Speaker 1: Hi, everybody. Welcome to Packers Unscripted from Packers dot Com.
Speaker 1: I am Mike Spofford sitting next to my trusted colleague
Speaker 1: West Hodkowits were coming to you here from our studios
Speaker 1: at lambeau Field, back from Oakland, California, West. So let's
Speaker 1: dive right into preseason game number three. For me, this
Speaker 1: one starts with those top two draft picks of the
Speaker 1: Packers from back in April, because I tell you what,
Speaker 1: you're Alexander and Josh Jackson. They continue to look like keepers,
Speaker 1: they really do, Mike, and the other thing that Josh
Speaker 1: Jackson looks like he was a first round pick. Yeah,
Speaker 1: people just happen to be sleeping on for one reason
Speaker 1: or another. I mean, basically, every single thing I think
Speaker 1: was seen as a weakness for Jackson has really been
Speaker 1: somewhat of a strength in this preseason. And I get it.
Speaker 1: These aren't the starting quarterbacks out there, these aren't mostly
Speaker 1: the number one offenses. But when they have been on
Speaker 1: the field, he's played pretty darn well too. I love
Speaker 1: the versatility of him, and I love his playmaking ability
Speaker 1: and and everything he showed in that one year as
Speaker 1: a starter at Iowa. It's transitioned into the NFL. Now
Speaker 1: the record books ten fifteen years down the line. People
Speaker 1: might forget that he had another pick six in this game,
Speaker 1: but that interception in thirty six is return yard returned
Speaker 1: for a touchdown. Had nothing to do with the Herb
Speaker 1: Waters holding call on the other side of the field.
Speaker 1: He just made a play on the ball and was
Speaker 1: unfortunately an unlucky participant there. But back to back pick
Speaker 1: sixes and and also JayR Alexander finally get his first
Speaker 1: extended action getting his first interception in the slot. Very
Speaker 1: exciting about what what these guys have put on film
Speaker 1: so far. Yeah, what I really liked about what Alexander
Speaker 1: did is that he was tested right off the bat
Speaker 1: in this game. First play, he's lined up across from
Speaker 1: Amari Cooper. Derek Carr goes eap Alexander's right there. You
Speaker 1: can't really cover the play any better. You just got
Speaker 1: out jumped for the ball by a bigger receiver and
Speaker 1: a Pro Bowl caliber receiver at that. Hey, that's gonna happen.
Speaker 1: That's how That's how this league has played. But you
Speaker 1: know what, it didn't bother him. He just he got up.
Speaker 1: He kept playing and then later on when the Raiders
Speaker 1: are driving for a potential touchdown, makes a really a
Speaker 1: tremendous catch to to snag that interception on on that
Speaker 1: middle steam route. And uh, you know, Mike McCarthy said it.
Speaker 1: You know, the ball skills of Alexander and Jackson were
Speaker 1: um the biggest selling points, I guess you might say
Speaker 1: heading into the draft. And these guys have come as
Speaker 1: advertised that that catch that Alexander made, the catch that
Speaker 1: Jackson made on his pick six the previous week, and
Speaker 1: then the fact that he just took the ball away
Speaker 1: in the Raiders game by the sideline for what should
Speaker 1: have been another pick six. These guys know how to
Speaker 1: play the ball that just and those are the kinds
Speaker 1: of things you can't necessarily coach it. You can't teach it.
Speaker 1: It's instinctive and it's the way they play the game.
Speaker 1: And I think these guys are going to see the
Speaker 1: field plenty for the Packers. And that's the exciting thing too,
Speaker 1: is because you have Joe wit Jr. There and obviously
Speaker 1: him now working with with Jason Simmons as the position
Speaker 1: coaches for that room. There's things that they're going to
Speaker 1: work with both of those young players about what the
Speaker 1: thing you got to like about, especially in Jackson's cases,
Speaker 1: that this one month that he's been in Green Bay
Speaker 1: and training camp, you've seen the progression. I asked him
Speaker 1: about that after the game in the locker room. It
Speaker 1: just so happened the two were actually sharing a visiting
Speaker 1: locker in a very small Oakland Colisseum locker room, and
Speaker 1: he said it too, is that he's this past month
Speaker 1: has allowed him to get into a rhythm, get back
Speaker 1: to feeling comfortable in playing instinctual because you can rep
Speaker 1: fundamentals as much as you want, you can do all
Speaker 1: the drills that you want during these training camp practices.
