Speaker 1: Hi, everybody. Welcome to another edition of Packers Unscripted from
Speaker 1: Packers dot Com. I am Mike Spofford. He is my
Speaker 1: partner in crime, West hod Kuwitz. We're coming to you
Speaker 1: here from our studios at lambeau Field and West. I
Speaker 1: want to get to reviewing the Packers preseason opener in
Speaker 1: San Francisco in just a minute. But after we got
Speaker 1: back from the West Coast, there was some big news
Speaker 1: in practice on Sunday, And of course I'm talking about
Speaker 1: the activation of three players, three fairly big name players
Speaker 1: off of PUP who are now practicing with the team
Speaker 1: for the first time since the start of training camp.
Speaker 1: And that would be Elton Jenkins, Bobby Tonyon, and rookie
Speaker 1: second round pick at wide receiver Christian Watson. Some really
Speaker 1: good health news here for the Packers heading into preseason
Speaker 1: week number two. I don't know if I've ever recalled
Speaker 1: a time in which there was so much that happened
Speaker 1: on a Sunday after a preseason Yeah, it was incredible,
Speaker 1: you know, it was such a you know, we talked
Speaker 1: to Matt Lafleur before these practices, so he just got
Speaker 1: asked the question, point blank, do you expect anybody back today,
Speaker 1: and typically the answer to that is like, well, we're
Speaker 1: not really sure, we'll see guys are still out or no. Uh.
Speaker 1: For him to actually go, yeah, we're gonna get back
Speaker 1: Elton Jenkins, Robert Tonyan, and Christian Watson, I think all
Speaker 1: the media collectively was like, we're not expect he Hello,
Speaker 1: now the floor did cushion it? He said, listen, this
Speaker 1: is the first step in the process. This doesn't mean
Speaker 1: these guys are gonna be practicing a team. It doesn't matter.
Speaker 1: I mean, they're gonna be in these preseason games, but
Speaker 1: it is an important step in for all three of them.
Speaker 1: It all had different meaning. Elton Jenkins, he's back on
Speaker 1: the practice field within nine months of turing his a
Speaker 1: c L a really incredible recovery for him and hoping
Speaker 1: to continue to take those next steps back. Robert Tonyan,
Speaker 1: it's an opportunity for him to make good on what
Speaker 1: he felt could be, you know, kind of a prove
Speaker 1: it year for him after resigning with the Packers. This year.
Speaker 1: I know one didn't exactly go how he wanted. Yeah,
Speaker 1: but this is a guy that's still only a year
Speaker 1: removed from eleven touchdown season and certainly from Christian Watson,
Speaker 1: the rookie second round pick, the guy that everyone has
Speaker 1: so many aspirations for, so high on for him to
Speaker 1: get back into the practice fold as well another critical
Speaker 1: thing for his development. Yeah, as you mentioned, nobody's making
Speaker 1: any promises as to whether these guys will get in
Speaker 1: any preseason action or even if they'll necessarily be ready
Speaker 1: for Week one, But the fact that they've been activated
Speaker 1: at this point in the middle of August certainly puts
Speaker 1: week one, which is September eleventh at Minnesota, certainly puts
Speaker 1: week one on the table for all of them, which
Speaker 1: is great news. And what we've seen in practice so far.
Speaker 1: For those who are wondering what is going on with
Speaker 1: the offensive line with Jenkins being back, what we have
Speaker 1: seen in in limited appearances so far is that Elton
Speaker 1: Jenkins is working at right tackle with the number one
Speaker 1: offensive line. So we will continue to watch that if
Speaker 1: at some point here in training camp, assuming along the line,
Speaker 1: he'll be getting in to the team reps the eleven
Speaker 1: on eleven, we'll see where he's lining up, if he's
Speaker 1: playing different spots or if he's locking in on one
Speaker 1: particular position there. But with regard to Christian Watson, the
Speaker 1: rookie wide receiver. That gives us a nice transition actually
Speaker 1: into reviewing the preseason game in San Francisco, because two
Speaker 1: rookie wide receivers um made some pretty spectacular plays but
Speaker 1: also had their rookie moments in the in their first
Speaker 1: game under the lights. And of course I'm talking about
Speaker 1: the fourth round pick in Romeo Dobbs and also the
Speaker 1: undrafted rookie Danny Davis out of Wisconsin. We saw Dobbs
Speaker 1: haul in the thirty three yard touchdown on the fourth
Speaker 1: and one early in the ballgame, but he also had
Speaker 1: a drop when he was wide open on a crossing
Speaker 1: pattern over the middle. Danny Davis makes a tremendous adjustment
Speaker 1: and catch and then move after the catch to score
Speaker 1: on a back shoulder throw from Jordans Of But then
Speaker 1: later on he ends up in the red zone. He
Speaker 1: gets called for lining up off sides on a fourth
Speaker 1: down that essentially negates a fourth down conversion and the
Speaker 1: Packers end up having to settle for a field goal. Try.
