Speaker 1: Hi, everybody. Welcome to another edition of Packers Unscripted from
Speaker 1: Packers dot Com. I am like Spafford, joined as always
Speaker 1: by my trusted colleague Wes Hodkowitz. We're coming to you
Speaker 1: hear from our studios at lambeau Field, Wes to talk
Speaker 1: a little OTA action. We were not recording shows last
Speaker 1: week when the Packers had the first week of OTAs,
Speaker 1: which included the first practice that we got to witness
Speaker 1: during this OTA period. I'm just gonna throw this out
Speaker 1: there as an open ended question from what you saw
Speaker 1: at practice or the players we talked to, and we
Speaker 1: talked to a lot of the big name players on
Speaker 1: this team that first kind of that first big availability
Speaker 1: of the off season. What was your biggest takeaway from
Speaker 1: that day of access last week.
Speaker 2: It was a fun day. I think a couple things happened. Obviously,
Speaker 2: we didn't have the typical first day of the off
Speaker 2: season program where we talked to guys. This is a
Speaker 2: time really chatting with a lot of these guys since
Speaker 2: the last locker room session in Green Bay after the
Speaker 2: last season back in January. Back in January, So this
Speaker 2: answer could be give so many different responses to this,
Speaker 2: but I think there was a reason why. When you
Speaker 2: and I were divving up coverage and we were figuring
Speaker 2: out what to write, the first story you wrote was
Speaker 2: on the receivers. It was on Jayden Reid and one
Speaker 2: understanding where he's at because a lot of us forget.
Speaker 2: He did suffer an injury in that game against Philadelphia.
Speaker 2: I was in the locker room with him afterwards. He
Speaker 2: had the sling on his shoulder, ends up having a
Speaker 2: partially torn labram in addition to a dislocated shoulder. Said
Speaker 2: he was pretty much down for most of the off
Speaker 2: season program in terms of that. There's other things he
Speaker 2: was able to do, but that did lay him up
Speaker 2: for a couple months. But he didn't require surgery. He's
Speaker 2: good to go there. Obviously, there's been a lot of
Speaker 2: conversation outside the building about number one receivers and two
Speaker 2: receivers in all this, and now Matthew Golden being added
Speaker 2: to the mix. But I thought it was really important
Speaker 2: that Reid talked about how, first and foremost the culture
Speaker 2: they have in that room, the culture that seemingly has
Speaker 2: always been there through the different generations and different players
Speaker 2: that have come through there, that's still very much in place,
Speaker 2: and this definitely is an all for one mentality of
Speaker 2: how they're approaching this thing. And then the last thing
Speaker 2: I'll throw in there too before I passed the microphone
Speaker 2: back to you, Christian Watson Man, you and I walk
Speaker 2: into the practice inside the Hudson Center, and this guy
Speaker 2: is not necessarily, you know, running routes and making huge
Speaker 2: pass catches, but the fact that he was stretching with
Speaker 2: the team and the fact that he was cleared to
Speaker 2: a ten practice. He was out there during the Packers'
Speaker 2: practice at Nichki Field. That's not something typically you see
Speaker 2: a lot of guys coming off ACLS doing. And Matt
Speaker 2: Leffuor did say afterwards they think he's ahead of schedule.
Speaker 2: It looks like he definitely put the time into the
Speaker 2: weight room as well. So the Packers' receiving corps if
Speaker 2: all together, if all healthy, which again could end up
Speaker 2: being more towards the midpoint of the season. I just
Speaker 2: think there's so many different intriguing options to it, and
Speaker 2: the fact is that group very much is still rowing
Speaker 2: in the same direction.
Speaker 1: Yeah, And I think that was a strong takeaway of
Speaker 1: mine as well as and it's why I wrote about it.