Speaker 1: It's all intended to guys playing fast and playing with
Speaker 1: their instincts and playing disciplined football, and they've both done
Speaker 1: that in the small sample size we've seen. I wrote
Speaker 1: about this to an insider inbox from day Mike, the
Speaker 1: thing that I think is the most exciting right now
Speaker 1: for the Packers is, for the first time ever, at
Speaker 1: least I think since maybe two thousand fourteen, I would
Speaker 1: argue the Packers really don't feel a rush to get
Speaker 1: any of these rookies on the field right away. If
Speaker 1: you feel like Josh Jackson's ready, sure put him out there.
Speaker 1: Same thing with Joie Alexander. But as it stands right now,
Speaker 1: these guys aren't just gonna have to get thrown out
Speaker 1: there by attrition or just a lack of depth at
Speaker 1: the position. You have Tremont Williams, who's playing some pretty
Speaker 1: good ball right now at thirty five years old. I
Speaker 1: thought Devon House has put together a pretty good camp
Speaker 1: coming back, and if Kevin kings shoulder checks out, he
Speaker 1: can get into the regular season and there's no issues there.
Speaker 1: That's a pretty good starting point for a starting cornerback corps.
Speaker 1: So to be able to incorporate those guys in the
Speaker 1: fact that the Packers, as we'll talk about, shortly traded
Speaker 1: Lindsay Pipkins over the weekend really speaks the fact that
Speaker 1: this is a deep position for them now and it's
Speaker 1: a lot better situation they were putting going in the
Speaker 1: last year. Yeah. I think it's interesting what you said
Speaker 1: about Josh Jackson that he looks like first round pick
Speaker 1: that maybe people were sleeping on kind of a double
Speaker 1: edged sword there in the sense that I think the
Speaker 1: fact that he was only a starter for one year
Speaker 1: in Iowa, I know there were some questions about his
Speaker 1: speed and all that, but when you look at it,
Speaker 1: he was a starter for one season in college in
Speaker 1: the Big Ten. I think that scared some teams off
Speaker 1: from taking him in the first round, but you mentioned it,
Speaker 1: Look how much progress he's made already in the NFL.
Speaker 1: He only started for one year in college, so the
Speaker 1: ceiling is so much higher. There's so much further that
Speaker 1: he can potentially go because he's not a polished, finished
Speaker 1: product coming out of college. So I just think that's
Speaker 1: something that's interesting to keep an eye on as we
Speaker 1: go forward with Jackson. When you and I were in
Speaker 1: Indianapolis in February, who are the two cornerbacks that everybody
Speaker 1: was looking at is potentially the top two in this
Speaker 1: draft class? It was Denzel Ward and it was Josh Jackson.
Speaker 1: Josh Jackson had a huge horde of media around him
Speaker 1: at that podium, and I've just remember Draft night, especially
Speaker 1: after the first round passed, you saw he was still
Speaker 1: on the board, and then you get in the middle
Speaker 1: of the second round. Sometimes it's like you do wonder, Okay,
Speaker 1: is there something that everybody missed on this guy? And
Speaker 1: other times it's like why is this guy still available,
Speaker 1: and is this a potential potential diamond in the rough.
