Speaker 1: Hi, everyone, Welcome to Packers Unscripted from Packers dot Com.
Speaker 1: I am Mike Spofford. He is my trusted colleague West Hodkuits.
Speaker 1: We're coming to you here from our studios at lambeau
Speaker 1: Field and West we have another preseason game to talk about,
Speaker 1: and I'm talking about reviewing Green Bay's fifty one to
Speaker 1: thirty four victory last Thursday night at lambeau Field over
Speaker 1: the Pittsburgh Steelers. And uh, I guess we'll start right
Speaker 1: where it started, which is with a pick six by
Speaker 1: Tremont Williams on the opening offensive play of the game.
Speaker 1: And not only do the Packers start the game that way,
Speaker 1: they start the second half that way with Josh Jackson
Speaker 1: getting a pick six. So a couple of really big
Speaker 1: plays by the defense. And it's also interesting, Mike, that
Speaker 1: it was those two individuals because if you know anything
Speaker 1: about the story from this offseason, Trumon Williams actually sort
Speaker 1: of taking Josh Jackson under his wing a little bit.
Speaker 1: So the mentor protege sort of angle as well to
Speaker 1: that scenario, starting first on Truman Williams. What an individual
Speaker 1: this guy is. And and I don't have the you know, Mike,
Speaker 1: Spofford Stats Info Department at my my fingertips like you do.
Speaker 1: But you tell me right now, Michael, how many thirty
Speaker 1: five year old boundary cornerbacks there are in the NFL
Speaker 1: that are playing at the level that Truman Williams is
Speaker 1: playing at. And it's interesting too because you've seen, and
Speaker 1: with all due respect to him, the Darrell Reeva's is
Speaker 1: the world and some of these individuals that were Pro
Speaker 1: Bowl are all pro type cornerbacks. In Williams time start
Speaker 1: to fade away, and yet here's Trumon Williams still looking
Speaker 1: like a twenty five year old kid out there in savvy.
Speaker 1: I mean, I don't know if there's very many smarter
Speaker 1: football players right now in the NFL than Truman Williams.
Speaker 1: A rookie quarterback in Mason Rudolph his first professional throw,
Speaker 1: and Williams, who's lining up against Darius Heyward Bay by
Speaker 1: the way, too, one of the fastest receivers in the league. Uh,
Speaker 1: just shoots the stopper out there and brings it in
Speaker 1: for the touchdown. UH. And it was interesting. I asked
Speaker 1: to meet your goodson about this afterwards. And you know,
Speaker 1: the beginning of the game, guys are still trying to
Speaker 1: get their you know, bearings a little bit, trying to
Speaker 1: figure out where they're gonna watch from. It was almost
Speaker 1: before anyone could even react to it, he already has
Speaker 1: six points up on the board. I mean, that's what
Speaker 1: Tremon Williams does. Yeah, I think the only thing that
Speaker 1: would have been kind of cooler. I would have liked
Speaker 1: to have seen the Davante Adams Cleveland thing. You know,
Speaker 1: just run into the end zone and it's a preseason game.
Speaker 1: I'm done for the night and go up the tunnel.
Speaker 1: I've I've done my job on one play. He did
Speaker 1: go out there and play some more after that. But
Speaker 1: but fast forwarding then to the start of the second half,
Speaker 1: as easy as Tremont Williams made his pick six, look, uh,
Speaker 1: Josh Jackson. He put his athleticism on display there with
Speaker 1: that one, not only to make that catch kind of
Speaker 1: extending his body to snag that ball cleanly, but then
Speaker 1: keeping his balance, staying in bounds, you know, uh, tight
Speaker 1: roping the sideline just a little bit there to make
Speaker 1: sure that he could get into the end zone. And
Speaker 1: a pretty exciting play. And it's interesting too, Mike, because
Speaker 1: you know, and with you we'll see with jire Alexander,
Speaker 1: he has a lot of ability to. I don't know though,
Speaker 1: if I've seen a rookie come in and look the
Speaker 1: part as fast as Josh Jackson does. He just looks
Speaker 1: like an NFL cornerback. And the exciting thing is after
Speaker 1: he was a playmaking eight interception boundary cornerback last year
Speaker 1: for Iowa. I think there's some versatility there the packer's
Speaker 1: plan to use with him people and I mentioned this
Speaker 1: last week, they really pigeonheld him to just being a
Speaker 1: boundary cornerback. Packers are really excited about his versatility now
Speaker 1: that specific play he makes it outside, kept his feet
Speaker 1: and bounds and was able to bring it back for
Speaker 1: the touchdown. He also mentioned it was his mother, Vanessa's
Speaker 1: birthday that day. He told her he was gonna try.