Speaker 1: For those who didn't catch the story, it is on
Speaker 1: Packers dot com. It was posted last week on Wednesday
Speaker 1: evening because there was a lot of stuff going on
Speaker 1: in the off season with regard to the receivers. What
Speaker 1: Josh Jacobs said at the Super Bowl on Radio Row
Speaker 1: about needing a number one, and then the Packers end
Speaker 1: up spending two of their first three draft picks on
Speaker 1: wide receivers. And then there's the story that gets out
Speaker 1: that Jaden Reid's agent had contacted the Packers' front office
Speaker 1: to just clarify like where he stood a couple of
Speaker 1: things on that. For one, nobody's holding anything against Josh Jacobs,
Speaker 1: and in fact, Jaden Reid took the comments as motivating,
Speaker 1: and quite frankly, I don't think this is a receiver
Speaker 1: group that necessarily needs any extra motivation. They know the stats,
Speaker 1: the drop passes and all the stuff that happened last year,
Speaker 1: so they know what's out there. And the fact that
Speaker 1: the front office invested two of their top three draft
Speaker 1: picks and wide receivers, it's like, all right, they're bringing
Speaker 1: in as much talent as they can and they're going
Speaker 1: to say, all right, who's who's going to be here,
Speaker 1: who's going to step up to the plate and show
Speaker 1: up and play and provide the production that they're looking for.
Speaker 1: And these guys are going to be competing, you know,
Speaker 1: through these next couple of weeks and then certainly through
Speaker 1: training camp and everything like that. And Reid did clarify
Speaker 1: with regard to his agent he had hired a new agent,
Speaker 1: the contact with the Packers' front office. He clarified that
Speaker 1: that was really just a matter of course in terms
Speaker 1: of his you know, signing up with a new agent.
Speaker 1: But the word got out as far as what happened,
Speaker 1: it was in the context of the two new wide
Speaker 1: receivers in the draft. As far as Reid's concerned, that
Speaker 1: whole report was a misinterpretation of what was going on.
Speaker 1: So just to just to clear all that up. But
Speaker 1: I like what you said about the culture, the rowing
Speaker 1: in the right direction these guys. The biggest thing that
Speaker 1: Jayden Reid, what he wanted to focus on with all
Speaker 1: the media questions that were coming his way, is that
Speaker 1: he had multiple exit interviews with his coaches at in
Speaker 1: January after the playoff lost to Philadelphia, and he was
Speaker 1: delivered a very clear message from multiple coaches. We want
Speaker 1: you to be the leader in the wide receiver room.
Speaker 1: They knew Christian Watson's gonna be rehabbing, He's not going
Speaker 1: to be back for a while. They're looking to Jaden
Speaker 1: Reid to be the leader of this group, and he
Speaker 1: is taking that assignment, so to speak, very very seriously.
Speaker 1: And we've heard from multiple coaches about you know, Reid
Speaker 1: is right there with Matthew Golden, you know, helping him out,
Speaker 1: showing him some things, you know, answering questions, whatever the
Speaker 1: case might be. So as competitive as all this is
Speaker 1: and as many questions as there are about exactly maybe
Speaker 1: what the pecking order is going to be come week
Speaker 1: one in September, this is a wide receiver room that
Speaker 1: has that has a lot going for it, has a
Speaker 1: lot of good vibes, and I think it's it's coming
Speaker 1: together the way Brian Gudukunstan vision, which is that competition
Speaker 1: is never a bad thing, and they're gonna find out
Speaker 1: who's gonna who's gonna rise up here and perform.
Speaker 2: It reminded me a lot of basically the same thing
Speaker 2: that Randall said after Jordy Nelson tore his acl back
Speaker 2: in training camp or the preseason more specifically in twenty fifteen. Now,
Speaker 2: certainly that was much later in the process. The Packers
Speaker 2: had to quickly adjust to not having Nelson, where I
Speaker 2: think the entire offseason has kind of been structured around Okay, well,
Speaker 2: at the very least, we're not going to have Christian
Speaker 2: Watson for the first part of the season, maybe not
Speaker 2: all of it. But that being said, I just feel
Speaker 2: like this is the natural step for Jaden Reid. He's
Speaker 2: been their leading receiver statistically the past two seasons. I
Speaker 2: think you listen to what people said about him when
Speaker 2: he was at Michigan State, the type of guy he is,
Speaker 2: the way he leads, He is just a perfect Packers
Speaker 2: person in addition to the fact that he's a really
Speaker 2: talented wide out as well. So nobody I just feel
Speaker 2: like everybody understands the game in Green Bay Tucker Craft.
Speaker 2: Did anything really change that much with the offense last
Speaker 2: year that they were just going to continually feed Tucker Craft. No,
Speaker 2: Luke Musgrave got hurt, Tucker Craft got some opportunities. He
Speaker 2: made the Mosso's opportunity, and guess what happens when you
Speaker 2: make the most opportunities, You're going to get more of them.
