Speaker 1: Hi everybody, welcome to another edition of Packers Unscripted from Packers.com.
Speaker 1: I am Mike Spofford, joined as always by my trusted
Speaker 1: colleague Wes Hodkowitz. We're coming to you here from the
Speaker 1: Pottawatomie Sportsbook studio inside the walls of Lambeau Field. And Wes,
Speaker 1: shortly before we turn the cameras on here, the Packers
Speaker 1: revealed their new Rivalry's uniforms, which will be worn this
Speaker 1: season in the home game at Lambeau Field. against the
Speaker 1: Chicago Bears. Give me your initial reaction.
Speaker 2: I love them. I love them.
Speaker 3: I think it's the coolest uniform we've put together yet,
Speaker 3: other than obviously the traditional green and gold home and away.
Speaker 3: There's just so much about it, so much intricate detail
Speaker 3: involved with it. The Lombardi monochrome being on the shoulder.
Speaker 1: That's my favorite part.
Speaker 2: On the chest is the coolest thing in the world
Speaker 2: to me.
Speaker 3: I mean, if it's not going to be on the helmet,
Speaker 3: I want to see the G. I want to have
Speaker 3: the traditional G. I don't want to get away from that.
Speaker 3: But I love they still found a way to incorporate
Speaker 3: that Lombardi. If you know the backstory of that, Lombardi
Speaker 3: and the coaching staff, 1959, they come in. That was
Speaker 3: almost like their own personal insignia. And then it's obviously
Speaker 3: taken on its own kind of heritage and lore. So
Speaker 3: to see that part of Packers history being acknowledged as well,
Speaker 3: in addition to the various other logos that we've had,
Speaker 3: that was something that really hit home for me.
Speaker 1: Yeah, that's my favorite part is that logo that you
Speaker 1: see in the caps that Lombardi wore, his coaching staff
Speaker 1: wore and everything during the 60s, to see that on
Speaker 1: the shoulder of the uniform. And then the green and
Speaker 1: gold stripe down the middle of the white helmet. Those
Speaker 1: are the two pieces. The rest of it, I'm kind
Speaker 1: of like, okay, you know, I mean, I'm not crazy
Speaker 1: about changing fonts with numbers and letters and stuff like that.
Speaker 1: It's like, okay, that's what they wanted to do. Those
Speaker 1: two pieces, the shoulder and the stripe and the helmet,
Speaker 1: that's what jumps out to me. It looks pretty cool.
Speaker 3: And to have the watermark that's similar to, you know,
Speaker 3: the Packers stock logo. I mean, there's just so many
Speaker 3: things that just, the small intricate details, I think that
Speaker 3: really make it special.
Speaker 2: I think it's going to really flare, you know, in
Speaker 2: that game.
Speaker 3: Uh, it's going to be interesting, you know, watching the
Speaker 3: contrast of the two uniforms, right? Cause like the bears is,
Speaker 3: you know, the, the dark blue and sort of that
Speaker 3: blood orange kind of color. So it's gonna be, it's
Speaker 3: gonna be interesting watching that sort of unfold. But, um, Certainly,
Speaker 3: I mean, everyone's going to know who's on which team,
Speaker 3: so that's not a big deal.
Speaker 1: I don't think there's going to be any problem differentiating that.
Speaker 1: But we do have some football to talk about. The
Speaker 1: Packers are back from, obviously, the second preseason game in Denver.
Speaker 1: There's been another practice, open practice at Nitschke Field since
Speaker 1: then as well. 33-13 was the final score in Denver.
Speaker 1: Not that those numbers necessarily mattered all that much, but
Speaker 1: there was a lot of good stuff in that game.
Speaker 1: from the Packers' perspective, so I'll just throw it out
Speaker 1: to you as an open-ended question. What was your favorite thing?
Speaker 1: What jumped out at you the most from what you
Speaker 1: saw in Denver?
Speaker 3: You have to read my chicken scratch and edit through everything.
