaker 1: The NFL, for the right reasons, does not allow players
Speaker 1: placed on injured reserve before our final cuts to be
Speaker 1: eligible to be designated return. So in that regard, Devin
Speaker 1: Funch is his season with the Green Bay Packers is over. Now,
Speaker 1: you could reach injury settlement with him, he'd be then
Speaker 1: free once that settlement is once he's cleared to go
Speaker 1: and sign elsewhere green Bay. Just to give people the
Speaker 1: full you know, understanding of this, green Bay actually can
Speaker 1: resign a guy that reaches an injury settlement, but it
Speaker 1: has to be six weeks after that player is cleared.
Speaker 1: So it's not looking good in that regard. But you know,
Speaker 1: Jowan Winfrey is a really interesting one too because he
Speaker 1: came out so hot, Mike, he was probably one of
Speaker 1: the big m vps of the off season program when
Speaker 1: the main receivers weren't here, and now he's not been
Speaker 1: able to practice for a few weeks now. So in
Speaker 1: this interim, a guy like Malik Taylor reminded everybody, I'm
Speaker 1: still here and this is what I have to offer.
Speaker 1: After Devin fun just had a really strong performance against
Speaker 1: the Texans. Malik Taylor, who had a good showing himself
Speaker 1: against Houston came back and led the Packers and receiving
Speaker 1: in that game against the Jets and Equinemia st Brown.
Speaker 1: Just I know there's been the injury issues. So there's
Speaker 1: been the knee issues, but this week in practice was
Speaker 1: running with the one when when st Brown has been
Speaker 1: on the practice field, he has been with the front
Speaker 1: units and and getting those reps and making some plays.
Speaker 1: We just haven't seen him in a preseason game yet
Speaker 1: because of the injury issues. So getting down to your point,
Speaker 1: I think they're for sure keeping six. The question is
Speaker 1: going to be for the first time in six years,
Speaker 1: would they keep seven? And the reason they did that
Speaker 1: back in two thousand fifteen is because you had the
Speaker 1: positional versatility with time Montgomery. You look at some of
Speaker 1: these guys like Tyler Irvin, they allow you to blur
Speaker 1: the lines a little bit with the numbers. So maybe
Speaker 1: you could see it happening with a Mari Rogers being
Speaker 1: on this roster. But no matter which way you slice it, Mike,
Speaker 1: for these receivers, everybody that suits up and puts the
Speaker 1: pads on in Buffalo, this is the game of their
Speaker 1: lifetime to show what they have to offer. Yeah. Absolutely, Well,
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Speaker 1: I gotta say it, Mike. We didn't talk about the
Speaker 1: last show, but our producer Matt Arvin, wonderfully known as Marvin,
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Speaker 1: in the studio right now, all right, while on the
Speaker 1: defensive side of the ball west to me, the position
Speaker 1: I'm looking at the most that the packers have to
Speaker 1: sort out here is the safety position um a veteran
Speaker 1: much like we just talked about at wide receiver with
Speaker 1: a veteran like Devin Funcius going on, I R a
Speaker 1: veteran who has been here for several years. Will Redmond
Speaker 1: is on injured reserve. We thought at the start of
Speaker 1: training camp he would probably be the number three safety
Speaker 1: behind Adrian Amos and Darnell Savage. But with Redmond out
Speaker 1: of the picture because of the injury, suddenly you have
Speaker 1: four very young guys Henry Black Vernon Scott who are
Speaker 1: both with the team last year an an undrafted rookie
Speaker 1: year ago in Black, a seventh round pick in Scott,
Speaker 1: and then two undrafted rookies this year Christian up off
Speaker 1: in its gains. Now, special teams will factor into these decisions.
