WEBVTT - #604 Packers Unscripted: Two down, one to go 0:00:00.520 --> 0:00:11.200 Hi, everybody. Welcome to another edition of Packers Unscripted from 0:00:11.240 --> 0:00:14.840 Packers dot Com. I am Mike Spoffer, joined as always 0:00:14.840 --> 0:00:17.079 by my trusted colleague west Hod Quiz. We're coming to 0:00:17.120 --> 0:00:20.760 you hear from our studios at lambeau Field West. Preseason 0:00:20.840 --> 0:00:23.800 game number two for the Packers is in the books 0:00:23.840 --> 0:00:27.120 a loss to the New York Jets. But the analysis 0:00:27.120 --> 0:00:30.480 of this one has to start first and foremost with 0:00:30.920 --> 0:00:35.760 the quarterback position. Number three quarterback Kurt Bankert played pretty 0:00:35.840 --> 0:00:38.519 much the entire game, all but the final series of 0:00:38.560 --> 0:00:42.479 the game, and um he uh did not disappoint. He 0:00:42.880 --> 0:00:46.720 showed that he belongs in the NFL. You remember back 0:00:46.760 --> 0:00:50.760 in the two thousand's with the Brewers and obviously the 0:00:50.840 --> 0:00:52.519 run they got on. There was a picture by the 0:00:52.600 --> 0:00:56.200 name of Victor Santos. He was Mr. Quality started. Always 0:00:56.200 --> 0:00:58.400 seemed like he'd always give you, like, you know, six innings, 0:00:58.440 --> 0:01:01.120 three runs, something like that. Orf I evenings. That's what 0:01:01.200 --> 0:01:04.200 that start reminded me of. Like for Kirk Ben Kurt Uh, 0:01:04.240 --> 0:01:05.919 if you think about it, like this wasn't the position 0:01:05.959 --> 0:01:08.000 he was supposed to be in. This is a situation 0:01:08.040 --> 0:01:10.720 where he was barely taking any team reps. Uh. The 0:01:10.720 --> 0:01:14.679 week before that Houston Texans game, Jordan Loves sustains the 0:01:14.760 --> 0:01:17.119 shoulder injury. And I thought you saw a young man 0:01:17.240 --> 0:01:19.440 take his opportunity and really run with it throughout the 0:01:19.560 --> 0:01:22.720 entire week practice Well, against the Jets, it wasn't you know, 0:01:22.760 --> 0:01:25.000 as many as many eyeballs are we're going to be 0:01:25.040 --> 0:01:28.039 on this game and against New York the practices, he's 0:01:28.240 --> 0:01:30.480 you know, seeing some pretty important reps there too, and 0:01:30.760 --> 0:01:33.479 he held his own. I think you saw the gamer 0:01:33.560 --> 0:01:36.560 tendencies with him. I thought you saw his fearlessness. Uh, 0:01:36.600 --> 0:01:39.280 this is a guy that definitely doesn't He's not he 0:01:39.319 --> 0:01:42.080 doesn't have happy feet. He plays the play as it 0:01:42.120 --> 0:01:44.679 comes to him. And I made this quote, and I 0:01:44.680 --> 0:01:46.040 didn't want this to come off as a dig to 0:01:46.120 --> 0:01:48.000 Curd at all, but I made this quote on Twitter 0:01:48.480 --> 0:01:50.080 where I said, you know, when you have a third 0:01:50.120 --> 0:01:52.280 string quarterback, you're just it's not you're not always gonna 0:01:52.280 --> 0:01:54.600 have a first round pick in that spot. You need 0:01:54.640 --> 0:01:56.120 to have a guy that's gonna be able to find 0:01:56.120 --> 0:01:58.480 ways to win for you and play with a certain 0:01:58.520 --> 0:02:00.800 amount of like chaos, and and I think that's what 0:02:01.000 --> 0:02:03.760 Ben Kurt brings. And he keeps plays alive. It was 0:02:03.800 --> 0:02:07.080 an exciting football game. It wasn't air free. But if 0:02:07.080 --> 0:02:08.440 you if you were there and he checked it out, 0:02:08.440 --> 0:02:10.480 I think you got your money's worth. Yeah, he he 0:02:10.600 --> 0:02:14.600 definitely played a solid first half. Now there were mistakes, yes, 0:02:14.639 --> 0:02:17.160 I mean he he did throw an interception in the 0:02:17.200 --> 0:02:19.480 second half of past he would certainly like to have back. 0:02:19.560 --> 0:02:22.160 There were a couple of miscus with the footing. There 0:02:22.280 --> 0:02:25.280 was a shotgun snap that slipped through his hands. Fortunately 0:02:25.320 --> 0:02:28.360 was grabbed by by the running back there, kyl And Hills. 