Speaker 2: Everybody understands that. That's how Romeo Dobbs came in in
Speaker 2: twenty twenty two and made the impact that he did
Speaker 2: right off the bat as a fourth round pick. Yeah,
Speaker 2: as a rookie. That's why Jaden Reid was able to
Speaker 2: be effective right out of the bat. We'll see what
Speaker 2: they get Matthew Golden. This is a young man that's
Speaker 2: coming in. He's a true junior this past year at Texas.
Speaker 2: He's going to have time to grow. Certainly, Savion Williams
Speaker 2: is also a guy that is going to need some
Speaker 2: time to grow. They are still counting very much on
Speaker 2: this veteran nucleus that they've been developing for the past
Speaker 2: two to three seasons to come through for them. And
Speaker 2: ultimately that I think is where you're going to see
Speaker 2: the biggest jump. If you can get something from Golden
Speaker 2: and Williams right off the bat, fantastic, That is awesome
Speaker 2: for this offense. But the bottom line is Romeo Dobbs,
Speaker 2: Jayden Reed, Dontavian Wicks, this group that's already been here.
Speaker 2: If the Packers are going to make a big jump
Speaker 2: offensively this season, it has to start with them.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and seeing as you mentioned seeing where Christian Watson
Speaker 1: was at. I mean, he's I believe, less than five
Speaker 1: months removed from ACL surgery and it's like you look
Speaker 1: at him kind of jogging around out there, you wouldn't
Speaker 1: think anything was ever wrong. I mean, so that's an
Speaker 1: extremely positive sign, and you know he's he's gonna jump
Speaker 1: through every hoop necessary what we know about Christian Watson
Speaker 1: to get that medical clearance whenever that does come at
Speaker 1: some point later this fall. If I were to point
Speaker 1: to my biggest takeaway, and this comes from, you know
Speaker 1: the fact that we talked to Jaden Reid and Kenny
Speaker 1: Clark and Edrin Cooper and Josh Jacobs and Xavier McKinney
Speaker 1: and Jordan Love. We talked to all of those guys
Speaker 1: after this one OTA practice that we got to watch,
Speaker 1: and when I kind of walked away from it and
Speaker 1: was processing it over the next couple of days after
Speaker 1: the word hunger is what kept popping into my mind.
Speaker 1: And it's not to say that past teams in Green
Speaker 1: Bay haven't been hungry, that the desire and whatnot hasn't
Speaker 1: been there, but there is there is something about this bunch,
Speaker 1: and I think it's a combination of the fact that
Speaker 1: last season ended with three consecutive losses, including the first
Speaker 1: round exit in the playoffs, and then you don't get
Speaker 1: as far as you did in the postseason a year ago,
Speaker 1: and quite frankly that you know, as opposed to taking
Speaker 1: the forty nine ers down to the wire the previous
Speaker 1: year and almost getting the NFC Championship game, they didn't
Speaker 1: really take the Philadelphia Eagles down to the wire. They
Speaker 1: played them into the fourth quarter, but everybody walked away
Speaker 1: that day knowing that the Eagles were the better team
Speaker 1: and deserved to move on. Having that be the third
Speaker 1: straight loss to end the season, combined with the fact
Speaker 1: of I think everything that has been swirling around out
Speaker 1: there in the various media narratives, whether it's about the
Speaker 1: wide receivers that we just discussed, or whether it's about
Speaker 1: you know, did Jordan Love take a step back in
Speaker 1: twenty twenty four compared to twenty twenty three, And we
Speaker 1: can talk more about that in a minute, but I
Speaker 1: think it's just it's arned something up in these guys
Speaker 1: that is a little bit different than what we felt
Speaker 1: at this time a year ago, when a lot of things,
Speaker 1: you know, arrows are pointing up all kinds of excitement
Speaker 1: and everything coming off of what was a somewhat surprising
Speaker 1: and unexpected playoff run at the end of twenty twenty
Speaker 1: three and how well the team was playing. There's a
Speaker 1: hunger to these guys that they know what's out there.
Speaker 1: They know that they didn't really live up to their
Speaker 1: own expectations collectively as a team a year ago, and
Speaker 1: I think that's really providing a motivating force for the
Speaker 1: group as a whole. That's just the sense I got
Speaker 1: after talking to all of these team leaders that we
Speaker 1: talked to on the first day.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and it isn't even just about that, which certainly
Speaker 2: it is. I mean, this group wants to take another step.
