Speaker 1: Hi, everybody. Welcome to another edition of Packers Unscripted from
Speaker 1: Packers dot Com. I am Mike Spaffer, joined as always
Speaker 1: by my trusted colleague Wes Hodkowitz. We're coming to you
Speaker 1: here from the Potawadi Sportsbooks Studio, and I'll start off
Speaker 1: the show with an apology for all of our regular
Speaker 1: listeners and watchers. We were supposed to have a show
Speaker 1: last Thursday, and in fact, we shot a show last Thursday,
Speaker 1: sitting right here in these very chairs. But in the
Speaker 1: post production phase of things, something went haywire with regard
Speaker 1: to how the show got recorded. It was all messed up,
Speaker 1: and it just so happened that last Thursday, between practice
Speaker 1: and Packers Hall of Fame inductions and all kinds of
Speaker 1: other stuff going on, Wes and I did not have
Speaker 1: time to reshoot the show, so we ended up just
Speaker 1: having to scrap it and skip it and say, all right,
Speaker 1: we're gonna come back next Tuesday full force. So, Wes,
Speaker 1: what that means is that we have a lot to
Speaker 1: talk about on this show because now there are five
Speaker 1: training camp practices in the books since our last show.
Speaker 1: So the first one in Pads taking place on Monday,
Speaker 1: and there will be another one in pads shortly after
Speaker 1: we turn the cameras off in here, So I'll just
Speaker 1: throw it out to you. I want to talk you know,
Speaker 1: both sides of the ball, special teams, everything, just your
Speaker 1: your key takeaways, guys that are standing out, you know
Speaker 1: what you are taking note of through these first five practices,
Speaker 1: What is top of mind for you?
Speaker 2: Yeah. The one thing we're doing this before practice six today,
Speaker 2: at the time in which we're taping this is you know,
Speaker 2: this is training camp fifteen for me now. And I
Speaker 2: don't know if through the first week there's ever been
Speaker 2: an energy quite like the one that I've felt out
Speaker 2: there at Nichki Field. I think part of that credit
Speaker 2: to the fans. I think has been an unbelievable atmosphere
Speaker 2: that the fans have provided. The turnout has been fantastic,
Speaker 2: no doubt, you know, and that's a big part of
Speaker 2: it too, But also just I think it's a mixture
Speaker 2: of a lot of young, hungry guys and also guys
Speaker 2: who have been here three four years now kind of
Speaker 2: becoming their own player and setting their own tone. And
Speaker 2: you know, there was one guy that we were talking
Speaker 2: to last week. This past week, Kamal Hadden. So Kamal
Speaker 2: unfortunate had a terrible ankle injury at the end of
Speaker 2: last season, but that was a rough one. Starts the
Speaker 2: year on pup and he makes his return at practice
Speaker 2: and we're talking to him afterwards, and we're going through
Speaker 2: this talk about what happened in that game against Baltimore,
Speaker 2: and he says, rhetorically to himself, He's like, you know,
Speaker 2: if I had to do it all over again, I would,
Speaker 2: He's like, that's what I got to do. I got
Speaker 2: to set the tone for my team. I got to
Speaker 2: make the play. It was my responsibility to take on
Speaker 2: that crack block. I have to be there. And it
Speaker 2: just seems to me that that sort of underscores the
Speaker 2: mentality this football team. Obviously, you don't want to get injured,
Speaker 2: but it's just that everybody understands their role and understands
Speaker 2: what their job responsibilities are, and I think are maximizing
Speaker 2: these snaps early on. So, whether it's Jordan Love, I
Speaker 2: think has had a really good pace with the offense
Speaker 2: so far, whether it's Xavier McKinney who picked off Jordan
Speaker 2: Love for the first time in team periods on two
Speaker 2: on Monday. Yeah, I've just really liked the level of
Speaker 2: compete and as we transition now into the full padded
Speaker 2: portion of practice, of the full padded portion of training camp,
Speaker 2: I'm just really excited to see what these guys can do.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think it's interesting that you bring up the intensity.
Speaker 1: I mean, I definitely felt the intensity ratchet up a
Speaker 1: notch when the full pads went on for the first
Speaker 1: time on Monday, and that's not unusual. That happens quite
Speaker 1: a bit. But I hear what you're saying too about
Speaker 1: those first four practices that were, you know, more of
Speaker 1: like the glorified OTAs, you know, where it's not full contact.