Speaker 1: A long way to go here with both of these
Speaker 1: young players, with JayR Alexander as well, but sure, I
Speaker 1: just think Alexander fits the prototype for what you want
Speaker 1: to look for. And maybe a slack cornerback that Casey
Speaker 1: Hayward type that can be a playmaker there but also
Speaker 1: give you some versatility outside. And a guy like Josh
Speaker 1: Jackson with his size. I said it from the beginning, Mike,
Speaker 1: even if he isn't a prototypical press man corner in
Speaker 1: his terms of his background, he has that build to
Speaker 1: play that position. Yeah, he does. He definitely has the
Speaker 1: physical characteristics you mentioned before. The trade of Lenzy Pipkins,
Speaker 1: so let's update everyone on that. For those who aren't aware,
Speaker 1: the Packers trade cornerback Lenzy Pipkins to the Indianapolis Colts
Speaker 1: for inside linebacker Antonio Morrison, now third round draft picking
Speaker 1: rookie or In Burke's from Vanderbilt injured his shoulder in
Speaker 1: pregame warmups in Oakland on Friday night. But this trade
Speaker 1: for Morrison not necessarily just a reaction to the Burk's injury.
Speaker 1: The m R I came back sounded it sounds like
Speaker 1: things are fairly positive with Burkes. They're not They don't
Speaker 1: have any long term concerns at this point with regards
Speaker 1: to the shoulder, but acquiring Morrison an experienced inside linebacker
Speaker 1: to throw into a very young group that has a
Speaker 1: third year pro and Blake Martinez at the top of it.
Speaker 1: Jake Ryan, as we know, was out for the season
Speaker 1: with the torn a c L and then you have
Speaker 1: Burks and a whole bunch of other guys who basically
Speaker 1: haven't played regular season NFL snaps yet. So what's your
Speaker 1: initial take. And I know we haven't even really talked
Speaker 1: to him yet as far as an interview at the
Speaker 1: time that we're taping this, but what's your initial take
Speaker 1: on the acquisition of Morris. It made a lot of sense,
Speaker 1: I think for both teams because, as I also wrote
Speaker 1: on Inbox on Monday, I do think Lindsay Pipkins as
Speaker 1: an NFL player. I think the Packers found something when
Speaker 1: they when they signed him as a uf A last
Speaker 1: year out of Oklahoma State, because I think he has
Speaker 1: the build for it. But where he was playing and
Speaker 1: how they were using him it was very similar to
Speaker 1: what they're doing with Alexander and with with Tremont Williams.
Speaker 1: I just don't know if the spot was there. Conversely,
Speaker 1: you look at what the Colts are going through right now.
Speaker 1: They need help at cornerback. They were hurting it that spot,
Speaker 1: and they're transitioning into a four three defense where maybe
Speaker 1: Morrison didn't fit, you know where he did the previous
Speaker 1: two years underneath the Chuck Pogano. So now that you
Speaker 1: have him available and you had Pipkins available, it made
Speaker 1: sense for both teams to make that trade in a
Speaker 1: better opportunity for both players. Morrison's twenty three years old.
Speaker 1: He was taken six spots before Blake Martinez back in
Speaker 1: the two thousand sixteen NFL Draft and has played over
Speaker 1: a thousand defensive snaps in the NFL. That's a lot
Speaker 1: of experience for a twenty three year old NFL football player.
Speaker 1: So now being able to come into this defense, I
Speaker 1: said it from day one, Mike, you might have a starter.
Speaker 1: You might have maybe maybe Burke's is fine, and he
Speaker 1: and he's your start of the whole year, and you
Speaker 1: have him in Martinez, but you need somebody else available there.
