Speaker 1: M Hi, everybody, Welcome to Packers unscripted from Packers dot Com.
Speaker 1: I am Mike Spofford, sitting alongside I trusted colleague west
Speaker 1: Hodkuwitz for coming to you here from our studios at
Speaker 1: lambeau Field West. Another day closer to Packers Lions Sunday afternoon,
Speaker 1: Ford Field in Detroit, and as the Packers get into
Speaker 1: the bulk of their on field practice preparation for this game,
Speaker 1: worth going over the injury report here as we sit
Speaker 1: in week five, because while Randall Cobb and Geronimo Alison
Speaker 1: with a hamstring and concussion, respectively, are not back on
Speaker 1: the practice field for the Packers at the cornerback position,
Speaker 1: Kevin King and Jaire Alexander, both dealing with coroyin and
Speaker 1: reas were on the practice field and that's a potentially
Speaker 1: good sign for this past defense heading into a game
Speaker 1: against Matthew Stafford. Absolutely, and those three receivers that the
Speaker 1: Lions have, certainly the Packers are well acquainted with. Marvin
Speaker 1: Jones Jr. Has had a fair amount of success over
Speaker 1: them the last few seasons. Golden Tate is a type
Speaker 1: of player possession receiver you always have to take into
Speaker 1: account regardless of where he's lining up much like a
Speaker 1: Randall Cobb type, you know, impact player for their offense.
Speaker 1: And then also Kenny Gallabay, who's who was their third
Speaker 1: round pick last year, has made an impact. So yeah,
Speaker 1: that's of the passing yards so far for the Lions
Speaker 1: this season, those three receivers. So Packers want to be
Speaker 1: at full strength at cornerback. We'll have to see all
Speaker 1: the rest of the week plays out here. But the
Speaker 1: fact that Kevin King was back in a full capacity
Speaker 1: on Wednesday, it was kind of funny because that the
Speaker 1: actual injuryport gets released later in the day, but he
Speaker 1: was standing at his locker after practice talking about it
Speaker 1: and was basically asked, Hey, if you have to play
Speaker 1: at less than ercent are you able to do that
Speaker 1: with a groin injury? And he thought about it for
Speaker 1: a second, he goes, yes, I can, but I'm a
Speaker 1: hundred so it's all good. So uh, And then as
Speaker 1: it turned out, he ended up being a full participant.
Speaker 1: So I think for Kevin King, I'm not saying there's
Speaker 1: any time in which it's good for a player not
Speaker 1: to be playing, but I think these last two weeks
Speaker 1: are really beneficial for him because certainly he's been able
Speaker 1: to rest up with the groin injury. He also was
Speaker 1: dealing with the shoulder before that. The Packers are gonna
Speaker 1: need Kevin King to be at his full strength to
Speaker 1: be an impact player for this defense, for the Packers
Speaker 1: to get to where they want to be at the
Speaker 1: end of the season. And now him coming back a
Speaker 1: perfect opponent, three really good weapons for the Lions. They
Speaker 1: want to have that secondary at his best. Yeah, we
Speaker 1: saw when Kevin King left the game in Week two
Speaker 1: against the Vikings. There was a bit of a domino
Speaker 1: effect for the Packers defense there against Minnesota and then
Speaker 1: in the first half against Washington. Still some adjustments and
Speaker 1: and things didn't really settle down in terms of the
Speaker 1: past defense. From the second half of the Washington game
Speaker 1: now through obviously the Buffalo game against a rookie quarterback,
Speaker 1: mind you, but the Packers seem to settle in with
Speaker 1: their secondary and with the roles. Now you potentially have
Speaker 1: that positive domino effect of King coming back into the
Speaker 1: lineup based on extra options of how to match up
Speaker 1: and and how to use different combinations of players and
Speaker 1: things like that. It's sort of a domino effect the
Speaker 1: other way, he is one of the type of players
Speaker 1: and I'm just projecting this to be what he's going
Speaker 1: to be in this league, I think, to me, looking
Speaker 1: at his intangibles and looking at what he's put on
Speaker 1: film in his first ten and a half eleven games
Speaker 1: of his career, Kevin King just seems like the kind
Speaker 1: of guy that you plug in at boundary cornerback and
Speaker 1: you just don't think about it. He solves that puzzle
Speaker 1: for you. He's a a guy that's going to be
Speaker 1: able to travel with top receivers if you need him
Speaker 1: to do that. If you want to have him play
Speaker 1: one side, he can do that as well. But he
Speaker 1: has the versatility, the flexibility, and the overall talent to
Speaker 1: be able to match up with the Stefon Diggs of
Speaker 1: the world, as we saw last year with you know,
Speaker 1: Julio Jones and A. J. Green does Bryant. He doesn't
Speaker 1: step away from those challenges. But the nice effect of
Speaker 1: that as well is that R Alexander stepped up and
Speaker 1: I thought played really well in his absence here the
Speaker 1: last two weeks and him being able to get back
Speaker 1: on the practice field after leaving with the groin injury.