Speaker 3: And one of the big things I said going into
Speaker 3: this game is I did not care what the final
Speaker 3: result was. I wanted to see how it looked. And that,
Speaker 3: to me, was a full four-quarter, something to like in
Speaker 3: every phase of the game-type football game. The Packers, if
Speaker 3: you think about it, you know, preseason wins and losses
Speaker 3: don't matter, but I like the fact that, you know,
Speaker 3: the first team unit goes out, they go down the field,
Speaker 3: 12 place scoring drive. Marshawn Lloyd gets his first touchdown
Speaker 3: in three years. That is something to make the first
Speaker 3: team offense feel good about. I think the defense did
Speaker 3: some good things overall, but then what was one of
Speaker 3: the big criticisms you and I had coming out of
Speaker 3: the Pittsburgh game? It was that the second half, They
Speaker 3: started all right, but then the second half it kind
Speaker 3: of got away from them. I felt like they kept
Speaker 3: the foot on the pedal the whole time. I think
Speaker 3: everybody from player number one to player number 91 on
Speaker 3: the roster, they all were competing hard and put their
Speaker 3: best foot forward. When you're going on a road trip,
Speaker 3: when you're going across the country pretty much, two and
Speaker 3: a half hour trip over to Denver, direct flight, It's
Speaker 3: not the easiest thing in the world to do, but
Speaker 3: I thought the guys showed a lot of urgency and
Speaker 3: at elevation played very well, all things considered.
Speaker 1: Yeah, what I liked the best, that opening drive by
Speaker 1: the number one offense, there was a little bit of
Speaker 1: fits and starts with regard to the penalties and whatnot.
Speaker 1: But when you look at it, that was essentially this
Speaker 1: reconfigured Packers offensive line, right, that had some starters sitting
Speaker 1: out and other guys who had been filling in a
Speaker 1: lot during practice. So it was a reconfigured line against–
Speaker 1: the defensive front that's led the NFL in sacks for
Speaker 1: the past couple of years. So there were some plays
Speaker 1: that didn't look pretty. Things didn't necessarily look smooth. But
Speaker 1: then when you look back at the 12-play sequence, the
Speaker 1: Packers didn't face anything worse than a third and three
Speaker 1: in that drive. That's a victory in and of itself.
Speaker 1: They didn't put themselves in some kind of a crazy
Speaker 1: third and long where Nick Benito and these guys can
Speaker 1: just tee off and come after Jordan Love. So I
Speaker 1: think that part of that perspective, even though the drive
Speaker 1: didn't necessarily look the cleanest or the smoothest, You have
Speaker 1: to remember who you're going against and the current offensive
Speaker 1: line that the Packers had out there. I thought the
Speaker 1: fourth down conversion, Matthew Golden against Pat Sertan, a great
Speaker 1: play by the young receiver, good throw by Jordan Love,
Speaker 1: really clutch conversion there. You mentioned Marshawn Lloyd getting into
Speaker 1: the end zone for the first time since his college days.
Speaker 1: That was really good. Trey Smack has another really good night,
Speaker 1: a 59-yard field goal, a 51-yard field goal. the rookie
Speaker 1: kicker doing some really good things again in his second
Speaker 1: preseason game. The one thing that you'd say was disappointing,
Speaker 1: probably the most disappointing thing in the game, was the Packers'
Speaker 1: number one defense giving up that touchdown drive at the start.
Speaker 1: And to me, that drive was a reminder of how
Speaker 1: tough it can be sometimes to play defense in this
Speaker 1: league because it was roughly, I think, a 65-yard drive
Speaker 1: or 70-yard drive. But the vast majority of the yards
Speaker 1: were on two plays. Packers got him in a third down.
Speaker 1: I believe it was a third and five coverage breakdown
Speaker 1: and a big explosive play for 35 yards. And then
Speaker 1: a few plays later, the wheel route out of the backfield.
Speaker 1: It's tough to play defense in this league, especially against
Speaker 1: good quarterbacks. And Bo Nix is becoming one of the
Speaker 1: rising stars in this league. I thought it was one
Speaker 1: of those things as disappointing as it was to see
Speaker 1: the Packers defense give up that drive. It's a good
Speaker 1: thing that they're going to have that film to look
Speaker 1: at now and figure out before they get to where
Speaker 1: it really counts in week one because Bo Nix really
Speaker 1: took it to them.
Speaker 3: Yeah, and I don't want to raise the red alarm
Speaker 3: or anything. I think there's still plenty to look at. Obviously,
Speaker 3: they're going to be somewhat vanilla defensively, but this game
Speaker 3: did kind of remind me a little bit of that
Speaker 3: Baltimore preseason game in 2019 where there's a lot of hype.
Speaker 3: We're talking about Zedaria Smith coming in, Preston Smith. I mean,
Speaker 3: this new direction they're going defensively in Matt LaFleur's first
Speaker 3: season is And then they go out against Baltimore, and
Speaker 3: Baltimore kind of kicks them in the mouth. And it
Speaker 3: ended up leading to the defensive starters all pulling the
Speaker 3: team together afterwards, that phase together afterwards to talk about
Speaker 3: it inside Lambeau Field in the middle of the night.
