WEBVTT - 240723-Packers-Unscripted-Podcast.mp3 0:00:15.200 --> 0:00:20.079 Hi, everybody. Welcome back to another edition of Packers Unscripted 0:00:20.120 --> 0:00:23.400 from Packers dot Com. I am Mike Spoffer, joined once 0:00:23.440 --> 0:00:26.279 again by my trusted colleague Weston Hodquitz. We're coming to 0:00:26.360 --> 0:00:29.960 you hear from our studios at Lambeufield and Wes Packers 0:00:30.200 --> 0:00:34.120 Training camp is underway. There is one practice in the books. 0:00:34.240 --> 0:00:36.560 As soon as we get this show recorded, we're headed 0:00:36.600 --> 0:00:40.200 out for the second practice of training camp. But I'm 0:00:40.200 --> 0:00:42.680 just gonna start with how you doing, my friend. 0:00:42.960 --> 0:00:45.000 I'm doing all right. It's funny to me that we 0:00:45.120 --> 0:00:46.600 blink and we're always back. 0:00:46.720 --> 0:00:47.000 Yeah. 0:00:47.040 --> 0:00:49.199 It just it doesn't seem like it was already over 0:00:49.240 --> 0:00:51.680 a month ago that you and I kind of signed 0:00:51.720 --> 0:00:54.800 off for the summer to go about our vacations. 0:00:54.280 --> 0:00:55.400 At the end of Mini caamp. 0:00:55.560 --> 0:00:57.960 Yeah, and we just find our way back here. But 0:00:58.000 --> 0:01:00.600 the thing that also was hilarious about that how things 0:01:00.640 --> 0:01:05.399 can change macro level, micro level, the small dominoes that 0:01:05.440 --> 0:01:07.720 fall in a fifty three to ninety man roster, and 0:01:08.080 --> 0:01:10.800 certainly probably one of the more newsier days I think 0:01:10.800 --> 0:01:13.319 that I've ever experienced in terms of the first day 0:01:13.319 --> 0:01:14.880 of training camp for the Green Bay Packers. 0:01:14.959 --> 0:01:17.479 Yeah, well, two things I want to try to accomplish 0:01:17.520 --> 0:01:20.959 with this show before we shuffle off for practice number two. 0:01:21.040 --> 0:01:24.360 One is to review what happened in practice one, but 0:01:24.480 --> 0:01:27.160 also then to look at things a little bit bigger picture, 0:01:27.240 --> 0:01:30.880 kind of the overview, a training camp preview, if you will. 0:01:30.959 --> 0:01:35.560 But in terms of day one, the biggest news, without question, 0:01:35.880 --> 0:01:40.200 is that the Packers have not finalized a new contract 0:01:40.240 --> 0:01:44.360 for quarterback Jordan Love. Yet everybody seems optimistic that the 0:01:44.480 --> 0:01:47.040 finish line is in sight, that it's there, it could 0:01:47.080 --> 0:01:50.920 happen perhaps any day now. But until that happens, until 0:01:50.960 --> 0:01:53.240 it is signed, sealed, and delivered, Jordan Love will not 0:01:53.320 --> 0:01:56.280 be practicing. He has reported for training camp he is 0:01:56.320 --> 0:01:59.520 going through the meetings and all the other camp activities 0:01:59.560 --> 0:02:04.680 except for practicing. He's basically eliminating his injury risk until 0:02:05.160 --> 0:02:09.200 the new contract is finished. So that meant on day one, 0:02:09.320 --> 0:02:12.440 Seawan Clifford and Michael Pratt were running the offense and 0:02:12.480 --> 0:02:14.600 Sean Clifford was the guy with the first team unit. 0:02:14.720 --> 0:02:16.880 Yeah, it was fun watching Sean work out there. I mean, 0:02:16.880 --> 0:02:18.440 this is a guy that I thought put together a 0:02:18.480 --> 0:02:22.640 really strong preseason last year. Now again everybody was sort 0:02:22.680 --> 0:02:26.120 of deferring to Love. Throughout that process because they wanted 0:02:26.160 --> 0:02:27.880 him to get as many first team reps, They wanted 0:02:28.000 --> 0:02:29.800 him to get as much preseason work as he could 0:02:29.840 --> 0:02:32.440 going into his first year as a starter. But Clifford 0:02:32.560 --> 0:02:35.040 ended up taking and really running with that number two 0:02:35.120 --> 0:02:37.240 job to the point it wasn't even very much a competition. 