Speaker 1: There's just a lot of different pieces for this secondary
Speaker 1: and certainly they did lose Devon House. But then you
Speaker 1: go inside Bashad Brelan, you have Tremon Williams playing how
Speaker 1: he's playing right now as a boundary corner in this
Speaker 1: league at age thirty five. Josh Jackson stepped up, and
Speaker 1: I just think you look at the versatility of guys
Speaker 1: like Jermaine Whitehead and Josh Jones. As the season wears on,
Speaker 1: you're gonna need to tap into that depth. The Packers
Speaker 1: did it the last couple of weeks. But if you
Speaker 1: have Kevin King healthy, available and ready to go, it
Speaker 1: doesn't get any better than that. This is a really
Speaker 1: good test for him now, you know, hopefully being able
Speaker 1: to get back on the field Sunday and seeing what
Speaker 1: he can do against those threats in Ford Field. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I think it makes the Packers entire defense that much
Speaker 1: more versatile in terms of what Mike Petton can choose
Speaker 1: to do in different situations when you have a corner
Speaker 1: with the just the physical attributes and the skill set
Speaker 1: of the king out there on a regular basis, Right,
Speaker 1: and how soon we forget I mean that game against
Speaker 1: the Bears, the Packers ran seven defensive backs a lot.
Speaker 1: They played six defensive backs in a base defense, so
Speaker 1: it's nice to have that ace upper sleeve again after
Speaker 1: last week where they basically had to finish the game
Speaker 1: and Nickel just because of kind of the attrition at
Speaker 1: that position. All right, well, I've got to catch up
Speaker 1: on a little sponsor business here west because I neglected
Speaker 1: my duty on yesterday's show. So at home or here
Speaker 1: in the stands, we all know that Green Bay fans
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Speaker 1: of the Green Bay Packers. Okay, getting back to the
Speaker 1: injuries at the wide receiver position, Randall Cobb, Geronim Wilson
Speaker 1: not in practice. Davante Adams pops up on the injury
Speaker 1: report with a calf injury limited participant in practice. We'll
Speaker 1: have to see how the wheak goes on. If this is,
Speaker 1: you know, anything to be concerned about as far as
Speaker 1: Sunday's availability. I don't want to speculate necessarily one way
Speaker 1: or the other with that, but regardless, it certainly looks
Speaker 1: like the Packers have a couple of options here in
Speaker 1: terms of how to compensate for some things in the
Speaker 1: passing game. Either you go in with a lot more
Speaker 1: you know, two tight end maybe even three tight end
Speaker 1: packages and work those tight ends even more into the
Speaker 1: passing game, or you turn over a lot of snaps
Speaker 1: to the rookie wide receivers. Valdez Scantling obviously played a
Speaker 1: lot against Buffalo. We talked about the positives and negatives
Speaker 1: of his kind of first real big game on an
Speaker 1: NFL stage. And then you've also got Jamon Moore and
Speaker 1: eq St Brown who were certainly itching for their opportunity
Speaker 1: as well. You have any sense at all of how
Speaker 1: the Packers, may you know, go into this from a
Speaker 1: planning perspective, I really don't like. But the thing I
Speaker 1: like about it, and we talked about this, I don't
Speaker 1: know if you recall I think even in training camp
Speaker 1: about with the two tight end looks and even in
Speaker 1: to some extent the three tight end looks at they're
Speaker 1: able to be use they can be so multiple, especially
Speaker 1: if you're using a guy like Time Montgomery who's a
Speaker 1: pseudo receiver, pseudo running back that could play a multitude
Speaker 1: of different roles for you. It's able to keep a
Speaker 1: defense on its heels a little bit. Meet Personally, I
Speaker 1: still wonder if the regardless of who's available, regardless of
Speaker 1: Allison passed at the concussion protocol like Nick Perry did
Speaker 1: last week where we didn't actually miss a game, or
Speaker 1: Cobs able to get back on the field at some
Speaker 1: point in Davante Adams, this is just a blimp on
Speaker 1: the radar and he's fine. Maybe you do have you know,
Speaker 1: most or if not all, those guys available, But either way,
Speaker 1: I think the game plan for this has to be
Speaker 1: running back heavy base, specifically alone on just the production
Speaker 1: that the lines have been giving up in the run
Speaker 1: game this year. They go into this game thirty second
Speaker 1: in the league. Last week, Ezekiel Elliott ends up having
Speaker 1: a hundred and fifty rushing yards against them in that victory.