Speaker 3: Not that you needed that type of wake-up call, and
Speaker 3: I don't think it's also to that level. I mean,
Speaker 3: Lamar that night played like two series and was unstoppable.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 3: Nix just made some nice plays in Green Bay. Obviously,
Speaker 3: he was on the receiving end of them. I mean,
Speaker 3: his touchdown pass, I mean, that's prototype.
Speaker 2: I mean, what..
Speaker 3: What he did there, I mean, certainly you could play
Speaker 3: it better defensively, but he showed so much touch, so
Speaker 3: much poise on that. And I think one of the
Speaker 3: things I kept thinking about in that drive was Sean
Speaker 3: Payton during that draft talking about, yeah, it's fine that
Speaker 3: Minnesota took McCarthy. We wanted Bo Nix no matter what.
Speaker 3: That's who we were getting no matter what we did.
Speaker 3: So obviously it's turned out pretty well for them so far.
Speaker 1: No doubt.
Speaker 3: But Packers defensively, I think the big thing that I
Speaker 3: look at this thing is okay, you're going to have
Speaker 3: exotic pressures. We're going to see a lot of different
Speaker 3: things from Jonathan Gannon's defense, but winning with four is
Speaker 3: going to be important too. And Green Bay kind of
Speaker 3: struggled with that a little bit in this one. And
Speaker 3: then obviously from the turnover aspect, the second team unit,
Speaker 3: huge moment for Mark Perry, but defensively that first team
Speaker 3: unit is still trying to look for those opportunities. Something
Speaker 3: we can kind of keep an eye on now going
Speaker 3: into the regular season.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: Just to your point about winning with four, I sort
Speaker 1: of felt like Gannon kind of challenged his guys on
Speaker 1: that first drive, right? He's not going to draw up
Speaker 1: a bunch of stuff to try to stop Bo Nix
Speaker 1: on the first drive of the game. He's going to
Speaker 1: challenge his guys and see what happens. And unfortunately, there
Speaker 1: were two explosives that bit him. The interception by Perry
Speaker 1: was really impressive. It was in that sequence at the
Speaker 1: end of the first half where Smack kicks a field goal.
Speaker 1: Then you get the interception and another field goal right
Speaker 1: before halftime, which is how the Packers built the lead.
Speaker 1: I also thought it was good on the offensive side
Speaker 1: to see Tyrod Taylor throw a touchdown pass. Will Shepard
Speaker 1: with really nice footwork. I don't know if I've seen
Speaker 1: two officials discuss a call live during the game as
Speaker 1: long as they did. It's one of those things. I mean,
Speaker 1: we're sitting there in the press box going, just call
Speaker 1: it a touchdown so it's automatically reviewed and we'll get
Speaker 1: this thing figured out. Like, I mean, we don't need
Speaker 1: to take three minutes discussing it. But anyway, it was
Speaker 1: great footwork by Shepard. A really good pass by Taylor.
Speaker 1: I thought that was good to see because we had
Speaker 1: talked last week on our last show heading into the
Speaker 1: game about wanting to see that sort of that number
Speaker 1: two group on offense put something together a little more effectively.
Speaker 1: I mean, helped by the roughing the passer call with
Speaker 1: Taylor over there by the sideline. But that was a
Speaker 1: good throw by Taylor and a good catch by Shepard.
Speaker 3: Okay, so a couple things here. One, huge moment for
Speaker 3: Will Shepard. This is a guy that was signed just
Speaker 3: before training camp last year, made a good bid to
Speaker 3: make the 53, ultimately ends up on the practice squad
Speaker 3: for a majority of the season, comes back this year.
Speaker 3: It's actually his first offseason in Green Bay, and I
Speaker 3: think he's had some big moments. Not as tall, not
Speaker 3: as lengthy as Isaiah Nair or Christian Watson, but you
Speaker 3: stand next to him.
Speaker 2: The guy's got size.
Speaker 1: He's not far behind those guys. in that regard.
Speaker 2: And he's thick.
Speaker 3: So I think in talking to him afterwards in the
Speaker 3: locker room, you could tell what that moment meant to him.
Speaker 3: He played at Colorado. That's where he finished his college career.
Speaker 3: So he mentioned there was people in the stands that
Speaker 3: were saying, you know, go Buffs. And he appreciated the
Speaker 3: people that still kind of remembered what he did there.