0:02:37.919 --> 0:02:40.160 This year, he's gonna get pushed more with Michael Pratt 0:02:40.160 --> 0:02:42.000 coming in. Both of these guys, you look at their 0:02:42.040 --> 0:02:44.760 backgrounds very similar in terms of playing a lot of 0:02:44.800 --> 0:02:49.639 college football at different levels. Obviously Penn State for Clifford 0:02:49.880 --> 0:02:53.560 and Tulane for Pratt. But I thought, you know, for 0:02:53.639 --> 0:02:55.840 how things ended for Clifford, I'm sure that wasn't a 0:02:55.840 --> 0:02:58.400 great taste to have the three interceptions by Zane Anderson 0:02:58.440 --> 0:02:59.840 at the end of the mini camp. You have to 0:02:59.840 --> 0:03:02.400 go into the summer kind of, you know, marinating on 0:03:02.440 --> 0:03:05.000 that a little bit. But he came back, he took charge. 0:03:05.000 --> 0:03:06.800 He's a natural born leader. I love the way he 0:03:06.880 --> 0:03:10.320 started the red zone period. As Matt Lafleur said, with 0:03:10.360 --> 0:03:13.560 the tighter constraints with the practice schedule this ramp up period, 0:03:13.600 --> 0:03:15.280 they have to be very careful with what they do 0:03:15.400 --> 0:03:17.280 to get everything in, so they focused a lot on 0:03:17.320 --> 0:03:20.200 the red zone. He opens it up a nice pass 0:03:20.320 --> 0:03:23.400 right to don Tavian Wicks near the pylon. Keyshawn Nixon 0:03:23.400 --> 0:03:25.000 didn't even have a shot at it, just based on 0:03:25.040 --> 0:03:26.120 where the ball was placed. 0:03:26.200 --> 0:03:28.480 And it wasn't bad coverage news. It was good coverage, 0:03:28.600 --> 0:03:29.200 just a good play. 0:03:29.280 --> 0:03:30.920 But when you run a goal line fade and you 0:03:30.960 --> 0:03:33.639 put it literally, you know, inches from the ground where 0:03:33.680 --> 0:03:35.480 Wicks was able to nab it, that those are the 0:03:35.480 --> 0:03:37.880 type of plays that happened. But I thought the way 0:03:37.880 --> 0:03:40.120 he led things they kept pretty much. There was you know, 0:03:40.320 --> 0:03:43.320 some little things here and there that the offense had 0:03:43.360 --> 0:03:45.160 to work through, but by and large, when you don't 0:03:45.200 --> 0:03:47.440 have QB one out there, I think it was commendable 0:03:47.440 --> 0:03:49.600 what Clifford did to keep the train on the tracks. Yeah. 0:03:49.640 --> 0:03:53.800 Well, Clifford admitted to reporters that during the spring and 0:03:53.840 --> 0:03:57.040 as that mini camp rolled around, he was kind of 0:03:57.760 --> 0:04:00.640 testing himself in a way to figure out what he 0:04:00.720 --> 0:04:02.520 can do and what he can't do. He was he 0:04:02.640 --> 0:04:04.880 was pushing the limits a little bit in terms of 0:04:04.880 --> 0:04:07.560 maybe the aggressiveness and whatnot, and that's why we saw 0:04:08.000 --> 0:04:10.320 some of the interceptions. What I like about Clifford is 0:04:10.360 --> 0:04:13.080 that you know, it's it's not like it rattles him. 0:04:13.080 --> 0:04:15.800 It's not like it completely changes his approach. He knows, 0:04:16.320 --> 0:04:19.039 he knows what he was trying to do. He's he's 0:04:19.560 --> 0:04:22.440 learning from that and and the opportunity to run the 0:04:22.520 --> 0:04:25.320 number one offense is important for him. And as he said, 0:04:25.680 --> 0:04:27.840 you know, this is a you never know business. Nobody 0:04:28.040 --> 0:04:31.240 is gonna want, you know, or expect Jordan Love to 0:04:31.240 --> 0:04:34.400 get hurt during the regular season, but obviously it could 0:04:34.440 --> 0:04:36.760 happen and Sean Clifford might need to step in and 0:04:36.800 --> 0:04:38.600 try to win a game or two for the Packers. 0:04:38.640 --> 0:04:42.240 As for Love's contract, as I said at the top 0:04:42.279 --> 0:04:44.480 of the show, it doesn't seem to be something that 0:04:45.120 --> 0:04:47.400 people are overly concerned about. 0:04:47.560 --> 0:04:47.960 The goal. 0:04:48.080 --> 0:04:51.279 The hope was that it would be done before training camp. 0:04:51.720 --> 0:04:54.480 These things are complicated, These things take time. All of 0:04:54.560 --> 0:04:59.880 the salary cap ramifications, you know about how things are structured, financial, 0:05:00.680 --> 0:05:03.080 you know, the timeline, all of that kind of stuff. 