WEBVTT - #349 Packers Unscripted: The emotional side 0:00:00.720 --> 0:00:20.520 Hi, everybody, Welcome to Packers Unscripted from Packers dot Com. 0:00:20.520 --> 0:00:23.240 I am Mike Spofford, sitting next to the one on 0:00:23.239 --> 0:00:25.960 only West Hodkowits were coming to you here from our 0:00:26.000 --> 0:00:29.600 studios at lambeau Field and West to continue our discussion 0:00:29.760 --> 0:00:35.839 from yesterday. The aftermath of this Packers Rams game at 0:00:35.840 --> 0:00:40.920 the l A Colosseum certainly the toughest and most frustrating 0:00:40.960 --> 0:00:45.680 loss for the Packers thus far in and uh, Mike 0:00:45.760 --> 0:00:48.800 McCarthy made no bones about it in his press conference 0:00:48.800 --> 0:00:51.640 on Monday. It was a very emotional locker room. This 0:00:51.720 --> 0:00:55.240 was a team that put everything they had into this game. 0:00:55.720 --> 0:00:58.960 They expected to win the game. They felt they had 0:00:59.000 --> 0:01:01.200 an opportunity to win it at the end, which then 0:01:01.240 --> 0:01:04.040 they didn't get that opportunity obviously because of the fumble. 0:01:04.959 --> 0:01:08.600 Guys were upset, and uh, quite frankly, Mike McCarthy was 0:01:08.640 --> 0:01:12.640 okay with that, because the alternative means that guys don't care. 0:01:12.800 --> 0:01:15.760 And so if there's emotions running hot back and forth 0:01:15.800 --> 0:01:20.440 and whatever, okay, you let hours go by and everybody 0:01:20.440 --> 0:01:23.000 gets over it. But but this is a tough one 0:01:23.040 --> 0:01:25.920 to get over. It is because again, the team played 0:01:25.920 --> 0:01:28.600 well and because of that, there's going to be frustration 0:01:28.680 --> 0:01:31.679 disappointment when you can't you know, achieve what is the 0:01:31.720 --> 0:01:34.160 biggest goal, which was walking out of there with a victory. 0:01:34.280 --> 0:01:37.039 So to some exset, I think that's what you expect. Now. 0:01:37.360 --> 0:01:40.080 The important thing for the Packers is resetting this week 0:01:40.120 --> 0:01:43.280 and being able to set the focus on the Patriots, 0:01:43.480 --> 0:01:45.280 being able to set the focus on where they want 0:01:45.319 --> 0:01:47.800 this team to go here through the month of November, 0:01:48.360 --> 0:01:50.360 uh to you know, and you heard it in a 0:01:50.400 --> 0:01:52.400 lot of voices. Obviously we weren't in the locker room, 0:01:52.400 --> 0:01:55.040 but when players came out, most of them, if not 0:01:55.160 --> 0:01:58.000 all of them were uh you know, available and talking 0:01:58.000 --> 0:02:01.640 to the media. And the biggest comment that came along 0:02:01.640 --> 0:02:04.720 with that, and what guys were echoing was that they 0:02:04.760 --> 0:02:08.840 played a game well enough to win. So now what 0:02:08.880 --> 0:02:13.239 do you do? How do you reset? You know, being 0:02:13.280 --> 0:02:18.760 able to calibrate yourself to now trying to beat you know, 0:02:18.800 --> 0:02:22.000 an even more difficult opponent in an even more hostile environment, 0:02:23.040 --> 0:02:25.440 against the veteran quarterback that's seen and done at all. 0:02:26.440 --> 0:02:28.840 That's where I think that you have to push this 0:02:28.919 --> 0:02:33.200 thing forward. Understanding the emotions that got into it, the 0:02:33.280 --> 0:02:36.320 players and their their thoughts and feelings. It's all gonna 0:02:36.360 --> 0:02:38.800 come with it with a fifty three man roster, but 0:02:38.880 --> 0:02:41.240 can you get that back together and I'll go into 0:02:41.280 --> 0:02:44.120 Gillette Stadium looking for a really big victory. Yeah. We 0:02:44.160 --> 0:02:47.520 talked about back when the schedule came out how tough 0:02:47.560 --> 0:02:50.160 a stretch of schedule this was going to be. And 0:02:50.800 --> 0:02:53.960 you know the way that Rams game ended on Sunday, 0:02:54.000 --> 0:02:55.720 This is the type of week you'd really like to 0:02:55.760 --> 0:02:57.760 be coming back and playing a home game. I