Speaker 3: But secondly, the other moment with... the penalties I think
Speaker 3: is very important to key in on is, yeah, Land
Speaker 3: Clark's crew was, you know, throwing around the hanky like everyone.
Speaker 2: Had a cold. I mean, it is what it is.
Speaker 3: But it does show you, if you can win that battle,
Speaker 3: how critical it can be in the formulation of a
Speaker 3: football game, right? I think Green Bay, for as many
Speaker 3: flags as there were, Denver was getting just pelted with them.
Speaker 3: So I felt like that little bit of a learning
Speaker 3: lesson can be a reminder. I mean, Cam Acord kind
Speaker 3: of talked about it on Saturday, too. you got to
Speaker 3: play clean, especially in the special teams phase. I mean,
Speaker 3: that can have a huge impact in terms of field
Speaker 3: position and wins and losses. So plenty to look at
Speaker 3: from that perspective. And then, as you also said, I mean,
Speaker 3: a feather in the cap of Tyrod Taylor showed nice
Speaker 3: touch on the touchdown pass to Will Shepard. And again,
Speaker 3: I felt like he was only 17 passing yards, but
Speaker 3: the way all three teams, first team with Love, second
Speaker 3: team with Taylor, and then when McCord came in, They
Speaker 3: all were able to have some success, and you could
Speaker 3: feel that energy in the locker room afterwards.
Speaker 2: Guys felt good about this one, and they should.
Speaker 1: And a couple last thoughts on the game. You mentioned
Speaker 1: special teams. I talked about smack earlier, but we saw
Speaker 1: Pierre Strong Jr. with a 60-plus yard kickoff return. We
Speaker 1: saw Sky Moore field a punt at the 6-yard line,
Speaker 1: get out across the 20-yard line for the offense. Those
Speaker 1: are no small things. And granted, we don't know if
Speaker 1: Pierre Strong Jr. is going to be the one returning
Speaker 1: kickoffs come the regular season. But I thought Cam Acord's
Speaker 1: special teams unit took another step forward. We saw, for
Speaker 1: the most part, clean play in Pittsburgh. I think there
Speaker 1: was maybe one penalty on the special teams in Pittsburgh.
Speaker 1: We saw a couple of dynamic returns in Denver that
Speaker 1: And again, a nice step forward for those units.
Speaker 3: I couldn't care less about the kickoff returner in this
Speaker 3: particular case. I thought Pierre Strong, give him so much credit,
Speaker 3: 68 yards. What a great showing for him, a young
Speaker 3: man that is trying to make this roster. What was
Speaker 3: so encouraging to me, talking to both Strong and then
Speaker 3: also talking to Sky Moore on Monday, the blocking on
Speaker 3: the kickoff return. I think there's so many times that
Speaker 3: we put so much of it on okay, who's the
Speaker 3: punt returner?
Speaker 2: Who's the kickoff returner? If they're not doing well, it's
Speaker 2: all on them. It isn't. It comes down to blocking.
Speaker 2: It comes down to scheme.
Speaker 3: And I felt like, you know, Pierre mentioning that he
Speaker 3: knew he was going to break that big one because
Speaker 3: of how the Packers blocked it the first time. They
Speaker 3: missed one block and he ended up getting stopped at
Speaker 3: 24 yards. The second time they made that block, he
Speaker 3: got into the open field. He said it's up to
Speaker 3: him to finish it from there. He had to beat
Speaker 3: the kicker. He had to beat the rest of that
Speaker 3: unit to be able to get it to the end zone.
Speaker 3: But to be able to have that thing blocked up
Speaker 3: the way it is, regardless of it's strong, regardless of
Speaker 3: it's Savion Williams, regardless of it's, you know, Sky Moore,
Speaker 3: Bo Melton, who have been pretty much the ones.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 3: All those guys are going to be able to maximize
Speaker 3: those chances if they get it blocked up like that.
Speaker 3: That is unbelievably encouraging for me because again, we focus
Speaker 3: so much on kickers and on long snappers and on
Speaker 3: holders and punters and especially in, you know, returners, but
Speaker 3: it really is the other 10 guys outside of those
Speaker 3: positions that that are oftentimes dictating the penalties, dictating the blocking,
Speaker 3: dictating whether or not you jam something up. Sky Moore
Speaker 3: mentioned one of the reasons why he took it out
Speaker 3: from the six on his punt return that went for
Speaker 3: 16 yards. is because I believe it was Catano Ladapo
Speaker 3: and Pierre Strong, how they had wiped out one side.