Speaker 2: It's always interesting when you get the new guys into
Speaker 2: the mix, like last year when Xavier McKinney and Josh
Speaker 2: Jacobs both came in, and both of those guys talked
Speaker 2: about their need and their desire to win and how
Speaker 2: much that motivates them and how much it's stung during
Speaker 2: their time at the Giants and their time with the
Speaker 2: Raiders to not have that type of success. Then you
Speaker 2: get somebody like Aaron Banks, the Packers k new left
Speaker 2: guard that they signed from San Francisco, and listening to
Speaker 2: him talk and just the kind of cerebral tone that
Speaker 2: he spoke with when discussing how he's been as close
Speaker 2: as you can get to winning a Super Bowl championship
Speaker 2: without actually having that ring on your finger, and how
Speaker 2: much that drives him now, how much he's been pursuing
Speaker 2: that And certainly there's money involved with it, and you
Speaker 2: want to take care of your family and you have
Speaker 2: to take care of yourself. But he said when he
Speaker 2: was finding that next spot to sign, when he was
Speaker 2: looking at where it was going to be, he sees
Speaker 2: a place in Green Bay that has been close as well. Now,
Speaker 2: certainly there's only five players left from the last time
Speaker 2: the Packers got to an NFC Championship game, but they
Speaker 2: know those stories and they know what the standard has
Speaker 2: been here for so long. That is the chase. And
Speaker 2: last year, depending on which way you want to slice it,
Speaker 2: they had a first round exit, which is one round
Speaker 2: earlier than the previous year when they got to the
Speaker 2: divisional round after they pulled off that upset of the Dallas.
Speaker 2: Last year, they didn't get back to the divisional round,
Speaker 2: but they also won two more games in the regular season.
Speaker 2: They also didn't perform as well in the NFC North.
Speaker 2: All these things kind of factor into this idea. I
Speaker 2: think that has been sort of following Green Bay all
Speaker 2: off season of this is what we've built toward this season.
Speaker 2: It's not that they're all in, it's not that it's
Speaker 2: everything about this year, but this is why you were
Speaker 2: the youngest team in the NFL the back to back
Speaker 2: years to get you to this point. You want to
Speaker 2: win a super Bowl every single year, but a lot
Speaker 2: of teams would struggle to even be competitive being as
Speaker 2: young as Green Bay was the past two seasons. The
Speaker 2: Packers not only did that, they made two postseason runs.
Speaker 2: In Jordan Love's first two years as a starting quarterback.
Speaker 2: Everybody wants to talk about Aaron Rodgers was twenty seven
Speaker 2: years old when he won a Super Bowl. Brett Favre
Speaker 2: was twenty seven years old when he won a super Bowl.
Speaker 2: You know what Aaron Rodgers didn't do. He didn't get
Speaker 2: to the playoffs the first two years as a starting
Speaker 2: quarterback in the NFL. Well, Jordan Love did. Yeah, And
Speaker 2: you you got to take your own pace and you
Speaker 2: got to follow your own path as it comes. But
Speaker 2: when you when you talk about hunger and desire and motivation,
Speaker 2: I think this roster, especially with the way that last
Speaker 2: season ended and losing to the eventual Super Bowl champion
Speaker 2: in the wild card round in Philadelphia, I think those
Speaker 2: are that's sort of that fuel that's firing into the
Speaker 2: engine right now trying to get these guys going into
Speaker 2: twenty twenty five.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and we'll talk a little bit more about Jordan
Speaker 1: Love in a minute, But on the playoff thing, I
Speaker 1: think I think one thing that that could be really
Speaker 1: really important for this Packers team moving forward. When you
Speaker 1: talk about the first two years, after two years as
Speaker 1: a starter, Aaron Rodgers had one playoff game under his belt.