Speaker 1: So some up to ups and downs there from the
Speaker 1: rookies at the wide receiver position, but certainly positive signs
Speaker 1: that that when those lights turned on at Levi's stadium.
Speaker 1: It wasn't too big for those guests and it all
Speaker 1: transitioned over. I mean, Samari two Ray had three catches
Speaker 1: for forty some yards too. I mean these young guys
Speaker 1: that the packers wanted to see development from and wanted
Speaker 1: to see them carry over some of the things they've
Speaker 1: done in practice. They were able to do that at
Speaker 1: Levi's Stadium. Romeo Dobbs to be the first one to
Speaker 1: catch a touchdown pass this preseason I thought was just
Speaker 1: so poetic because he really, even going back to O
Speaker 1: t a s this young man has sort of been
Speaker 1: one of the highlights and watching him go through the
Speaker 1: progressions and as he said, it's all about a steady, steady,
Speaker 1: gradual process for him. He wants to be able to
Speaker 1: make an impact as a rookie, but he understands where
Speaker 1: he where his situ wation is and the uphill battle
Speaker 1: he faces to accomplish that. But for a fourth round pick,
Speaker 1: where it isn't always a given what you're getting once
Speaker 1: you get into day three, this guy's really been able
Speaker 1: to tune it up. I know he was kind of
Speaker 1: devastated that he wasn't able to bring in that pass.
Speaker 1: That out route that he caught looked like he caught,
Speaker 1: but he kind of rolled through it and then kind
Speaker 1: of had it stolen away for an interception. There By
Speaker 1: the really good play by the defender, but one that
Speaker 1: that you know, Dobbs is kicking himself and he wasn't
Speaker 1: able to hang onto Sam Wollmack, a good defensive back
Speaker 1: and the guy that San Francisco is very high on,
Speaker 1: made it really heads up play and had a really
Speaker 1: nice game against Green Bay. But again, those are things
Speaker 1: he's gonna have to learn from Danny Davis. I gotta say, Mike,
Speaker 1: I understand that this lining up off sides, you cannot
Speaker 1: do that, especially in that situation. But to make a
Speaker 1: route adjustment, playing with you know, the backup, you know,
Speaker 1: kind of unit there and working with Jordan's love that
Speaker 1: was next level. And and that's not the type of
Speaker 1: stuff you typically see in preseason. And it's also important
Speaker 1: to record. And I said, hey, we're gonna see a
Speaker 1: lot of man coverage, We're gonna see a lot of
Speaker 1: these type of looks. Well, I'm gonna take advantage of
Speaker 1: it a little bit. Davis not only made their adjustment
Speaker 1: on it, but then also being able to come back
Speaker 1: for the ball and make the play just an incredible touchdown. Yeah,
Speaker 1: absolutely well, those two touchdowns by both Dobbs and Davis
Speaker 1: thrown by Jordan's Love. The stat line also has three
Speaker 1: interceptions for Jordan's Love. It was certainly a performance he
Speaker 1: played the entire first half, a performance in which he
Speaker 1: had his ups and downs. But um, but to the
Speaker 1: eye test, and it was confirmed by Matt Lafleur both
Speaker 1: at halftime and after the game. The first two of
Speaker 1: those three interceptions, it's really hard to put on the
Speaker 1: young man at quarterback. The first one, it's in the
Speaker 1: red zone. It's a slant pass to the tight end.
Speaker 1: Throw appears to be pretty much on target. Tyler Davis
Speaker 1: can't bring it in and the deflection ends up going
Speaker 1: for an interception you talked about. The one with Dobbs
Speaker 1: along the sideline, also a third down play, if I
Speaker 1: recall correctly, Um, not any easy catch. Maybe the ball
Speaker 1: could have been in a better spot, but Dobbs almost
Speaker 1: is able to get it. Not a pass that that,
Speaker 1: in any normal circumstances going to get intercepted, except for
Speaker 1: the way in which the play unfolded as the two
Speaker 1: players went to the ground. The one that Jordan's Love,
Speaker 1: of course is is is going to be kicking himself
Speaker 1: about is the third interception. Um. Now, we heard from
Speaker 1: Matt Lafleur afterward that two guys ran the wrong route
Speaker 1: on the play and again this was another third down
Speaker 1: excuse me, a little bit of a do or die
Speaker 1: situation as far as that drive goes. Two guys ran
Speaker 1: the wrong route. The only guy who was running the
Speaker 1: correct route was a Maori Rogers, but he wasn't open.