don't 0:02:57.760 --> 0:03:00.040 care who the opponent is. And it's not just a 0:03:00.120 --> 0:03:02.480 going on the road to Gitette Stadium and facing Brady 0:03:02.520 --> 0:03:05.200 and the Patriots. And we'll talk later in the week 0:03:05.240 --> 0:03:09.200 about more specifically about the opponent, but the bottom line 0:03:09.240 --> 0:03:10.959 is the Packers are oh and three on the road 0:03:11.080 --> 0:03:12.960 and they just laid it all on the line on 0:03:13.000 --> 0:03:15.760 the road against the best team in football and they 0:03:15.760 --> 0:03:18.000 still came up short. You'd love to have a home 0:03:18.040 --> 0:03:21.200 game this week to circle the wagon, so to speak, 0:03:21.200 --> 0:03:23.840 get back above five. All of that kind of stuff. 0:03:23.880 --> 0:03:26.280 That's not the reality. The reality is they have to 0:03:26.360 --> 0:03:28.240 go on the road again. They have to try to 0:03:28.280 --> 0:03:31.800 get their first road win of the season and get 0:03:31.800 --> 0:03:34.600 this thing turned around. And the task just doesn't get 0:03:34.600 --> 0:03:36.680 any tougher than what they're facing right now. They have 0:03:36.760 --> 0:03:39.400 to bottle that energy. Kenny Clark was asked after the 0:03:39.440 --> 0:03:42.400 game too about you know this is you know, they 0:03:42.800 --> 0:03:46.000 played up to their competition with the Los Angeles Rams, 0:03:46.040 --> 0:03:48.360 and they also had some games there against Washington and 0:03:48.440 --> 0:03:50.720 Detroit that I mean, I believe they were favored to 0:03:50.720 --> 0:03:52.960 win those and not being able to come out on 0:03:53.040 --> 0:03:58.000 the winning end. So it's about continuing to have that consistency, 0:03:58.040 --> 0:04:01.000 that level of sense of urgency every single week. I'm 0:04:01.040 --> 0:04:03.040 sure it's going to be there again against New England 0:04:03.120 --> 0:04:05.880 because of who the opponent is, but it's gonna have 0:04:05.960 --> 0:04:08.320 to be there against Seattle and Century like it's gonna 0:04:08.360 --> 0:04:10.240 have to be there when they go, you know, into 0:04:10.320 --> 0:04:13.600 Soldier Field, they have to be able in US Bank Stadium. 0:04:13.600 --> 0:04:16.800 I mean, those are opponents, especially down the line here, 0:04:17.240 --> 0:04:20.800 that are gonna really dictate where this season goes for 0:04:20.839 --> 0:04:24.159 the Packers. The one thing that I thought was positive 0:04:24.160 --> 0:04:26.560 that did come out of it was the fact that 0:04:26.839 --> 0:04:30.159 they could see what they could do against one of 0:04:30.200 --> 0:04:32.760 the best, if not the best team in football. I 0:04:32.800 --> 0:04:34.760 don't think there'll be as much debate Mike. If the 0:04:34.760 --> 0:04:38.400 Packers could have had that performance against Washington, against Detroit, 0:04:38.600 --> 0:04:40.640 the way they protected the football for a majority of 0:04:40.640 --> 0:04:42.479 the game, the way they were able to string together 0:04:42.600 --> 0:04:46.320 series and defensive stops, they've come out victorious in those 0:04:46.360 --> 0:04:49.440 other two road games. But again, the frustrating part that 0:04:49.480 --> 0:04:52.640 factors into it is that they just didn't against you know, 0:04:52.720 --> 0:04:55.880 the team that's right now the front runner in the NFC. Yeah. Well, 0:04:55.960 --> 0:04:59.880 the continuing discussion, uh, sticking point, I guess you want 0:04:59.880 --> 0:05:01.719 to call it. What this game was, the way it 0:05:01.839 --> 0:05:04.520 ended with time Montgomery's fumble on the kickoff with two 0:05:04.520 --> 0:05:07.359 minutes to go kickoff return with two minutes to go, 0:05:07.440 --> 0:05:10.279 which prevented Aaron Rodgers from getting the one last possession 0:05:10.360 --> 0:05:12.520 down by two, only needing a field goal to win. 0:05:13.200 --> 0:05:16.159 Montgomery did not address the media after the game on Sunday. 