0:02:28.360 --> 0:02:31.520 So it wasn't, as you said, it wasn't a flawless 0:02:31.560 --> 0:02:34.720 performance by any means. But when you look at look 0:02:34.760 --> 0:02:37.519 at it from the context of a number three quarterback 0:02:37.560 --> 0:02:40.080 who just got to Green Bay in the spring and 0:02:40.480 --> 0:02:44.320 is has been trying to learn this offense. Took very 0:02:44.400 --> 0:02:47.920 few eleven on eleven snaps in the spring, very few 0:02:47.960 --> 0:02:52.480 in training camp until Jordan's Love injured the shoulder in 0:02:52.520 --> 0:02:55.560 the first preseason game. He went out there with what 0:02:55.600 --> 0:02:58.240 I assume was a fairly limited menu of plays. They 0:02:58.280 --> 0:03:00.920 weren't going to overload his play but he but he 0:03:00.960 --> 0:03:03.320 went out there and executed. As you said, he kept 0:03:03.360 --> 0:03:06.680 plays alive. He made some things happen. There were times 0:03:06.680 --> 0:03:09.480 that he the running backs themselves also made some stuff 0:03:09.480 --> 0:03:12.680 out of you know nothing, so to speak. It's going 0:03:12.760 --> 0:03:16.320 to be an interesting decision here because you know, in 0:03:16.360 --> 0:03:18.079 some way, shape or form, you have to have three 0:03:18.120 --> 0:03:20.680 quarterbacks in the building. The question the Packers are going 0:03:20.720 --> 0:03:24.120 to have to answer is, is Kurt Bankert on the 0:03:24.160 --> 0:03:27.640 fifty three man roster or will it? Would he clear 0:03:27.639 --> 0:03:29.520 waivers and be able to get him on the practice 0:03:29.520 --> 0:03:33.119 squads that he's still here, that's going to be That's 0:03:33.160 --> 0:03:35.520 something that they have to they have to gauge. We'll 0:03:35.520 --> 0:03:37.120 see if they take the risk or if they just 0:03:37.200 --> 0:03:40.880 keep him on there. The Atlanta Falcons, where Kurt Bnkert 0:03:40.920 --> 0:03:43.920 was before, they just lost their backup quarterback A J. 0:03:44.080 --> 0:03:47.000 McCarron to a torn a c l. So then you wonder, 0:03:47.720 --> 0:03:51.840 just because of that particular team, if Banker it is available, 0:03:51.920 --> 0:03:54.240 would they would they snatch him up? All of those 0:03:54.320 --> 0:03:56.040 kinds of things the Packers are gonna have to take 0:03:56.120 --> 0:04:01.440 under consideration next week at the roster rood action. Yeah, 0:04:01.440 --> 0:04:03.119 and I think it was Arthur Smith that even put 0:04:03.360 --> 0:04:05.160 kind of the warning call out there already. We're gonna 0:04:05.160 --> 0:04:07.480 probably looking at quarterbacks next week on the waiver wire. 0:04:07.800 --> 0:04:10.520 And if you remember with the Falcons they were they 0:04:10.560 --> 0:04:13.120 were the fourth overall pick this year, they have a 0:04:13.160 --> 0:04:15.800 really high waiver claim depending on who they're looking for, 0:04:15.920 --> 0:04:18.400 not saying to be banker, but anybody. So these are 0:04:18.440 --> 0:04:20.240 the things that teams need to think about this time 0:04:20.240 --> 0:04:22.839 of year. And as I said an inbox, it's the 0:04:22.880 --> 0:04:26.480 game within the game trying to understand your roster and 0:04:26.520 --> 0:04:29.000 as Brian Gudin has talked about over the weekend, how 0:04:29.040 --> 0:04:32.080 that roster could be perceived to the rest of the NFL. Okay, 0:04:32.120 --> 0:04:34.240 if we were looking at our roster, who do we 0:04:34.240 --> 0:04:35.839 want to see get cut, who do we want to 0:04:35.880 --> 0:04:39.000 see come open that we could potentially claim. And you know, 0:04:39.680 --> 0:04:43.320 the byproduct of this being one of the deepest August 0:04:43.400 --> 0:04:45.760 rosters we've ever covered, Mike, at least during my time 0:04:45.760 --> 0:04:47.680 on the beat, is there's gonna be a lot of 0:04:47.720 --> 0:04:50.240 tough calls. It's gonna happen at quarterback, it's gonna happen 0:04:50.279 --> 