Speaker 1: I appreciated this. He didn't make the the overblown line
Speaker 1: of I'm gonna get you an interception today. It was
Speaker 1: I'm gonna try to get you a pick six today
Speaker 1: for your birthday. He accomplished that goal. He also mentioned
Speaker 1: afterwards he was asked why he didn't do it. Lambole
Speaker 1: Leap same thinking as Marquez Valdes scantling a week earlier.
Speaker 1: It's a priest season game. He wants to save that
Speaker 1: moment for a meaningful regular season setting. But a really
Speaker 1: nice play from Jackson to very similar to what Williams did,
Speaker 1: but really out of the extra layer of difficulty with
Speaker 1: being along the sidelines and making sure he state in bounds. Yeah. Now,
Speaker 1: there were also some struggles on defense. We can't ignore
Speaker 1: that the Steelers did score thirty four points. They were
Speaker 1: using basically their third and fourth string quarterbacks because Ben
Speaker 1: Roethlisberger and Landry Jones did not play. One series in particular,
Speaker 1: I think was troublesome for the Packers defense. James Conner,
Speaker 1: the running back, big running back from the University of
Speaker 1: Pittsburgh from the combine combined, Yeah that when he was
Speaker 1: coming out, he um he was tough to tackle, and
Speaker 1: the Packers missed way too many tackles on him on
Speaker 1: one particular drive. The Steelers kind of got some things
Speaker 1: going there and and got themselves back into the game
Speaker 1: very quickly from a scoreboard standpoint. So a lot of
Speaker 1: guys in the locker room, as excited as they were
Speaker 1: about the pick sixes and making those big plays and
Speaker 1: and as Mike McCarthy says all the time, you have
Speaker 1: to have big play production in this league in order
Speaker 1: to win. UM there are some things that that the
Speaker 1: Packers need to clean up, and they had some film
Speaker 1: to look at that that they didn't like. Yeah, Mike
Speaker 1: Petton will be talking this week. I'll be interested to
Speaker 1: see what he what his interpretation of things were, because
Speaker 1: if you're looking from the positive aspect, packers want to
Speaker 1: see that kind of performance out of their cornerbacks. I
Speaker 1: thought Divine was also played really well. Mike McCarthy went
Speaker 1: out of his way to commend that whole group, and
Speaker 1: that was the group that's coming off you know, the
Speaker 1: kind of uh, you know, troublesome turbulence season from a
Speaker 1: year ago with all the injuries they had. Conversely, though,
Speaker 1: it was between really the hashes where the Packers I
Speaker 1: think we're trying to get their footing a little bit,
Speaker 1: and that was one of the sturdier areas of the
Speaker 1: defensive year ago. So it just shows you that moving target.
Speaker 1: It's the preseason. Obviously, we've talked about it last week.
Speaker 1: The Vanilla looks in that, but it also comes down
Speaker 1: to basic execution fundamentals and I'm sure, that's gonna be
Speaker 1: one of the big messages they'll be preaching this week
Speaker 1: with guys missed, with the miss tackles with being in
Speaker 1: the right place at the right time, and and trying
Speaker 1: to put a better performance together now going into Oakland
Speaker 1: this week. Yeah, there was a play there where I
Speaker 1: think there are only ten guys on the field and
Speaker 1: just you know, some miscommunication things that hopefully you get
Speaker 1: them ironed out in the preseason obviously, but you might
Speaker 1: one benefit if I can mention to the Packers those
Speaker 1: first three series basically had the same defense on the
Speaker 1: field the whole time too, So with the safeties, the linebackers,
Speaker 1: outside backers a chance to really create some continuity there.
