Speaker 1: Hi, everybody. Welcome to another edition of Packers Unscripted from
Speaker 1: Packers dot Com. I am Mike Spofford, joined as always
Speaker 1: by my trusted colleague Wes Hodkowitz. We're coming to you
Speaker 1: hear from our studios at lambeau Field, wess A couple
Speaker 1: more practices in the books since our last show, and
Speaker 1: the Packers now getting ready to head to Cleveland for
Speaker 1: the preseason opener on Saturday afternoon afternoon preseason football. That's
Speaker 1: much preferable to catch the fever from a work standpoint, Yeah,
Speaker 1: no doubt.
Speaker 2: And the fact that wonderful time to spend in Cleveland
Speaker 2: and these three preseason games. It's kind of weird how
Speaker 2: it worked out where there's the three to twenty five
Speaker 2: in Cleveland or four to twenty five local right, then
Speaker 2: the night game in Denver. Yeah, and then at the
Speaker 2: end of this thing, the Packers are back at noon
Speaker 2: at Lambofield, so they get a taste of each.
Speaker 3: One of these things. I like that.
Speaker 1: I like that a lot.
Speaker 3: And it's on the weekend. Yes, no Friday night games.
Speaker 1: Yeah, no Fridays. No Friday preseason games this year. As
Speaker 1: far as the last couple days of practice, A few
Speaker 1: newsworthy items to point out, and then I'll turn it
Speaker 1: over to you to see if you have anything to
Speaker 1: elaborate or to add. Rookie first round pick Jordan Morgan
Speaker 1: currently out of practice with a shoulder injury. Matt LeFleur said,
Speaker 1: probably be about a week or so on that injury.
Speaker 1: Doesn't believe it's anything long term, doesn't believe it's going
Speaker 1: to put Week one in jeopardy. If indeed Jordan Morgan
Speaker 1: is going to be starting on this offensive line, certainly
Speaker 1: opens up an opportunity for Sean Ryan, the third year pro,
Speaker 1: former third round pick out of UCLA, who seem to
Speaker 1: have fallen behind in terms of that competition at right
Speaker 1: guard with Morgan, but now he is the guy who
Speaker 1: is taking all the number one snaps at right guard
Speaker 1: and a chance for him to reassert himself. Rookie third
Speaker 1: round pick Tyron Hopper, the last couple of days we
Speaker 1: have seen him taking some snaps with the number one
Speaker 1: defense combination of things there. He's taken some snaps in
Speaker 1: the four to three base in place of Eric Wilson.
Speaker 1: There's been a little bit of a rotation going on there.
Speaker 1: Certainly a spot that Wilson has held on too and
Speaker 1: done a really impressive job so far in camp to
Speaker 1: prevent anybody from taking that spot from him. But he's
Speaker 1: also taken some of Kuay Walker's snaps with the number
Speaker 1: one defense as Walker has gotten some rest and Edgar
Speaker 1: and Cooper, the second round draft pick the rookie has
Speaker 1: been injured sidelined with a hip injury and he is
Speaker 1: not back in the lineup yet. And then last, but
Speaker 1: not least a yet another third kicker has entered the
Speaker 1: fray here in Green Bay. It's Alex Hale. He's been signed.
Speaker 1: An undrafted rookie out of Oklahoma State, originally from Australia,
Speaker 1: had his first day kicking in Packers practice on Wednesday,
Speaker 1: went five of six on his field goal opportunities, was
Speaker 1: five for five until he missed his very last one.
Speaker 1: Those seemed to be the biggest news items from the
Speaker 1: last couple of days of practice, unless you have anything
Speaker 1: to add, No.
Speaker 2: I think the just really quickly looking at the offensive
Speaker 2: line scenario because we've talked so often about this and
Speaker 2: I think it's gonna be really important for people to remember. Yeah,
Speaker 2: Jordan Morgan, it stinks right now that he's not out
Speaker 2: there but the amount of work he's gotten and then
Speaker 2: Sewn Ryan, when you look between what he did at
Speaker 2: guard and the snaps he was taking at center. The
Speaker 2: Packers have really cross trained all these guys at this point.