Speaker 1: Jordan Love has three that I think can matter. If
Speaker 1: the Packers are in the position that they hope to
Speaker 1: be in, you can you you can bank Jordan Love
Speaker 1: can bank on that that playoff experience. And even if
Speaker 1: he's say if he's not going to be the next
Speaker 1: Hall of Famer like Aaron Rodgers is, the next time
Speaker 1: Jordan Love gets to the playoffs, if he gets there
Speaker 1: again in year three, he's in a better spot than
Speaker 1: Aaron Rodgers was in year three, and I think that
Speaker 1: could pay dividends for this club. I'll take care of
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Speaker 1: All right, Josh Jacobs and Xavier McKinney. We talked to
Speaker 1: both of those players after practice last week, and I'll
Speaker 1: let you go whatever direction you want to go with this,
Speaker 1: but I will just say this. Anybody who thought that
Speaker 1: Josh Jacobs was gonna rest on his laurels with a
Speaker 1: thirteen hundred yard, fifteen touchdown season or whatever he ended
Speaker 1: up with, and that Xavier McKinney was going to rest
Speaker 1: on his first team All Pro honors and just collect
Speaker 1: paychecks the rest of his time with that big contract
Speaker 1: in Green Bay, that is not how those two guys
Speaker 1: are wired. And they made that pretty clear. Whether it's
Speaker 1: McKinney talking about, Hey, his ultimate long term goal. Individually speaking,
Speaker 1: he wants to put on a gold jacket and can
Speaker 1: like he's going to be striving to be that type
Speaker 1: of player. And Josh Jacobs, for all of his success
Speaker 1: and how much he was the straw that stirred the
Speaker 1: drink of the Packers offense for quite a while a
Speaker 1: good chunk of the season last year, the first thing
Speaker 1: he's talking about is he feels like he left a
Speaker 1: lot out there. You know that he didn't really maximize
Speaker 1: on everything he could have done. As much of a
Speaker 1: workhorse as he was, you can't have You can't have
Speaker 1: better guys than that in terms of their mentality, in
Speaker 1: terms of their being the leaders in that locker room.
Speaker 1: When you're talking leaders aside from the quarterback natural leader
Speaker 1: in that position.
Speaker 2: It's crazy, man. When you think about the fact that
Speaker 2: we covered Aaron Jones as long as we did, and
Speaker 2: Aaron moves on and goes to Minnesota in that same offseason,
Speaker 2: then we get Josh Jacobs. I mean, just how impressive
Speaker 2: these guys have been in terms of locker room character guys.
Speaker 2: In terms of obviously the type of performers there. We're
Speaker 2: talking about Pro Bowl running backs here, but I mean,
Speaker 2: they're just cut from the same cloth. And it was
Speaker 2: interesting too. Jacobs is so articulate and he's so thoughtful
Speaker 2: in how he answers things, much like McKinney. But I'm
Speaker 2: pulling off the number eight thing over here. Listen. He
Speaker 2: had such an in depth, thoughtful answer. I felt when
Speaker 2: people talk about, oh, well, the receiver thing, he wanted
Speaker 2: a number one receiver. He wanted this in that Josh Jacobs,
Speaker 2: so much of what he discusses is based on that
Speaker 2: sense of urgency that he understands the position he plays.
Speaker 2: He understands tomorrow is never a given and if he
Speaker 2: wants to win a championship, if he wants to take
Speaker 2: that next step and make a deep playoff run, he
Speaker 2: has to do it today. He can't. Maybe you can
Speaker 2: do it tomorrow, maybe you can do it the day
Speaker 2: after that. But the only thing can be sure of
Speaker 2: is right now, this moment. And I felt like the
Speaker 2: reason why no one took offense to it, or whatever
Speaker 2: people wanted to blow it out to be, was the
Speaker 2: fact that this is a guy that won talked at
Speaker 2: the end of last season about wanting to get more
Speaker 2: guys here, wanting to get you know, proved players that
Speaker 2: you can come to Green Bay and win here and
Speaker 2: find a future here and make money here. Advertise it
Speaker 2: to free agents that way, advertise it to incoming draft
Speaker 2: picks that way. And certainly I think he's the guy
Speaker 2: carrying the flag right now for the Packers in terms
Speaker 2: of we are going to do something special here and
Speaker 2: he wants to be a part of it. And also
Speaker 2: that never undying chip on his shoulder that comes along
Speaker 2: with this. You know, there's a lot of questions that
Speaker 2: were asked to him about you know, Derrick Henry and
Speaker 2: Saquon Barklay and all this publicity a lot of these
Speaker 2: other backs have gotten. Maybe there hasn't been that type
Speaker 2: of narrative with Jacobs for everything accomplished, and honestly, he
Speaker 2: doesn't care. The only thing that matters to him him
Speaker 2: is can he win a Super Bowl here? In what
Speaker 2: can he do, to your point to maximize the opportunities
Speaker 2: he's been given? He said, that comes down to breaking
Speaker 2: an extra tackle that might have taken a twenty yard
Speaker 2: gain into a sixty yard game. That maybe is making
Speaker 2: a guy miss. And meanwhile, on the opposite side of
Speaker 2: the room, you had a guy like Aaron Banks talking
Speaker 2: who's blocked for Christian McCaffrey the last four years, talking
Speaker 2: about the offensive lines role in making Jacob's job easier.