Speaker 1: And I think in the long run, you would hope
Speaker 1: if those guys stay healthy, that's what gives you a
Speaker 1: chance of really improving that communication. Yeah, I get some
Speaker 1: things ironed out here. In the month of August you
Speaker 1: mentioned Mike McCarthy said the cornerbacks were kind of the
Speaker 1: standout group on the defensive side of the ball. Offensively,
Speaker 1: it was the tight ends and boy, you just the
Speaker 1: numbers themselves jump off the stat sheet of the collection
Speaker 1: of Packers tight ends combined for nine catches. I believe
Speaker 1: it's a hundred and six yards with two touchdowns. The
Speaker 1: other thing that I found when I looked a little
Speaker 1: bit more closely at it, you look at those nine receptions,
Speaker 1: seven of those nine receptions produced either a first down
Speaker 1: or a touchdown. There were third down catches that were
Speaker 1: moving the chains. Obviously the two scores by jim one
Speaker 1: by Jimmy Graham won by Robert tani In this tight
Speaker 1: end group, they're going to be some difficult roster decisions
Speaker 1: when it comes right down to it, because you can't
Speaker 1: keep everybody but um but Mike McCarthy really likes what
Speaker 1: this group is doing collectively. Right now. We talked so much,
Speaker 1: Mike with the receivers and okay, you drafted three rookies.
Speaker 1: Jake Kumera, what is he thinking, you know, being on
Speaker 1: the practice squad last year. I think it's sort of
Speaker 1: understated right now what these young tight ends have thought.
Speaker 1: A guy like Robert tani in a converted receiver, a
Speaker 1: guy like Emmanuel Bird who finished the season last year
Speaker 1: on the active roster. I think having those three vets
Speaker 1: in there has really brought out the best in those
Speaker 1: two individuals. As well. I think Tanyan specifically this last week,
Speaker 1: whether it's been in practice or those preseason games, has
Speaker 1: looked really sharp, big bodied kids six ft five right
Speaker 1: around tuner and forty pounds. I was talking to him
Speaker 1: after the game and I was asking him about how
Speaker 1: difficult that that switch was, moving it and going from
Speaker 1: receiver originally a quarterback to receiver to tight end, and
Speaker 1: he said, yeah, there was a lot of five thousand,
Speaker 1: six thous and calorie days back then. Because it's not
Speaker 1: just putting on weight. You and I were aficiados and
Speaker 1: being able to put on weight. We can do it
Speaker 1: if we need to. Yeah, you have to do it though,
Speaker 1: with good weight, and that's not always easy to do
Speaker 1: when you're a skill position players, something Tanian's had to do.
Speaker 1: I like Emmanuel Bird as well. He gives you that
Speaker 1: h BAC kind of look, similar to what Lance Kendricks does. Hey, listen, Mike.
Speaker 1: They got five guys right now and then also a
Speaker 1: couple other undrafted rookies that I think are all in
Speaker 1: that hunt. So it's gonna be fun to see how
Speaker 1: these next two three weeks play out. Because Graham, Lewis
Speaker 1: and Kendricks are all different type veteran tight ends. But
Speaker 1: it's history has shown at that position, Mike, if a
Speaker 1: guy can prove themselves worthy, they will go four or
Speaker 1: five deep there. But again, it all comes down to
Speaker 1: how those numbers bear out when you're cutting down to
Speaker 1: the final fifty three. Yeah. A couple other points to
Speaker 1: make with regards to what happened in Thursday night's game.
Speaker 1: I think Jimmy Graham might have set a new standard
Speaker 1: in terms of a veteran player getting excited over a touchdown.
Speaker 1: I mean, I've never seen this guy was fired up.
Speaker 1: I mean, he did the lambo leap into the stands.
Speaker 1: He was doing the chest bump type of stuff with
Speaker 1: his teammates and knocking him over. He was so he
Speaker 1: was so excited and just just a reflection of of
Speaker 1: the anticipation, the excitement of working with Aaron Rodgers. It
Speaker 1: was a classic, you know, Jimmy Graham type of touchdown
Speaker 1: where the ball is thrown high, six ft six and
Speaker 1: a half whatever he is, he goes up and and
Speaker 1: snags There's nobody else who's gonna be able to catch
Speaker 1: that pass, so he brings that in Marcedes Lewis. Then
Speaker 1: later in the game twenty plus yard passed down the field.