0:05:16.200 --> 0:05:18.840 He did address the media in the Packers locker room 0:05:19.200 --> 0:05:22.440 on Monday. There's been a lot of stuff swirling around 0:05:22.480 --> 0:05:26.560 in terms of his motivations and his decision. He came 0:05:26.600 --> 0:05:32.120 out and said, basically explained that he wasn't sure exactly 0:05:32.160 --> 0:05:34.480 where the ball was going to land, so he made 0:05:34.480 --> 0:05:36.760 a split second decision to just take it and run 0:05:36.920 --> 0:05:40.160 and not put the game in the officials hands. Um 0:05:40.320 --> 0:05:44.799 still questionable judgment and everything like that, but he expressed 0:05:44.839 --> 0:05:49.080 a lot of dismay at any suggestion as to his 0:05:49.880 --> 0:05:53.440 motives or his commitment to the team. And Mike McCarthy 0:05:53.520 --> 0:05:56.719 certainly didn't go down that road either and just said, hey, 0:05:57.080 --> 0:05:59.960 he made a mistake. We've all been there. Nobody feel 0:06:00.080 --> 0:06:01.720 is worse than the guy who made a mistake. It's 0:06:01.760 --> 0:06:04.080 time for this team to move on. And that's really 0:06:04.080 --> 0:06:05.719 what the Packers have to do here. It's time to 0:06:05.760 --> 0:06:07.839 move on. Yeah, it is Mike, and now you look 0:06:07.880 --> 0:06:10.159 at I thought one of the more powerful things that 0:06:10.200 --> 0:06:11.800 came out of the Monday locker room. I was in 0:06:11.800 --> 0:06:15.040 a small group there with Truman Williams, and he mentioned 0:06:15.080 --> 0:06:19.040 that after the game in the l A. Colosseum visiting 0:06:19.040 --> 0:06:22.160 locker room, he actually went up to uh Time Montgomery, 0:06:22.160 --> 0:06:27.680 a story that Montgomery collaborated on corroborated. Excuse me, um, instead, 0:06:27.839 --> 0:06:30.400 you know, just gave him some words, you know that 0:06:30.400 --> 0:06:33.200 that things are going to be okay. And and yeah, 0:06:33.240 --> 0:06:34.920 this is a low point right now, but we've all 0:06:34.960 --> 0:06:37.400 been there. Truman william said, he's been there, He's needed, 0:06:37.480 --> 0:06:40.440 you know, teammates to pick him up too, and Montgomery 0:06:40.480 --> 0:06:42.599 mentioned some of the conversations they had really hadn't some 0:06:42.640 --> 0:06:44.280 of it had nothing to do with football. It was 0:06:44.320 --> 0:06:47.480 a bigger picture than that, and understanding that a mistake 0:06:47.560 --> 0:06:49.560 was made and you have to move on from it. 0:06:49.760 --> 0:06:54.760 I think the most the toughest thing for me listening 0:06:54.800 --> 0:06:58.040 to Montgomery discussed this was kind of talking about sort 0:06:58.040 --> 0:07:01.000 of the outside perception of this so unfortunate in the 0:07:01.040 --> 0:07:03.800 age of social media where things are are at in 0:07:03.800 --> 0:07:07.320 that regarding and it's it's not the Montgomery situation either. 0:07:07.520 --> 0:07:10.480 I just feel like, whether it's Twitter or Facebook, all 0:07:10.520 --> 0:07:13.320 these things, and certainly there are certain aspects to it 0:07:13.360 --> 0:07:17.320 that are positive, but the idea that people can just 0:07:17.560 --> 0:07:22.160 sit behind an account and anonymously rip on people and 0:07:23.000 --> 0:07:25.200 it almost feels to me like and the way we 0:07:25.240 --> 0:07:29.080 are at right now in society, it's just that we're 0:07:29.080 --> 0:07:33.320 almost looking for reasons to rag on people and to 0:07:33.400 --> 0:07:36.720 bring people down, and I think that's unfortunate. I think 0:07:36.760 --> 0:07:38.560 it needs to be about trying to bring people up 0:07:38.640 --> 0:07:42.680 and and understand people's perspectives on life and how they 0:07:42.760 --> 0:07:47.040 view things. I I just I sat down last night 0:07:47.040 --> 0:07:49.360 even when I was working on Insider Inbox and I 0:07:49.480 --> 0:07:51.040 was thinking about how I was going to approach the 0:07:51.080 --> 0:07:53.840 show today with some of these topics. And you know, 0:07:53.920 --> 0:07:57.800 I'm a dad, now you're a dad. Uh Like, it's 0:07:57.840 --> 0:07:59.600 just a part of me that gets a little nervous 0:07:59.640 --> 0:08:03.520 about at for what our kids, my kid is, the world, 0:08:03.720 --> 0:08:06.560 the way this thing is going, because we're about ten 0:08:06.640 --> 0:08:10.520 years into this technological error right now, and I don't know, man, 0:08:11.160 --> 0:08:14.040 It's there's certain things of it that are really disappointing. 