0:04:52.760 at running back, it's gonna happen at receiver, it's gonna 0:04:52.800 --> 0:04:56.800 happen on offensive line, and trying to figure out what 0:04:57.000 --> 0:05:00.200 that fifty three is gonna look like, but also with 0:05:00.240 --> 0:05:03.359 these expanded practice squads rules, who could still come up 0:05:03.360 --> 0:05:05.880 and maybe even play for you week one. Those are 0:05:05.880 --> 0:05:09.320 all the things that Matt Lafloor, Brian Goodkins and everybody's 0:05:09.320 --> 0:05:11.720 gonna have to put into kind of tabulated to figure 0:05:11.760 --> 0:05:13.880 out what they're gonna do going into New Orleans. Yeah. Well, 0:05:13.920 --> 0:05:17.760 speaking of the offensive line, I thought the Packers put 0:05:17.800 --> 0:05:22.280 together a solid bounce back performance from some disappointments with 0:05:22.320 --> 0:05:25.360 regard to the running game. In the first preseason game 0:05:25.360 --> 0:05:28.800 against Houston, the Packers got the running game going right away. 0:05:29.040 --> 0:05:31.960 First offensive series. A. J. Dillon was in the backfield. 0:05:32.240 --> 0:05:34.640 You could see the holes were there, his decisions were 0:05:34.680 --> 0:05:37.600 on point, his cuts were there. That running game really 0:05:37.640 --> 0:05:40.520 helping Kurt Banker get the you know, get the offense 0:05:40.560 --> 0:05:44.720 down the field and finish that off excuse me, finish 0:05:44.800 --> 0:05:49.200 off that uh um that drive with a score. Um. 0:05:49.200 --> 0:05:50.919 It was a good sign. It was a good sign 0:05:50.920 --> 0:05:53.320 for the Packers running game. And then on top of 0:05:53.360 --> 0:05:56.440 that with with Dylan leaving after the first series, on 0:05:56.520 --> 0:05:59.279 top of that, you had I don't know, I don't 0:05:59.320 --> 0:06:02.560 like to jump the gun West, but seventh round rookie 0:06:02.640 --> 0:06:05.159 kyl And Hill sure looks to me like he's going 0:06:05.200 --> 0:06:08.000 to be the number three running back in this offense. 0:06:08.080 --> 0:06:11.400 He every day he helps his case. And the thing 0:06:11.440 --> 0:06:15.000 about Hill that is so intriguing is the Packers are 0:06:15.000 --> 0:06:17.760 not asking him to be a twenty carry guy right now. 0:06:18.160 --> 0:06:20.560 They're asking him to make some big plays and big moments. 0:06:20.600 --> 0:06:23.360 And I think you've seen that from him. The first thing, 0:06:23.480 --> 0:06:25.560 and I said it to you during the offseason program 0:06:25.600 --> 0:06:28.080 that stood out to me was the jump cutting. Was 0:06:28.120 --> 0:06:29.960 his ability to cut on a dime and be able 0:06:30.000 --> 0:06:32.520 to get up field. And he's been able to carry 0:06:32.560 --> 0:06:35.440 that through in pads. And as cool as it was 0:06:35.480 --> 0:06:38.200 to see him score that first touchdown against Houston, he 0:06:38.240 --> 0:06:40.360 only had five carries and they went for negative two 0:06:40.440 --> 0:06:42.960 yards with some of the blocking issues this game, you 0:06:43.040 --> 0:06:45.359 got to see him how he diagnoses the line of 0:06:45.360 --> 0:06:47.839 scrimmage a little bit better still. I mean, seven carries 0:06:47.839 --> 0:06:49.400 twenty nine yards. It's not like he broke like an 0:06:49.400 --> 0:06:53.119 eight yard run or anything. But he said it after 0:06:53.160 --> 0:06:56.200 the game. He tweeted it to fifty six. This is 0:06:56.240 --> 0:06:58.880 a young man that was an All SEC running back. 0:06:58.960 --> 0:07:01.600 It's not like he was playing at some random school 0:07:01.640 --> 0:07:05.200 in Albuquerque. This is a guy that was a high level, 0:07:05.240 --> 0:07:08.240 highly touted recruit whose college career didn't end the way 0:07:08.279 --> 0:07:10.760 he wanted it to. So for him to be able 0:07:10.800 --> 0:07:12.920 to pick himself up and show, Okay, there's still a 0:07:12.960 --> 0:07:15.680 lot more here that everybody didn't see coming out, I 0:07:15.680 --> 0:07:19.440 thought was