Speaker 3: So he felt like he could be more aggressive in
Speaker 3: that case. All those things fit together to having special
Speaker 3: teams that not only aren't hurting you, but also helping
Speaker 3: you win a football game. Yeah.
Speaker 1: And certainly there's a major difference in a real game
Speaker 1: between having to fair catch a punt on the six
Speaker 1: yard line and getting that ball out across the 20
Speaker 1: for Jordan Love in the offense. So, um, The final
Speaker 1: week of training camp is underway, and I want to
Speaker 1: turn the page to that. But first, let's hear a
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Speaker 1: the Packers were back on the practice field at Nitschke
Speaker 1: Field on Monday for a full pads practice. The joint
Speaker 1: practice with the Arizona Cardinals is coming up on Wednesday.
Speaker 1: The preseason finale against the Cardinals is on Friday. Quick
Speaker 1: programming note, this will be our only show this week
Speaker 1: because I actually have to be gone on Thursday. Between
Speaker 1: the joint practice and the preseason finale, I have a
Speaker 1: little trip to make and I'm going to go out
Speaker 1: and get back and But it will not allow us
Speaker 1: to record a second show this week.
Speaker 2: So if you're wondering when Tucker Craft's extension is going
Speaker 2: to happen.
Speaker 1: There you go. That was what I was going to say.
Speaker 2: Great minds or bad minds.
Speaker 1: Because it feels like it's inevitable at this point. So, yeah,
Speaker 1: we'll have a Tucker Craft contract extension to talk about
Speaker 1: on next week's show after I return. But, all right,
Speaker 1: this Monday practice at Nitschke Field. Pretty spirited.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 3: You and I got into it a little bit.
Speaker 1: Emotions running high out there. But some of the pushing
Speaker 1: and shoving and whatnot aside, I thought you couldn't have
Speaker 1: asked for a more impressive showing overall by the Packers
Speaker 1: defense and specifically– by two guys with the number one unit,
Speaker 1: Edgerin Cooper and Keyshawn Nixon. I thought those two guys
Speaker 1: were shining stars on the practice field Monday.
Speaker 2: I do.
Speaker 3: I've said it since 2022. I just, I love the
Speaker 3: way Keyshawn Nixon plays this game. And I understand fans
Speaker 3: frustrations and all these other things and how they, but
Speaker 3: the guy legitimately, if you just pull yourself back, he's
Speaker 3: been the same guy since day one. Nothing has changed
Speaker 3: with Keyshawn Nixon. It's like a, it's like watching like
Speaker 3: a prism, right? And which way the light shines through it.
Speaker 3: It's still all the same. And, and for him, like
Speaker 3: during this competition, I understand there was some words said
Speaker 3: and whatnot. And I honestly think most of them in
Speaker 3: a joking, humorous type of dry tone, but this guy
Speaker 3: doesn't shy away from competition. He would have never been
Speaker 3: in a position to play over 800 snaps on defense
Speaker 3: in each of the past two years. if Keyshawn Nixon
Speaker 3: wasn't afraid to go out there and play the game
Speaker 3: of football. Yeah. Like he's, he's good with it. And
Speaker 3: to see how he responded to this, I mean, competitive
Speaker 3: pass deflections in this practice, the two minute drill, he's,
Speaker 3: he leapt up, by the way, fourth down, you know,
Speaker 3: it's like, okay, they're just trying to make something. He
Speaker 3: made a play still happen for the defense and had
Speaker 3: the whole sideline in front of him after he made
Speaker 3: that pick. Uh, I've said it once, I've said it again,
Speaker 3: until Keyshawn Nixon is not on this roster, Keyshawn Nixon
Speaker 3: is going to help this football team. And especially in
Speaker 3: this particular practice where Benjamin St. Juice was down with
Speaker 3: the hamstring, and it's going to be Brandon Cisse and
Speaker 3: Keyshawn Nixon with the ones, and Carrington Valentine and Damani
Speaker 3: Jackson with the twos. With Nixon getting the full helping
Speaker 3: of first team reps, I felt like he definitely maximized them.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and I was really impressed with Edger and Cooper.
