WEBVTT - #806 Packers Unscripted: Drama in Duval 0:00:15.760 --> 0:00:18.840 Hi, everybody. Welcome to another edition of Packers Unscripted from 0:00:18.880 --> 0:00:22.360 Packers dot Com. I am Mike Spoffor, joined as always 0:00:22.360 --> 0:00:24.560 by my trust and colleague Wes Hodkowitz. We're coming to 0:00:24.600 --> 0:00:28.560 you here from our studios at lambeau Field to review Wes. 0:00:29.160 --> 0:00:32.760 Yet another walk off victory for green Bay, this one 0:00:32.840 --> 0:00:36.720 thirty to twenty seven over the Jacksonville Jaguars on the road. 0:00:36.760 --> 0:00:39.080 A fourth straight win for green Bay six and two 0:00:39.200 --> 0:00:44.040 record now, as I said, second straight walkoff victory, and man, 0:00:44.200 --> 0:00:47.279 just whatever it takes at the end, the Packers are 0:00:47.280 --> 0:00:48.360 finding a way here. 0:00:48.479 --> 0:00:51.080 Survive in advance that you have to learn from it, 0:00:51.120 --> 0:00:53.400 you have to improve from it. And as Tucker Craft 0:00:53.440 --> 0:00:55.520 said after the game, there's certain things that have happened 0:00:55.520 --> 0:00:57.040 in this first half of the season that they have 0:00:57.120 --> 0:00:59.280 to very much get corrected if they're going to be 0:00:59.320 --> 0:01:01.280 a championship team. If this is gonna be a team that 0:01:01.360 --> 0:01:04.240 is going to make some noise in January and potentially 0:01:04.280 --> 0:01:06.920 into February. But all that being said, Mike, you have 0:01:06.959 --> 0:01:09.119 to win these football games. And I was reminded on 0:01:09.640 --> 0:01:12.080 Sunday night and watching some of these games unfold, and 0:01:12.080 --> 0:01:13.759 we'll talk about it later in the show. But obviously 0:01:13.840 --> 0:01:17.240 what happened with Washington. You saw the game between Dallas 0:01:17.240 --> 0:01:20.000 and San Francisco and the high stakes of that matchup 0:01:20.040 --> 0:01:22.600 with both of those teams and the slow starts they've 0:01:22.600 --> 0:01:25.399 been off to. You have to win games in this league. 0:01:25.480 --> 0:01:28.360 You have to find ways through your errors, through your mistakes, 0:01:28.360 --> 0:01:31.800 you have to continue to keep stacking things. And that's 0:01:31.800 --> 0:01:34.040 what the Packers have done during this four game win streak. 0:01:34.440 --> 0:01:37.640 They were able to sweep the AFC SOL in this 0:01:37.959 --> 0:01:41.240 non conference action. They were able to build some momentum 0:01:41.319 --> 0:01:42.880 here through the first half of the season. And if 0:01:42.880 --> 0:01:45.199 you're going to take the situation that the Packers found 0:01:45.200 --> 0:01:48.880 themselves in Week nine last year in compared to this year, 0:01:49.640 --> 0:01:51.280 being able to come out on the winning side of 0:01:51.320 --> 0:01:53.200 this thing, I think shows the maturity of this football 0:01:53.240 --> 0:01:55.200 team in the fact that it can go so many 0:01:55.280 --> 0:01:58.240 different ways, whether it was the takeovers that turning those 0:01:58.280 --> 0:02:02.520 takeovers into points, overcoming the loss of Jordan Love, but 0:02:03.040 --> 0:02:06.040 Willis going back in there, Josh Jacob's rushing for one 0:02:06.080 --> 0:02:10.320 hundred and twenty seven yards. Everybody pulled together in this one, 0:02:10.400 --> 0:02:13.000 and as you said, it eventually came down to the 0:02:13.040 --> 0:02:16.040 first time ever in NFL history, According to Elias, a 0:02:16.160 --> 0:02:18.079 kicker in his first two games with the team, as 0:02:18.120 --> 0:02:20.760 time expires, making a game wining field goal. Yeah, I mean, 0:02:20.760 --> 0:02:22.080 it just doesn't get any bigger than that. 0:02:22.320 --> 0:02:24.720 Yeah, this one was a lot shorter in that regard, 0:02:25.120 --> 0:02:27.600 a chip shot for Brandon McManus to win the game. 0:02:27.760 --> 0:02:31.840 But of course it starts with Malik Willis doing it 0:02:31.960 --> 0:02:36.120 yet again. He comes in for Jordan Love. Love