Speaker 1: I think this has to be an Aaron Jones type game.
Speaker 1: It has to be a Jamal Williams and in Time
Speaker 1: Montgomery type games. So I think, if nothing else, what
Speaker 1: these injuries are doing in this specific encounter, Is it
Speaker 1: maybe will allow the Packers open up the playbook a
Speaker 1: little bit more. Maybe we see more Marcedes Lewis, Maybe
Speaker 1: we see more of those two tight end looks that
Speaker 1: we saw throughout the preseason. It was probably their base
Speaker 1: package throughout the preseason. They have depth at tight end
Speaker 1: and running back to turn to depending on what they
Speaker 1: want to do with those receivers. Yeah, and as we
Speaker 1: talked about earlier in the week too, I'm curious to
Speaker 1: see just because we haven't seen Marcedes Lewis involved that
Speaker 1: much in the passing game yet for the Packers, if
Speaker 1: if that's something that maybe gets unveiled here out of
Speaker 1: necessity based on your your options at wide receiver. I
Speaker 1: totally agree with you on the running game situation that
Speaker 1: you just have to look at the statistics. The Lions
Speaker 1: are struggling to stop the run. As we've talked about,
Speaker 1: they've changed a lot of things on defense. The front
Speaker 1: four that was so much the foundation of their defense
Speaker 1: in previous years with the and Dominican Susan Nick Fairley's
Speaker 1: and Kyle Vanenbosch's that's not how this defense is built anymore.
Speaker 1: Darius Slay is their playmaker at cornerback. They have Glover
Speaker 1: Quinn at safety. Um, you know guys like that. The
Speaker 1: defense is just built differently and they're struggling right now
Speaker 1: to stop the run. So you have to take advantage
Speaker 1: of that. That being said, you know, if these rookie
Speaker 1: wide receivers get an opportunity, they have to cash in, right.
Speaker 1: I mean this is even if if they if if
Speaker 1: it's Jamon Moore or MVS they get one ball thrown
Speaker 1: their way in Detroit, make the play because with Aaron Rodgers,
Speaker 1: that's going to go a long way. I mean, that's
Speaker 1: how Geronimo Alison did, right. I mean you brought it
Speaker 1: up in your story on Rogers. He talked about at
Speaker 1: the Atlanta game. Now that's two years ago. Yeah, back
Speaker 1: Cobb ended up being a scratch. I think Time Montgomery
Speaker 1: ended up being a scratch in that game. Jordy Nelson
Speaker 1: I think was I'm trying to remember if he was
Speaker 1: even available for that one. But anyway, they were down
Speaker 1: and they were depleted at receiver, so it ended up
Speaker 1: being Geronimo Allison, Jeff Janison, Trevor Day, Trevor Davis, and
Speaker 1: Alison who just came off the practice squad, ended up
Speaker 1: having the best game out of everybody, and and and
Speaker 1: you wrote about it. We talked about it. That's what
Speaker 1: was sort of his coming out party, and told Rogers,
Speaker 1: this is a guy I can count on, this is
Speaker 1: a guy that could be a playmaker in this offense.