Speaker 2: And yes it was in the name of competition, but
Speaker 2: if a shoulder injury happens in the regular season, then
Speaker 2: it might be Sean Ryan in at that spot. It
Speaker 2: might be some dominoes falling. And I think Sean proved
Speaker 2: last year when he did the rotation with John running
Speaker 2: in the second half of the season.
Speaker 3: He is ready to take that jump.
Speaker 2: I thought in a lot of ways, when you talked about,
Speaker 2: you know, Jordan Morgan kind of settling into that right
Speaker 2: guard spot, that was a testament to the film that
Speaker 2: Morgan was putting together. That was a testament to how
Speaker 2: he would settling into that position. I know the goal
Speaker 2: at the end of the day. A lot of these guys,
Speaker 2: and he stated himself, they want to be left tackles
Speaker 2: in the National Football League. They want to be that
Speaker 2: guy that's like the quarterback of you know, in a
Speaker 2: lot of ways, like, yeah, premier position of the offensive line.
Speaker 2: But the Packers want to find their best starting five
Speaker 2: and in this scenario. It was Morgan at right guard,
Speaker 2: and the unfortunate thing about the timing of that shoulder
Speaker 2: injury is I was watching him in one on ones.
Speaker 2: He had a really tough assignment against Kenny Clark on
Speaker 2: one of those past rush drills. He stood right up
Speaker 2: to him, three time pro bowler, held his ground. The
Speaker 2: next one Kenny beat him. But those are the learning
Speaker 2: moments that you can have, and just being able to
Speaker 2: get that type of work I think shows you how
Speaker 2: far he's come in a very short period of time.
Speaker 2: But with him not in the cards for Cleveland, with
Speaker 2: him likely out for this next week, that means more
Speaker 2: reps for Ryan, That means more reps for Royce Newman,
Speaker 2: that whole guard group, especially once we get into this
Speaker 2: game against the Browns, you know they're going to have
Speaker 2: to be called upon.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 1: Absolutely, And that brings up what I wanted to get
Speaker 1: to next to sort of the what to watch for,
Speaker 1: what we'll be keeping an eye on in Cleveland from
Speaker 1: the press box, things will be paying attention to with
Speaker 1: regard to this first preseason game, And one of the
Speaker 1: things that jumps out at me is just is the
Speaker 1: backup situation at offensive tackle. The Packers have had you know,
Speaker 1: Andre Dillard, Caleb Jones, Kadeem Telford, Luke Tanuda, although Tanuda
Speaker 1: has also been playing some guard. You have Travis Glover,
Speaker 1: the rookie six round pick out of Georgia State. A
Speaker 1: lot of guys here to sort out. There won't be
Speaker 1: room for all of them on the roster, but nobody
Speaker 1: has really emerged as sort of the front runner of
Speaker 1: that that reserve tackle group, and I think the Packers
Speaker 1: would like somebody to step forward and take that.
Speaker 3: Now.
Speaker 1: Obviously, one option when you get into a game, if
Speaker 1: something were to happen at tackle, I mean Zach tom
Speaker 1: could flip over to left tackle, or Elton Jenkins could
Speaker 1: bounce out there, maybe Jordan Morgan bounces out to tackle,
Speaker 1: and then you know somebody comes in and takes their place.
Speaker 1: That's always an option. But ideally, if something happens on
Speaker 1: the offensive line, you have somebody ready to step into
Speaker 1: that spot, so you don't have to play this musical
Speaker 1: chairs right type of game. Now, if they have to
Speaker 1: do that, because those are their best players, that's what
Speaker 1: they're going to do. And we've seen Matt Lafleur, Adam Stenomich.