Speaker 1: Mike McCarthy talked to the day after the game about
Speaker 1: how obviously they really like what Lewis does in the
Speaker 1: blocking aspect of things, and he's picking off some guys
Speaker 1: on the backside blocks where the running backs haven't maybe
Speaker 1: hit those cutback lanes just yet. But McCarthy really likes
Speaker 1: what what Lewis is doing in that respect. But then, boy,
Speaker 1: when you throw in you know that leaping catch over
Speaker 1: the middle to convert on I believe it was on
Speaker 1: third down anyway, it moved the chains because it was
Speaker 1: it was three yards. Um, I think there was a
Speaker 1: pen he added on to it. Maybe a questionable call there,
Speaker 1: but regardless, Um, if Marcedes Lewis can do that kind
Speaker 1: of thing for this offense when he's in there, you know,
Speaker 1: all the more power to him. And then you mentioned
Speaker 1: Kendricks being another veteran player. He makes a couple of catches,
Speaker 1: moves the chains a couple of times, just a ton
Speaker 1: of production from that group. Well, first off, Lance Kendricks
Speaker 1: fits the system perfectly. There were some ups and downs
Speaker 1: in his first year in Green Bay. But you talk
Speaker 1: about Mike McCarthy and how much he really likes to
Speaker 1: use that h back tight end. Lance Kendricks is that
Speaker 1: the prototype for it with his athleticism and his ability
Speaker 1: to play that spot. Started the game in that spot
Speaker 1: with the with the two tight end package that they
Speaker 1: were running. But getting back to lewis the one thing
Speaker 1: that's exciting about him, Mike, in addition to the fact
Speaker 1: that he's probably the best blocking tight ends since maybe
Speaker 1: Bubba Frank's in the mid two thousands, I guess you
Speaker 1: could say. He mentioned in his first interview with Green
Speaker 1: Bay Media that Yeah, that's what everybody knows me for.
Speaker 1: And I'm an inline guy. I'm your traditional big tight end,
Speaker 1: but if you sleep on me, I'm gonna make you pay.
Speaker 1: And I think that was one of those plays and
Speaker 1: not necessarily saying that Pittsburgh just completely just took him
Speaker 1: out of the equation, but he shows you that there
Speaker 1: is still that big play production there with him and
Speaker 1: it was great to see him make that catch. Whatever
Speaker 1: you want to make of that call on it, he
Speaker 1: has to make that catch. Yeah, you gotta you gotta
Speaker 1: bring that ball down, and he did it. So if
Speaker 1: you can get both of those guys rolling and then
Speaker 1: see what you have with these young guys as well,
Speaker 1: to compliment Jimmy Graham will be interesting to watch. But yeah,
Speaker 1: as you said too, I don't think I've seen undrafted
Speaker 1: rookies who have played, you know, no games past the
Speaker 1: preseason then more excited about a touchdown than what Jimmy
Speaker 1: Graham was there because I think for him mentally, it's
Speaker 1: showing him what's possible in this offense, and exactly with
Speaker 1: a guy like Aaron Rodgers that can put the ball
Speaker 1: exactly where you want it, that that's that's ultimately what's
Speaker 1: gonna come to pass here if those two can get
Speaker 1: on the same page. And early signs are is that
Speaker 1: they're they've been able to do that. Yeah. I mentioned
Speaker 1: this in our Insider Inbox column that you look at
Speaker 1: the last two regular seasons, the Packers have had a
Speaker 1: grand total of five touchdown receptions from tight ends over
Speaker 1: the regular seasons. In that's going to change with these guys,
Speaker 1: not only just with Jimmy Graham, but but Lewis and
Speaker 1: Kendricks and you know, maybe if they keep one or
Speaker 1: two of these other young guys too and stayed that
Speaker 1: deep at the position. Yeah, and Louis was so consistent
Speaker 1: in his time in Jackson. I know there's only that
Speaker 1: one Pro Bowl from two thousand and ten, but if
Speaker 1: you look at his career stats and how things played out,
Speaker 1: he was durable and he really gave you a consistent presence.