injures 0:02:36.160 --> 0:02:39.200 is groin on the first possession of the game for 0:02:39.360 --> 0:02:41.480 the Packers. It was a third down. He's trying to 0:02:41.520 --> 0:02:43.639 scramble to his right a little bit and throw back 0:02:43.680 --> 0:02:49.000 across the field to Josh Jacobs and he strains the 0:02:49.040 --> 0:02:51.120 groin muscle. He stays in for the rest of the 0:02:51.120 --> 0:02:55.320 first half. The Packers score thirteen points, and Love is 0:02:55.320 --> 0:02:57.600 in there. On the opening series of the second half, 0:02:57.960 --> 0:03:00.680 he's almost at two hundred yards pass I mean, but 0:03:00.760 --> 0:03:05.040 he's he's gutting it out, not clearly, not one hundred percent. 0:03:05.080 --> 0:03:10.239 The mobility is not there. And on that opening essentially 0:03:10.280 --> 0:03:13.040 the opening third down of the second half for the Packers, 0:03:13.040 --> 0:03:16.639 it's like, that's it. Love can't do it anymore. Malik 0:03:16.639 --> 0:03:21.880 Willis has to go in and this is where what 0:03:22.040 --> 0:03:24.840 I think was a remarkable turning point in this game. 0:03:24.880 --> 0:03:26.679 And I know it came down to the last possession 0:03:26.680 --> 0:03:29.040 and all that, and we'll certainly get into that. But 0:03:29.120 --> 0:03:31.600 Malik Willis comes into the game. He obviously this is 0:03:31.680 --> 0:03:36.400 very different from his previous two games in relief in 0:03:36.640 --> 0:03:39.840 place of Jordan Love, because those other two times he 0:03:39.880 --> 0:03:42.080 had had the whole week of practice, they designed the 0:03:42.120 --> 0:03:45.640 whole game plan with him playing quarterback in mind, all 0:03:45.680 --> 0:03:49.120 that kind of stuff. This is emergency duty off the bench. 0:03:50.080 --> 0:03:52.920 Willis has to adjust, the coaching staff has to adjust. 0:03:53.280 --> 0:03:56.960 Everything's going on. And on that opening third down, the 0:03:57.000 --> 0:03:59.320 first play he replaces Love, the Packers don't get the 0:03:59.320 --> 0:04:03.240 first down and they punt the ball. So the next 0:04:03.240 --> 0:04:07.720 time Malik Willis gets the football for his first full possession, 0:04:07.920 --> 0:04:12.040 the Packers are trailing. Jacksonville went down long ninety plus 0:04:12.160 --> 0:04:14.680 yard drive for a touchdown, took a seventeen to thirteen lead. 0:04:15.520 --> 0:04:17.680 And this is the first time Malik Willis has been 0:04:18.080 --> 0:04:21.359 the Packers quarterback playing with a deficit. Both of the 0:04:21.440 --> 0:04:24.120 wins back in weeks two and three, Packers were never 0:04:24.160 --> 0:04:27.320 behind in those games. And what did he do with 0:04:27.720 --> 0:04:31.479 using Josh Jacobs pounding away, he scrambles once for himself, 0:04:31.560 --> 0:04:35.040 hits a crucial third down conversion to don Tavian Wicks, 0:04:36.200 --> 0:04:39.280 and then Josh Jacobs busts the long touchdown run and 0:04:39.839 --> 0:04:41.960 Malik Willis is in the game and the Packers aren't 0:04:41.960 --> 0:04:45.320 trailing again. Boom, They're right back out in front. I 0:04:45.400 --> 0:04:50.480 thought that drive in the third quarter showed an incredible 0:04:50.520 --> 0:04:53.960 amount of just poison, moxie and whatever you want to 0:04:54.000 --> 0:04:57.520 say about Malik Willis to be thrown into that situation, 0:04:57.680 --> 0:05:00.440 to be losing, to be on the road, and he 0:05:00.520 --> 0:05:04.520 put the Packers right back in front. And yes, Jacksonville 0:05:04.560 --> 0:05:06.360 ended up tying the game later, but the Packers never 0:05:06.400 --> 0:05:07.040 trailed again. 