Speaker 1: He nearly had... the what might have gone down as
Speaker 1: the defensive play of training camps. He steps in front
Speaker 1: of Tucker craft on one of those quick hitter type
Speaker 1: throws to the tight end and look like the ball
Speaker 1: kind of went right through his hands. I mean, it
Speaker 1: would have been, it would have been a pick six
Speaker 1: on a pass to Tucker craft, which Tucker craft has
Speaker 1: been really tough to stop since he got back into
Speaker 1: 11 on 11. And, uh, and before that Cooper had
Speaker 1: actually deflected a pass, uh, on one to Kraft and
Speaker 1: actually got an incompletion there. Then he almost has the
Speaker 1: pick six. And then against the run, we see him
Speaker 1: knifing into the backfield a couple of times to get
Speaker 1: to Marshawn Lloyd for what would have been tackles for
Speaker 1: loss if it had been live action. We're seeing, we're
Speaker 1: seeing the, and it has to happen quickly, right? But
Speaker 1: there'll also be this process throughout the regular season. But
Speaker 1: we're seeing a young player like Cooper. He's learning a
Speaker 1: new defense. He's got a new linebacker partner there in
Speaker 1: Zyre Franklin. it's coming along, right? Like he's, he's, it's,
Speaker 1: it's like the sprouting is, is beginning here in, in
Speaker 1: late August. And I think, I think this linebacker pair,
Speaker 1: I said it before, right in the early stages of
Speaker 1: training camp, I think this linebacker pairing of Franklin and
Speaker 1: Cooper is, could be really, really special for the Packers
Speaker 1: in 2026.
Speaker 3: Opposites attract. That's the one thing I've been thinking this
Speaker 3: entire camp. I mean, Quay Walker is an unbelievably talented
Speaker 3: first round caliber worthy inside linebacker who did a lot
Speaker 3: of good things in Green Bay. But I think when
Speaker 3: you look from a pure playmaking aspect, Edron Cooper is
Speaker 3: on a different level. I think this guy has, there
Speaker 3: was a reason why the expectations were so high for
Speaker 3: him coming off of his rookie season, because we saw
Speaker 3: the various ways that Jeff Halfley could use this guy.
Speaker 3: Now you have Zaire Franklin, who not only is he
Speaker 3: more your traditional old school inside linebacker.
Speaker 1: Thumper.
Speaker 2: Thumper.
Speaker 3: I like the way that he kind of infuses his
Speaker 3: personality into a defense. Like you mentioned in the intro here,
Speaker 3: there was a little bit of feistiness, a few scrums
Speaker 3: that happened. Zaire Franklin is always in the fray. Very
Speaker 3: interested to watch him on Wednesday. I'm sure he's going
Speaker 3: to be throwing his body around a little bit too.
Speaker 2: But the guy is not afraid for him. He is
Speaker 2: a football player.
Speaker 3: And to have his toughness, his experience, and his tackling
Speaker 3: ability mixed with The best attributes of Edron Cooper, which
Speaker 3: I think it emphasized in that will spot and being
Speaker 3: able to also have some options coming on the blitz,
Speaker 3: I'm just really excited about what they have brewing there.
Speaker 3: And I've said it once, I've said it again a
Speaker 3: thousand times. To have Isaiah McDuffie behind them and Tyron
Speaker 3: Hopper behind them, there were a lot of years where
Speaker 3: either of those guys would have been starting on this
Speaker 3: defense in the 2010s at the inside linebacker position. but
Speaker 3: Green Bay's been so deep there now and has guys
Speaker 3: that are defensive rookie of the year caliber and had
Speaker 3: an all-pro a few years back in Devondra Campbell. It's
Speaker 3: been more difficult to find a pathway to the starting
Speaker 3: lineup for a lot of those guys. It's going to
Speaker 3: get even more difficult now with this move back to
Speaker 3: a 3-4, but all that being said, Green Bay not
Speaker 3: only has two guys they really believe in, it's fortified
Speaker 3: behind it too.
Speaker 2: I just think there's a lot of potential with that group.
Speaker 1: Yeah, there's something to be said for what I would
Speaker 1: consider a more traditional pairing, which is when you have
Speaker 1: a linebacker duo where one guy's a thumper, the other
Speaker 1: guy's a chaser, right? And sometimes it felt like, and
Speaker 1: as you said, Quay Walker's a really talented football player.
Speaker 1: Edger and Cooper, also really talented. The two of them together,
Speaker 1: sometimes it felt like the Packers had two chasers on
Speaker 1: the field. They didn't have the thumper and the chaser combination.
Speaker 1: That's what makes me really intrigued about this Franklin and
Speaker 1: Cooper pairing.
Speaker 2: And one other thing, too, Tyron Hopper is behind that group.