Speaker 1: Jordans Love tried to force it in there to him anyway,
Speaker 1: the pass was a little bit behind him. Um and uh,
Speaker 1: and ends up getting picked off by the cornerback. That
Speaker 1: was That was the one that hurt, because I really
Speaker 1: felt up until that moment that Jordan's Love had put
Speaker 1: together statistic Acide had put together a pretty solid performance.
Speaker 1: Now to his credit, after that interception on the throw
Speaker 1: to Rogers, he came back directed the two minute drive
Speaker 1: the back shoulder throw to Danny Davis. They end up
Speaker 1: getting a touchdown before the half. So the bounce back,
Speaker 1: the bounce back from what really was probably his worst
Speaker 1: throw of the night was there for Jordan's love. But
Speaker 1: on balance, overall, I thought we saw way more of
Speaker 1: Jordan's love and what his capabilities are in this one
Speaker 1: half of football than anything we saw last season in
Speaker 1: his second year in the league. Yeah. I mean, whether
Speaker 1: it was the two preseason games that start against Kansas City,
Speaker 1: I said it, and I don't apologize for it. I said,
Speaker 1: I want to see Jordan's love play fast and free. Yeah,
Speaker 1: and whatever happens happens. It's a preseason game. People like
Speaker 1: you want to actually see this young man actually played
Speaker 1: the position because ultimately, when Tom Clements and Aaron Rodgers
Speaker 1: and everybody goes back in that quarterback room, that's the
Speaker 1: tape that you can coach off of. You can't coach
Speaker 1: off of just five aren't out routes and stuff underneath.
Speaker 1: You need to allow him to play downfield a little bit,
Speaker 1: and he did that in this game. The thing that
Speaker 1: was most surprising to me, though, is that the most
Speaker 1: erratic moments for him actually seemed to be just working
Speaker 1: out into the flat. Uh. There were some plays there
Speaker 1: that I think could have been made um and and
Speaker 1: as you know, as you know, La Fleur said, I mean,
Speaker 1: some of these receivers need to make these catches too,
Speaker 1: but that including on the interception that became an interception,
Speaker 1: the ball wasn't exactly where you wanted it. The third one,
Speaker 1: it's just dealing with adversity and and maybe if there's
Speaker 1: one thing you could you know, put down the negative
Speaker 1: for is well maybe that's just where you got to
Speaker 1: just get out of the play, throw the ball away,
Speaker 1: whatever you gotta do. Yeah, la Fleur said. La Fleur said, uh,
Speaker 1: I believe. On Sunday, in his press conference before practice,
Speaker 1: he said, that's just one where when a couple of
Speaker 1: routes go haywire and the one guy who is running
Speaker 1: the correct route is covered and it's not there. You
Speaker 1: just have to go off schedule. You know, you can't
Speaker 1: just throw the ball away from the pocket right because
Speaker 1: you're going to risk the intentional grounding that makes everything worse.
Speaker 1: But go off schedule, get out of the pocket, try
Speaker 1: to reconnect eye contact with the receivers to get into
Speaker 1: the scramble drill and and maybe maybe something happens there.
Speaker 1: So that was that was the downfall there where he
Speaker 1: forced it. But also I will say with regard to
Speaker 1: Jordan's love, we've seen him and he's talked about it
Speaker 1: at his locker with reporters. He doesn't want the tucket
Speaker 1: and run to be the first instinct all the time.
Speaker 1: He wants he knows that he needs to stand in
Speaker 1: the pocket and deliver the throws. And these are the
Speaker 1: things that a young quarterback learns. Having that mindset in training, camping,
Speaker 1: in practice is definitely important for his development. You get
Speaker 1: into the game situation, and there are going to be
Speaker 1: situations where, yes, the extended play you know, the tucket
Speaker 1: and run and and stay alive to fight another down
Speaker 1: kind of thing has to be what takes over in
Speaker 1: certain moments. And the only way you learn that is
Speaker 1: just to play. You're not going to learn that on
Speaker 1: the practice field, quite frankly, because you don't get sacked.
Speaker 1: You don't get it. You know, you're wearing the red jersey.