Speaker 1: They don't hesitate to play that way when it's clearcut
Speaker 1: who the best players are. But if somebody from that
Speaker 1: backup tackle group can emerge as the guy who can
Speaker 1: step in at offensive tackle if something happens and everybody
Speaker 1: else can just stay in their place, that I think
Speaker 1: would be the ideal scenario for the Packers.
Speaker 2: One hundred percent, Mike. And it's funny too on the
Speaker 2: outside looking in. I think when you talk about the
Speaker 2: keys of victory, the key matchups in this game against Cleveland,
Speaker 2: what they do at tackle from the very beginning of
Speaker 2: the game to the end of game is going to
Speaker 2: be so interesting because Zach Tom's not going to play,
Speaker 2: so somebody's gonna have to start right tackle, Zakadeam Telford.
Speaker 2: We saw Caleb Jones getting first team reps this week.
Speaker 2: Is it a guy like Andre Dillard who has done
Speaker 2: this in the NFL for four years now but has
Speaker 2: been more of a left side guy than a right
Speaker 2: side guy throughout the course of his career. So a
Speaker 2: lot of things they have to go through. But when
Speaker 2: I was watching practice earlier this week, I'm sitting there
Speaker 2: looking at the team periods and just the size of
Speaker 2: these guys. You know, when you had Caleb Jones on
Speaker 2: the left side and Condeemed Telford on the right side.
Speaker 2: Luke Tanuda, as you mentioned, at right guard getting some work.
Speaker 2: This guy's six 's eight, six ' seven. I mean,
Speaker 2: these are different types of bodies. When you look at
Speaker 2: the offensive line position. There was a time when the
Speaker 2: Brendan Curtains of the world really caught your eye because
Speaker 2: it was six to nine. You don't see anybody like this,
Speaker 2: and now, at least in the last five years, we
Speaker 2: saw Jared Valdier at six seven six eight. I mean,
Speaker 2: like that's just the way this position is played in
Speaker 2: a lot of realms. So it's going to be so
Speaker 2: critical and blocking for Sean Clifford and the number two
Speaker 2: offense I think is going to be essential. That's be
Speaker 2: one area where the Packers are going to be looking
Speaker 2: for production. I would imagine you're going to see some
Speaker 2: Marshawn Lloyd in that capacity. I would imagine you're to
Speaker 2: see that the young receiver battle continue in those second
Speaker 2: team reps, which could take you know, half the game
Speaker 2: depending on how this all works out.
Speaker 1: So, yeah, when you're talking about guys like Malie Heath
Speaker 1: and Grant Dubo's and and Bo Melton or whoever you know,
Speaker 1: whoever's going to get opportunities. This is this is that
Speaker 1: step up from practice to to make a statement, to
Speaker 1: get recognized, to give yourself something to build on for
Speaker 1: the rest of training camp as you're fighting for that
Speaker 1: roster spot and fighting for playing time.
Speaker 3: And it all.
Speaker 2: Starts on the offensive line. It all starts with protecting
Speaker 2: your quarterback. And we've seen it on both sides of things.
Speaker 2: When when these young quarterbacks have time to work within
Speaker 2: the preseason, what they can do to cut up a
Speaker 2: defense and conversely, if they don't, how quickly that can
Speaker 2: sort of unravel everything. So it'll be interesting to watch.
Speaker 1: Yeah, the other thing I'm going to be definitely keeping
Speaker 1: an eye on, and again it with three preseason games
Speaker 1: here and so many young players, I don't know if
Speaker 1: anything is necessarily going to be one or lost in
Speaker 1: Kallee Eveland on Saturday afternoon. But what we've seen at
Speaker 1: the safety position, this is the next step in the
Speaker 1: competition right now. Based on the way the reps have
Speaker 1: been divided up in practice at least of late, it
Speaker 1: would seem that Javon Bullard is ahead. But we saw
Speaker 1: Evan Williams make another athletic, really really impressive interception of
Speaker 1: Jordan Love, the number one offense in the two minute drill.