Speaker 2: The Packers have never been bigger on paper in this
Speaker 2: offensive line. That's what it could potentially be with this
Speaker 2: starting five. You look at where Josh Jacobs is as
Speaker 2: a running back. This is a combination that Green Bay
Speaker 2: has not had during my time covering the team. They
Speaker 2: are a power running offense that has a pretty good
Speaker 2: quarterback behind it as well. Yep, so, yeah, Jacobs is
Speaker 2: twenty seven years old. The guy hopes to play another
Speaker 2: eight years. I'm sure of it. But the fact is
Speaker 2: he knows you never are always in a position to
Speaker 2: be competitive and be aiming for championships. He saw what
Speaker 2: that was like at the Raiders. When maybe you go
Speaker 2: into a season you're not thinking you're going to win
Speaker 2: a Super Bowl, it would be a surprise if you
Speaker 2: make that type of run. That isn't the case in
Speaker 2: Green Bay.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and you wrote a story about Jacobs which is
Speaker 1: on the website posted last week for those who want
Speaker 1: to check it out. And on Monday morning, a story
Speaker 1: that I wrote on Xavier McKinney and the defense. You know,
Speaker 1: McKinney has all kinds of high hopes for this what
Speaker 1: is essentially the year two for him in Green Bay,
Speaker 1: the year two for Jeff Haffley as defensive coordinator, the
Speaker 1: year two for Edgrin Cooper as a potential centerpiece and
Speaker 1: playmaker in this defense. But you know when you actually listen,
Speaker 1: when you listen to the things that Xavier McKinney talks about,
Speaker 1: and yes, he's got the high hopes and the high
Speaker 1: aspirations both individually and collectively, but in the same breath,
Speaker 1: he's also always talking about how much work it's going
Speaker 1: to take to get there. Like for him, he's like, hey,
Speaker 1: my job right now, we still got you know, a
Speaker 1: lot of young guys in the secondary, and you know
Speaker 1: my job is to is to get them up to speed.
Speaker 1: Make sure you know everybody's still staying on the same
Speaker 1: page that we can all, you know, continue to make
Speaker 1: this progress together. Like he's you know, he's taking that upon,
Speaker 1: he's taking that upon himself as a leader. And I
Speaker 1: had asked him specifically about Edgern Cooper when he thought
Speaker 1: was ahead for Cooper in year two, and one of
Speaker 1: the first things he says was, we collectively as a defense,
Speaker 1: the veterans on defense have to keep pushing him because
Speaker 1: they can see what's potentially out there for Edgern Cooper.
Speaker 1: And as much as the coaches are going to do
Speaker 1: that pushing, the veteran players are going to push the
Speaker 1: guys where they see the talent. And that's the kind
Speaker 1: of work that Xavier McKinney wants to do for the group,
Speaker 1: as well as the work he feels he needs to
Speaker 1: put in individually in order to potentially earn another All
Speaker 1: Pro selection or whatever that might be. He talked about,
Speaker 1: you know, his intensity can't change. He sees a guy,
Speaker 1: a free agent like Nate Hobbs come in playing cornerback,
Speaker 1: you know, in the same secondary and the only thing
Speaker 1: we've heard from people about Nate Hobbs is really two
Speaker 1: words intensity and energy and what that guy brings to
Speaker 1: the practice field. And Xavier McKinney sees that and he's like,
Speaker 1: you know, I can't let somebody else on this team
Speaker 1: have more intensity and more energy than I do. I mean,
Speaker 1: you know, So it's it's these veteran guys trying to
Speaker 1: trying to push each other, and obviously it's it's the
Speaker 1: off season. We are a long long way from week one,
Speaker 1: but I think collectively, the message, the message that I
Speaker 1: felt that what I walked away from talking to all
Speaker 1: the all the team leaders, is that is that these guys'
Speaker 1: minds are in the right place. They know that they
Speaker 1: can do something, but there is not a single one
Speaker 1: of them that takes anything for granted, let alone even
Speaker 1: just getting back to the playoffs again. They know they
Speaker 1: just slipped in as the seventh seed last year. They
Speaker 1: almost didn't make it, you know, And and so they
Speaker 1: know how precarious this can be over the long haul
Speaker 1: to give yourself that opportunity at the end, They're taking
Speaker 1: it one step at a time. They're going to put
Speaker 1: in their work in the offseason, they're going to take
Speaker 1: their break, They're going to come back for training camp
Speaker 1: fired up and ready to go.