Speaker 1: But and I guess maybe it's a combination of things, right,
Speaker 1: I mean it's you have a new defensive coordinator, you're
Speaker 1: installing a new defense, you have a new special teams coordinator,
Speaker 1: so the special teams period's taking on a little bit
Speaker 1: different look with some different drills and other things going on.
Speaker 1: And you go back to what Matt Lafleur said way
Speaker 1: back I believe it was in March when you were
Speaker 1: with him in Phoenix at the Owners. I mean he's
Speaker 1: talking about breaking down the offense all the way back
Speaker 1: down to like square one to the basics, and then
Speaker 1: rebuilding what the playbook is going to be for twenty
Speaker 1: twenty six. Maybe it's just a combination of all those
Speaker 1: things that there's just you know, there's kind of something
Speaker 1: different in the air this year in terms of the preparation.
Speaker 1: It's just different the preparation to get to get ready
Speaker 1: for the upcoming season. I'm totally with you on the
Speaker 1: way Jordan Love has looked he I mean, things look sharp.
Speaker 1: I mean the interception by McKinney, great diving play by McKinney,
Speaker 1: one of the only like off target throws. We can
Speaker 1: probably count him on one hand so far through all
Speaker 1: these practices, the off target throws that Love has made,
Speaker 1: and McKinney happened to make him pay for that one
Speaker 1: when he missed Jade and read over the middle. But
Speaker 1: when talking about the offense, and again the pads have
Speaker 1: only been on for one day, so it's hard to
Speaker 1: talk a lot about the guys in the trenches just yet.
Speaker 1: But for me, what I've seen out there on the
Speaker 1: practice field from Matthew Golden and Christian Watson at wide
Speaker 1: receiver has impressed the heck out of me. I mean
Speaker 1: it doesn't. With both of those guys, it hasn't looked
Speaker 1: like the first week of camp. It's looked more like
Speaker 1: the first month of the regular season what we're seeing
Speaker 1: them do. And hopefully that is just the beginning and
Speaker 1: things are going to progress from here. But I've just
Speaker 1: been really impressed with the plays that Golden and Watson
Speaker 1: continue to make day after day after day.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and I think for Golden one, it's just what
Speaker 2: you and I expected, right, I mean, he's going to
Speaker 2: get more opportunities, He's going to be running more with
Speaker 2: Jordan Love this year. His hands, he has such good hands,
Speaker 2: he has such good separation for a young guy. He
Speaker 2: runs the route tree really well. You can use him downfield,
Speaker 2: you can use him across the middle. That's all to
Speaker 2: be expected. What I've really liked with Christian Watson in
Speaker 2: particular is this looks like a guy that has taken
Speaker 2: steps to becoming a complete wide receiver. Now that it's
Speaker 2: not just that, Okay, he's a six foot four guy
Speaker 2: that runs in the four threes. No, Christian Watson is
Speaker 2: making an impact. He's using that speed to stretch the field,
Speaker 2: you know, he's using it to go sideline to sideline
Speaker 2: on guys he's catching underneath routes. I just feel like,
Speaker 2: as much as we've focused this offseason on the transition
Speaker 2: at receiver and Romeo Dobs and Dontevin Wicks being gone
Speaker 2: and Okay, this is going to be the nucleus, it's
Speaker 2: also how those guys fit together and the various ways
Speaker 2: that you can use those three and to branch off
Speaker 2: for your thoughts on the offense, and I actually I
Speaker 2: thought you raised one of the best points that I
Speaker 2: think we've had so far during training camp during three
Speaker 2: things yesterday when you were talking about the early periods
Speaker 2: of team. First time they're in the you know, the
Speaker 2: spider pad, what you know, the full pads. You know,
Speaker 2: they've done all these things the last few days, and
Speaker 2: you feel like the offensive line that, in my opinion,
Speaker 2: with some of that run stuff, it seems they're playing
Speaker 2: with the chip on their shoulder. And when you talk
Speaker 2: about rebuilding the the playbook and the game plan a
Speaker 2: little bit, it seems like the Packers are getting back
Speaker 2: to maybe some of their original principles with the inside
Speaker 2: zone run, some of the things that Josh Jacobs is
Speaker 2: doing in Marshall Lloyd knock on Wood being able to
Speaker 2: get through this first week of practice with no injuries
Speaker 2: so far looking really good, looking really explosive. And we're
Speaker 2: not even talking about the fact that Tucker Kraft was
Speaker 2: elevated off of pup. Not in the team periods yet,
Speaker 2: not in that mix yet. Packers are weathering a lot
Speaker 2: of injuries at tight end, but when it comes to receiver,
Speaker 2: running back, quarterback, the positions where Green Bay probably is
Speaker 2: gonna have to lean on here throughout training camp based
Speaker 2: on how much they're going to have Craft out there.