Speaker 1: So and this is a young man now, he's only
Speaker 1: in his career. He's only played three preseason games and
Speaker 1: he's only played one and a half games of regular
Speaker 1: season football. So there's still a long way to go
Speaker 1: here for Jordan's love. But to me, I was I
Speaker 1: was definitely encouraged by what I saw because we did
Speaker 1: not see the same quarterback. We saw last year. No, No,
Speaker 1: we saw what we've seen the quarterback that at intervals,
Speaker 1: We've seen him play and be able to make plays downfield,
Speaker 1: and he certainly has the arm I thought this game,
Speaker 1: more than any other moment, really demonstrated his arm strength.
Speaker 1: Not just about fifty r bombs or thirty three yard
Speaker 1: touchdown passes. I'm talking about just having some zing on
Speaker 1: a pass across the middle. I mean that really impressed me.
Speaker 1: And to be honest with him, Mike, something we don't
Speaker 1: talk enough about Jordan's love now is gonna be able
Speaker 1: to play and back to back games for the first time.
Speaker 1: He had the injury last year and was held out
Speaker 1: of that game against Houston with the shoulder. So like
Speaker 1: he's actually gonna be able to really build on this
Speaker 1: and that's what I'm most looking forward to. Yeah, I
Speaker 1: want to shift gears to defense. But a little bit
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Speaker 1: on the defensive side, two big plays allowed for touchdowns
Speaker 1: with some coverage. Bus those were black eyes for the
Speaker 1: performance of this defense. Unfortunately, Um the guy the young
Speaker 1: players that I thought stood out that sort of that
Speaker 1: sort of jumped out in terms of their effort in
Speaker 1: their production in this game. Four guys to me, Isaiah
Speaker 1: McDuffie at line inside linebacker, Kingsley n Igbari at outside linebacker,
Speaker 1: and then two young defensive lineman T. J. Slaton and
Speaker 1: Jack Heflin. I thought those four young players who are
Speaker 1: trying to work their way into whether it's roster spots,
Speaker 1: potential playing time, all of that through this training camp,
Speaker 1: I thought those four young men on the defensive side
Speaker 1: of the ball all made a statement of sorts, giving
Speaker 1: themselves something to continue to build on here the rest
Speaker 1: of the preseason, because now it's not just about okay,
Speaker 1: here you have this game film. Now do you have
Speaker 1: another one you could put alongside of it to show
Speaker 1: that you're the same guy? And I think Bari is
Speaker 1: probably the one that I was most excited about coming
Speaker 1: out of this game. And he didn't draw a lot
Speaker 1: of the headlines because one there were really a lot
Speaker 1: of people there to write the headlines. It was just
Speaker 1: us um. But I didn't catch him in the locker room,
Speaker 1: so that's how that happens. No, but he got a
Speaker 1: lot of pressure. I thought he pushed the pocket well,
Speaker 1: and then he carried that over Monday. He had probably
Speaker 1: his best practice in Green Bay. I mean evens or
Speaker 1: was it Sunday, even as Sunday that he might have
Speaker 1: had two or three sacks. And then Matt Lafleur, even
Speaker 1: after a little bit of argument in the meeting room,
Speaker 1: admitted he might have had two sacks. He was he
Speaker 1: was single handedly trying to wreck that two minute drill
Speaker 1: by by Rodgers in the offense. So though I did
Speaker 1: see in the locker room Rogers giving him the business
Speaker 1: a little bit about like, hey, don't just don't assume
Speaker 1: that those were gonna be sacks, kind of thing, like
Speaker 1: from about halfway across the locker room, they were kind of, uh,
Speaker 1: drawing in a friendly way, drawing back and forth a
Speaker 1: little bit as to just how those plays might have
Speaker 1: finished on the practice field. But anyway, the veteran quarterback,
Speaker 1: the rookie pass rusher certainly making a connection. But that's
Speaker 1: what you want to see from a fifth round pick
Speaker 1: and being able to really learn and grow. He hadn't
Speaker 1: had a lot of opportunities in O T A S
Speaker 1: and the non contact stuff. He put the pads and
Speaker 1: I think you're really seeing kind of player that he is.
Speaker 1: Defensive line wild me in this game. Because Devonte Wyatt
Speaker 1: going through was being evalued for concussion, was not he
Speaker 1: didn't practice going into the game. They held him out
Speaker 1: even though he was back on the practice field on Sunday.