really impressive. As you also touched on with A. J. Dillon, 0:07:19.520 --> 0:07:21.600 I thought that was a really important series for that 0:07:21.680 --> 0:07:23.560 young man. He's not going to play a lot. He 0:07:23.640 --> 0:07:26.360 may not play in this game against Buffalo, but it 0:07:26.440 --> 0:07:27.960 was good to see what he can do and as 0:07:28.000 --> 0:07:30.800 sort of a featured back role, especially when he's given 0:07:30.840 --> 0:07:33.600 the holes to operate with. In my last point here, 0:07:33.960 --> 0:07:35.880 also a tip of the cap to Luke Getsy. We 0:07:35.920 --> 0:07:38.520 found out this past week that was actually Getsy that 0:07:38.560 --> 0:07:41.000 called the plays earlier in that game. I thought that 0:07:41.080 --> 0:07:44.280 was an expertly executed drive. He was able to roll 0:07:44.320 --> 0:07:46.800 out Banker early on, get him into a nice rhythm 0:07:46.800 --> 0:07:48.960 with that past I believe to Dylan, and they just 0:07:48.960 --> 0:07:52.080 sort of rolled from there. So again, you look at 0:07:52.120 --> 0:07:54.120 the final score, I understand everything didn't go right, but 0:07:54.280 --> 0:07:57.080 for where you want to see the Packers really execute, 0:07:57.360 --> 0:08:00.360 like that first team, first snap unit, I thought did so. 0:08:00.880 --> 0:08:04.280 I thought with Uh. What what I really liked seeing 0:08:04.320 --> 0:08:07.160 with Dylan is in the very beginning of the game, 0:08:07.280 --> 0:08:09.600 all the players are fresh, The offensive guys are fresh, 0:08:09.640 --> 0:08:12.800 the defensive guys are fresh, and A J. Dillon was 0:08:12.840 --> 0:08:15.000 not easy to bring down. That the Jets were having 0:08:15.040 --> 0:08:17.400 a hard time getting him on the ground. And yes 0:08:17.440 --> 0:08:20.360 there were some creases there. I liked the cuts he made, 0:08:20.400 --> 0:08:22.920 as I said before, the decisions he made, but he 0:08:23.000 --> 0:08:26.240 also was just was getting extra yards by put by 0:08:26.280 --> 0:08:30.880 either pushing the pile or you know, knocking somebody backwards 0:08:30.880 --> 0:08:32.880 before the next guy maybe would bring him down. You 0:08:32.920 --> 0:08:35.760 saw that on a pretty regular basis there on his 0:08:35.800 --> 0:08:37.840 handful of carriers. I thought that was a good sign. 0:08:39.040 --> 0:08:42.760 Offensive line still not setting stone here with regard to 0:08:42.800 --> 0:08:44.840 what the Packers are going to do at the guard position. 0:08:45.000 --> 0:08:48.080 On Saturday night, Royce Newman started at right guard, John 0:08:48.160 --> 0:08:50.439 Runyon started at left guard. But then when the team 0:08:50.480 --> 0:08:57.280 returned to practice on Monday the opening snaps with regard 0:08:57.360 --> 0:08:59.760 to the guards on the number one offensive line, Royce 0:08:59.800 --> 0:09:02.559 knew was at left guard and Lucas Patrick was at 0:09:02.640 --> 0:09:05.600 right guard. Then later in practice those two guys switched, 0:09:05.679 --> 0:09:09.640 but then they also rotated in John Runyon and Ben Braden. 0:09:09.760 --> 0:09:14.640 So this uh, all of this rotating and carousel and 0:09:14.679 --> 0:09:18.160 trying to figure out what the best position slash combination, 0:09:18.240 --> 0:09:21.439 everything is still ongoing here and looks like it's going 0:09:21.480 --> 0:09:23.839 to take the Buffalo game to finally sort it out. Well, 0:09:23.880 --> 0:09:26.240 you can see the game slowing down for Newman now, 0:09:26.360 --> 0:09:28.320 and you can see him getting comfortable in a set 0:09:28.400 --> 0:09:31.079 spot now that he has been dedicating more time to guard. 