Speaker 2: I think it's been a really really good start for
Speaker 2: that unit. Yeah.
Speaker 1: Absolutely, I mean it's been good to see certain guys
Speaker 1: get back into practice Craft being one at the top
Speaker 1: of the list. We've seen DeVante Wyatt in practice, though
Speaker 1: he's not doing eleven on eleven either. We've seen formerly
Speaker 1: known as Zach Tom now Zach Baco Bewelli, changed his
Speaker 1: last name to honor his uh, honor his heritage on
Speaker 1: his father's side. He's back at practice, but also not
Speaker 1: doing team eleven on eleven yet. You mentioned Kamal Hadden
Speaker 1: has come back still, you know, some injury concerned with
Speaker 1: with Luke Musgrave and you know Javon Hargrave isn't isn't
Speaker 1: back out there, you Jordan Riley, you know, another one
Speaker 1: with with a tough, tough injury late last season. So
Speaker 1: they're you know, not everybody is back, but but it's
Speaker 1: been good to see and and you know, I think
Speaker 1: maybe I made the comment to you yesterday, it might
Speaker 1: have been somebody else I was talking to a practice.
Speaker 1: You know, we're all waiting for whenever Tuckerkraft is going
Speaker 1: to get the green light for the eleven on eleven,
Speaker 1: And it just feels like once he does the first
Speaker 1: like four or five passes in a rower going his
Speaker 1: way right, it's like, it's all right, Tuck, you're back.
Speaker 1: Let's see what you got, you know. I mean, it
Speaker 1: feels like they are going to they are going to
Speaker 1: push him to get him ready. Not that he does
Speaker 1: and push himself obviously, but he is going to be
Speaker 1: pushed to get ready to contribute in the way that
Speaker 1: he's expected to and believed to within this offense. And
Speaker 1: I think even he's not in the eleven on eleven,
Speaker 1: but there's just a little bit of extra juice to
Speaker 1: some of those drills just because Tucker Craft is on
Speaker 1: the field.
Speaker 2: And it's not just the tight end drills. Have you
Speaker 2: noticed that. I mean, one thing I like about Tuck
Speaker 2: and I don't know if this is the training staff,
Speaker 2: I don't know if it's him. I don't know if
Speaker 2: it's something he's talked about with the assistant coaches or
Speaker 2: what John Dunn. You see him sort of just going
Speaker 2: around the practice field in these periods where he can't
Speaker 2: be out there for team. You know, he's looking at
Speaker 2: some of the individual stuff where they're doing some you know,
Speaker 2: blocking things. He was over with the running backs going
Speaker 2: through the gauntlet with Ben Sermons, you know, you know,
Speaker 2: finishing that out. He was working the blocking shed on
Speaker 2: his own. There's no wasted minute with him. And I
Speaker 2: think when you look at his preparation and his recovery,
Speaker 2: that sort of just, you know, is what he's done
Speaker 2: all off season to put himself in this position. The
Speaker 2: other thing I thought that was really interesting, and again
Speaker 2: kudos is Zach Bakubawell got to make sure work on
Speaker 2: that one. B Well, if it wasn't for the name change,
Speaker 2: I think one of the big headlines coming out of
Speaker 2: that media scrum of his he thinks in the next
Speaker 2: week or so, he'll be back in team.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: So a guy that had a pretty significant pateller tear
Speaker 2: injury last year. Now he's getting closer to being back
Speaker 2: in the fold while Darian Kinnard's been taking those snaps
Speaker 2: so far. So pads are on. Guys are gonna get
Speaker 2: banged up. You're gonna see that injury. Let's get a
Speaker 2: little bit longer than it's been. But for the most part,
Speaker 2: I think the Packers were able to navigate the off
Speaker 2: season program the way they wanted to, and you're seeing
Speaker 2: them get their nucleus, that core on the field here
Speaker 2: in August.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and it's been great. You mentioned him already. It's
Speaker 1: been great to see what Marshawn Lloyd has brought to
Speaker 1: the table. I mean there have been certain plays, you know,
Speaker 1: on a handoff, when it develops a certain way, you
Speaker 1: see him when he hits that extra gear. He's got
Speaker 1: that common of the shiftiness and the explosiveness anytime the
Speaker 1: ball's in his hands. And you know, we're all knocking
Speaker 1: on wood here. Of course, everybody's rooting for this guy,
Speaker 1: not only on a personal level, but because Marshall Lloyd
Speaker 1: can really really be a factor in this offense. In
Speaker 1: twenty twenty six. We're seeing it already, and you know,
Speaker 1: and fingers crossed that it comes to fruition.