0:08:14.080 --> 0:08:18.760 It's a game Packers lost. Everyone feels terrible about it. 0:08:19.320 --> 0:08:22.600 But I don't know if you can call yourself a fan. 0:08:23.440 --> 0:08:24.920 I don't know if you can call yourself a human 0:08:25.440 --> 0:08:27.240 um for some of the things that came out on 0:08:27.280 --> 0:08:30.800 social media after that game, I'm I'm I'm with you, 0:08:30.920 --> 0:08:33.559 I'm with you ad percent here West and I certainly 0:08:33.559 --> 0:08:38.480 share Montgomery's um despair at at the state of humanity. 0:08:38.520 --> 0:08:42.520 And he's talking about obviously a portion of humanity, not 0:08:42.240 --> 0:08:49.240 not everyone, but UM, I personally don't understand um how 0:08:49.280 --> 0:08:55.000 it how it makes anybody feel better to throw something 0:08:55.040 --> 0:08:58.640 at somebody on social media, even whether it's a threat 0:08:58.720 --> 0:09:01.160 that you're actually never going to follow through on our 0:09:01.400 --> 0:09:03.680 But if that's what you have to do to feel 0:09:03.720 --> 0:09:08.600 better about your favorite team losing a game, I'm sorry. 0:09:08.640 --> 0:09:10.880 I just I feel sorry for you. Then, I mean 0:09:11.200 --> 0:09:13.199 all of us, all of us are fans of one 0:09:13.240 --> 0:09:15.760 team or another or multiple teams, whatever it is, there 0:09:15.760 --> 0:09:19.560 are there are tough losses to deal with every single year. 0:09:19.600 --> 0:09:22.240 That's but but that's that's part of being a fan, 0:09:22.440 --> 0:09:25.960 and and everybody's going to have their own way of 0:09:26.000 --> 0:09:29.360 dealing with things, and to too, to take it out 0:09:29.400 --> 0:09:32.440 on other people just to try to feel better about it. 0:09:32.480 --> 0:09:35.960 I just I don't get it. It's really disappointing. Um 0:09:36.080 --> 0:09:39.280 I get it. It's frustrating. It is disappointing. I wrote 0:09:39.320 --> 0:09:42.199 about it an inbox. You can feel all those emotions, 0:09:42.200 --> 0:09:45.960 but to convey that kind of message was disheartening to 0:09:46.040 --> 0:09:50.839 me because I just don't I don't get what. I 0:09:50.880 --> 0:09:55.320 don't quite understand what leads to someone feeling like that's right. 0:09:55.800 --> 0:09:58.160 But be that as it may. The packers have to 0:09:58.200 --> 0:10:00.040 put that in the rearview right now. They need to, 0:10:00.520 --> 0:10:02.720 you know, get this locker room, you know, on the 0:10:02.760 --> 0:10:04.839 same page, Get them on the same page of the field, 0:10:04.840 --> 0:10:08.040 and to what Mike Daniel's original point was on Sunday afternoon, 0:10:08.280 --> 0:10:10.040 you have to tighten up what needs to be tightened up. 0:10:10.080 --> 0:10:11.760 It's all about the Patriots now. They got to put 0:10:11.760 --> 0:10:14.720 this behind them. They have to learn from it and 0:10:14.960 --> 0:10:17.679 try to once again kind of get on a run 0:10:17.720 --> 0:10:20.920 here during a really difficult stretch of games. Yeah. Well, 0:10:20.920 --> 0:10:23.440 before we move on to some of those other topics, 0:10:24.120 --> 0:10:26.680 right here, West, it's time to enter the Cousins Subs 0:10:26.720 --> 0:10:29.000 Best Seats in the House promotion. You and a guest 0:10:29.000 --> 0:10:30.720 could win a chance to kick back on the fifty 0:10:30.800 --> 0:10:33.080 yard line in style. Two pairs of lucky Packers fans 0:10:33.080 --> 0:10:35.520 will be chosen prior to each home game for this 0:10:35.640 --> 0:10:38.560 v I P experience. Enter daily now through December sixteen 0:10:38.960 --> 