Speaker 1: In practice on Wednesday, Williams gets another interception. Anthony Johnson
Speaker 1: Junior is getting his still continues to get his opportunities,
Speaker 1: and the coaches seem pretty comfortable with him back there
Speaker 1: as well. This I don't know how much Xavier McKinney
Speaker 1: necessarily is going to play in this game. If the
Speaker 1: starters play, you know, maybe they're in there for a
Speaker 1: short period, but the bulk of the work at safety
Speaker 1: is going to be these young guys who are battling
Speaker 1: for that starting spot next to McKinney. And it'll be
Speaker 1: really interesting to see with all all these guys having
Speaker 1: made plays in practice, who can go out and make
Speaker 1: a play in a game.
Speaker 3: And there's a pretty good chance that in the nickel
Speaker 3: will see all three of them.
Speaker 2: Yeah, you know, with Bullard having the capabilities of moving
Speaker 2: down to the slot, it's it's unlike anything I've seen.
Speaker 2: I wrote about an insider inbox. I know you and
Speaker 2: I have discussed it a lot. I mean, for as
Speaker 2: much as you go back to twenty fourteen when the
Speaker 2: Packers drafted haw Clinton Dix and they moved Micah high
Speaker 2: to safety in how deep they made a position that
Speaker 2: was a weakness in the span of, you.
Speaker 3: Know, one year. This is just incredible the way that
Speaker 3: you drafted three rookie safeties.
Speaker 2: Katan Ola Dappo just because of injuries still hasn't been
Speaker 2: able to really get involved in that yet, but Packers
Speaker 2: are credibly high on him as well.
Speaker 1: Yeah, Ola Dappo has worked his way into team reps.
Speaker 1: He is doing eleven on eleven now after all of
Speaker 1: his time off. Will see what amount of playing time
Speaker 1: he may get on Saturday in Cleveland as well.
Speaker 2: But with these these three young safeties, they're all involved
Speaker 2: with this every single time. Like, you're right about Bullard,
Speaker 2: He's made some incredible plays. I thought he was really
Speaker 2: good on Family Night.
Speaker 1: I thought so too.
Speaker 2: But as soon as I'm like, okay, so Bullard'll probably
Speaker 2: be the guy, then Evan Williams goes and makes a
Speaker 2: fifty to fifty interception in the end zone against Christian
Speaker 2: Watson off of Jordan.
Speaker 3: Love and a red zone period.
Speaker 2: Yeah, Anthony Johnson Junior has been incredibly consistent and has
Speaker 2: made some plays this camp. It is what you want
Speaker 2: to see. I mean, all these guys are going to
Speaker 2: be on the active roster. You're going to need that versatility,
Speaker 2: much like the offensive line. But it's it's a great
Speaker 2: position for the Packers to be and it's just funny
Speaker 2: considering how much and how far they needed to come
Speaker 2: in the last six months at that position and here
Speaker 2: we are.
Speaker 1: Yeah, anything else you'll be looking for Saturday afternoon?
Speaker 3: What where will you?
Speaker 1: Where? Will your eyes be trained?
Speaker 3: Well to two things?
Speaker 2: One if I can go back to the inside linebackers
Speaker 2: for a minute, because it's not just about who's going
Speaker 2: to be out there, it's going to be who's the mic?
Speaker 2: You know, is Tyrone Hopper going to get an opportunity
Speaker 2: at that? I'm wondering watching him in practices this week
Speaker 2: if that was one thing they're sort of prepping him for.
Speaker 2: I'm guessing we'll see a lot of Eric Wilson because
Speaker 2: he is sort of the general back there. I think
Speaker 2: he is one of those guys that has been there,
Speaker 2: done that. He's a preseason competitor, a former undrafted free
Speaker 2: agent that I think also can help keep the troops
Speaker 2: together in the second and third team units if they
Speaker 2: need it, but that competition is another one, Michael, where
Speaker 2: Edrin Cooper unfortunately out right now with the hip injury.