Speaker 2: The Packers need to get Chris Brooks out there too.
Speaker 2: He's such a well rounded player. He works on teams
Speaker 2: and the offense. But you know, way it almost kind
Speaker 2: of feels like one of the silver linings to Brooks
Speaker 2: unfortunately starting pup with on pup with the hamstring is
Speaker 2: it's almost like they had to kind of they had
Speaker 2: to push Marshaw Lloyd out there. I mean, because this
Speaker 2: is undisputed. It's those two guys at the top of
Speaker 2: the depth chart there with Josh Jacobs. He's had to
Speaker 2: take first team reps. He's had to take second team
Speaker 2: team reps, and they obviously had a formula for him
Speaker 2: during the offseason program. There'd be days where he would
Speaker 2: do team. There was days when he wouldn't. For the
Speaker 2: first week of camp, he's been off the chain here.
Speaker 2: He's been allowed to just kind of be himself and
Speaker 2: be a running back again. And I think, you know,
Speaker 2: we got to get to the preseason games. You gotta
Speaker 2: get through training camp. But the more and more you
Speaker 2: stack these days, you just gotta feel like Marshawn is
Speaker 2: feeling more and more confident about the changes he made
Speaker 2: this offseason, the training and how he's altered his approach
Speaker 2: and hopefully how he's able to play in actual NFL
Speaker 2: games this season.
Speaker 1: Yeah, no doubt about it. Well, I want to shift
Speaker 1: gears to the defensive side of the ball, but we
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Speaker 1: First five practices Defensive side of the ball. I'm gonna
Speaker 1: start with this one because everybody always wants to know
Speaker 1: in training camp, who's the underdog story, right, Who's the
Speaker 1: who's the guy coming out of nowhere? Who's gonna make
Speaker 1: for a really tough decision for the personnel department right
Speaker 1: when the when the decisions are made, roster decisions are made,
Speaker 1: the cut down to fifty three. Now we are just
Speaker 1: a week into things. There is a long way to go.
Speaker 1: You just said it in relation to Marshawn Lloyd. There
Speaker 1: is the preseason games and all that, but you cannot
Speaker 1: help but notice Anthony Campbell, young defensive lineman. He's listed
Speaker 1: at six foot six three oh seven. He is definitely
Speaker 1: all of six foot six, and I believe the three
Speaker 1: oh seven is a bit understated. I'm guessing, you know,
Speaker 1: I think he's probably fifteen to twenty pounds heavier than that.
Speaker 1: I mean, he's he's a big, big man. But he
Speaker 1: is making an impact now. He you know, he's been
Speaker 1: on every unit from the threes of the twos to ones.
Speaker 1: He rotates in with the ones, sometimes he's with the
Speaker 1: reserve units. He continues to pressure, get pressure up the
Speaker 1: middle and knock passes down. At the line of scrimmage yesterday,
Speaker 1: that six foot six, three hundred plus pound frame is
Speaker 1: chasing to Rod Taylor out of the pocket and keeping
Speaker 1: up with him and forcing him to throw the ball
Speaker 1: away along the sideline. This is a guy you mentioned
Speaker 1: him in our in the three Things video. After practice yesterday,
Speaker 1: completely under the radar acquisition. It was the first week
Speaker 1: of January and the Packers just signed him to the
Speaker 1: practice squad. Yeah, like an acquisition when the Green Bay
Speaker 1: is getting ready for the playoffs and all this, nobody's
Speaker 1: paying attention to it at all. And now here we
Speaker 1: are seven months later and this is a guy who's
Speaker 1: you know, getting noticed on the practice field and getting
Speaker 1: some reps with the first unit with some of those
Speaker 1: other defensive tackles, not in the eleven on eleven.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it was funny. Was talking denied Dennis Sutton, the
Speaker 2: Packer's rookie edge rusher, yesterday, and he was we were
Speaker 2: talking about him rushing on the interior and you know,
Speaker 2: he has some versatility there, can go inside outside, and
Speaker 2: it was just so funny. Out of nowhere, without being
Speaker 2: prompted at all, He's like, yeah, then you got like
Speaker 2: ac and he's got like three batted balls a day
Speaker 2: right now in these practices. And here's what's so interesting
Speaker 2: about this kid. And we're gonna watch him. We'll see
Speaker 2: how he obviously does. In the preseason, he played in
Speaker 2: community college ball. Goes to Louisiana Monroe in the rotation there,
Speaker 2: transfers to Miami. Plays two years at Miami, and when
Speaker 2: I say plays, I use that term rather loosely. There's
Speaker 2: a lot of watching. His senior year, he had a
Speaker 2: half sack that accounted for his only tackle in eight games.