0:10:41.800 by completing the entry form and submitting. For complete rules 0:10:41.800 --> 0:10:45.200 and eligibility, go to Packers dot com slash Best Seats 0:10:45.240 --> 0:10:48.880 Cousin Subs. We believe in better. Okay, you look at 0:10:48.920 --> 0:10:50.959 this game against the Rams West. We talked about a 0:10:50.960 --> 0:10:54.199 little bit on yesterday's show, and it bears repeating. Mike 0:10:54.280 --> 0:10:59.040 McCarthy certainly emphasized as well that performance by rookie cornerback 0:10:59.360 --> 0:11:02.360 Ji year L Alexander. Wow, I mean what can you 0:11:02.400 --> 0:11:06.040 say this is and uh, you know, no offense to 0:11:06.040 --> 0:11:08.720 the Buffalo Bills. But this wasn't against the Buffalo Bills. 0:11:08.840 --> 0:11:11.240 This was against the Los Angeles Rams and one of 0:11:11.280 --> 0:11:17.000 the top offenses in this league. And he took a speedy, 0:11:17.040 --> 0:11:21.640 big time playmaking wide receiver and Brandon Cooks eight targets, 0:11:21.800 --> 0:11:25.160 three catches now three for seventy four yards. Seventy four 0:11:25.240 --> 0:11:28.680 yards is pretty good. But Brandon Cooks, he didn't make 0:11:28.679 --> 0:11:31.920 any backbreaking plays in this game. And for him to 0:11:31.920 --> 0:11:34.640 have only three catches on eight targets, it's a huge 0:11:34.679 --> 0:11:37.240 credit to Alexander. Yeah, it is. And he even mentioned 0:11:37.320 --> 0:11:39.280 during the week that he was this was he was 0:11:39.320 --> 0:11:41.640 getting up for this matchup. It was something that really 0:11:41.640 --> 0:11:43.520 excited him. He had a good idea that he'd be 0:11:43.559 --> 0:11:46.000 coming back from the hamstring injury. I love the comment 0:11:46.040 --> 0:11:47.800 that Kevin King made after the game when he was 0:11:47.840 --> 0:11:49.440 asked about it, like, I don't know what film they 0:11:49.480 --> 0:11:50.839 were watching. I think that they were going to be 0:11:50.880 --> 0:11:52.840 able to throw on them the way that they You know, 0:11:53.480 --> 0:11:56.400 partly there isn't necessarily enough film on him because he 0:11:56.440 --> 0:11:58.640 missed a couple of games with injury. He hadn't played 0:11:58.640 --> 0:12:00.880 and then he obviously the pack has had the bye week, 0:12:01.000 --> 0:12:04.000 so they maybe they hadn't seen a whole lot of 0:12:04.000 --> 0:12:07.360 of of what he had done. Although the interception against 0:12:07.360 --> 0:12:10.000 Minnesota that got overturned on the Clint Matthewston, you know, 0:12:10.040 --> 0:12:12.040 I mean this guy has this guy has made some 0:12:12.080 --> 0:12:13.960 plays in his limited time and then he made a 0:12:13.960 --> 0:12:16.400 bunch of them in l A. Talking with Tremont Williams 0:12:16.400 --> 0:12:19.520 to at his locker on Monday, he mentioned, like people 0:12:19.600 --> 0:12:21.560 look at him and they you know, they bring up 0:12:21.559 --> 0:12:23.840 the hype thing, but they don't really understand. Like he 0:12:24.000 --> 0:12:26.280 is a big guy, Like he actually has some weight 0:12:26.320 --> 0:12:28.280 to him. He has some size to him. It allowed 0:12:28.320 --> 0:12:29.880 him to be able to drop his shoulders and make 0:12:29.920 --> 0:12:32.320 a you know, an open field tackle on Cooks. For 0:12:32.800 --> 0:12:34.760 I think it was maybe a gain of one something 0:12:34.800 --> 0:12:38.920 like that. He's he was all over the place. And 0:12:38.960 --> 0:12:41.040 his ball skills, man, I mean, he just the way 0:12:41.040 --> 0:12:43.719 he's able to track the football. Uh. He he can 0:12:43.760 --> 0:12:46.120 press man the line of scrimmage. We saw him jam 0:12:46.559 --> 0:12:48.360 uh Cooks a couple of times. He can stay with 0:12:48.400 --> 0:12:50.760 him on slants. He has long arms. He can you know, 0:12:50.800 --> 0:12:52.200 be able to get in on some of those past 0:12:52.240 --> 0:12:55.960 deflections five pp us in this game. Pp uses an 0:12:56.000 --> 0:12:57.959 interesting statistic. It's kind of hard to be able to 