Speaker 1: And now he has Aaron Rodgers throwing him the football
Speaker 1: when it happens. Yeah, all right, Well, we've got more
Speaker 1: to talk about West, but a little bit of sponsored business.
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Speaker 1: Bay Packers. Okay, going back to our last show, when
Speaker 1: we were previewing preseason game number two, we talked about
Speaker 1: it on Final Thoughts, we talked about it on this show.
Speaker 1: I used the phrase do it again to speaking about
Speaker 1: these young guys who made an impression in the first
Speaker 1: preseason game. Okay, so here's another game, So go out
Speaker 1: and do it again. Jake Kumero did it again. Eighty
Speaker 1: two yards west. I mean a great throw by Deshaun Kaiser,
Speaker 1: a simple out route to the sideline, a long throw
Speaker 1: from either middle of the field or right hash I
Speaker 1: don't remember, but over to the all the way to
Speaker 1: the left sideline. He makes the catch, stays in bounds,
Speaker 1: and then just makes a move to the inside, gets
Speaker 1: the safety turned around, and he's off to the races
Speaker 1: and it's an eighty two yard touchdown. This guy a
Speaker 1: fifty two yard and an eighty two yard touchdown. Now
Speaker 1: in the first two preseason games. What more can you
Speaker 1: ask for? Michael, I want you to actually look onto
Speaker 1: my screen. Here done three D some episodes. First time.
Speaker 1: I'm inviting you to look at my screen. NFL. All
Speaker 1: the leaders passing yards, receiving, yards, receiving all that. Who's
Speaker 1: the receiving yard leader right now in the NFL. Jake
Speaker 1: Kumero by twenty three yards and it's the big play production.
Speaker 1: And I think he made a great point there and
Speaker 1: was one of the big underlying storylines and narratives going
Speaker 1: into this contest. Do it again, do it and show
Speaker 1: it that you can be consistent, not necessarily always just
Speaker 1: making a fifty yard touchdown catch, but being able to
Speaker 1: be a contributor in this offense and be an impact
Speaker 1: player on a consistent basis. And even before that eighty
Speaker 1: two yard touchdown, Kumarro was making those catches that you
Speaker 1: wanted to see him make again. I mean there were
Speaker 1: three of them all told, and obviously that was the
Speaker 1: one everyone looks at. But his consistency and his ability
Speaker 1: to run routes. I really zoned in and isolated on
Speaker 1: him and his route running, even on plays in which
Speaker 1: he didn't catch the ball, and he's so crisp and
Speaker 1: it's so important to be able to do that because
Speaker 1: that's what negates the speed factor, that's what negates the
Speaker 1: you know, the quickness, explosion, athleticism. Kumarro has those attributes,
Speaker 1: but if you don't have them, it doesn't matter. Well,
Speaker 1: if you don't have the route running aspect of it
Speaker 1: doesn't matter what you will otherwise bring to the table.
Speaker 1: And I just think these last two two and a
Speaker 1: half years have really helped him get to this point
Speaker 1: and for him. First off, Deshaun Kaiser makes a phenomenal
Speaker 1: pass on at play alongside that that out route there
Speaker 1: to get him basically, you know, covered by the cornerback
Speaker 1: cornerbacks trying to even sort of cut it off a
Speaker 1: little bit. Showed some arm strength there for sure, and
Speaker 1: then for Kumarro to be able to get up field,
Speaker 1: beat the safety, get into the end zone. Um, certainly there.
Speaker 1: There's a question there now with the shoulder. Making sure
Speaker 1: everything's okay with him there, And we'll have to see
Speaker 1: how this next week or so plays out. But everything
Speaker 1: he's done Mike from July to August now, it's been
Speaker 1: incredible to watch and see him not stumble but just
Speaker 1: continue a pretty consistent progression. Yeah. And another guy, and
Speaker 1: our producer, Marvin's gonna get mad at me because I
Speaker 1: didn't put him on the list to get the highlights ready.
Speaker 1: But along this topic of do it again, Reggie Gilbert.