0:05:03.560 --> 0:05:06.480 So what I got from Brian Gudakunz does that while 0:05:06.480 --> 0:05:08.800 of course they wanted to have the contract done, they 0:05:08.839 --> 0:05:12.040 want to have Jordan Love out there. They understand where 0:05:12.040 --> 0:05:15.880 he's coming from, and quite frankly, if you're Jordan Love 0:05:15.960 --> 0:05:19.000 you were here all spring, you were here for Mini camp, 0:05:19.080 --> 0:05:22.200 all during this, during OTAs and everything when he didn't 0:05:22.279 --> 0:05:25.640 have to be here, he was exercising patients at that point. 0:05:25.680 --> 0:05:28.680 With regard to the contract, now training camp is here, 0:05:29.240 --> 0:05:31.599 his only leverage to spur them to get to the 0:05:31.640 --> 0:05:33.720 finish line is to just say, hey, I'm not going 0:05:33.760 --> 0:05:36.440 to practice until this thing is done. It's part of 0:05:36.440 --> 0:05:39.599 the business. It's not ideal, it's not what anybody wants. 0:05:40.000 --> 0:05:43.280 But I think both sides understand what's going on here, 0:05:43.279 --> 0:05:46.279 and hopefully, whether it's twenty four or forty eight or 0:05:46.279 --> 0:05:48.960 seventy two hours from now, this whole contract thing will 0:05:48.960 --> 0:05:49.560 be done on over with. 0:05:49.720 --> 0:05:51.400 Yeah, maybe even by the time the show goes out. 0:05:51.440 --> 0:05:51.880 You never know. 0:05:52.040 --> 0:05:55.000 Yeah, that is certainly true, because that's the thing with 0:05:55.080 --> 0:05:58.040 the way the packers do business, and obviously with now 0:05:58.080 --> 0:06:00.120 what we're learning the way loves Camp does buses and 0:06:00.640 --> 0:06:03.000 this is not being negotiated in the media. No, there 0:06:03.080 --> 0:06:06.960 is nothing out there, you know as far as how 0:06:07.000 --> 0:06:09.680 this is working or how close they actually are. There 0:06:09.839 --> 0:06:14.000 no specifics. So yes, it could happen as soon as 0:06:14.279 --> 0:06:16.320 we turn off the cameras here or it could happen 0:06:16.360 --> 0:06:16.840 a day or two. 0:06:17.120 --> 0:06:18.840 I was telling a friend of mine the other day too, 0:06:18.920 --> 0:06:21.360 because I've been making a lot of inferences in inbox 0:06:21.400 --> 0:06:24.560 about how, you know, don't confuse silence with stillness. There's 0:06:24.600 --> 0:06:27.520 things happening you're just not hearing about it. Absolutely. Another 0:06:27.600 --> 0:06:29.800 line I used on my friend is there's no Dominoes 0:06:29.880 --> 0:06:33.920 tracker on contracts. It isn't just like okay, it's ready now. No, 0:06:34.000 --> 0:06:35.760 it doesn't work like that in this business. 0:06:35.839 --> 0:06:37.640 Nobody's got the egg time or running. 0:06:37.760 --> 0:06:40.799 No. But seriously, like think about it. Like Kenny Clark, 0:06:40.839 --> 0:06:43.400 that's the perfect example that he gets the extension. Yeah, 0:06:43.520 --> 0:06:47.080 on Sunday, I'm in the middle of driving actually to 0:06:47.160 --> 0:06:49.920 Title Town to grab dinner with some friends, and it's like, oh, 0:06:50.080 --> 0:06:52.839 Kenny Clark is now extended for you know, three more years. 0:06:53.400 --> 0:06:56.119 And that was a conversation that Kenny said. They'd actually 0:06:56.160 --> 0:06:58.520 been negotiating going all the way back to February at 0:06:58.520 --> 0:07:01.200 the Combine. They were a little few things there, obviously, 0:07:01.279 --> 0:07:03.159 Brian Gudecuin said they want to get something done, but 0:07:03.520 --> 0:07:06.000 until it was finally done, that's when we heard about it. 0:07:06.400 --> 0:07:08.320 Same thing with love and while you and I don't 0:07:08.360 --> 0:07:10.920 always talk dollars and cents on the show. Jordan Love 0:07:11.280 --> 0:07:13.200 is making eleven million dollars this year. That's what