Speaker 1: That so that meant it was a lot of you know,
Speaker 1: Chris Slayton, it was a lot of t J. Slayton,
Speaker 1: I mean. And then certainly Jack Heflin has been this
Speaker 1: this workhorse for them, Uh that really shows up in
Speaker 1: these preseason games. And yeah, those guys. Those guys played
Speaker 1: a lot of snaps and they really I thought they
Speaker 1: really bawled out all night long. For when you go
Speaker 1: from getting maybe twelve or fifteen eleven on eleven reps
Speaker 1: in a practice to suddenly you're playing thirty or forty
Speaker 1: snaps in a preseason game. That's a big transition to make,
Speaker 1: and yeah, they got tired in the fourth quarter, understandably so.
Speaker 1: But for the bulk the game, I thought the Packers
Speaker 1: defensive front held up quite well. And Trace Sermon is
Speaker 1: a legitimate running back. The Packers saw him as a
Speaker 1: starter last season. I think he's a third round pick
Speaker 1: coming into the league. I mean that that was a
Speaker 1: good back that they were facing and then by then
Speaker 1: being able to fill their gaps and do their assignments.
Speaker 1: That's where I thought opened up things for Isaiah McDuffie
Speaker 1: and McDuffie showing that he is a tackling machine. It's
Speaker 1: one six in college and he's doing it again in
Speaker 1: these opportunities. Yeah, six tackles in twenty six snaps. That's
Speaker 1: a That's that's pretty productive work there. Now, that's how
Speaker 1: the defense is designed to work with regard to defending
Speaker 1: the run. But I thought I thought McDuffie again a
Speaker 1: guy he's now a second year player, looking a lot
Speaker 1: different from the rookie who was sort of that barely
Speaker 1: heard from sixth round pick out of Boston College last year.
Speaker 1: I know we're tight on time here today, but I
Speaker 1: do want to just address one more thing before we go,
Speaker 1: and that is that we are about to head out
Speaker 1: for the first of two joint practices against the New
Speaker 1: Orleans Saints practices Tuesday and Wednesday, and then the preseason
Speaker 1: game on Friday night at lambeau Field. Just quickly, what
Speaker 1: are you keeping an eye on with regard to these
Speaker 1: joint practices? Really? How the offense looks the number one
Speaker 1: offense against the Saints number one defense. Saints actually have
Speaker 1: a really good unit to Statistically, I think they were
Speaker 1: even better than Green Bay in terms of the total
Speaker 1: yardage last season and points. So it's not gonna be
Speaker 1: any less of a challenge than what they faced the
Speaker 1: last few weeks. But how do the rookie receivers respond
Speaker 1: to that? You know, who steps up in this setting
Speaker 1: and what kind of plays does Matt Laflour in this
Speaker 1: offense want to get in? Then I also just want
Speaker 1: to say, Gayer Alexander versus Michael Thomas is gonna be
Speaker 1: a main storyline these next two days. Watching that battle,
Speaker 1: watching the one on ones, I have to imagine it's
Speaker 1: gonna be good on good there, and I know Jayre
Speaker 1: is really excited about it. Yeah, I think if the
Speaker 1: if the way things are set up on the practice
Speaker 1: field is similar to the way it was against the
Speaker 1: Jets in the joint practices last year. You'll probably be
Speaker 1: watching the Packers number one offense. I'll be kind, you know,
Speaker 1: with my eyes trained towards the other end of the
Speaker 1: field and the number one defense. And yeah, I'm excited
Speaker 1: to see, you know, because simply we didn't see last year. Uh,
Speaker 1: Eric Stokes Jr. Alexander and Russell Douglass three cornerbacks on
Speaker 1: the field together eight snaps in the playoff game. That
Speaker 1: was it. And of course they you know, they weren't
Speaker 1: playing in in the preseason opener. So as you said,
Speaker 1: Michael Thomas, the Saints offense, the way this, uh, the
Speaker 1: way this, this Packers cornerback group lines up against against
Speaker 1: those guys and and uh and how that goes, that's
Speaker 1: going to be I think fun to watch the next
Speaker 1: couple of days. It's gonna be worth the price of
Speaker 1: admission alone, which by the way, it's free, it's free. Absolute. Well.
Speaker 1: I apologize for the short show today. We just happened
Speaker 1: to be really tight on time because of all the
Speaker 1: stuff going on with the Saints and the joint practice
Speaker 1: fighting that was the issue you can just be honest
Speaker 1: about you ran out of time in cash, but we'll
Speaker 1: call it a wrap on this edition of Packers Unscripted.
Speaker 1: Be sure to follow all of our coverage. Continue to
Speaker 1: follow it on Packers dot com. We've got everything for you,
Speaker 1: training camp, preseason games, all of it on the website
Speaker 1: for West, I'm Mike. Thank you for tuning in, everybody.
Speaker 1: We'll see you next time.