0:05:07.120 --> 0:05:09.320 A few things I want to touch on here, first 0:05:09.400 --> 0:05:12.960 and foremost, before Malik Willis even threw a pass, before 0:05:13.040 --> 0:05:16.120 even scrambled, before even went under center, I thought it 0:05:16.200 --> 0:05:19.240 was really apropos in the postgame locker room, how Josh 0:05:19.320 --> 0:05:22.880 Jacobs Tuckercraft had both talked about this, the sense of 0:05:22.960 --> 0:05:25.520 calm with the offense when Willis is entering the game. 0:05:26.279 --> 0:05:28.200 As you said, there was a lot of adversity that hit. 0:05:28.480 --> 0:05:30.520 The tide had turned at the end of the second 0:05:30.920 --> 0:05:34.600 quarter two, Jacksonville started with four straight possessions where they 0:05:34.640 --> 0:05:38.040 went three and out or had the interception as well. 0:05:38.040 --> 0:05:41.000 In there, I think, yeah, but four straight possessions without 0:05:41.000 --> 0:05:43.839 a first down, without a first down, Yeah, and here 0:05:43.880 --> 0:05:47.479 they are. They start to get some momentum, and now 0:05:47.520 --> 0:05:50.040 you're asking your backup quarterback for some magic. I even 0:05:50.040 --> 0:05:52.120 tweeted it. I was like, they're asking Malik Willis for 0:05:52.120 --> 0:05:53.840 a little bit more magic here. And then what happens 0:05:53.839 --> 0:05:56.800 immediately after that? He scrambles for twenty yards. They get 0:05:56.800 --> 0:05:59.359 the thirty eight yard touchdown run by Josh Jacobs. But 0:05:59.360 --> 0:06:02.520 before any of that happened, Tucker Kraft saying to those 0:06:02.560 --> 0:06:05.880 guys in the huddle, Hey, we've been here before. We've 0:06:05.920 --> 0:06:08.599 been in this situation before where we don't have Jordan Love. 0:06:09.120 --> 0:06:11.840 This guy made it right, but we also need to 0:06:11.880 --> 0:06:14.599 step up collectively to help him do his job. And 0:06:14.640 --> 0:06:17.039 I felt like that's what this offense did. It was 0:06:17.080 --> 0:06:20.159 more efficient, it ran on time, and really, with the 0:06:20.200 --> 0:06:22.520 exception of just that one slant route they weren't able 0:06:22.520 --> 0:06:25.320 to complete with Romeo Dobbs, I thought pretty much did 0:06:25.360 --> 0:06:29.000 everything blueprint for what you want to accomplish. But what 0:06:29.080 --> 0:06:32.640 I like the most about Malik Willis man in winning time. 0:06:32.880 --> 0:06:36.599 The guy gets it done. They go out there again. 0:06:36.720 --> 0:06:40.800 Another adverse situation that the Jacksonville Jiggers go whatever it was, 0:06:40.920 --> 0:06:43.840 ninety some yards, get down the field, they score, they 0:06:43.880 --> 0:06:47.280 tie the game. There's less than two minutes left, and 0:06:47.880 --> 0:06:50.880 Packers are thinking, all right, we'll run here with Jacobs, 0:06:51.000 --> 0:06:52.960 drain a little bit of clock off, make sure that's 0:06:52.960 --> 0:06:54.280 in your favor so you don't go three and out 0:06:54.320 --> 0:06:56.280 and give them too much time with two timeouts left, 0:06:57.320 --> 0:06:59.159 and then they dial up the play for Jayden Reid 0:06:59.760 --> 0:07:04.520 and one a brilliant play call for Matt LeFlore, a 0:07:04.520 --> 0:07:06.720 brilliant job by the Packers' coaching staff and the players 0:07:06.720 --> 0:07:10.320 for executing and building towards that moment, but just an 0:07:10.360 --> 0:07:14.560 incredibly important play for Malik Heath or Balik Willis. Excuse 0:07:14.640 --> 0:07:18.080 me to hit Reid on that play. He didn't have 0:07:18.080 --> 0:07:19.720 to make a tight window throw, but you had to 0:07:19.720 --> 0:07:21.080 get it there. He had to allow him to go 0:07:21.160 --> 0:07:24.600 up make a field goal. And listening to Brandon McManus 0:07:24.640 --> 0:07:26.560 talking to locker room afterwards about how you know you're 0:07:26.560 --> 0:07:31.000 preparing for whatever the situation might be. Maybe fifty maybe forty, 0:07:31.040 --> 0:07:33.200 you're not sure. And then here you are with a 0:07:33.240 --> 0:07:36.239 twenty four yard field goal to win a football game. Michael, 0:07:36.520 --> 0:07:38.960 this football team behind Malik Willis once again picked each 0:07:39.000 --> 0:07:39.360 other up. 0:07:39.480 --> 0:07:41.600 Yeah they did. They did pick each other up. And 0:07:43.160 --> 0:07:46.400 the explanation of how the play to Jayden Reid came 0:07:46.440 --> 0:07:51.680 about is pretty fascinating because and I've got the breakdown 0:07:51.960 --> 0:07:55.320 of the plays both first out and second down on 0:07:55.440 --> 0:07:57.680 that final drive. It's in my what you might have missed. 