Speaker 1: You know who's the best fit for sort of you know,
Speaker 1: a dime defensive back role, all of that, All of
Speaker 1: that factors into this year. But this is these are
Speaker 1: four young players who, now, with with Will Redmond going on,
Speaker 1: I are suddenly suddenly have a bigger opportunity than maybe
Speaker 1: even they envisioned. They really do, and I do think
Speaker 1: a week from now, all four of those guys are
Speaker 1: going to be wearing a Packers uniform. The only question
Speaker 1: is whether or not it's the fifty three or the
Speaker 1: practice squad. I totally agree with They've all played well,
Speaker 1: and it's funny, Mike, all these years they've had undrafted
Speaker 1: guys that have had success at the safety position. You
Speaker 1: think of Sean Richardson, you think of Chris Banjo, you know,
Speaker 1: Raven Green. The last few years, I don't know if
Speaker 1: they've ever had as many as they have all at
Speaker 1: one time, right, Yeah, all all all battling at once
Speaker 1: to to sort out this roster site and they all
Speaker 1: offer something different. Christian up Off was a six ft
Speaker 1: three prodigy, you know, from where he came from and
Speaker 1: being able to play at that level and now contribute
Speaker 1: as a as a special teamer. And we've seen what
Speaker 1: he's done as a gunner in his gains Man. We
Speaker 1: heard his story this week. I mean it is. I
Speaker 1: mean it is as much of a picking yourself up
Speaker 1: by your bootstraps and just getting to work story as
Speaker 1: there is a guy that was out of football all
Speaker 1: last year as he was recovering from an a c L.
Speaker 1: He had a chance to work out one football team
Speaker 1: called this football team on his birthday Augustine, but then
Speaker 1: had to go the whole fall and into the winter
Speaker 1: without a contract until the Packers finally sign him to
Speaker 1: a futures deal. Thump, as he's affectionately known, has been
Speaker 1: a thumper throughout training camp. Not without flaw, but you
Speaker 1: can see the motor in that young man and what
Speaker 1: pushes him and Henry Blank is just that's just been
Speaker 1: a model of consistency. When Redman was down, Black was
Speaker 1: the one on the back end and for him to
Speaker 1: be able to be the guy that he's been since
Speaker 1: he's coming the door. Uh, there's just they're so deep.
Speaker 1: Vernon Scott unfortunately has had the hamstring injury, so he's
Speaker 1: been down, but a lightning quick, big bodied safety that
Speaker 1: has played well in the past for Green Bay. Really
Speaker 1: difficult decision lies ahead for the Packers on how they
Speaker 1: handle that position. Yeah, Earlier in training camp, as far
Speaker 1: as you know, some of those sub packages on defense,
Speaker 1: we were seeing Henry Black and Vernon Scott getting some
Speaker 1: opportunities there. Then with Scott being injured and not being
Speaker 1: able to practice for a while, then then Black was
Speaker 1: really getting more of those. But then we've seen Christian
Speaker 1: up often in his gains, you know, not only getting
Speaker 1: some snaps on defense, but then also trying to make
Speaker 1: their mark on special teams. And that's that's obviously a
Speaker 1: phase that's going to factor into into these final decisions.
Speaker 1: As we've talked about the Packers looking to change the culture,
Speaker 1: change the narrative on special teams, and one of those
Speaker 1: young guys who is trying to land a roster spot
Speaker 1: here with with his special team's ability is the rookie
Speaker 1: sixth round pick, the linebacker out of Boston College. I
Speaker 1: had McDuffie. And this preseason finale and Buffalo is a
Speaker 1: really interesting story for him because, as you will have
Speaker 1: a story posted on Friday on our website on Packers
Speaker 1: dot com, he's heading back to the stadium in Buffalo
Speaker 1: where he won a state high school football championship with
Speaker 1: his father as his football coach. Yeah, it's a really
Speaker 1: fascinating story. His dad's Steve, a longtime coach now at
Speaker 1: Bennett High School. The way that the New York system
Speaker 1: works with actually high school athletics, it was took a
Speaker 1: long time for the Buffalo public schools to get integrated
Speaker 1: into what Wisconsin would referred to as like the w
Speaker 1: I A A. And what the way that this played
Speaker 1: out for them is, it's called the section. They were
Speaker 1: in a section sex and six, which is like the
Speaker 1: best of that region. Western New York and for them,
Speaker 1: they went three years in a row and they had
Speaker 1: to play at what I believe at that time would
Speaker 1: be New Era Field, the Buffalo Bill Stadium. That's where
Speaker 1: the game was played. The first year they go his
Speaker 1: sophomore year, Isaiah sophomore year, they lose on a hail
Speaker 1: Mary with one second to go in the game. His
Speaker 1: second year, they go back and they're losing overtime, they
Speaker 1: get the touchdown, but go for two of the opponent
Speaker 1: gets a touchdown, kicks the field goal, wins and both
Speaker 1: times it was incredible listening to Steve tell this story.