0:12:58.040 --> 0:13:00.160 find up last time win, so I really do know 0:13:00.280 --> 0:13:02.960 the last time we had a game where someone registered 0:13:03.000 --> 0:13:05.040 that many. But I mean, we're in a league right 0:13:05.040 --> 0:13:06.880 now where if you can get fifteen in the season, 0:13:06.920 --> 0:13:09.200 I think that's pretty darn if you if you average 0:13:09.200 --> 0:13:11.679 one a week for an entire season, that that ends 0:13:11.720 --> 0:13:13.440 up being a pretty good number and close to the 0:13:13.440 --> 0:13:15.800 top of the league usually. Yeah, So for Alexander to 0:13:15.840 --> 0:13:17.800 do that coming out of the gate, being down for 0:13:17.840 --> 0:13:20.080 two and a half weeks, it was pretty impressive to 0:13:20.080 --> 0:13:22.640 me to see him put that stretch together. Dude. Here's 0:13:22.640 --> 0:13:24.880 the thing about Alexander to the Packers need him. They 0:13:25.000 --> 0:13:27.600 they need that presence in this defense because you saw 0:13:28.080 --> 0:13:30.840 with that package that Penton was using. I don't know 0:13:30.880 --> 0:13:32.040 the name of it, so for the lack of a 0:13:32.040 --> 0:13:33.600 better turn, I'm gonna refer to it as a nitro 0:13:33.679 --> 0:13:35.920 package though, which was a term that Dom Capers used 0:13:36.120 --> 0:13:38.400 to describe as a safety in the box with the 0:13:38.520 --> 0:13:42.040 inside linebacker. In this case, it was mostly Jermine Whitehead. 0:13:42.360 --> 0:13:45.319 So six defensive backs on the field. Truman Williams talked 0:13:45.360 --> 0:13:47.120 about it too, what they were able to do in 0:13:47.240 --> 0:13:50.760 terms of moving some of those personnel pieces. Williams worked 0:13:50.760 --> 0:13:52.520 in some of the slot. They were able to move 0:13:52.520 --> 0:13:55.240 those guys around because of their versatility. I think if 0:13:55.240 --> 0:13:57.280 this defense is going to be what they needed to 0:13:57.320 --> 0:14:00.160 be the second half of the season, your Alexander, his 0:14:00.240 --> 0:14:03.400 flexibility and his playmaking ability from that position is going 0:14:03.440 --> 0:14:06.240 to be paramount because as you need your pass rushers, 0:14:06.240 --> 0:14:07.960 you need your boundary cornerbacks. But with the way that 0:14:08.040 --> 0:14:12.040 this league has gone, now, Mike, you need a playmaker 0:14:12.200 --> 0:14:14.480 in the slot of those nickel packages with how much 0:14:14.520 --> 0:14:16.600 you're playing it, the Packers look to have found one 0:14:16.600 --> 0:14:19.440 of those. Alexander. Yeah. Now there's a lot being made 0:14:19.440 --> 0:14:22.960 by some others with the fact that essentially Alexander was 0:14:23.000 --> 0:14:25.960 playing outside corner in this game against Cooks and Tremon 0:14:26.080 --> 0:14:29.040 Williams moved into the slot. I'm not going to read 0:14:29.080 --> 0:14:31.120 into that too much in terms of it being some 0:14:31.240 --> 0:14:33.240 kind of a permanent change, because I think this was 0:14:33.280 --> 0:14:36.480 all about putting Alexander on Cooks. It was it was 0:14:36.560 --> 0:14:40.120 matching him because because of Cook's size and speed and 0:14:40.120 --> 0:14:43.600 shiftiness and big playability, they felt Alexander was the guy 0:14:43.640 --> 0:14:46.440 who he can make plays beyond Cooks. And then Patton 0:14:46.680 --> 0:14:50.240 essentially adjusted the rest of the defense from there, and 0:14:50.320 --> 0:14:53.760 you had Um, you had Kevin King primarily on Robert 0:14:53.760 --> 0:14:59.160 Woods the other outside receiver. I think you know, we 0:14:59.160 --> 0:15:01.800 we talked about it last week, getting those top four 0:15:01.880 --> 0:15:06.080 cornerbacks ready or available, I should say, healthy and available 0:15:06.120 --> 0:15:10.560 to play. Seeing King and Alexander on the field together 0:15:10.680 --> 0:15:14.320 in coverage, I think that tandem is just what makes 0:15:14.360 --> 0:15:18.200 this defense look different. Because we saw King miss some 0:15:18.200 --> 0:15:21.480 some time earlier in the year, we saw Alexander miss sometime. 