Speaker 1: That's a big hit for Alison to be in the
Speaker 1: concussion protocol, just because he's been so darn consistent. I
Speaker 1: know there was a couple of drop passes there, but
Speaker 1: still already had eighty receiving yards in that game against
Speaker 1: the Bills. Well, and you just wonder if the one
Speaker 1: that he took the hit, if he makes the catch
Speaker 1: rather than drops it, does he end up not getting
Speaker 1: that type of hit and and doesn't have a concussion
Speaker 1: One of those things that you just yeah, if the
Speaker 1: drop pass doesn't happen, maybe we're not talking about a
Speaker 1: concussion protocol. But to your original point with MVS. With
Speaker 1: Jamon Moore with a Gunemius st. Brown, if those guys
Speaker 1: do get into this game, if it's one step, if
Speaker 1: it's fifties four snaps like it was for Valdis Scantling
Speaker 1: last week, you have to make sure that you use
Speaker 1: those two the best of your ability to show Aaron
Speaker 1: Rodgers that you know what I can play in this
Speaker 1: offense and I can be your receiver. All right? Well,
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Speaker 1: you mentioned the Detroit Lions being last in the league
Speaker 1: at defending the run over the last handful of years,
Speaker 1: they've been last or close to last in the league
Speaker 1: at running the ball on offense. That is not the
Speaker 1: case anymore. Looking up the statistics, they're actually up to
Speaker 1: twenty in the league in rushing yardage and even more impressively,
Speaker 1: seventh in the league in yards per carry. As far
Speaker 1: as running the ball. Hey, but those are those are
Speaker 1: not rankings that the Detroit Lions are used to with
Speaker 1: running the football. They've been last in the league in
Speaker 1: rushing yards two of the last four years, and they've
Speaker 1: been in the high twenties the other two years. They've
Speaker 1: been anywhere from six to last in the league over
Speaker 1: the last four years in yards per carry. They are
Speaker 1: emphasizing the run game. They're trying to develop that complementary
Speaker 1: running game for a quarterback like Matthew Stafford. And this
Speaker 1: is a this is a type of preparation week that's
Speaker 1: a little different for the Packers going up against the
Speaker 1: Lions because really they're in my opinion, They're rushing statistics
Speaker 1: become even more impressive when you look at the fact
Speaker 1: that they've been behind in the fourth quarter in the
Speaker 1: majority in basically three of their four games where they
Speaker 1: haven't had a chance to continue running the ball because
Speaker 1: they because they've been behind. They racked up the big
Speaker 1: rushing yards in the win over New England. But this
Speaker 1: team is showing a determination to run the football and
Speaker 1: the Packers have to be ready for it. Yeah, and
Speaker 1: this is in ever since. I mean, you can always
Speaker 1: draw the comparisons between them at the running back position
Speaker 1: and what Cleveland has gone through at the quarterback position.
Speaker 1: They lost Barry Sanders. I think that was James Stewart
Speaker 1: that came after him had a thousand yards season. But
Speaker 1: ever since then, it's been a carousel. They've used second
Speaker 1: round draft picks, they've used first round draft picks on
Speaker 1: the position. Well, and and they and they thought they
Speaker 1: had a future feature back in job at best, and
Speaker 1: concussions and ended his career because he was looking like
Speaker 1: a very promising prospect for them. Absolutely So now they
Speaker 1: got Carrie on Johnson. And it's funny, Mike, because so often,
Speaker 1: you know, we talked about as recently as these last
Speaker 1: couple of days, people ask about the Packers in the
Speaker 1: running game and who are you going to feature, Well,
Speaker 1: look at what Detroit's also doing. They have Carrie on Johnson,
Speaker 1: who's you know, the spark plug is the big hitter,
Speaker 1: home run hitter. Yeah, he's he's speedy guy, he's fast.
Speaker 1: You have obviously, um, you know Blunt who has been
Speaker 1: a big power back all these years, the Hammer, the Hammer,
Speaker 1: his last name fits his running style exactly. And then
Speaker 1: you got theoretic, who's more of the complimentary receiving type
Speaker 1: of it almost mirrors what Green Bay is doing, which
Speaker 1: almost mirrors what the NFL is doing in two thousand eighteen.
Speaker 1: It's just the way things go. But I mean, getting
Speaker 1: back to the original point, Johnson has been a revelation
Speaker 1: for this offense. He finally ended that streak of of
Speaker 1: that skid. I guess you could say of them not
Speaker 1: having a hundred yard rusher, which at the end of
Speaker 1: the day, it's not a big deal with has went
Speaker 1: through it a number of years ago too, before Eddie
Speaker 1: Lacy got here. But it is a question you have
Speaker 1: to keep answering. It's a question the head coach and
Speaker 1: the offense has to keep addressing. It's something that takes
Speaker 1: on a life of its own in certain and to
Speaker 1: a certain extent, they ended that. So you're out of
Speaker 1: that that equation now for the next season or two.
Speaker 1: But the thing what Johnson is is you can tell
Speaker 1: this is a guy that isn't a that isn't a fluke.
Speaker 1: He's gonna get his yards, he's gonna get his production.