0:09:31.120 --> 0:09:33.720 Because really, for the first three weeks camp, it was 0:09:33.760 --> 0:09:36.679 a three horse race. It was running. It was Lucas Patrick, 0:09:37.040 --> 0:09:39.560 and it was Ben Braden. And here comes Roy Snuman, 0:09:39.600 --> 0:09:41.360 a guy that played a lot of tackle but also 0:09:41.400 --> 0:09:44.400 had experience in college at Old Miss playing on the 0:09:44.400 --> 0:09:47.600 offensive line in that guard position. This is gonna be 0:09:48.280 --> 0:09:50.920 very interesting to see which direction Green Bay goes from here, 0:09:50.960 --> 0:09:53.040 because while you do want to keep the competition open 0:09:53.080 --> 0:09:54.800 and you've got to make sure you give those backups, 0:09:54.800 --> 0:09:56.880 they're the guys who will end up being backups enough work, 0:09:56.920 --> 0:09:59.400 because you and I have seen very quickly you can 0:09:59.400 --> 0:10:01.280 be thrown in their and be a sixteen game starter. 0:10:02.520 --> 0:10:04.839 You also wonder at what point you want to solidify 0:10:04.920 --> 0:10:06.680 that group and give them a chance to jail, because 0:10:06.679 --> 0:10:08.640 you do have a rookie center there and Josh Myers. 0:10:08.679 --> 0:10:11.200 That's gonna be getting used to two different linemates. And 0:10:11.200 --> 0:10:14.240 then when David Bactieri comes back, he has Elton Jenkins 0:10:14.280 --> 0:10:16.880 working next to him as well. So, uh, Newman though, 0:10:16.880 --> 0:10:18.680 I thought, has made a really good account of himself. 0:10:18.679 --> 0:10:20.280 I mean you can see the power, you can see 0:10:20.280 --> 0:10:21.679 what it brings to you can see what made him 0:10:21.679 --> 0:10:24.400 a fourth round pick. Yeah, and if you can get 0:10:24.440 --> 0:10:27.280 the footwork thing figured out where he had that little 0:10:27.280 --> 0:10:29.280 incident with Ben Kurd in the game. Uh, you know, 0:10:29.400 --> 0:10:30.640 I think this is a guy that really is going 0:10:30.679 --> 0:10:33.199 to excel in that spot between Myers and Turner. Yeah. Well, 0:10:33.240 --> 0:10:34.880 before we move on to the other side of the 0:10:34.880 --> 0:10:38.320 ball West, Serious x M NFL Radio delivers hard hitting 0:10:38.320 --> 0:10:41.320 analysis and up to the minute NFL news that true 0:10:41.320 --> 0:10:46.120 football fonetics need seven three and at Cousin Subs, we 0:10:46.160 --> 0:10:49.440 have something for everyone like our Wisconsin Cheese Kurds, mac 0:10:49.480 --> 0:10:52.640 and Cheese, golden fries, and creamy shakes, all paired with 0:10:52.679 --> 0:10:55.439 your favorite sub or sub in a bowl. Cousin Subs, 0:10:56.080 --> 0:10:58.920 we believe in better all right. On the defensive side 0:10:58.920 --> 0:11:01.000 of the ball West, two guys that I think are 0:11:01.000 --> 0:11:05.319 worth talking about here a pair of rookie defensive linemen 0:11:05.400 --> 0:11:08.839 who are making an impression. And I'm talking about fifth 0:11:08.920 --> 0:11:12.720 round pick t J. Slayton out of Florida and the 0:11:12.840 --> 0:11:16.440 undrafted Jack Heflin out of Iowa. Now, these are two 0:11:16.440 --> 0:11:20.000 young men who have both gotten a pretty good share 0:11:20.000 --> 0:11:24.000 of reps through these first two preseason games. And yes 0:11:24.040 --> 0:11:26.319 there have been some ups and downs. We hear from 0:11:26.320 --> 0:11:29.080 the coaches, consistency is always that word. They want to 0:11:29.080 --> 0:11:32.160 see the same effort, the same level of execution, you know, 0:11:32.240 --> 0:11:35.840 play after play. That doesn't happen with rookies, certainly with 0:11:36.200 --> 0:11:39.520 um with late round picks and and undrafted guys. But 0:11:39.600 --> 0:11:41.920 you can see these guys are coming along and the 0:11:41.960 --> 0:11:45.600 coaches are liking what they're seeing. They're liking the progress. 