0:15:21.840 --> 0:15:25.720 Those two guys as your young up and coming cornerbacks. 0:15:25.720 --> 0:15:27.560 You can call them both first round picks, even though 0:15:27.560 --> 0:15:30.040 technically Kevin King was the top pick in the second round, 0:15:30.040 --> 0:15:32.800 but essentially your top draft picks of the last two 0:15:32.880 --> 0:15:35.320 years at the same position. When those guys are on 0:15:35.360 --> 0:15:38.040 the field together, this defense looks different. Yeah, there, Ying 0:15:38.120 --> 0:15:40.480 and Yang. When you look at their skill sets, their size, 0:15:40.560 --> 0:15:42.920 what they offered to the table, and another thing Trumont 0:15:42.960 --> 0:15:46.120 Williams said to when you the way that Alexander carries 0:15:46.200 --> 0:15:49.920 himself his voice fullness at only twenty one years old. 0:15:50.400 --> 0:15:53.440 UM Mike McCarthy said he walked through the door with 0:15:53.520 --> 0:15:55.760 a ton of complice and the play in this league. 0:15:55.760 --> 0:15:57.440 But what I really like about it, Mike, and I've 0:15:57.440 --> 0:15:59.000 said this to you a number of times now, is 0:15:59.040 --> 0:16:01.640 that it does It's not just predicated on him having 0:16:01.680 --> 0:16:03.600 five pass breakups in a game or being able to 0:16:03.600 --> 0:16:06.960 match against a Pro Bowl type receiver like Cooks. The 0:16:07.000 --> 0:16:10.160 Packers lose a game, he still has that confidence. If 0:16:10.160 --> 0:16:13.600 he gets beat, he still has that confidence. It's not false, 0:16:13.680 --> 0:16:15.840 it's not synthesize that. He isn't something that he just 0:16:15.880 --> 0:16:18.480 walks into the mirror and really just gets himself all 0:16:18.600 --> 0:16:22.040 riled up. It's just who he is. And he's twenty 0:16:22.080 --> 0:16:24.600 one years old. It's a twenty one year old rookie 0:16:24.600 --> 0:16:26.720 cornerback that they said, you know what, there's Brandon Cooks 0:16:26.760 --> 0:16:29.560 over there. You stay on him, you follow him. That's 0:16:29.560 --> 0:16:32.320 gonna be your responsibility. He's like, all right, cool, I'm 0:16:32.320 --> 0:16:34.680 ready for it. Williams said it one of the last 0:16:34.720 --> 0:16:36.640 things he said. He hasn't really been around a rookie 0:16:36.640 --> 0:16:39.440 like this before, but he said, it's gonna make him 0:16:39.440 --> 0:16:41.400 a great player in this league, for this team for 0:16:41.440 --> 0:16:43.080 a long time, and it's gonna make him a great 0:16:43.160 --> 0:16:45.840 leader too, because he walks the walk. He talks to talk, 0:16:46.000 --> 0:16:48.160 and he's able to back it up and if something 0:16:48.160 --> 0:16:50.720 goes wrong, he admits to it. You know, if something 0:16:50.720 --> 0:16:52.720 doesn't work out for him, he says he's gonna learn 0:16:52.760 --> 0:16:55.440 from it, and he has the short enough memory that 0:16:55.520 --> 0:16:58.320 it isn't gonna dictate how he plays the next play. 0:16:58.600 --> 0:17:02.280 Josh Jackson Jr. L Xander, Kevin King. That is the 0:17:02.320 --> 0:17:04.879 focal point right now for the secondary. They've invested the 0:17:04.920 --> 0:17:06.960 resources into it and they're starting to see some of 0:17:06.960 --> 0:17:09.440 it paid dividends. Yeah. Maybe one of my favorite moments 0:17:09.440 --> 0:17:12.760 in this early stages here of Alexander's career was being 0:17:12.800 --> 0:17:16.879 asked about getting his first career interception taken away on 0:17:17.000 --> 0:17:19.840 the Clay Matthews thing, and he's just like, I'll get 0:17:19.880 --> 0:17:23.959 some more, you know, and he's he's it's it's not 0:17:24.000 --> 0:17:27.640 a line, it's just it's just those that response is 0:17:27.720 --> 0:17:30.320 in him. It comes naturally to him. He just he 0:17:30.359 --> 0:17:33.119 believes in his ability. I think he can be he 0:17:33.160 --> 0:17:37.359 can be a huge player in this defense, especially