Speaker 2: But this is a huge opportunity for Tyron Hopper who
Speaker 2: for a few weeks there because of just the way
Speaker 2: the rotations go in the fact that you know, Christian
Speaker 2: Welch is also in this was the other veteran the
Speaker 2: Packers re signed it inside linebacker. This offseason, we didn't
Speaker 2: get a chance to see a lot of Hopper, whether
Speaker 2: it be in the off season program or these first
Speaker 2: two weeks of training camp. So seeing how that young man,
Speaker 2: I was super impressed by him, watching just his you know,
Speaker 2: some of the double a gap stuff that they were
Speaker 2: testing with a little bit in practice and seeing the
Speaker 2: explosiveness and how quickly he can collapse to the ball carrier.
Speaker 3: A lot to learn yet for him, but.
Speaker 2: You could see those blitz tendencies that he could potentially
Speaker 2: be used for and what sort of made him the
Speaker 2: you know linebacker that he was at Massoo. And then
Speaker 2: to wrap it all around Sean Clifford with this offense,
Speaker 2: seeing how he handles this whole thing. That's where really
Speaker 2: last year he separated himself and yes, he made mistakes.
Speaker 2: But even when he had that one interception against Cincinnati,
Speaker 2: came right back let him down the field against So
Speaker 2: this is a time where whether it be quarterback, play linebackers, receivers, safeties.
Speaker 2: We've seen these guys Mike in one capacity or another
Speaker 2: in practice for the last three four months. Now, how
Speaker 2: does it translate when you're actually up against an opponent. Well, yeah,
Speaker 2: Jordan Love's going to play, some of the starters are
Speaker 2: going to play. We'll see how long they play. But
Speaker 2: at the end of the day, it's about what the
Speaker 2: rest of those ten eleven drives look like. And then
Speaker 2: a lot of it's going to be Shonan Clifford and
Speaker 2: some Michael Pratt.
Speaker 1: Yeah, And I think the thing that can't be discounted
Speaker 1: here when we're talking about the linebackers and you mentioned
Speaker 1: Marshawn Lloyd at running back, you know, him getting his opportunity.
Speaker 1: I think I think Packers fans are interested to see
Speaker 1: Emmanuel Wilson get back in action at running back as
Speaker 1: well after what he showed as a rookie. But then
Speaker 1: you know, dealing with uh with injuries later on in
Speaker 1: his rookie season. But when it comes to looking at
Speaker 1: these linebackers and the running backs, there's finally gonna be
Speaker 1: some tackling, you know, you find you really get to
Speaker 1: see what do these guys bring to the table. We
Speaker 1: had the one live tackling period toward the end of
Speaker 1: the Family Night practice and I thought Tyron Hopper made
Speaker 1: a heck of a play near the goal line there.
Speaker 1: Now that was just the number three units, it was.
Speaker 1: It was all kinds of young guys out there. But
Speaker 1: it's a play like that that that gets a young
Speaker 1: guy more opportunities. And I think, I think what we've
Speaker 1: seen and where Hopper has been, you know, worked into
Speaker 1: the mix this week. I don't think it's an accident
Speaker 1: that it comes after he makes a play like he
Speaker 1: did at the goal line, the hit that he made,
Speaker 1: He stands up the running back after a short reception,
Speaker 1: pushes him back from the one two yard line, make
Speaker 1: sure that he doesn't get in the end zone. Those
Speaker 1: are the things you get to see on a play
Speaker 1: by play basis in the preseason because it's live, because
Speaker 1: it's the because there's tackling out there, and a guy
Speaker 1: like Marshaun Lloyd or Emmanuel Wilson gets a chance to
Speaker 1: show the you know, the make a miss capability, the
Speaker 1: you know, the moves in the hole to try to
Speaker 1: avoid getting tackled. Those kinds of things become a bigger
Speaker 1: part of the evaluation process in these preseason games for
Speaker 1: those positions in particular than some of the other ones.