Speaker 3: Um, when you talk about thumper, I mean, you want
Speaker 3: to talk about somebody you can like emulate and he
Speaker 3: already has that type of skill set to begin with.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: Yeah. Holy cow.
Speaker 3: Is that guy potentially going to take a lot from
Speaker 3: that as well?
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: No doubt about it. Well, Joint practice coming up, preseason finale.
Speaker 1: I'll get your thoughts here.
Speaker 2: You know the best thing about this whole thing?
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 3: We didn't even, and I'm not saying you don't have
Speaker 3: to now, we didn't even talk about Trey Smack. Guy
Speaker 3: went four for four. Made a 59-yard field goal. Isn't
Speaker 3: that kind of a cool thing to not have to
Speaker 3: be like, wow, we led the show with the kicking situation?
Speaker 3: The guy just went out there in Purdue.
Speaker 1: He did it again. He did it again.
Speaker 3: Again, it just goes to show you there were so
Speaker 3: many positives to take out of that game.
Speaker 2: Now you have to build it.
Speaker 3: You know, everybody said, came Acord said to, I mean,
Speaker 3: it was, you know, good performance.
Speaker 2: What's next. But I don't know.
Speaker 3: Like I felt like that game in Denver was exactly
Speaker 3: what green Bay needed coming out of that game in Pittsburgh.
Speaker 1: Yeah, no, I'm with you.
Speaker 2: Take it home. Mike Spofford.
Speaker 1: Well, I just want to get your thoughts here before
Speaker 1: we go. Cause as I said, this will be our
Speaker 1: only show this week because of my family travel plans, um,
Speaker 1: joint practice Wednesday, preseason finale on Friday, um, What are
Speaker 1: you looking for? What do you want to see? Because
Speaker 1: this is it now. I mean, and these last two pieces,
Speaker 1: a joint practice and a preseason finale, when you're talking
Speaker 1: about now the joint practice is really the last tune-up
Speaker 1: for the starters to get ready for the regular season.
Speaker 1: The preseason finale will be that final evaluation in terms
Speaker 1: of selecting the roster with the roster cuts to 53
Speaker 1: right around the corner. So there's a lot that's going
Speaker 1: to be taking place this week, but what do you
Speaker 1: have your eye on? What do you want to see?
Speaker 2: Okay.
Speaker 3: This is just like the, the under dog, dark horse
Speaker 3: type one that I'm kind of curious about Josh sweat
Speaker 3: being activated off PUP. I'm not under any disillusions that
Speaker 3: he's probably going to be in team, maybe not even
Speaker 3: in like one-on-ones, but I thought that was a really
Speaker 3: interesting storyline here going into this, because if he does
Speaker 3: happen to work at all, uh, both for Zach Baku,
Speaker 3: but well, a, and also, uh, Jordan Morgan, you want
Speaker 3: to talk about a potential really good test in that
Speaker 3: type of setting. Two, probably the biggest storyline we've had
Speaker 3: since the start of training camp to this point has
Speaker 3: been Tucker Kraft. And Tucker Kraft said that first interview
Speaker 3: when we came back off PUP, his goal was to
Speaker 3: be on the field and producing and practicing against the
Speaker 3: Cardinals in that joint practice. Probably not going to go
Speaker 3: in the preseason game, but he felt like that would
Speaker 3: be really good work for him, especially from guys that
Speaker 3: aren't trying to take care of him, you know, like
Speaker 3: Green Bay is. I mean, there's a little bit more
Speaker 3: fear factor there a little bit. I think this can
Speaker 3: be a really good work for him as he kind
Speaker 3: of tries to cross that last notch, you know, before
Speaker 3: you go into this thing. And then certainly just from
Speaker 3: a pure storyline standpoint, I think it's be really fun.
Speaker 3: I'm sure there's going to be some Bo versus Max
Speaker 3: Melton reps in practice.
Speaker 1: There you go.
Speaker 3: Got to imagine you're going to schedule those up too.
Speaker 3: And the last thing I'll say, considering it is brother
Speaker 3: versus brother, Matt versus Michael floor, and a lot of
Speaker 3: fun little barbs and things like that in the media
Speaker 3: this week. But you want to talk about being able
Speaker 3: to build a plan with somebody that you trust. Uh,
Speaker 3: I don't know if the, this seems to me like
Speaker 3: a picture perfect way to have a joint practice between
Speaker 3: two head coaches that have that trust and familiarity, not
Speaker 3: just a friendship, not just a competitive friendship. These guys
Speaker 3: were lived in the same household. So just seeing what
Speaker 3: that practice is like, not saying it was just going
Speaker 3: to all be pretty and everything's going to go well,
Speaker 3: but I just feel like there's going to be a
Speaker 3: little bit more synergy with it than maybe what we've
Speaker 3: seen from some of these in the past. Yeah.