paired 0:17:37.400 --> 0:17:40.240 with Kevin King for for a long time. And it's 0:17:40.280 --> 0:17:43.959 neat because I think there is a really thin line 0:17:44.480 --> 0:17:48.280 between confidence and arrogance. But if you can straddle that, 0:17:48.359 --> 0:17:50.520 if you can stay on the side of confidence, he 0:17:50.600 --> 0:17:53.560 straddles it about as well as anybody. But you know it, Mike, 0:17:53.720 --> 0:17:56.760 the best cornerbacks that have ever played this game no 0:17:57.040 --> 0:18:01.080 that line. They edge near that line, and they stay 0:18:01.160 --> 0:18:03.520 on that line. And I think that's the thing that's 0:18:03.520 --> 0:18:07.760 impressive about Alexander. He just has a mentality that he's 0:18:07.800 --> 0:18:10.520 just going to dominate no matter what happens. You get 0:18:10.600 --> 0:18:12.280 him once, he'll be right back in your face the 0:18:12.320 --> 0:18:15.560 next play. And I like the fact he talks to uh. 0:18:15.600 --> 0:18:17.199 There was a couple of times throughout that game you 0:18:17.200 --> 0:18:20.160 could see him jibber jabbering with Cooks and being able 0:18:20.200 --> 0:18:22.480 to you know, sort of sort I don't want to say, 0:18:22.840 --> 0:18:24.439 you know, you don't know what's said in those settings, 0:18:24.480 --> 0:18:26.639 but you can just see that whatever he was saying, 0:18:26.960 --> 0:18:32.000 he believed it. So I just think that um, as 0:18:32.000 --> 0:18:34.159 I said on yesterday's show, there was there. It's a 0:18:34.200 --> 0:18:37.280 tough game. It's a frustrating game, and it's tough to 0:18:37.280 --> 0:18:40.040 to be able to put it behind you and move forward. 0:18:40.119 --> 0:18:42.880 But it was one of the positives I drew from 0:18:42.920 --> 0:18:46.520 it is that if this kid stays healthy. If everything 0:18:46.600 --> 0:18:48.840 works out with the soft tissue injuries he's been playing 0:18:48.840 --> 0:18:51.679 through earlier this year, he has the chance to be 0:18:51.760 --> 0:18:54.800 a really big playmaker in this defense. Yeah, one other 0:18:54.840 --> 0:18:56.920 thing I want to get to before we go today West, 0:18:56.960 --> 0:18:59.560 and that's shifting things to the offensive side of the ball. 0:18:59.640 --> 0:19:02.000 We saw, uh the offense kind of go through some 0:19:02.080 --> 0:19:05.040 fits and starts again. Now, the Los Angeles Rams is 0:19:05.080 --> 0:19:07.480 an undefeated team with a very good defense. They had 0:19:07.520 --> 0:19:09.960 a lot to do with that, and this wasn't to me. 0:19:10.080 --> 0:19:11.879 It didn't feel like the same sort of fits and 0:19:11.920 --> 0:19:15.439 starts we've seen against other teams where you're questioning, you know, 0:19:15.520 --> 0:19:19.119 the quality of the defense that you're facing. But that 0:19:19.200 --> 0:19:22.600 being said, if there's one bugaboo here still with this 0:19:22.640 --> 0:19:26.200 Packers offense, it's on third down. Sorry bugaboo, you don't 0:19:26.200 --> 0:19:29.400 like that one. I like it, but but we talked 0:19:29.440 --> 0:19:32.199 about it yesterday too. For nine on third down, you 0:19:32.280 --> 0:19:34.960 still put up twenty seven points against one of the 0:19:34.960 --> 0:19:37.320 best teams in the league. If you convert a couple 0:19:37.400 --> 0:19:40.080 more third downs, who knows where you are in this 0:19:40.119 --> 0:19:42.360 game now. The two third down conversions were the big 0:19:42.400 --> 0:19:45.920 passes to Davante Adams, but all week long the Packers 0:19:45.920 --> 0:19:48.440 had talked about and through the bye week talked about 0:19:48.480 --> 0:19:50.480 staying out of third and longs. They've been in way 0:19:50.520 --> 0:19:52.600 too many of the third and eleven plus is. I 0:19:52.600 --> 0:19:55.399 think they only had one of those third and eleven 0:19:55.440 --> 0:19:58.119 pluses in this game. There were a lot of manageable 0:19:58.160 --> 0:20:01.000 third down, some third and twos and third in fives, 0:20:01.119 --> 0:20:03.960