Speaker 3: It's funny too, and you're a little you got a
Speaker 3: few more IQ points than I do.
Speaker 2: You have a master's degree. I only have a bachelor's.
Speaker 2: But listening to Matt Lafleur talk this week about that
Speaker 2: live tackling period on Family Night, I because it's just like, well,
Speaker 2: they're going to go live tackling, you'll just throw out
Speaker 2: some of the guys near the bottom of the roster's room.
Speaker 2: And he actually brought up he mentioned how it's like
Speaker 2: they wanted there was certain guys they wanted to see
Speaker 2: get work.
Speaker 1: Yeah, so it was very intentional.
Speaker 2: It was very intentional, and some of it is going
Speaker 2: to be. Yeah, some of the guys, these younger the
Speaker 2: guys that the Waynes of the world, some of these
Speaker 2: young guys that came in late, they're probably not going
Speaker 2: to play in a lot in the preseason, so you
Speaker 2: want to give them that period. But it also gives
Speaker 2: a guy like Iron Hoppers some snaps. It gives him
Speaker 2: a chance to be out there and show what he
Speaker 2: can do. You know, even you know, look at like
Speaker 2: the Jonathan Fords of the world. You know, these defensive
Speaker 2: tackles and these guys that are are pretty well credentialed
Speaker 2: and I think are making bids for roster spots, but
Speaker 2: just be at the depth of their position, maybe not
Speaker 2: getting all those reps in practice. So again, I'm super
Speaker 2: excited for it. I we can go off on a
Speaker 2: different tangent about this, I'll avoid it, but I love
Speaker 2: the preseason. I've always loved the preseason. I think there's
Speaker 2: things you learn in those preseason games that you don't
Speaker 2: see anywhere else because everybody always talks about, well it's
Speaker 2: vanilla and it's predictable. But to me, it kind of
Speaker 2: reminds me a little bit of the AAU basketball circuit,
Speaker 2: where you go out there and you see what guys
Speaker 2: can do and who's gonna make plays and who gets noticed.
Speaker 2: That's how Allen Lazar got noticed back in twenty nineteen.
Speaker 2: That's how these guys differentiate themselves sometimes. Who shines in
Speaker 2: those moments.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and it's a it's a whole different evaluation process
Speaker 1: and an evaluation tool for the coaches, the personnel apartment,
Speaker 1: because what a lot of people don't understand is is
Speaker 1: in training camp, in these practices, the eleven on eleven,
Speaker 1: that's what we watch, that's what we report on. It's
Speaker 1: where all the action is. But a lot of those periods,
Speaker 1: not all of them, but a lot of those periods
Speaker 1: are essentially scripted. Yes, where both on the offensive and
Speaker 1: the defensive side, those guys know what play calls are
Speaker 1: coming in the sequence that they're coming in. If they've
Speaker 1: done their homework the night before, they know how to
Speaker 1: get ready to execute those calls. I'm not saying that
Speaker 1: the defense knows what the offense is running. I'm saying separately,
Speaker 1: they know they individually know with their units what the
Speaker 1: call is going to be, and the coaches have matched
Speaker 1: up certain play calls against this or that, And that's
Speaker 1: how a lot of training camp practices are run. In
Speaker 1: the preseason games, it's call it everything is happening live,
Speaker 1: it's you know, nothing is like scripted ahead of time.
Speaker 1: So you find out more about these young players in
Speaker 1: in terms of how do how do they react? Can
Speaker 1: they you know this call that might come in. They
Speaker 1: might not have practiced it for four or five days
Speaker 1: in training camp. Now they have to go out and
Speaker 1: execute it. And I mean that both on the offensive
Speaker 1: and the defensive side of the ball, so it cranks
Speaker 1: things up a notch. It's not just getting ready to
Speaker 1: play regular season games. It's also finding out with these
Speaker 1: young players who can take the step forward and show
Speaker 1: that they're ready to play in the regular season if
Speaker 1: they're needed.