0:11:45.600 --> 0:11:48.080 And and these are these are two young men who 0:11:48.120 --> 0:11:50.400 have had a pretty good month. Well, you know, starting 0:11:50.440 --> 0:11:53.959 over to Darryl Slayton, I mean this guy, as as 0:11:54.040 --> 0:11:56.160 Jack even talked about when he was meeting with the media, 0:11:56.480 --> 0:11:58.960 I mean he's a grown man. I mean six ft 0:11:58.960 --> 0:12:02.240 four three and thirty pounds. Jerry Montgomery mentioned body fat. Mike, 0:12:02.280 --> 0:12:03.680 I don't even know what I want to know what 0:12:03.760 --> 0:12:06.400 my percent of body fat is. I mean, he is 0:12:06.440 --> 0:12:11.280 an incredible athlete, and you know one thing is he's 0:12:11.320 --> 0:12:13.160 probably gotten to where he's gotten to a lot of 0:12:13.200 --> 0:12:16.680 times leaning on the athleticism, you know. But I think 0:12:16.720 --> 0:12:19.560 as you teach him technique man, and you know the 0:12:19.600 --> 0:12:22.079 position that he plays and the the guys that he's 0:12:22.080 --> 0:12:24.880 in that room with that you talk about an excellent 0:12:24.880 --> 0:12:27.920 opportunity to grow. I think the table is set for 0:12:28.000 --> 0:12:29.679 him to have a really nice NFL career if he 0:12:29.720 --> 0:12:32.680 can stay healthy and that sack Mike, how often do 0:12:32.720 --> 0:12:34.920 you see that somebody rushing from a three technique. I 0:12:35.000 --> 0:12:37.280 understand it was a preseason game. I understand they're going 0:12:37.360 --> 0:12:39.559 up he's you know, he's not going up against Josh Sitton. 0:12:40.200 --> 0:12:42.520 But to be able to pull off that swim move 0:12:42.559 --> 0:12:45.480 in traffic and still have the the acceleration you saw, 0:12:45.520 --> 0:12:48.040 the ten area, the ten yard quickness, and you know 0:12:48.080 --> 0:12:50.880 in his protein numbers and that there's just so much 0:12:50.880 --> 0:12:52.559 in that young man that I think is exciting for 0:12:52.600 --> 0:12:57.040 the Packers to unwrap. Jack Heflin is just a grinder 0:12:57.360 --> 0:12:59.360 and it was really interesting listen to him speak to 0:12:59.360 --> 0:13:02.199 the media on Monday and just hearing his story. That's 0:13:02.200 --> 0:13:04.640 a guy that used to show cattle, uh, you know, 0:13:04.679 --> 0:13:07.480 and in his small community, you know, you know, kind 0:13:07.480 --> 0:13:11.400 of just a earned everything he's ever gotten, self made 0:13:11.480 --> 0:13:14.560 sort of dude. And for him to come in and 0:13:14.600 --> 0:13:17.160 make a name for himself, and you can tell just 0:13:17.200 --> 0:13:20.000 what he's been bringing and eating some important snaps in 0:13:20.040 --> 0:13:22.720 the preseason here for the defensive line. He doesn't have 0:13:22.760 --> 0:13:26.000 all the athletic intangibles of a slatener Kenny Clark, but 0:13:26.360 --> 0:13:28.440 this is one of those guys that just he you 0:13:28.520 --> 0:13:30.520 see him time and time again. He won't be denied. 0:13:30.520 --> 0:13:32.600 And when you're looking for an undrafted free agent find 0:13:33.000 --> 0:13:34.439 these are the type of players Packers have had a 0:13:34.480 --> 0:13:36.840 lot of success with you. His journey is an interesting 0:13:36.880 --> 0:13:39.200 one and you know, as he described it to us, 0:13:39.280 --> 0:13:42.480 when you know, answering questions that he comes out of 0:13:42.520 --> 0:13:46.760 high school, small town Prophetstown, Illinois, to roughly two thousand people. 0:13:46.760 --> 0:13:49.400 I think he said nine d The census gave him 0:13:49.400 --> 0:13:52.280 two thousand. The census has met two thousand now. But 0:13:53.720 --> 0:13:57.080 he didn't get a single Division one scholarship offer. He 0:13:57.120 --> 0:14:01.720 had only three walk on offers to UH to play 0:14:01.960 --> 0:14:04.360 Division one college football, which is what he wanted to do. 0:14:04.400 --> 0:14:06.920 He want he wanted to play Division one. He wanted 0:14:06.920 --> 0:14:08.840 to play for the Iowa Hawk Eyes. He told his 0:14:08.920 --> 0:14:11.080 mother and when he was in eighth grade, even though 0:14:11.200 --> 0:14:12.960 at the time he said he was a hundred fifty 0:14:12.960 --> 0:14:15.640 pounds that he wanted up that he was going to 0:14:15.679 --> 0:14:18.880 play football for the Iowa Hawk Eyes. Well, they didn't 0:14:18.920 --> 0:14:21.280 offer him anything, not to walk on or whatever. So 0:14:21.320 --> 0:14:24.320 he goes to Northern Illinois. Well, then