Speaker 1: Joe Thomas has been that guy in the past. Jake
Speaker 1: Ryan was that guy his rookie season. You need a
Speaker 1: guy that could potentially step into either of those positions
Speaker 1: if there's an injury. I think Morrison is an opportunity
Speaker 1: for get, for him to get back into a defense
Speaker 1: probably he's more comfortable with, and also for the Packers
Speaker 1: to get another look at a veteran in addition to
Speaker 1: these undrafted free agents that they have currently competing for
Speaker 1: a spot behind Burkes and Martinez. Yeah, and the Packers
Speaker 1: like what they've seen certainly in this training camp in
Speaker 1: preseason so far from a mod Thomas who is a
Speaker 1: hold over from the practice squad, and then from Greer Martini,
Speaker 1: an undrafted rookie in the mix here. But this really
Speaker 1: was about adding some experience to a position that that
Speaker 1: overall just had very very little, you know, basically no
Speaker 1: regular season NFL experience outside of Blake Martinez. So I'm
Speaker 1: sure we'll have more to talk about with Morrison as
Speaker 1: uh as things move along. Another thing I wanted to
Speaker 1: get to though. We spent a lot of time through
Speaker 1: the off season on our shows, on the website, everywhere
Speaker 1: talking about the receiver competition for the Packers. On offense,
Speaker 1: and it's too Geronimo Allison's credit that we haven't really
Speaker 1: talked about him much because frankly, he simply hasn't done
Speaker 1: anything to lose his hold on that number three spot.
Speaker 1: And the way the game against the Raiders opened up
Speaker 1: with Brett Hunley, he hit Allison on a sideline route,
Speaker 1: a nice tiptoe catch there, and then hit him deep
Speaker 1: down the sideline um for a big gainer that helped
Speaker 1: to set up a field goal. Geronimo Allison is the
Speaker 1: number three receiver on on this team. They're simply in
Speaker 1: my in my opinion, not taking nothing away from what
Speaker 1: Jake Crumo has done. What nice game from Jamon Moore
Speaker 1: in Oakland, other things we've seen from Velde Scantling and
Speaker 1: e q st Brown, But Geronimo Allison's your number three.
Speaker 1: I love the camp that Geronimo put together, especially after
Speaker 1: losing Jordy Nelson, and I know he's spent such a
Speaker 1: big part of that room, a big part of this offense,
Speaker 1: and obviously a close confident of Aaron Rodgers. But I
Speaker 1: think in the aftermath of that, it's really allowed Allison
Speaker 1: to shine. He did it throughout the off season program
Speaker 1: and he's done it in training camp. Now is he
Speaker 1: making these big, spectacular fifty yard catches, you know, like
Speaker 1: Marcus Velde Scantling made in the first preseason game, or
Speaker 1: even some of the stuff that Jamond Moore did last weekend.
Speaker 1: Maybe not, But I still think that thirty one yard
Speaker 1: catch that he had against the Raiders and some of
Speaker 1: the things he's done in practice, he's just been so steady,
Speaker 1: so consistent, And when you talk to Aaron Rodgers, that's
Speaker 1: the number one thing he wants out of his receivers.
Speaker 1: He wants consistency. He wants him to be in the
Speaker 1: right spot at the right time. I think what you
Speaker 1: see with Alison is a really talented young man that
Speaker 1: was coming into his own somewhat learning a new position,
Speaker 1: considering how lady came to being a receiver and playing
Speaker 1: football in high school. And you've seen him mature over
Speaker 1: these past two years, and you cannot overstate, uh, just
Speaker 1: how important that time has been with Rogers in this
Speaker 1: offense and getting the opportunities he's had and being able
Speaker 1: to capitalize on him. So, yeah, going in the regular
Speaker 1: season right now, he's the guy. He's the guy that
Speaker 1: I think you're looking at to really be the one
Speaker 1: that's going to be the biggest beneficiary of of that
Speaker 1: number three spot being open. Yeah, and I think the
Speaker 1: I think the other thing that it kind of goes
Speaker 1: without saying in the Green Bay locker room, but it's
Speaker 1: an example of just how well he fits in this
Speaker 1: receiver group that whether Geronimo Allison goes through a practice
Speaker 1: where the ball never comes his way, or if he
Speaker 1: catches five or six balls in one practice, you never
Speaker 1: hear about it necessarily one way or the other out
Speaker 1: of him. It's not about, oh, I'm gonna I'm gonna
Speaker 1: pound my chest when I have a great day or
Speaker 1: a great game, or I'm gonna wine and complain when
Speaker 1: nobody throws me the ball. He just goes about his business.