Speaker 2: He did have a pass deflection though that season two.
Speaker 2: There you go, and this is a credit to Brian Goodcuns.
Speaker 2: It's also a credit to John Schneider. I mean, these
Speaker 2: are the guys, these are the gms out there that
Speaker 2: leave no stone unturned. And Schnyder signed him as an
Speaker 2: undrafted rookie last year. He got through training camp, he
Speaker 2: was on the peace squad Seattle eventually lets them go
Speaker 2: in Green Bay. How many times you're talking about these
Speaker 2: practice moves? How many times, Mike, once you get to
Speaker 2: the second half of the season, do we see a
Speaker 2: guy signed one week and then cut the next and
Speaker 2: then they flip? You know, they just are always turning.
Speaker 2: They're always looking at.
Speaker 1: Guys constant and that part of the roster during the
Speaker 1: regular season.
Speaker 2: And here is Anthony Campbell, now, you know, maximizing those
Speaker 2: third team reps and is going to probably get a
Speaker 2: lot of playing time in the preseason. You would imagine
Speaker 2: and for sure the one thing, and I wrote about this.
Speaker 2: I'm sure you're gonna transition to some of the you know,
Speaker 2: the first team stuff, but I wrote about this on
Speaker 2: packers dot com today. You know Chris mcclollin, the Packers'
Speaker 2: rookie third round pick. When you look at Warren Brinston
Speaker 2: six rounder from last year, you know Nziers Stackhouse, undrafted
Speaker 2: guy for last year. All these dudes in the interior
Speaker 2: defensive line have had opportunities to rotate in right now
Speaker 2: because unfortunately, as you talked about why it's not back
Speaker 2: in team yet, and Javon Hargrave has been on pup
Speaker 2: with a knee injury. Those two guys, when they're healthy,
Speaker 2: that is going to be dudes that are gonna be
Speaker 2: playing on first, second, and third down and form or fashion.
Speaker 2: The fact that these young guys have been able to
Speaker 2: get these opportunities, the trickle down is guys like Campbell
Speaker 2: now in the second third team units being able to
Speaker 2: get some you know, some shots as well.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and that's one of the biggest things I've noticed
Speaker 1: as far as this, and it's partly injury driven, yes,
Speaker 1: because of guys who are out and not you know,
Speaker 1: not full fledged participants. In practice yet and whatnot. But
Speaker 1: it seems as Jonathan Gannon is going through the installation
Speaker 1: of this defense, he is doing a lot of rotating
Speaker 1: with the first unit he's he's rotating. I mean, we've
Speaker 1: seen the vast majority of the draft picks, whether you're
Speaker 1: talking Brandon Cisa at corner, you mentioned Deny, Dennis Sutton
Speaker 1: on the edge, Chris McClellan in the middle, all these
Speaker 1: rookie draft picks are getting some snaps with the ones.
Speaker 1: CSA getting more now in addition to just the previous
Speaker 1: rotation because Carrington Valentine is currently out with a hamstring injury.
Speaker 1: So Sisa is lining up regularly opposite Keishawn Nixon with
Speaker 1: the number one defense. But the the constant rotation it
Speaker 1: feels to me, and again this is just my two
Speaker 1: bit analysis from the sideline, but it seems to me
Speaker 1: a very intentional effort on the part of the coaches
Speaker 1: to engage as many players as possible in the installation
Speaker 1: of this defense. Get as many guys as possible in
Speaker 1: the huddle with Zaire Franklin, with Xavier McKinney, with the
Speaker 1: guys who are calling the shots, and the guys who
Speaker 1: are you know, yelling and hollering, and you know Evan Williams,
Speaker 1: the guys who are you know, getting everybody aligned. The
Speaker 1: more guys that are in the huddle and on the
Speaker 1: field with those guys on a regular basis, the more
Speaker 1: they're engaged in this whole installation process. I think, I
Speaker 1: know it's partly injury driven, but I also think it's
Speaker 1: partly intentional.