after he earns 0:14:24.320 --> 0:14:26.840 a scholarship as a walk on at Northern Illinois, plays 0:14:26.880 --> 0:14:28.520 there for a few years. Then you get to the 0:14:28.560 --> 0:14:33.160 pandemic season and it's there's all these questions about whether 0:14:33.200 --> 0:14:35.040 games are going to be played or they only going 0:14:35.080 --> 0:14:37.840 to play conference games. And when you're at a mid 0:14:37.880 --> 0:14:41.600 major school like a Northern Illinois, the best film that 0:14:41.680 --> 0:14:45.480 you have for the pro scouts is when is when 0:14:45.520 --> 0:14:50.800 Northern Illinois plays somebody nonconference from a Power five school. Well, 0:14:51.480 --> 0:14:55.560 that wasn't going to be happening in so he decided 0:14:55.600 --> 0:14:58.080 to put himself into the transfer portal. See if he 0:14:58.080 --> 0:15:01.920 could land somewhere where you know, the the he'd get 0:15:01.920 --> 0:15:05.520 the right kind of film to get noticed by by scouts. Well, 0:15:06.080 --> 0:15:08.960 lo and behold, he does get an offer from Iowa, 0:15:09.160 --> 0:15:11.480 the you know, his dream school where he wanted to go, 0:15:12.720 --> 0:15:15.040 and then so he plays there for one season, still 0:15:15.080 --> 0:15:20.200 doesn't get drafted. But then he has a zoom call 0:15:21.280 --> 0:15:24.800 with Packers defensive line coach Jerry Montgomery, who who turns 0:15:24.840 --> 0:15:28.400 out to be a former teammate of Kelvin Bell, his 0:15:28.520 --> 0:15:31.560 defensive line coach at Iowa. So there's all of these 0:15:31.960 --> 0:15:35.680 connections going on. He feels really good about the possibility 0:15:35.760 --> 0:15:38.320 of going to Green Bay as an you know, signing 0:15:38.360 --> 0:15:41.520 as an undrafted free agent and taking his shot, and 0:15:41.680 --> 0:15:44.320 uh and suddenly here he is with one preseason game 0:15:44.360 --> 0:15:46.960 to go, and he has put himself in position to 0:15:46.960 --> 0:15:49.440 get a spot potentially on this fifty three man roster 0:15:49.600 --> 0:15:51.440 he has And I actually made this remark d in 0:15:51.520 --> 0:15:53.480 practice on Monday. I think that was the first time 0:15:53.480 --> 0:15:55.960 that Jerry Montgomery has had all of his defensive alignement 0:15:56.120 --> 0:15:59.080 available yes camp. So far, it's just been so difficult. 0:15:59.120 --> 0:16:01.080 So one of the reasons Hefflin has been able to 0:16:01.080 --> 0:16:02.640 do this is he's just gotten a lot of work, 0:16:03.120 --> 0:16:05.920 whether it was in the team periods and in practice recently, 0:16:06.000 --> 0:16:08.640 especially against the Jets, or in that preseason game with 0:16:08.960 --> 0:16:11.200 Kenny Clark, Dean Lowry and and all these other guys 0:16:11.200 --> 0:16:14.160 being down. You know, the one thing that'll be interesting 0:16:14.200 --> 0:16:16.560 to track with him. You remember Tyler Lancaster two in 0:16:16.600 --> 0:16:19.320 two thousand and eighteen I believe or nineteen whenever that was. 0:16:19.800 --> 0:16:21.840 You know, he's a guy that imprest and Camp didn't 0:16:21.840 --> 0:16:23.880 make the fifty three right away, but within a month 0:16:24.000 --> 0:16:26.400 was up on the fifty. Right. We'll see how everything 0:16:26.400 --> 0:16:28.840 goes with Heflyn. Maybe the Packers feel he's invaluable enough 0:16:28.880 --> 0:16:31.360 to keep him, but he just he seems like the 0:16:31.440 --> 0:16:32.960 kind of guy you want to work with, you want 0:16:32.960 --> 0:16:34.840 to develop, and at some point he can become a 0:16:34.840 --> 0:16:37.440 real contribute here at the next level. Yeah, he'll be 0:16:37.480 --> 0:16:40.680 an interesting guy to follow, regardless of what happens with 0:16:40.680 --> 0:16:43.760 with the cut down to fifty three. But um, but 0:16:44.040 --> 0:16:46.160 he's he's given himself a chance. And that's one of 0:16:46.160 --> 0:16:48.640 those guys that have started training camp. You and I 0:16:48.720 --> 0:16:50.720 kind of