Speaker 2: And this is where I've always come back to. Certainly,
Speaker 2: was great the Packers' top five defense last year, first
Speaker 2: time they've done that in what fifteen years? Yeah, something
Speaker 2: around that, and the fact that their run defense was
Speaker 2: as good as it's been in fifteen years. But it
Speaker 2: was not just like, Okay, well they rolled the ball
Speaker 2: out there, and that's what happened. No, they had a
Speaker 2: lot of playmakers. You had guys like Xavier McKinney that
Speaker 2: are making a difference that are seen as the best
Speaker 2: at their position in the National Football League. Watching Nate
Speaker 2: Hobbs in practice, the one that we've watched at the
Speaker 2: time in which we're taping this, seeing him play the
Speaker 2: star position, that nickel position in the sub package, and
Speaker 2: he had multiple pass breakups on slants intended for Tucker
Speaker 2: Craft and Luke Musgrave, and you start to understand the
Speaker 2: method to the madness and why Green Bay gos and
Speaker 2: signs a player like that, because one, it's a long
Speaker 2: season and you got to have guys who can play
Speaker 2: multiple positions. But you also see what the Packers saw
Speaker 2: on film with Hobbs, and obviously the emphasis there to
Speaker 2: feature or can you know Keishaw Nixon potentially as a
Speaker 2: boundary cornerback, a perimeter cornerback. That's another factor in this
Speaker 2: as we wait for, you know, some resolution here with
Speaker 2: Jyry Alexander situation. But more than anything, Mike, what my
Speaker 2: biggest takeaway was when I was after we got done
Speaker 2: with all the availability and the fact that edgern Cooper
Speaker 2: was one of these star players that the Packers' pr
Speaker 2: staff made available. This is a guy that has been
Speaker 2: in this uniform for barely a year. And in my
Speaker 2: head I was hearing Mike Smith, even though he was
Speaker 2: an outside linebackers coach here in Green Bay, but when
Speaker 2: he was talking about Rashaun Gary and how Gary, you know,
Speaker 2: the way that he performed, the way that he prepared,
Speaker 2: the way that he worked at it. This is a
Speaker 2: guy that just is not going to fail. And I
Speaker 2: get a very similar feel with edgern Cooper. If he
Speaker 2: can stay healthy, this guy is legitimate. This guy is
Speaker 2: a problem for opposing offenses. And when you're talking about
Speaker 2: making that next step defensively, yeah, maybe the Packers can
Speaker 2: do better than a top five defense, but it also
Speaker 2: so can this be a unit that can be feared
Speaker 2: when it's on the field, And I think with number
Speaker 2: fifty six out there it can be. And I don't
Speaker 2: know if there's been a guy in the defensive front
Speaker 2: since Clay Matthews prime that has kind of given me
Speaker 2: that feel. Drin Cooper gives me that type of motivation. Yeah,
Speaker 2: and I'm very excited to see where he goes from here.
Speaker 1: I am too, I mean the Yeah, the excitement is
Speaker 1: in that regard is kind of off the charts. I
Speaker 1: want to wrap up with one last thought, because we
Speaker 1: started the show talking about a little bit about that
Speaker 1: leadership mandate that's been placed on Jaden Reid with regard
Speaker 1: to the receivers, there's a leadership mandate that's been placed
Speaker 1: on Jordan Love as well as the quarterback of this team.
Speaker 1: And obviously he's you know, when you play quarterback and
Speaker 1: that's who you are, you're naturally a leader. But we
Speaker 1: heard at the end of last season Matt Lafleur say
Speaker 1: he wants Jordan Love to be more vocal, to speak
Speaker 1: up more in meetings and on the practice field sets.
Speaker 1: He sets the example that every leader should set in
Speaker 1: terms of just his approach, his demeanor, I mean his
Speaker 1: as we've talked about many times, his uh, his steadiness
Speaker 1: and and sort of unflappableness of lack of a better word,
Speaker 1: is something I think that serves this team really well.