Speaker 2: Just love it all around because like you're seeing when
Speaker 2: you look Againnon's scheme right now, we've I was talking
Speaker 2: with Xavier McKinney about this last week, and also Javon Bullerd,
Speaker 2: I know, has been mentioning it to some guys too.
Speaker 2: Keishaw Nixon went out of his way to talk about it.
Speaker 2: There's like almost an emphasis that it's like there's gonna
Speaker 2: be three safeties. We're going to go three safety that's
Speaker 2: going to be our base front. We're going to learn
Speaker 2: how to defend the run against it. We're gonna look
Speaker 2: at being able to be multiple with it. It's not
Speaker 2: just gonna be Jivon Bullard as a slot cornerback. He's
Speaker 2: the guy blitzing. They're gonna send different guys and they
Speaker 2: want to see how many guys Okay, you know what
Speaker 2: your starters can do, but when you get down further
Speaker 2: down the depth chart, guys that you might have to
Speaker 2: rely on in week eight, week twelve, week fifteen, who
Speaker 2: are gonna be the guys that could potentially step in
Speaker 2: and stand out? And that's been the beauty of what
Speaker 2: he's been able to look at this training camp. You
Speaker 2: want to have Micah Parsons, you want to have Why,
Speaker 2: you want to have Hardgrave, You want to have these guys,
Speaker 2: you know, Carrington valand you want to have them all available,
Speaker 2: but sometimes you're not. And who's gonna be the next
Speaker 2: guys up? And are they gonna be ready for those shots?
Speaker 2: Se say Dennis Sutton McClellan. These guys are all dudes
Speaker 2: that have been running with the first team unit since
Speaker 2: the offseason program. Yeah, that's a lot of snaps that
Speaker 2: they've been able to stack up. And there's going to
Speaker 2: come a day here if everything works out, where they're
Speaker 2: gonna be on the second team unit and it will
Speaker 2: be guys taking those first team reps and they're not
Speaker 2: gonna be able to rotate in there as frequently, but
Speaker 2: you know when they're need them on second down in
Speaker 2: the third quarter in Week three against the Atlanta Falcins.
Speaker 2: You're gonna need to find guys that can eat snaps
Speaker 2: for you, that can contribute. And I just I like
Speaker 2: everything about gannon scheme so far. I think Halfley did
Speaker 2: a tremendous job of implementing what he wanted to do here,
Speaker 2: and they did it very well.
Speaker 1: And did a lot of adjusting a lot of adjusting
Speaker 1: along the way too.
Speaker 2: But there's something about gannon scheme that it is just the
Speaker 2: unpredictability of it. It's just very intriguing.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I think one of the things that intrigues me
Speaker 1: the most, and you made me think of it because
Speaker 1: when you're talking about this whole three safety thing and
Speaker 1: how they're doing this. The combination, the combination of Evan
Speaker 1: Williams and Javon Bull are both going into year three here.
Speaker 1: We've seen what both of them are capable of. They've
Speaker 1: got a lot of NFL football under their belts in
Speaker 1: their first in their first two years in the league,
Speaker 1: where they are in their own maturation process as professional
Speaker 1: football players. And then the combination of Jonathan Gannon's scheme
Speaker 1: what we might see out of guys like Evan Williams
Speaker 1: and Javon Bullard could be pretty impressive this year. We
Speaker 1: might be spending a lot of time talking about those guys.
Speaker 2: I think you're right in one of the things. Again,
Speaker 2: this is not an indictment on Halfley. He was brilliant
Speaker 2: with how he dialed things up, but it was like, Okay,
Speaker 2: Evan Williams is the free safety. But if you go
Speaker 2: back to his makeup at Fresno State, at Oregon, he
Speaker 2: was used in a lot of different ways. He was
Speaker 2: a guy that did get after the quarterback at times.
Speaker 2: The way he's built, he has those attributes. And what
Speaker 2: I really like about Bullard, and you've underscored this in
Speaker 2: some of your copy and some of our videos that
Speaker 2: we've talked about, is there was a time, Mike, when
Speaker 2: you think about Charles Woodson in that nickel role, you
Speaker 2: think about Casey Hayward as a defensive Rookie of the
Speaker 2: Year candidate in twenty twelve out of the slot, There's
Speaker 2: been a time where that slot, or what Tom Capers
Speaker 2: used to call the star position, that was a marquee position.