Speaker 2: And to bring it all full circle. That's why the
Speaker 2: starters are playing in this game. That's why Matt Lafleur
Speaker 2: said he wants to have Jordan Love out there. He
Speaker 2: liked what he saw last year from that group. He
Speaker 2: felt like that helped them get off to a faster
Speaker 2: start last season and his words, knock the rust off.
Speaker 2: Love played fifty seven offensive snaps during those three preseason games.
Speaker 2: He had one hundred and nine pass rating through for
Speaker 2: three touchdowns. One of the big reasons why I think
Speaker 2: there was a big push behind him during the regular
Speaker 2: season was because of how well he performed in that
Speaker 2: setting and even if the numbers weren't there the year
Speaker 2: before that. Lafleur also said that's where they learned a
Speaker 2: lot about him and how his ability where he was
Speaker 2: at to handle the offense in that development. So yeah,
Speaker 2: I'm excited for it. I think it's gonna be a
Speaker 2: fun night and are fun afternoon. Excuse me, and we'll
Speaker 2: see exactly what the packers have here.
Speaker 1: Yeah, well, I'll take care a little bit of sponsor
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Speaker 1: Special teams. Lots of stuff gets decided on special teams
Speaker 1: in preseason games in terms of the depth chart, in
Speaker 1: terms of you know, in the whole body of work,
Speaker 1: when you get through all the preseason games, the guys
Speaker 1: who show that they can help you in that phase,
Speaker 1: they end up getting roster spots. When this is all
Speaker 1: said and done, obviously, the kicking competition will continue. Greg
Speaker 1: Joseph Anders Carlson now Alex Hale in the mix. We'll
Speaker 1: see how those reps in the games themselves get divided up.
Speaker 1: But we're gonna get a look at this new kickoff thing, Wes.
Speaker 1: It's gonna be live, it's gonna be real. I don't
Speaker 1: know if it's honestly gonna be all that exciting. Based
Speaker 1: on the early returns from the Hall of Fame game
Speaker 1: in Canton, somewhat mixed reviews as to as to just
Speaker 1: you know what this means, But the NFL is making
Speaker 1: an effort to keep the kickoff in the game, but
Speaker 1: in a way that it does not have the injury
Speaker 1: rate that the kickoff has had for a number of
Speaker 1: years in this league. So we'll see what happens.
Speaker 2: When you originally were gonna say it's live, it's real,
Speaker 2: I was hoping you're gonna say, we'll find out whether
Speaker 2: it's spectacular, I'm not sure. Hey listen. So my tone
Speaker 2: on kickoff return changed in twenty thirteen because at first,
Speaker 2: when I was younger, I was like, what are we
Speaker 2: doing trying to like the kickoff?
Speaker 3: That's a great play. Why mess with it?
Speaker 2: Well, then I watched what happened to Jonathan Franklin and
Speaker 2: a guy that looked like a promising young running back.
Speaker 2: It ends on a kickoff return for him. Fortunately, he's
Speaker 2: gone on has had a good life and been able
Speaker 2: to be very successful away from football, but that was
Speaker 2: the end of his football career. After that, I've always
Speaker 2: been on board with whatever the league wants to do. Yes,
Speaker 2: twelve touchbacks in the Super Bowl is not the most
Speaker 2: exciting thing in the world, But considering what that play
Speaker 2: is and the people that are involved with that play,
Speaker 2: there's a reason why Michael, you and I will constantly
Speaker 2: ask the questions, and the media will ask the questions, Well,
Speaker 2: is Jaden Reid still going to handle punt returns? Is
Speaker 2: Randall Cobb gonna come off kickoff returns? Because it is
Speaker 2: an inherently more dangerous play.
Speaker 3: So will this be exciting? I don't know.