Speaker 1: A lot of kids are down. There's a lot of emotion,
Speaker 1: you know, there's disappointment after the first time. Isaiah was
Speaker 1: the one, and you can see the way he speaks,
Speaker 1: you can see the way he acts. He is about
Speaker 1: as even keel as it gets in terms of the
Speaker 1: human being, in terms of a person, he was the
Speaker 1: guy saying we got to get back to work. We
Speaker 1: have to come back next year. As our year finished
Speaker 1: that whole last season as senior year in two thousands sixteen,
Speaker 1: they wanted to finish. They came back the following year
Speaker 1: beat Star Point. Finally won that game, a moment that
Speaker 1: still brings tears to Steve's eyes. And this weekend they
Speaker 1: actually played one other time. They played four times because
Speaker 1: then they played the state semifinal there after that. But
Speaker 1: this will be the fifth time Isaiah McDuffie gets to
Speaker 1: play inside that stadium, having about fifty mostly family, a
Speaker 1: few friends, but fifty family members that will be in
Speaker 1: attendance there. He grew up in Buffalo, the city of Buffalo.
Speaker 1: He is Buffalo through and through. Getting a chance to
Speaker 1: talk to him, I know how much this means to
Speaker 1: him and how excited he is to be able to
Speaker 1: wear the Packers uniform at that field. Yeah, and this
Speaker 1: is a young man who overcame a knee injury while
Speaker 1: he was at Boston College to get back on the
Speaker 1: field towards the end of his uh his junior year essentially,
Speaker 1: and then and then played a solid senior season and
Speaker 1: then had to overcome an injury at the start of
Speaker 1: training camp here with the Packers as he's trying to
Speaker 1: to land a roster spot and carve out his NFL future. So, um,
Speaker 1: you know, both a big opportunity career wise, but also
Speaker 1: I'm sure a lot of emotions for him and his
Speaker 1: family walking back into that stadium on Saturday. There's a
Speaker 1: lot of Blake Martinez in this young man and getting
Speaker 1: a chance to talk to his dad about it. I mean,
Speaker 1: he's a guy that you know in college, in high school,
Speaker 1: he'd had eight hour workouts, like you almost had to
Speaker 1: like pry him out of the weight room and cry
Speaker 1: him away from you know, his training, and sometimes it's
Speaker 1: even worked to his detriment a little bit so, but
Speaker 1: he's at driven and he loves the sport that much.
Speaker 1: And for him to get this opportunity, He's family members,
Speaker 1: his dad, his uncle's they played at Buffalo, they stayed
Speaker 1: in Stay. They you know, went to some other schools,
Speaker 1: but ultimately finished up at Buffalo. They had some looks
Speaker 1: at the NFL. Isaiah was the first one to get drafted, though,
Speaker 1: and that means a world to him and for them
Speaker 1: to get this opportunity. Steve was even saying it during
Speaker 1: an interview and he's like, I want to thank the
Speaker 1: head coach, I want to thank the GM I want
Speaker 1: to thank everybody, the Green Bay Packers forgive him my
Speaker 1: son a chance to live out his dream. And you know,
Speaker 1: a week from now, hopefully in his case, trying to
Speaker 1: make this fifty three man roster. Yeah. Well, the preseason
Speaker 1: finale is on Saturday, the roster cuts are due to
Speaker 1: the league on Tuesday, and then we shift into regular
Speaker 1: season mode from there. So with that, we'll call it
Speaker 1: a wrap on this edition of Packers Unscript. Would be
Speaker 1: sure to follow all of our coverage of that last
Speaker 1: preseason game and the conclusion of training camp, roster cuts,
Speaker 1: all of that, we'll have it for you on Packers
Speaker 1: dot com for West, I'm Mike. Thank you for tuning in, everybody,
Speaker 1: See you next time.