0:07:57.680 --> 0:07:59.720 If you want to look at the clips. I'll try 0:07:59.760 --> 0:08:03.679 to blame it as best I can here. Essentially earlier 0:08:03.720 --> 0:08:07.040 in the game, the Packers had run a play action 0:08:07.200 --> 0:08:11.920 bootleg and Jason Vrabel, the team's passing game coordinator, one 0:08:11.960 --> 0:08:16.320 of a longtime offensive assistant for Matt Lafleur, he had 0:08:16.320 --> 0:08:22.040 noticed something where he thought that Jaden Reid, coming from 0:08:22.240 --> 0:08:25.000 essentially an inline position on the right side of the 0:08:25.040 --> 0:08:29.000 offensive formation, leaking through the traffic and out to the left. 0:08:29.800 --> 0:08:32.840 He thought that that would be open off of the 0:08:32.640 --> 0:08:34.360 what they what they call a key pass or a 0:08:34.400 --> 0:08:39.720 bootleg pass. So that play wasn't actually in the game 0:08:39.760 --> 0:08:43.080 plan for this week, but based on Vrabel's suggestion, they 0:08:43.120 --> 0:08:45.400 talked about it on the sideline, et cetera, et cetera. 0:08:45.520 --> 0:08:47.960 They so they put it in and they had it 0:08:48.000 --> 0:08:52.600 ready well. On that final possession, then the Packers get 0:08:52.600 --> 0:08:54.520 the ball, a buck forty eight on the clock. They 0:08:54.559 --> 0:09:00.600 got two timeouts. The game is tied, and Lafleur says, okay. 0:09:00.679 --> 0:09:05.960 He calls a running play to Josh Jacobs, but it 0:09:06.040 --> 0:09:09.520 has what's known as a can or an audible to 0:09:09.559 --> 0:09:12.960 the pass play to Jaden Reed. He calls it on 0:09:13.040 --> 0:09:16.920 first down, and they're looking for the safeties to be 0:09:17.200 --> 0:09:21.120 in a certain alignment in the secondary for Jacksonville, for 0:09:21.920 --> 0:09:24.840 Read's route to be open on first out. It's not there. 0:09:24.880 --> 0:09:26.880 They don't get the look they want. They just run 0:09:26.920 --> 0:09:29.480 the standard hand off to Jacobs. They get four yards, 0:09:30.440 --> 0:09:35.559 same personnel, same formation, same play call, with the same 0:09:35.720 --> 0:09:40.839 can call to the pass to Read. The Jacksonville safeties 0:09:41.679 --> 0:09:45.920 Savage and Cisco. They end up playing second down differently. 0:09:46.000 --> 0:09:50.400 Cisco comes down to help and run support where the 0:09:50.480 --> 0:09:53.440 run to Jacob's had just gone on first down. When 0:09:53.480 --> 0:09:56.920 Cisco comes down, Willis puts his hands up to his ears. 0:09:56.960 --> 0:09:59.760 That's the can call. We're going to the alternate play. 0:10:00.320 --> 0:10:02.760 The other guys on the team also put their hands 0:10:02.840 --> 0:10:06.120 up to their ears. Everybody's on the same page. Everything 0:10:06.160 --> 0:10:09.439 looks exactly the same, except it's a play action fake 0:10:09.880 --> 0:10:13.600 and a bootleg and instead of blocking Jaden, Reid leaks 0:10:13.600 --> 0:10:17.600 out and he's wide open. I mean, everything that went 0:10:17.679 --> 0:10:21.720 into getting to that moment with the game on the line. 0:10:22.640 --> 0:10:28.439 It's fascinating, but it's an example. It's also an example 0:10:28.559 --> 0:10:33.360 of the complex level at which the game is played 0:10:33.480 --> 0:10:35.360 in the NFL. This is the kind of stuff that 0:10:35.400 --> 0:10:38.040 goes on all the time. We just don't necessarily hear 0:10:38.080 --> 0:10:40.839 about it. We don't get all the explanations. And there 0:10:40.840 --> 0:10:42.760 are things that happen like this where it goes wrong 0:10:42.800 --> 0:10:45.200 and it doesn't work and all that kind of stuff. 