Speaker 1: And as he gets more established in his offense, is
Speaker 1: they get more confidence in him. He's going to be
Speaker 1: a guy that not only the Packers, but the NFC
Speaker 1: North in general is gonna have to deal with. Yeah, well,
Speaker 1: certainly something the Packers will be prepared for on Sunday
Speaker 1: before we go today West. Though it is Thursday, I
Speaker 1: wanted to touch on the Thursday night football matchup this
Speaker 1: week because one of the things that's happened here in
Speaker 1: the NFL this season with Fox Major Network taking over
Speaker 1: the Thursday night television package, is these matchups on Thursday
Speaker 1: nights are they aren't just like throw aways of some
Speaker 1: sort of you know, let's give so and so, you know,
Speaker 1: a primetime game that doesn't normally get one. We saw
Speaker 1: the Rams against the Vikings last week, got the Colts
Speaker 1: against the Patriots this week. Now this is no longer
Speaker 1: Peyton Manning against Tom Brady, but it's Andrew Luck against
Speaker 1: Tom Brady and two guys who have faced each other
Speaker 1: in the postseason, including in an a f C championship game.
Speaker 1: And you have all the drama of what happened with
Speaker 1: the coaching search in the off season with Josh McDaniels
Speaker 1: and and GM Chris Ballard for the Indianapolis Colts. So
Speaker 1: are really interesting. Another interesting Thursday up matchup and one
Speaker 1: that could have some significant implications in the FC. It's
Speaker 1: a must win game for both teams. I mean, you
Speaker 1: look at the Patriots, they're trying to get back on
Speaker 1: the positive side of five. In the Colts with Andrew
Speaker 1: Luck coming back, this is supposed to be okay, well
Speaker 1: we're back to being a contender again. Well they're sitting
Speaker 1: one in three. The other storyline that I don't think
Speaker 1: is getting talked enough about this week is the fact
Speaker 1: that this is Andrew Luck's return against New England. That
Speaker 1: was that looked Mike, when you go back to those
Speaker 1: a f C Championship games, when you go back to
Speaker 1: where things were headed in two thousand, twelve and thirteen
Speaker 1: and fourteen, it looked like Tom Brady versus Manning was
Speaker 1: just gonna shift to Tom Brady versus Love and then
Speaker 1: he deals with the shoulder injury. They obviously go through
Speaker 1: their issues. Jacoby Brissette comes in, who has ties to
Speaker 1: New England, and things kind of get jumbled a little bit.
Speaker 1: But as Chris Ballard said, the rivalries back on after
Speaker 1: everything that happened with Josh McDaniels. Obviously, Frank Wright coming
Speaker 1: in has a lot of familiarity. Now you know with
Speaker 1: that that New England Patriots team. It's gonna be a
Speaker 1: really fun game to watch, And to be honest with you,
Speaker 1: I I from a player perspective. I've always felt for
Speaker 1: the players. I think it's a tough turnaround for guys
Speaker 1: to make it almost you know, kind of a natural
Speaker 1: just just for them to be able to be expected
Speaker 1: to play again on three days rest. But I'd be
Speaker 1: lying to you if I told you I wasn't watching
Speaker 1: these games. For me personally, especially with us covering games
Speaker 1: on Sundays, it's really difficult to sit down and watch
Speaker 1: NFL football, uh if you're specifically honed in on one team.
Speaker 1: So I'm always tuned in and I'll be tuned in again.
Speaker 1: I think it's a really fun matchup between two teams
Speaker 1: that have a really interesting backstory. Yeah. Well, the rest
Speaker 1: of the Thursday nights late this year, there are a
Speaker 1: lot of interesting matchups, so we'll keep talking about them
Speaker 1: as we go along, including the Packers. I know the
Speaker 1: Seattle Seahawks are going through some tough times right now.
Speaker 1: We'll have to see where things are at a month
Speaker 1: from now, but there's a lot of history in that
Speaker 1: stadium with the Green Bay Packers and Seattle Seahawks. You're
Speaker 1: not even just counting the NFC, the NFC Championship game,
Speaker 1: Century link with the Packers. There's there's a story there.
Speaker 1: So again me personally, if you're gonna have Thursday night
Speaker 1: football games, make them compelling, make them watchable, and you know,
Speaker 1: let the chips fall where they may. All Right with that,
Speaker 1: We'll call it a wrap on this edition of Packers Unscripted.
Speaker 1: Be sure to follow all of our coverage of the
Speaker 1: team on Packers dot com. On Twitter, you can still
Speaker 1: follow him at west Hot I'm at Mike Spofford at
Speaker 1: Packers is still the team account. Thanks for tuning in, everybody,
Speaker 1: See you next time.