Speaker 1: We talked about him after the first game against the Titans.
Speaker 1: He was a presence, maybe not so much statistically, but
Speaker 1: he was a presence in the backfield um against Tennessee,
Speaker 1: but then against the Pittsburgh Steelers two and a half sacks,
Speaker 1: one of those a strip sack. Unfortunately the Packers were
Speaker 1: not able to recover it for a turnover. But um,
Speaker 1: you know, as I said in uh in one of
Speaker 1: our Insider Inbox columns, this is the guy who's raising
Speaker 1: his hand and saying, you know, okay, you're looking for
Speaker 1: the number three outside linebacker on this team behind Clay
Speaker 1: Matthews and Nick Perry, I'm your guy. And there's absolutely
Speaker 1: no question right now as the roster is currently constructed
Speaker 1: and what is going on in these preseason games, he
Speaker 1: is that guy well. And the ultimate tip in the
Speaker 1: cap to him as the fact that he starts opposite
Speaker 1: Clay Matthews in this game. And that's so important because one,
Speaker 1: we don't know what Nick Perry's schedule is going to be,
Speaker 1: like we'll talk about in a second him getting activated
Speaker 1: from PUP, but what is availability in the preseason is
Speaker 1: going to be, like, We're not sure. So this is
Speaker 1: an opportunity for Gilbert to go out there and do
Speaker 1: this against starting level caliber talent, regardless of how long
Speaker 1: he plays. If you can get those first two series
Speaker 1: and make an impact, that's a big confidence boost for
Speaker 1: him as well. What impresses me so much about Gilbert
Speaker 1: is just how consistent he's been. We we talked about
Speaker 1: that with Cumbro and being able to do a game
Speaker 1: after game, week after week. Gilbert has been doing this
Speaker 1: for two years in Green Bay and has been kised since,
Speaker 1: consistently proving himself. And even when last year, you know,
Speaker 1: he doesn't make the roster he thought he was going to,
Speaker 1: he didn't let that kind of derail his momentum. He
Speaker 1: sat on the practice squad for fifteen weeks, he bided
Speaker 1: his time, and when he got that chance to show
Speaker 1: himself again, he went out there and proved it. It's
Speaker 1: just funny to me now and that I don't want
Speaker 1: to get ahead of myself or put the car before
Speaker 1: the horse. But after so much drama these first two
Speaker 1: years for him, on cut down day, it's becoming pretty
Speaker 1: clear cut. He's making the roster. Now. The question is
Speaker 1: going to be what kind of role could he have
Speaker 1: going forward? In talking to Nick Perry a little bit
Speaker 1: on Monday on Sunday, excuse me, uh, they're expecting this
Speaker 1: guy to contribute this season. They're expecting rotation. Yeah, no
Speaker 1: question about a combination of both patients and dedication on
Speaker 1: the Gilbert to get where he is right now. Because
Speaker 1: you mentioned all the time that he spent on the
Speaker 1: practice squad, then when he does get into his first
Speaker 1: games as an active roster player at the end of
Speaker 1: last season and behold, look at that, you know, number ninety.
Speaker 1: He is in there making an impact in in games.
Speaker 1: I know the Packers at that stage of the season,
Speaker 1: we're not going to the playoffs, but those games, those
Speaker 1: those snaps, those reps were huge for a guy like
Speaker 1: Reggie Gilbert, and you know it propelled him, I think
Speaker 1: from a confident standpoint, from a belief that he belongs
Speaker 1: in this league standpoint, to come into this third year
Speaker 1: and now do what he's doing right now. And you're
Speaker 1: a big racquetball player, right, Mike, I tried to be
Speaker 1: go out to the y m c A. You finish
Speaker 1: up pretty well, you start, you know, have kind of
Speaker 1: a positive you know, sweet taste your mouth, you get
Speaker 1: done with, you feel good the next week up until
Speaker 1: the next time you play racquetball. I think that's what
Speaker 1: really Gilbert did, is think about what that does for
Speaker 1: a young man that's gone through everything he's gone through,
Speaker 1: making the conversion he went through, to have that whole
Speaker 1: off season to think about what he did at the
Speaker 1: end of the season and trying to do that on
Speaker 1: a more consistent level. Yeah, now quickly before we go,
Speaker 1: you mentioned it. The Packers did activate Nick Perry off
Speaker 1: the physically unable to perform list. He practiced in a
Speaker 1: closed practice on Sunday. Um seems to have no qualm,
Speaker 1: all the confidence in the world that he will be
Speaker 1: ready for week one, even though there's a very limited
Speaker 1: time frame here for a guy who because of the
Speaker 1: offseason ankle surgery, he missed everything of O T A S.