Speaker 2: I've watched some of the preseason action. I've seen the
Speaker 2: practices of the Packers have had. The one thing to
Speaker 2: me that looks very I don't want to say blase,
Speaker 2: but that's the only thing that's coming to mind is
Speaker 2: if the coverage player beats the blocker, it pretty much
Speaker 2: defeats the play.
Speaker 3: From what I've seen, Yeah, it just.
Speaker 2: Doesn't seem like the kickoff returner has enough juice to
Speaker 2: get going well.
Speaker 1: And there's almost there's no recovery time for anybody else
Speaker 1: because the setup zone has has the coverage guys and
Speaker 1: the blockers just five yards apart, and so if one
Speaker 1: guy beats his guy there, there isn't anybody else to,
Speaker 1: you know, to sort of move over and try to
Speaker 1: make up make up the lost ground or however you
Speaker 1: want to phrase it. So I agree with you. I
Speaker 1: think I think that's what we're going to see. And
Speaker 1: and you know, hey, if if guys continue to get
Speaker 1: to get tackled on kickoffs at the twenty or the
Speaker 1: twenty five, then we're probably going to going to continue
Speaker 1: to see some version of this play. If returners are
Speaker 1: steadily getting the ball out to say the thirty five
Speaker 1: or the forty yard line, and the kicking team's option
Speaker 1: is to kick a touchback to put it on the thirty,
Speaker 1: then they're going to start doing that, and then the
Speaker 1: NFL is probably gonna have to tweak the rules again
Speaker 1: to try to try to generate, you know, some some
Speaker 1: level of an actual return into the game. So this
Speaker 1: is going to be an evolving process. I thought Rich
Speaker 1: Bisaccia really said it best the one time we've spoken
Speaker 1: him during training camp, in which he said, the rules
Speaker 1: are going to continue to be tweaked as this thing
Speaker 1: goes along. We might get through these three preseason games,
Speaker 1: and then there's that two week gap before the regular
Speaker 1: season starts. There could be a whole other set of
Speaker 1: rules or adjustments to the rules before we get to
Speaker 1: the regular season with this, because the NFL is going
Speaker 1: to study everything that goes on in these preseason games
Speaker 1: and try to come up with the best solution.
Speaker 2: At least for now, I think we'll see what happens.
Speaker 2: To me, I'm kind of prepared for three yards and
Speaker 2: a cloud of dust.
Speaker 3: Again. It could be a lot more exciting to that.
Speaker 2: I will say this, If there was a team in
Speaker 2: the National Football League that I think could really do
Speaker 2: something cool with this, it's the Green Bit Packers and
Speaker 2: Keishawn Dixon.
Speaker 3: Yeah, Nixon.
Speaker 1: That's what I think makes it potentially exciting, yes for
Speaker 1: the Packers, because the back to back first team All
Speaker 1: Pro returner in the NFL is on this team.
Speaker 2: He's exciting, he's fearless, and you can tell he is
Speaker 2: really relishing the opportunity to touch the football more. It
Speaker 2: was frustrating last year. You saw it, I mean the Packers.
Speaker 2: I think I did that steat at the end of
Speaker 2: last season. I think Keishaw Nixon had like six percent
Speaker 2: of the kickoff returns in the NFL last year. It
Speaker 2: was wild, just that at the times they took it
Speaker 2: out in contrast to everyone else. But the guy wants
Speaker 2: to make something happen. Hopefully this is the play he
Speaker 2: can do something with.
Speaker 1: Yeah, all right, well, with that, we will call it
Speaker 1: a rap on this edition of Packers Unscript. To be
Speaker 1: sure to follow all of our coverage, continuing coverage of
Speaker 1: training camp and everything from Saturday's pre season opener in Cleveland.
Speaker 1: We will have it all for you on Packers dot
Speaker 1: com for Wes, I am Mike. Thank you for tuning
Speaker 1: in everybody. We will see you next time.