Speaker 1: He he is. You know you've written about it during
Speaker 1: the offseason. This guy has become very much a serious
Speaker 1: student of the game. He really took everything from the
Speaker 1: guys like Jordy Nelson, Davante Adams, the things that those
Speaker 1: veterans teach the younger players about how to be a pro.
Speaker 1: And Geronimo Allison now is one of those pros. And
Speaker 1: we talked earlier this week about our last week it
Speaker 1: was rather about Reggie Gilbert and how I said, I
Speaker 1: think Reggie Gilbert's the best of the litter. When you
Speaker 1: look at the outside linebackers, undrafted rookie linebackers they've had
Speaker 1: that have come through the program, Allison has really been that.
Speaker 1: As far as the receivers are concerned, they've had some
Speaker 1: good ones, you know, Uh, you know Brett Swain, you
Speaker 1: think about Ruevel Martin, even you know a guy like
Speaker 1: Jared Boykin lash very quickly. But I just the overall
Speaker 1: consistency of Allison. Uh, and we talked about it from
Speaker 1: the beginning. It's not like this guy just started. He
Speaker 1: played well in the first preseason game two years ago
Speaker 1: and I was like, oh, this guy could make the roster. No,
Speaker 1: I mean right after he was signed, like people thought,
Speaker 1: this is a guy that could potentially make an impact,
Speaker 1: and he certainly has. And he plays special teams. He
Speaker 1: has been working on the coverage units too. It is
Speaker 1: always a big bonus for trying to get on the field. Yeah. Well,
Speaker 1: with one preseason game left to go, the Packers heading
Speaker 1: to Kansas City this week for the preseason finale, looks
Speaker 1: like the backup quarterback competition that that number two. Competition
Speaker 1: between Deshaun Kaiser and Brett Hunley is going to come
Speaker 1: right down to the wire here. Frankly West a tough
Speaker 1: night in Oakland to really evaluate what was going on
Speaker 1: at with the two quarterbacks because they were just under
Speaker 1: siege all night. The backup offensive lineman had a rough night.
Speaker 1: Mike McCarthy flat out admitted it. It was maybe the
Speaker 1: poorest performance that they've had as a path protection unit.
Speaker 1: A lot of things to work on their um. It
Speaker 1: looks like Kyle Murphy's dealing with an injury. Now you
Speaker 1: don't know how much that was affecting his play out there.
Speaker 1: It sounds like Jason Spriggs started to play a little
Speaker 1: bit better, but overall is a unit, there were definitely
Speaker 1: issues and uh really not a great look at the quarterbacks.
Speaker 1: Packers hoping to get another evaluation on these quarterbacks in
Speaker 1: Kansas City. Yeah, and you know the way they split
Speaker 1: it up. You had Bred Huntley and you had to
Speaker 1: Shaun Kaiser, and each one basically got a half to
Speaker 1: work with a little bit no action for Tim Boyle
Speaker 1: in game number three, So we'll see what happens in
Speaker 1: game number four if he gets some work in that
Speaker 1: fourth one, But I mean, yeah, it was tough to
Speaker 1: kind of look at and try to understand exactly what
Speaker 1: they were seeing just because of you know, the pocket
Speaker 1: and and some of those things. I go back to
Speaker 1: what has sort of been on film so far during
Speaker 1: this camp. I think Deshaun Kaiser has a massive arm.
Speaker 1: I think he has great athleticism. You can see it
Speaker 1: when he gets out of the pocket. He's fast, he's quick, uh,
Speaker 1: and you know he's made good decisions. Now there's a
Speaker 1: lot of raw features to that as well, But overall,
Speaker 1: I mean, as I said last week too, you see
Speaker 1: why he was drafted where he was. You see why
Speaker 1: he's the prospect that he is. Bred Hunley I thought
Speaker 1: had two really solid performances to start off with in
Speaker 1: those first two preseason games. This one a little bit
Speaker 1: more on. Even the first series actually went pretty well
Speaker 1: for the offense. And yeah, the first the first drive
Speaker 1: was a good one and should have been a touchdown.