0:10:45.920 --> 0:10:48.400 But the Packers pulled this off with a guy, a 0:10:48.480 --> 0:10:51.400 quarterback who'd come off the bench in an emergency situation 0:10:51.880 --> 0:10:54.360 and suddenly the game is on the line, on the road, 0:10:55.520 --> 0:10:58.120 and the last thing you want to do is give 0:10:58.200 --> 0:11:00.640 the ball back to Trevor Lawrence because he's scored ten 0:11:00.679 --> 0:11:04.720 points on his last two possessions. It was a It 0:11:04.760 --> 0:11:08.400 was a remarkable finish and and they're they're just there's 0:11:08.400 --> 0:11:12.079 so many people who deserve credit for it, and ultimately 0:11:12.640 --> 0:11:15.200 Malik Willis to execute the way he did and to 0:11:15.240 --> 0:11:18.040 put that ball on the money for Jaden Reid not 0:11:18.080 --> 0:11:19.480 only so we could catch it, but so that he 0:11:19.559 --> 0:11:21.680 could get all the extra yards after the catch and 0:11:21.720 --> 0:11:25.480 get well into field goal range. Just an incredible finish 0:11:25.480 --> 0:11:26.720 and a great win for Green Bay. 0:11:26.800 --> 0:11:28.640 I couldn't summon up any better mic and for the 0:11:28.640 --> 0:11:31.120 packers of me. Again, it's it's like eleven different chess 0:11:31.120 --> 0:11:33.640 games gonna go on simultaneously out there when you're trying 0:11:33.640 --> 0:11:35.000 to figure out how all these things are going to 0:11:35.080 --> 0:11:38.040 fit together. But what I like the most about that 0:11:38.160 --> 0:11:40.160 play too is, you know, Jaden Reid he had he 0:11:40.160 --> 0:11:42.240 had a couple of tough moments in this game, you know, 0:11:42.280 --> 0:11:43.960 a couple passes where he had his hands on him 0:11:43.960 --> 0:11:46.760 he wasn't able to bring him in. But it's a 0:11:46.800 --> 0:11:49.280 sixty minute game, and it's why you have to have 0:11:49.320 --> 0:11:52.160 a short memory. And Josh Jacobs even said when I 0:11:52.160 --> 0:11:53.480 asked him about it in the locker room, you know, 0:11:53.559 --> 0:11:55.439 watching the play from where he was standing, he thought 0:11:55.520 --> 0:11:58.320 Jayden Reid was gone, just because the way he is, 0:11:58.360 --> 0:12:00.240 the way he plays, and how quick he is. There's 0:12:00.240 --> 0:12:02.120 just very few guys in the league that can catch him, 0:12:02.720 --> 0:12:05.800 and for Green Bay then to be at what it 0:12:05.880 --> 0:12:09.400 whatever was the fifteen yard line, they start running it again. 0:12:09.480 --> 0:12:12.800 Chris Brooks, the reserve running back on this roster who 0:12:12.800 --> 0:12:16.559 is getting more playing time in this game. The Jagors 0:12:16.600 --> 0:12:18.880 try to let him get in the end zone because 0:12:18.880 --> 0:12:21.680 they're out of timeouts now. The only way they have 0:12:21.720 --> 0:12:23.840 to potentially win this game is to let the Packers 0:12:23.840 --> 0:12:26.200 score and then try to tie it again. Yeah, or 0:12:26.240 --> 0:12:29.520 potentially go for two. If they would get the touchdown 0:12:30.080 --> 0:12:32.720 and Brooks has the presence of mind to go down, 0:12:33.040 --> 0:12:34.800 it ends up being a twenty four yard field goal 0:12:34.800 --> 0:12:37.000 and an easier field goal than if they were kicking 0:12:37.040 --> 0:12:40.560 an extra point, and McManus and the operation was smooth 0:12:40.600 --> 0:12:44.360 and write what it needed to be. I keep saying this, Mike. 0:12:44.400 --> 0:12:46.120 I tweeted it the moment when I was waiting for 0:12:46.160 --> 0:12:49.240 you to finish up with the game recap. I remember 0:12:49.320 --> 0:12:52.160 tweeting this in the press box. I said, there's so 0:12:52.240 --> 0:12:54.160 many moves that happened, and so much that goes down 0:12:54.240 --> 0:12:58.160 during the offseason program and free agency and the draft 0:12:58.200 --> 0:13:03.080 and everything. The Packers signing Brandon McManus in trading for 0:13:03.200 --> 0:13:07.120 Malik Willis and potentially how many wins that has already 0:13:07.880 --> 0:13:10.160 saved or produced for the Packers, depending how you look 0:13:10.160 --> 0:13:12.760 at it. Yeah, for the total cost of a seventh 0:13:12.800 --> 0:13:16.920 round pick next year. Again, Brian Goudicuins wants no flowers 0:13:17.040 --> 0:13:18.960 and there is an other trophy that he is more 0:13:19.840 --> 0:13:22.360 enamored with than any type of individual accolade that could 0:13:22.400 --> 0:13:25.360 be thrown his way. But I'll tell you what, man, 0:13:25.480 --> 0:13:27.400 having the pulse on your football team and having that 0:13:27.400 --> 0:13:29.720 type of communication with your coaching staff and understanding how 0:13:29.800 --> 0:13:31.560 the team needs to continue to get better as the 0:13:31.600 --> 0:13:35.520 season wears on. The Willis and McManus acquisitions, I just 0:13:35.600 --> 0:13:38.320 you cannot stress just how critical those have been for 0:13:39.040 --> 0:13:41.160 literally ten cents on the dollar for what they paid. 0:13:41.280 --> 0:13:43.640 Yeah, and Brian Gudiicuns would be the first one to 0:13:43.720 --> 0:13:49.199 say that finding guys like Malik Willis when you need 0:13:49.200 --> 0:13:51.960 to make a change at backup quarterback and Brandon McManus 0:13:51.960 --> 0:13:54.439 when you need to make a change at kicker. This 0:13:55.400 --> 0:14:00.080 is the pro personnel side, yes, right, scouting department, and 0:14:00.080 --> 0:14:03.040 and there's a there's a team of them, a bunch 0:14:03.080 --> 0:14:06.520 of great guys. And Gutakuns always wants to give them credit. 0:14:06.600 --> 0:14:10.400 This is an example of why these guys are watching 0:14:10.520 --> 0:14:14.240 everything at all times. They have they they're watching film, 0:14:14.280 --> 0:14:16.680 they have scouting reports, they are paying attention to what 0:14:16.800 --> 0:14:19.680 is going on everywhere around the league in terms of 0:14:19.680 --> 0:14:25.680 who is available, who might become available, and because you 0:14:25.800 --> 0:14:29.560 have to make these decisions fairly quickly when the need arises. 0:14:29.680 --> 0:14:32.640 And UH again, that's just that, that's a that's a 0:14:32.680 --> 0:14:36.840 piece of what goes on behind the scenes. That it's yes, 0:14:36.880 --> 0:14:39.440 it's Brian Gutukunz who makes the final decision, but he's 0:14:39.480 --> 0:14:41.680 getting a lot of input and a lot of research 0:14:41.800 --> 0:14:43.840 and and a lot of the scouting is being done 0:14:43.880 --> 0:14:46.560 by the other guys on his team. And to make 0:14:46.600 --> 0:14:50.200 that collective decision for uh, for what to do. 0:14:50.640 --> 0:14:53.040 A lot of GMS in that room too. You you 0:14:53.040 --> 0:14:54.880 you made me write that story in the off season 0:14:54.960 --> 0:14:55.280 for the ear. 0:14:55.680 --> 0:14:58.320 There's a lot of guys that I think well and 0:14:58.320 --> 0:15:01.240 and and Ted Thompson had the same had the same 0:15:01.360 --> 0:15:04.680 group of guys who did go on to become GMS elsewhere. 0:15:04.760 --> 0:15:07.960 And Brian Gudakountz now has that team of guys that 0:15:08.040 --> 0:15:10.960 they're going to be you know, as they say, running 0:15:10.960 --> 0:15:13.800 their own show pretty soon. You know, in the in 0:15:13.840 --> 0:15:16.480 the Ted Thompson area, you had John Schneider and Reggie 0:15:16.520 --> 0:15:20.400 McKenzie and John Dorsey, those guys, and now it's you know, John, 0:15:20.520 --> 0:15:24.080 Eric Sullivant, John wi Jakowski, Mill Hendrickson, you know Williams, 0:15:24.120 --> 0:15:25.280 you know Richie Williams. 0:15:25.440 --> 0:15:26.120 Uh. 0:15:26.200 --> 0:15:27.920 All these guys are there. They're going to get a 0:15:28.000 --> 0:15:31.160 chance someday to to be in charge of their own shop. 0:15:31.320 --> 0:15:35.800 So it uh, it speaks to uh to what the 0:15:35.840 --> 0:15:39.160 Packers have here, sort of behind the curtains, so to speak. 