look at the roster were like we, you know, 0:16:50.840 --> 0:16:54.320 without having the usual spring access to players and trying 0:16:54.320 --> 0:16:56.000 to talk to guys, and we didn't even we didn't 0:16:56.000 --> 0:16:58.680 know anything about this young man. And now here he 0:16:58.760 --> 0:17:00.600 is with a with a chance to be on the 0:17:00.640 --> 0:17:02.600 Week one roster. And there's a lot of those guys 0:17:02.680 --> 0:17:05.120 Mike that come in every every year, you know, from 0:17:05.160 --> 0:17:07.480 different parts of the country where you kind of don't 0:17:07.520 --> 0:17:09.000 really know who they are and what they're going to 0:17:09.040 --> 0:17:11.960 be able to bring, and they make one big play. 0:17:12.000 --> 0:17:13.679 And I remember there was one I think in the 0:17:14.000 --> 0:17:16.000 mini camp that I kind of noticed Hefflin being able 0:17:16.000 --> 0:17:17.399 to get in the backfield a little bit and just 0:17:17.440 --> 0:17:20.080 disrupt and you know, your intenta goes up, and then 0:17:20.080 --> 0:17:22.159 you start to see him more and more and you 0:17:22.160 --> 0:17:24.240 know he's definitely fit that this was not a huge 0:17:24.320 --> 0:17:26.400 year for undrafted free agents. You know, we know how 0:17:26.440 --> 0:17:28.240 this went with this year's draft. I mean, they're just 0:17:28.320 --> 0:17:30.159 the pool wasn't as big as it had been in 0:17:30.200 --> 0:17:33.720 the past. So Packers uf a classes maybe like ten 0:17:33.760 --> 0:17:36.560 guys um So for him to put himself in this 0:17:36.560 --> 0:17:39.160 this conversation after being in kind of a thin draft 0:17:39.160 --> 0:17:40.800 class to begin with, I think says a lot about 0:17:40.880 --> 0:17:42.880 him and the way he approached this thing. Yeah, well, 0:17:42.920 --> 0:17:46.320 one last thing before we go. Packers still working on 0:17:46.400 --> 0:17:48.840 some issues on special teams. A very up and down 0:17:48.920 --> 0:17:52.000 game unfortunately against the Jets. There was a nice punt 0:17:52.000 --> 0:17:55.159 return by Reggie Bagelton. Really nice play on punt coverage 0:17:55.160 --> 0:17:58.840 by Christian up Off. Speaking of undrafted rookie players trying 0:17:58.840 --> 0:18:01.520 to put themselves in position, and but there was a 0:18:01.560 --> 0:18:04.480 long kickoff return that was allowed. J K. Scott had 0:18:04.520 --> 0:18:07.040 had one very poor punt out of his four, so 0:18:07.400 --> 0:18:11.119 Packers working through something still with regard to special teams. 0:18:11.119 --> 0:18:13.679 But I'll just say this, heading into this final preseason 0:18:13.680 --> 0:18:18.080 game in Buffalo, there are jobs to be one somebody. 0:18:18.119 --> 0:18:21.280 Somebody is going to make an impression I think enough 0:18:21.359 --> 0:18:25.840 just on special teams alone, two get a shot at 0:18:26.040 --> 0:18:28.399 at the fifty three and to have a chance to 0:18:28.440 --> 0:18:31.639 play because because of all this stuff the Packers are 0:18:31.720 --> 0:18:34.480 are trying to work out on special teams, you make 0:18:34.520 --> 0:18:37.200 a big enough impression just in that phase of the game, 0:18:37.240 --> 0:18:38.879 I think you have a chance to make this roster. 0:18:39.080 --> 0:18:42.560 Christian up Off is basically one more good rep away 0:18:42.840 --> 0:18:45.280 on as a gunner, I think from putting himself in 0:18:45.320 --> 0:18:48.200 that conversation right and he's he's only had twenty six 0:18:48.359 --> 0:18:52.159 defensive snaps combined in the first two preseason games, and 0:18:52.200 --> 0:18:54.320 I think we're going to see him potentially play a 0:18:54.359 --> 0:18:58.000 lot more on defense against Buffalo. Because of what he's 0:18:58.400 --> 0:19:00.439 done on special teams that they want to you know, 0:19:00.480 --> 0:19:02.560 they want to get a little bit longer. Look here 0:19:02.600 --> 0:19:05.080 and again, yeah, he's he's definitely got to keep an 0:19:05.119 --> 0:19:06.399