Speaker 1: Unfortunately Lance Kendricks could pulled onto that ball in the
Speaker 1: end zone or you put seven on the board right away. Yeah,
Speaker 1: so he I think he completed four or five on
Speaker 1: that and just after that it was kind of a
Speaker 1: work in progress. That the one thing that's gonna be
Speaker 1: nice for the Packers once you do get into the
Speaker 1: regular seasons, you're gonna have Brian looks like they had
Speaker 1: box Yard for sure, Brian blogging, you hope would also
Speaker 1: be able to get some you know, get back in
Speaker 1: there after coming back off that a c l You
Speaker 1: got to see where Justin mccraze at with that calf injury.
Speaker 1: But overall, everything they've done, even though they haven't been
Speaker 1: able to get that group together, like I know, Mike
Speaker 1: McCarthy wants to be able to get them some reps.
Speaker 1: They're experienced. I mean, Corey Linsley started in this league
Speaker 1: with an m v P quarterback in two thousand and
Speaker 1: fourteen without having any preseason reps with him at all
Speaker 1: once however, so they've been able to adapt their veterans.
Speaker 1: The big key is just trying to figure out who
Speaker 1: those two or three, maybe even four guys are that okay,
Speaker 1: who can be the next Justin McCrae, Who can be
Speaker 1: a guy that's gonna step up in a pinch. Because
Speaker 1: as much as you want to repeat two thousand fourteen,
Speaker 1: where you're basically you're starting offensive line plays together for
Speaker 1: all but one game turn out of nineteen games that year.
Speaker 1: It's hard to accomplish in this league. So you need
Speaker 1: that number six and seven guy to be able to
Speaker 1: step up, and uh, we'll see what happens. So one
Speaker 1: positive I will say for the offensive line, I think
Speaker 1: Lucas Patrick looks at home as a center and he's
Speaker 1: probably that number six guy right now on that line.
Speaker 1: So I think i've kind of you remarked him as
Speaker 1: the guy that could potentially be that next Justin mccraig,
Speaker 1: just because of the flexibility he gives you at those
Speaker 1: interior positions. Yeah, as far as those two quarterbacks go,
Speaker 1: this is just my untrained eye, my my bird's eye
Speaker 1: view analysis. I felt bred Hunley was ahead of Kaiser
Speaker 1: after Game one of the preseason. I felt Kaiser closed
Speaker 1: the gap in Game two against the Steelers. I thought
Speaker 1: maybe Hunley re established his lead after Game three, and
Speaker 1: now we head into game four. Is that a fair
Speaker 1: way to look at you think? I think so. And
Speaker 1: I mean you just see the experience with Hundley. I
Speaker 1: mean he's been in this offense now for three years.
Speaker 1: He's put together some pretty darn good preseasons. Two. I
Speaker 1: mean he was exceptiontionary. His first year in two thousand
Speaker 1: fifty seven passer rating, did a really fine job, got
Speaker 1: hurt two years ago, so it wasn't really able to
Speaker 1: do much. Last year was consistent. I just I think
Speaker 1: that's the difference you're going to see with the guy
Speaker 1: that's been in the league a couple more years, and
Speaker 1: it's the reason why you still see him with those
Speaker 1: number two. Yeah. All right, With that, we will sign
Speaker 1: off on this edition of Packers Unscripted. Be sure to
Speaker 1: follow all of our coverage of the team and this
Speaker 1: final week of training camp on Packers dot com. On Twitter,
Speaker 1: you can find him at west hot I'm at Mike
Speaker 1: Spofford at Packers for the team account. Thanks for tuning in, everybody,
Speaker 1: See you next time.