Speaker 2: You want to have one of your best players playing
Speaker 2: that spot. The Packers have gone through transitions, they've had
Speaker 2: undrafted rookies. They've had different players. You know, Shandon Sullivan
Speaker 2: played that role at one point.
Speaker 1: Where they've taken a guy like Morgan Burnett and moved
Speaker 1: in there because they didn't really have a better option.
Speaker 2: Yeah. Yeah, Javon Bullard has made that his home. He
Speaker 2: has embraced that role. When you talk about okay, yeah, interceptions,
Speaker 2: when you talk about coverage, that's all involved in it.
Speaker 2: But it's also about how you chase down running backs.
Speaker 2: It's also about the tone you set up front, and
Speaker 2: I think Bullard gives them that flexibility too.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it's it's going to be exciting. Again, it's really early.
Speaker 1: We don't even know how much, if at all, the
Speaker 1: starters are going to play in the preseason games or
Speaker 1: what we're really going to see until Week one when
Speaker 1: it matters against the Minnesota Vikings. But it's been it's
Speaker 1: been interesting to see the process. And you know, Jonathan
Speaker 1: Gannon's just out there with his bucket hat on and
Speaker 1: his walkie talkie call in the plays, and you know,
Speaker 1: and he's just and he's just watching. He's figuring out,
Speaker 1: he's figuring out what his guys do best. Now that's
Speaker 1: to say, I mean Jordan love and the offense. They've
Speaker 1: had their share of success against Scannon's unit. Ganna's unit
Speaker 1: has taken it to them in certain team periods as well.
Speaker 1: There's been a lot of really good back and forth
Speaker 1: out there on the field, which is what you want
Speaker 1: to see in training camp. You want to see when
Speaker 1: when one side starts to get the better of it,
Speaker 1: how does the other side respond. We're definitely seeing that's
Speaker 1: gonna take things go along.
Speaker 2: It's gonna take some chances too, and it's gonna be
Speaker 2: interesting to see how Packer fans how they responded to that,
Speaker 2: because for so long they're like, well, just send them,
Speaker 2: just do this and do that. And there was sort
Speaker 2: of this ideology with with Halfway that you want to
Speaker 2: keep the ball in front of you. Ganning goes big
Speaker 2: at times. I think that's gonna resonate with fans, but
Speaker 2: uh yeah, it's gonna be fun to watch.
Speaker 1: Yeah. Yeah. A couple last thoughts before we go, just
Speaker 1: so we hit on all three phases here through the
Speaker 1: first five practices on special teams. One change up, so
Speaker 1: to speak, or a couple of them actually, because we
Speaker 1: didn't have it. We had talked about it on our
Speaker 1: last show. That ended up getting scrapped. But the Packers
Speaker 1: are actually down to just one kicker on the active roster.
Speaker 2: I called that one.
Speaker 1: Yeah, Lucas Haversik was released. The German born and his
Speaker 1: name is escaping at the Kreeg Lenny Kreig. Lenny was
Speaker 1: in my mind. I couldn't think of the last name.
Speaker 1: So German born Lenny Kreeg was signed, but then he
Speaker 1: was subsequently released because the Packers need a long snapper
Speaker 1: in camp because Matt Orzik is currently dealing with CAF injury,
Speaker 1: nothing serious, but they want to get him better before
Speaker 1: they push him into action. So cal Adamitis has been
Speaker 1: signed as the long snapper who's now part of the
Speaker 1: operation here in practice until orz It gets better. All
Speaker 1: of that said, we've seen rookie kicker Tray Smack have
Speaker 1: two kicking periods the last couple of days in practice.
Speaker 1: He went three for five in each one. Then he
Speaker 1: went two for three at the end of the various
Speaker 1: two minute drills at the end of practice on Monday.
Speaker 1: So I think officially, slash unofficially, he's eight thirteen on
Speaker 1: field goals thus far. A couple things I will say.
Speaker 1: One of those was definitely a bad snap by Adamitis
Speaker 1: when when he missed and another one was a fifty
Speaker 1: five yard or where he just flat out mishit the ball,
Speaker 1: And that can happen when a guy is really trying
Speaker 1: to put something extra into it. But it feels like,
Speaker 1: you know, the fan base is already in a state
Speaker 1: of panic over Tray smacks misses early in camp. I'll
Speaker 1: just remind everybody, a there's a long way to go.