Speaker 1: And getting back to the comment earlier about Jonathan Gallant,
Speaker 1: Jonathan Gannon challenging his defense against Bo Nix in that
Speaker 1: opening drive in Denver. I'll be curious to see in
Speaker 1: this joint practice, because maybe, you know, he opens up
Speaker 1: the playbook a little bit more. But also I think,
Speaker 1: I think in the same vein, he's still going to
Speaker 1: challenge his guys to generate a pass rush because everybody's wondering, okay,
Speaker 1: where's the pass rush going to come from until Micah
Speaker 1: Parsons is back sometime in October, whenever that's going to be. So,
Speaker 1: you know, Lucas Van Ness, Baron Sorrell, deny Dennis Sutton,
Speaker 1: who's back from from missing some time with with the
Speaker 1: heat related illness. Brenton Cox Jr. Like these are these
Speaker 1: are the guys that I want to see against the
Speaker 1: Cardinals in this joint practice setting. OK, what are they
Speaker 1: going to be able to do? What what can they generate?
Speaker 1: How difficult can they make life for Jacoby Brissett? And
Speaker 1: how much how much of it is going to be
Speaker 1: Gannon playing it straight up? And how much stuff is
Speaker 1: he going to be dialing up in order to make
Speaker 1: that happen? Now, standing right on the sideline, as opposed
Speaker 1: to like a bird's eye view, it can be a
Speaker 1: little difficult to decipher all of that during practice. But
Speaker 1: that's what I'll be watching for. And I'll just be
Speaker 1: curious to see how that whole pass rush rotation and
Speaker 1: who can accomplish what out there against the Cardinals. That's
Speaker 1: what my eyes are on.
Speaker 3: Oh, and by the way, Jonathan Gannon coaching against his
Speaker 3: former team. Many of whom, those guys actually played for him.
Speaker 2: Yeah.
Speaker 1: Yeah, he's going to know some tendencies, I think.
Speaker 2: I think he's going to kind of know what Jacoby
Speaker 2: Brissett's looking to do.
Speaker 1: Yeah, yeah. Although, I mean, and who knows, maybe he'll
Speaker 1: get some tips from Matt on Mike LaFleur's offense and
Speaker 1: maybe that'll work to his advantage in this.
Speaker 2: It should be a fun one. It's going to be cool.
Speaker 1: Yeah, it'll be neat. I think everybody will be wanting
Speaker 1: to get that picture of the brothers, you know, Matt
Speaker 1: and Mike, you know, next to each other and maybe
Speaker 1: Bo and Max too. So I know you've, you've written,
Speaker 1: you've written about, about that brotherly story when they've met
Speaker 1: on the football field before. This would be the first
Speaker 1: time for Mike and Matt, of course, as head coaches
Speaker 1: with Mike now just taking over in Arizona, but probably
Speaker 1: won't be the last.
Speaker 3: I also, you know, Matt made that comment about, well,
Speaker 3: you know, we've, we have coached against each other, but man,
Speaker 3: you go back and look at those photos when Matt
Speaker 3: was an offensive coordinator, when Mike was an offensive coordinator and.
Speaker 2: That like, it kind of hits different, man, now at
Speaker 2: this level.
Speaker 3: I mean, as happy as they were and as I'm
Speaker 3: sure proud as their parents are, there's only 32 of
Speaker 3: these jobs. And to hold down two of them at
Speaker 3: the same time, in addition to the fact that it's
Speaker 3: only happened three times in NFL history.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I was going to say, it's just the third
Speaker 1: brother pair.
Speaker 2: And I believe it's just the fourth overall that there's
Speaker 2: been brothers that have been head coaches in the league,
Speaker 2: in the NFL. So, yeah. So it'll be fun to watch.
Speaker 2: I'm excited for it.
Speaker 3: All right.
Speaker 1: Well, with that, we'll call it a wrap on this
Speaker 1: edition of Packers Unscripted. Be sure to follow All of
Speaker 1: our coverage of remaining of training camp with the joint practice,
Speaker 1: the preseason game on Friday night, we'll have it all
Speaker 1: for you on Packers.com. For Wes, I am Mike. Thank
Speaker 1: you for tuning in, everybody. We will see you next time.