Speaker 1: And he's missed everything of training camp through the first
Speaker 1: two preseason games up to this point. But a veteran player,
Speaker 1: he's been there, he's done that. He's very confident that
Speaker 1: he'll be ready for week one for whatever workload they
Speaker 1: want to throw out. Dude, tougher than a two dollar surloin.
Speaker 1: I mean, he really is. This is you look at
Speaker 1: what he's played through over the years. You and I
Speaker 1: talked about in our pre production meeting too. This is
Speaker 1: a young man that I mean. I know they throw
Speaker 1: out the injury thing with him and and people the
Speaker 1: fans get frustrated when you look at all the games
Speaker 1: that he's missed. But as I wrote in our story
Speaker 1: on our website yesterday, look at the injuries he's dealt with.
Speaker 1: This is not a guy who just who pulls a
Speaker 1: hamstring or pulls a groin muscle or pulls a calf muscle.
Speaker 1: You know. This is a guy who's you know, breaking
Speaker 1: bones and you know, I mean a broken foot and
Speaker 1: then playing through them, yeah, and and playing through them
Speaker 1: at different times. He attributes the injuries. The bottom line
Speaker 1: is he's a violent player. He plays the game in
Speaker 1: a in a violent way, and that in a lot
Speaker 1: of ways is what has led to his injury problems
Speaker 1: over the years. But when he is healthy, it's that
Speaker 1: style of play that is difficult for offensive tackles to handle.
Speaker 1: So you can't ask him to just change the way
Speaker 1: he plays because then he won't be effective. This is
Speaker 1: a guy who had eleven sacks in fourteen games in
Speaker 1: ten and then in his first eight games last year
Speaker 1: he had seven sacks, and then the injuries in the
Speaker 1: second half of the season. You know, he was in
Speaker 1: and out of the lineup and then eventually placed on
Speaker 1: I R. If he can stay healthy, and I know
Speaker 1: that's always a big gift with Nick Perry, but if
Speaker 1: he can stay healthy, this is a guy who can
Speaker 1: have a huge impact on this You know when he
Speaker 1: mentioned too, you know, you don't really know what that
Speaker 1: fine line is. And but I think one thing that
Speaker 1: we can all agree on is that if you can
Speaker 1: get Reggie Gilbert going, you can get some of these
Speaker 1: young guys going behind him and remove that potential of
Speaker 1: him having to play sixty six snaps a game like
Speaker 1: kind of like it was in that first month of
Speaker 1: last season. In the end, it's going to give you
Speaker 1: a better Nick Perry. So well, we'll have to see
Speaker 1: all the season plays out, but I think Nick Perry
Speaker 1: from a production standpoint, was right where you needed him
Speaker 1: to be through the first six seven games. The last
Speaker 1: season he was. He was on pace for a second
Speaker 1: straight double digit sack season. There's no question about it.
Speaker 1: He was definitely on pace for that. Unfortunately it didn't happen.
Speaker 1: We'll see what happens now. You know, he has a
Speaker 1: couple of weeks to get ready. Regardless of whether or
Speaker 1: not that is in preseason action, the team reps will
Speaker 1: be really important for him getting ready for the regular season. Well,
Speaker 1: with that, we will call it a wrap on this
Speaker 1: edition of Packers Unscripted. Be sure to follow all of
Speaker 1: our coverage of the team and of training camp on
Speaker 1: packers dot com. On Twitter, you can find him at
Speaker 1: west hot I'm at Mike Spofford at Packers is still
Speaker 1: the team account. Thanks for tuning in, everybody. We'll see
Speaker 1: you next time.