Speaker 1: B this time last year, Brandon McManus couldn't miss and
Speaker 1: when push came to shove, it didn't matter because because
Speaker 1: the big kicks that the Packers really needed late in
Speaker 1: the season weren't made. And number three, when the Packers
Speaker 1: went through this with Andras Carlson a couple of years ago,
Speaker 1: a rookie sixth round pick, he went five straight games
Speaker 1: in his NFL career before he missed a kick in
Speaker 1: a game and that still didn't work out. So I'm
Speaker 1: not saying Tray Smack is the kicker here for the
Speaker 1: next ten years. I'm not saying this is going to
Speaker 1: work out swimmingly. I'm not guaranteeing anybody anything. I'm just
Speaker 1: saying after a couple of practices. Let's just let the
Speaker 1: process play out and let the young man work on
Speaker 1: it for a bit.
Speaker 2: I've said it once, and actually I said it last
Speaker 2: week on the show too, when you look at the
Speaker 2: kicking position again, it's so cliche to say, but I mean,
Speaker 2: Packer fans did get spoiled by Mason crosby the fact
Speaker 2: that he had a couple down years over the span
Speaker 2: of fifteen years, right, I mean, that really shows you
Speaker 2: the amount of consistency and level headedness that Mason had
Speaker 2: in addition to a heck of a lot of talent.
Speaker 2: The more norm is to go like what the Chicago
Speaker 2: Bears went through, which was they cut ties too early
Speaker 2: on Robbie Gold. They struggled for years to find the
Speaker 2: next kicker, and then they sort of just lucked into
Speaker 2: Cairo Santos and now Santos has been just money for
Speaker 2: them the last couple seasons. It's hard to develop kickers
Speaker 2: in this league. Sometimes guys will come in. You see
Speaker 2: Baits come out of the UF. Oh, and he's been
Speaker 2: a stud for the Lions, right. You see obviously Brandon
Speaker 2: Aubrey come out of you know, major League soccer wherever
Speaker 2: he was from.
Speaker 1: Right, And he's obviously soccer player.
Speaker 2: He's been, you know, just absolutely the best kicker in
Speaker 2: the league. He's the highest paid kicker in the league.
Speaker 2: So the Packers are ready to ride the waves here
Speaker 2: with a rookie kicker. The key I think is going
Speaker 2: to be for Smack is just understanding it, narrowing the
Speaker 2: focus and just trying to make sure that it's not
Speaker 2: just about what kicks you make and what cakes you
Speaker 2: kicks you miss. It's about finding improvement. It's about finding
Speaker 2: your rhythm. And the other thing to keep in mind too,
Speaker 2: because of Adamitas coming in, they kicked the first few
Speaker 2: practices either, so we actually are seeing like the very
Speaker 2: first kicks that he's having with a brand new long snapper.
Speaker 2: Two and also shout out to Wes Hokwitz. I called
Speaker 2: the Packers signing cal Adamitis. I just did it four
Speaker 2: years ago after the twenty twenty two NFL Draft, But was.
Speaker 1: I was gonna, I was gonna bring that up. But
Speaker 1: I'm glad. I'm glad you did so that I didn't
Speaker 1: forget before we sold that he cal item Adamas was
Speaker 1: on Wes Hogcouizt draft board four years ago and he's
Speaker 1: you know he's done some snapping for the Bengals, and
Speaker 1: you know he's been in the league from Clark Harris,
Speaker 1: Yeah he's been. He's been in the league. So but yeah,
Speaker 1: hopefully or z It gets back, they get the operations
Speaker 1: smoothed out all that, and and we see where things
Speaker 1: are a couple three four weeks from now and not
Speaker 1: perseverate so much over the you know, the Twitter updates
Speaker 1: on this kick and that kick at practice.
Speaker 2: No disrespect by the way to Adamitis, but it was
Speaker 2: when the Packers signed him. We usually don't see two
Speaker 2: long snappers. It kind of reminds you how big Matt
Speaker 2: Orzick is. You almost kind of forget about just as
Speaker 2: as a long snapper goes like him.
Speaker 1: Yeah he's not small. Is not a small dude, No,
Speaker 1: he's not.
Speaker 2: But we never saw like these guys, Rick Levado or
Speaker 2: any of these guys together. It's just it was just yeah,
Speaker 2: it's like, well, that's that's a big he's a big
Speaker 2: long snap.
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah he is. He is, all right looking on
Speaker 1: the show there, what's that? We'll call it a rap
Speaker 1: on this edition of Packer Is Unscripted. Be sure to
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