0:15:39.520 --> 0:15:42.040 We do need to get to where things are on 0:15:42.120 --> 0:15:46.200 the injury front. Matt Lafleur did not really have an 0:15:46.320 --> 0:15:50.160 update on quarterback Jordan Love on Monday, but the way 0:15:50.200 --> 0:15:53.880 he talked about things, uh, Jordan Love has not necessarily 0:15:53.920 --> 0:15:56.640 been ruled out for Sunday against the Lions. It's a 0:15:56.800 --> 0:15:59.680 it's a wait and see kind of thing. They're gonna 0:15:59.720 --> 0:16:02.320 see where Love is at the end of the week 0:16:02.440 --> 0:16:05.600 and they'll make a decision there. But just the fact 0:16:05.600 --> 0:16:09.360 that that's even part of the conversation is obviously tremendous 0:16:09.400 --> 0:16:14.240 news for the Packers. Other guys who exited this game, 0:16:14.840 --> 0:16:17.680 Josh Jacobs went out right at the end, which is 0:16:17.720 --> 0:16:19.640 why Chris Brooks was in the game, and then he 0:16:20.240 --> 0:16:22.800 sort of took the dive inside the five yard line 0:16:22.800 --> 0:16:27.400 to keep the clock running. Jayi Alexander got hurt on 0:16:27.560 --> 0:16:31.080 the game tying touchdown pass to Evan Ingram and Evan Williams, 0:16:31.160 --> 0:16:32.960 the rookie safety. He had left the game in the 0:16:32.960 --> 0:16:35.880 first half with a hamstring injury. Not a lot of 0:16:35.920 --> 0:16:40.200 updates necessarily to pass along, although I'll say this, Josh 0:16:40.280 --> 0:16:43.200 Jacobs wanted to go back into the game and they 0:16:43.240 --> 0:16:44.920 just they held him out and said, you know, no, 0:16:45.000 --> 0:16:47.640 we Brooks will take these last couple of handoffs as 0:16:47.640 --> 0:16:49.480 we kill the clock. That's what we're going to do here. 0:16:50.080 --> 0:16:53.760 So by all accounts, hopefully Jacobs is okay. Not really 0:16:53.760 --> 0:16:57.120 sure on Alexander or Williams. I know there are some 0:16:57.280 --> 0:17:00.120 media reports out there and whatnot. Lafleur didn't say anything 0:17:00.120 --> 0:17:03.280 specifically about their chances other than obviously the Packers would 0:17:04.520 --> 0:17:07.000 be in a tough spot defensively if they're missing one 0:17:07.080 --> 0:17:09.120 or both of those guys with the high powered, high 0:17:09.160 --> 0:17:13.040 flying Detroit Lions coming in. But it's going to be 0:17:13.280 --> 0:17:15.600 a week where we're going to be watching the injury 0:17:15.600 --> 0:17:18.520 report and seeing where things go here for Green Bay. 0:17:18.720 --> 0:17:21.959 It's funny how every coach to some extent, has their 0:17:22.000 --> 0:17:28.040 own phrases or little statements. I remember Mike McCarthy back 0:17:28.040 --> 0:17:31.159 in the day was always, you know, so and so 0:17:31.359 --> 0:17:33.200 is going to be stressed to play this week. Yeah, 0:17:33.280 --> 0:17:34.600 you know, he didn't want to go into all the things, 0:17:34.600 --> 0:17:37.080 but sometimes you use that stress to play. And one 0:17:37.080 --> 0:17:39.720 of the things I've noticed with Matt Lafleur, when when 0:17:39.760 --> 0:17:41.879 things are good, he doesn't want to go into everything. 0:17:41.880 --> 0:17:43.280 He doesn't want to talk about it. He mentioned he 0:17:43.320 --> 0:17:44.800 still needed to talk to the training staff, but he 0:17:44.800 --> 0:17:47.320 said Jordan Love was in good spirits on Monday, and 0:17:47.359 --> 0:17:48.560 if you go back and look at some of the 0:17:48.600 --> 0:17:50.400 track record, Matt has said that type of stuff. I'm 0:17:50.400 --> 0:17:53.240 not guaranteed anybody's playing on Sunday, but I will say 0:17:53.680 --> 0:17:55.600 for what I thought that could have potentially been when 0:17:55.600 --> 0:17:57.119 he left the game, I remember telling you, and I 0:17:57.160 --> 0:17:58.920 relayed that too, that it was a groin injury. You 0:17:58.960 --> 0:18:01.680 even double checked with me on that, just because we're 0:18:01.720 --> 0:18:05.960 thinking knee, we're thinking calf, we're thinking something else. Groin 0:18:06.000 --> 0:18:08.200 injuries can be pretty severe too. You always worry about 0:18:08.240 --> 0:18:11.280 the core muscle issues and the sports hernias, but the 0:18:11.320 --> 0:18:13.639 fact that it wasn't knee related, I think first and 0:18:13.680 --> 0:18:16.159 foremost was a sigh relief that there were no setbacks 0:18:16.160 --> 0:18:19.480 with that. But again, we'll see where the week goes 0:18:19.520 --> 0:18:22.520 on everything. But the fact is, man, you're seeing some 0:18:22.560 --> 0:18:24.480 of these things happen in the league right now. Where 0:18:25.200 --> 0:18:27.520 the Detroit game, you know, Aiden Hutchinson's sitting there with 0:18:27.560 --> 0:18:29.600 his leg up there, everyone giving him a big ovation, 0:18:29.680 --> 0:18:31.200 but he's out of the cards for them the rest 0:18:31.240 --> 0:18:33.440 of the season. We saw what happened with Christian Darisol 0:18:33.520 --> 0:18:37.960 last week for the Minnesota Vikings. And it is a 0:18:38.119 --> 0:18:40.680 league in a sport that takes its toll on a 0:18:40.720 --> 0:18:42.600 football team. So for the Green Bay Packers at the 0:18:42.720 --> 0:18:44.760 very least, we'll see again how things go. But with 0:18:45.200 --> 0:18:49.120 Jai Air, with Evan Williams or Jordan Love probably all 0:18:49.280 --> 0:18:53.280 top ten top players for this team. The fact that 0:18:53.320 --> 0:18:56.360 we're not worrying about the worst case scenario there, I think. 0:18:57.560 --> 0:19:00.840 I hate to keep using that Dodger bullet analogy, but 0:19:01.359 --> 0:19:04.600 you do feel somewhat better that it's not anything more significant. 0:19:04.680 --> 0:19:07.640 Yeah, absolutely, well, you mentioned it earlier a few other 0:19:07.720 --> 0:19:09.919 things that we do need to get to as far 0:19:09.920 --> 0:19:13.679 as reviewing this game. Josh Jacobs twenty five carries one 0:19:13.760 --> 0:19:17.000 hundred and twenty seven yards two touchdowns, including that thirty 0:19:17.000 --> 0:19:19.639 eight yarder, which I thought was one of the one 0:19:19.640 --> 0:19:23.720 of the most remarkable touchdown runs I've seen in quite 0:19:23.760 --> 0:19:28.760 a while. The blocking initially at the point of attack 0:19:28.880 --> 0:19:32.240 was obviously really good, but then he makes the one 0:19:32.280 --> 0:19:35.119 guy miss in the hole with incredible footwork. Then he 0:19:35.160 --> 0:19:37.359 breaks another tackle as a guy is trying to grab 0:19:37.440 --> 0:19:39.720 him by the shoulders, and then he's off to the 0:19:39.800 --> 0:19:43.199 races with getting a nice downfield block from Watson. The 0:19:43.280 --> 0:19:47.879 more I watched Josh Jacobs, I haven't seen I haven't 0:19:47.880 --> 0:19:51.560 seen a running back. And this is no knock on 0:19:52.640 --> 0:19:55.359 Ryan Grant or Eddie Lacy or Aaron Jones or Jamal 0:19:55.359 --> 0:19:57.240 Williams or any of these guys. But I have not 0:19:57.359 --> 0:20:01.360 seen a running back in Green Bay with the combination 0:20:01.720 --> 0:20:07.280 of the vision and the footwork that Josh Jacobs has, 0:20:07.320 --> 0:20:13.240 because Jacobs is not how shall I say, Aaron Jones 0:20:13.280 --> 0:20:16.359 always look like a slippery running back. Like the way 0:20:16.400 --> 0:20:18.880 he ran. He was hard, he was hard to tackle. 0:20:19.240 --> 0:20:22.160 He had he had a quickness, and a slipperiness to him. 0:20:22.680 --> 0:20:26.320 Josh Jacobs doesn't quite have that. But what he does 0:20:26.359 --> 0:20:30.000 with his feet to make guys miss and to get 0:20:30.040 --> 0:20:33.960 tacklers off balance and then to accelerate to get the 0:20:34.080 --> 0:20:36.679 yardage that he can, he's a He's just he's a 0:20:36.720 --> 0:20:39.320 different type of runner. But man, he is fun to 0:20:39.400 --> 0:20:42.919 watch that he is. He is more talented than I 0:20:43.040 --> 0:20:47.520 ever knew previously, whether it was you know, at Alabama 0:20:47.680 --> 0:20:50.520 with the Raiders seeing him in person, and now seeing 0:20:50.560 --> 0:20:52.919 him every game for the Green Bay Packers, I couldn't 0:20:52.960 --> 0:20:55.040 be more impressed with what he brings to the table. 0:20:55.119 --> 0:20:57.639 Here's the way I work through these situations now, because 0:20:57.640 --> 0:20:59.639