Speaker 1: That being said, Love is being pushed to to be
Speaker 1: to be a little bit more vocal, to take charge
Speaker 1: in maybe some different ways, and from everything we heard
Speaker 1: from him, he's totally embracing that he's not he's not
Speaker 1: shying away and just saying, you know, I'm just going
Speaker 1: to be you know who I'm going to be. He's saying, yes,
Speaker 1: it's it needs to be genuine and he needs he
Speaker 1: needs to step forward a little bit. He's he's not
Speaker 1: going to fake it, but he is embracing the idea
Speaker 1: of kind of taking another step as a as a leader.
Speaker 1: And uh and this team, this team has a lot
Speaker 1: of leaders on it, but those who are not the leaders,
Speaker 1: I think this whole team is ready to follow.
Speaker 2: El Elton Jenkins presently is not here. Right. That means
Speaker 2: that Jordan Love is the longest tenured player on the
Speaker 2: offensive side of the ball currently with the Green Bay
Speaker 2: Packers in Green Bay for OTAs, that's something. It's something.
Speaker 2: I mean, if you count the defensive side the ball,
Speaker 2: with JayR not being here presently, he's the third longest
Speaker 2: tenured player on either side of the ball. Yeah, that
Speaker 2: counts for something. That has to count for something. This
Speaker 2: isn't a standard business where it's like, Okay, well you've
Speaker 2: been around for six years or three years as a starter,
Speaker 2: you know you probably get still get your feet wet.
Speaker 2: You aren't necessarily in that manager, No, dude, this is NFL.
Speaker 2: It's like dog years. This guy's been here for like
Speaker 2: forty two years now. I mean, like that's the way
Speaker 2: this business runs. And he is the face of the franchise.
Speaker 2: And there was reason why, Like I did an insider
Speaker 2: inbox column where I'd lead with him on doing that
Speaker 2: because everybody it was so funny to me. Everybody was
Speaker 2: kind of picking on his pitch at the Brewer game
Speaker 2: and everything like that on Memorial Day. But it's like,
Speaker 2: that's the franchise right there doing that. That's Jordan Love
Speaker 2: going around and doing these things, doing all this charity
Speaker 2: work this offseason. You're watching the maturation and evolution of
Speaker 2: a guy that this generation of Packers' football is going
Speaker 2: to be based around. It's going to be centered on
Speaker 2: and having that voice in the locker room is important
Speaker 2: and at the same time, as Jordan also warns, you
Speaker 2: don't want to be someone you're not, but you can
Speaker 2: still be yourself while also giving more your viewpoints in
Speaker 2: your opinions, not just on your position, not just on
Speaker 2: the offensive line, not just no the entire operation. The
Speaker 2: Packers want that type of feedback. Matt Lafleur wants that
Speaker 2: type of feedback. He wants a guy that's going to
Speaker 2: rally those troops in the good, the bad, the in between.
Speaker 2: Jordan Love can be that individual. And I think that's
Speaker 2: the exciting thing because the way Jordan leads is with authenticity.
Speaker 2: He's very genuine in the way he acts and the
Speaker 2: way he handles people, the way he conducts himself on
Speaker 2: a daily basis, and just seeing him mature and just
Speaker 2: see him come more into his own skin now it
Speaker 2: going on twenty seven, it just shows you. I mean,
Speaker 2: this is the Packers made the right call in twenty twenty.
Speaker 2: It was a difficult call at the time, but they
Speaker 2: found their guy. Now hopefully can stay healthy and obviously,
Speaker 2: you know, and find improvements in some of his own
Speaker 2: areas of his game, but as far as a locker
Speaker 2: room leader, it's all right there for him. It's just
Speaker 2: kind of realizing that you're like, you're that really impressive dog,
Speaker 2: right and it's just realizing what your bart can do.
Speaker 2: And I think I think Jordan's in that process right now.
Speaker 1: I like that, and I'm gonna call it on that
Speaker 1: comment right there. We will call it a rap. On
Speaker 1: this edition of Packers Unscripted, we have another open Ota
Speaker 1: access to practice this week, so on our next show
Speaker 1: in a couple of days, we will talk about what
Speaker 1: else we learn and what else we see. Keep you
Speaker 1: updated on everything going on here with the Packers for WES,
Speaker 1: I am Mike. Thank you for tuning in. Everybody, We
Speaker 1: will see you next time.