this 0:07:13.480 --> 0:07:17.080 two year contract he did, you know, is worth. He 0:07:17.120 --> 0:07:19.720 had thirty two touchdowns at forty one hundred yards last 0:07:19.760 --> 0:07:22.640 season passing. I would say he's worth a little bit 0:07:22.640 --> 0:07:26.120 more than that. I think everybody appreciates that. And really, 0:07:26.120 --> 0:07:28.280 when you look at the way quarterback values have gone, 0:07:28.360 --> 0:07:31.280 and Gudacun's touched on this a little bit. They're aware 0:07:31.320 --> 0:07:33.600 of the Jared Goff deal, They're aware of the Trevor 0:07:33.640 --> 0:07:36.320 Lawrence deal. They know in the pantheon of quarterbacks where 0:07:36.360 --> 0:07:39.720 their guy, who they see is a franchise quarterback probably fits. 0:07:39.840 --> 0:07:41.400 It's all part of the picture. 0:07:41.240 --> 0:07:43.200 And you want to take care of it. They've allocated 0:07:43.240 --> 0:07:45.640 the funds for it, thirty million or whatever it is 0:07:45.640 --> 0:07:48.120 and salary cap room despite the fact there's fifty million 0:07:48.160 --> 0:07:50.360 in dead cap. But they were moving forward. The Packers 0:07:50.360 --> 0:07:53.760 aren't a very healthy place financially. It's just making sure 0:07:53.760 --> 0:07:55.840 that you can find that contracts that makes sense for 0:07:55.920 --> 0:07:58.520 both Love and the Packers. And my hope is Mike 0:07:59.080 --> 0:08:01.200 by that time, maybe by the time we get through 0:08:01.280 --> 0:08:03.880 this week, maybe by the family night, whatever it may be. 0:08:04.840 --> 0:08:06.960 Love gets the deal done. He's back on the practice 0:08:06.960 --> 0:08:09.240 field and the Packers get looking at twenty twenty four. 0:08:09.320 --> 0:08:12.520 Yeah, I think we're going to be there sooner than later. 0:08:13.720 --> 0:08:16.480 As far as other day one news on the practice field. 0:08:17.560 --> 0:08:21.559 On the health front, Zach Tom cleared or at least 0:08:22.000 --> 0:08:25.800 partially cleared from the torn pectoral muscle that kept him 0:08:25.800 --> 0:08:29.000 all out during the spring. He's back on the practice 0:08:29.000 --> 0:08:32.160 field on a limited basis. He's not taking eleven on 0:08:32.200 --> 0:08:35.320 eleven snaps yet, but he was out there for the drills, 0:08:35.360 --> 0:08:37.840 so that was really good to see. The other torn pectoral, 0:08:37.960 --> 0:08:40.680 of course, was tight End Tucker Craft from the spring. 0:08:40.760 --> 0:08:43.240 He is not quite back yet, but it sounds like 0:08:43.320 --> 0:08:46.079 it might not be too longer, too much longer for him, 0:08:46.160 --> 0:08:50.119 at least according to Brian Gudakunz, a couple new injuries 0:08:50.760 --> 0:08:53.680 to some prominent names that popped up that we weren't 0:08:53.960 --> 0:08:57.280 necessarily aware of. Jaden Reid is currently not practicing because 0:08:57.320 --> 0:08:59.440 of a toe injury. He called it kind of a 0:08:59.520 --> 0:09:01.960 freak out accident while he was coaching at like a 0:09:02.040 --> 0:09:06.560 youth football camp, not something that he's concerned about. Doesn't 0:09:06.600 --> 0:09:07.360 sound like that. 0:09:07.320 --> 0:09:07.920 Really was it? 0:09:08.040 --> 0:09:08.840 Huh, what's that? 0:09:08.840 --> 0:09:11.000 That was it? That's how that happened. Yeah, that's what 0:09:11.040 --> 0:09:13.480 Brian Brian Goodcuinz made a joke about, like, yeah, it 0:09:13.559 --> 0:09:14.719 might have been he's running round. 0:09:15.559 --> 0:09:19.560 Jayden said something about that. He that he didn't really 0:09:19.600 --> 0:09:23.000 have like the right footwork or i'm sorry, footwear on, 0:09:23.160 --> 0:09:26.400 and so that might have contributed to this little problem 0:09:26.400 --> 0:09:30.160 with his toe. So it doesn't sound like anything folks 0:09:30.160 --> 0:09:33.280 are overly concerned about there. And then rookie, a third 0:09:33.360 --> 0:09:36.719 round draft pick, running back Marshawn Lloyd Is was not 0:09:36.760 --> 0:09:39.559 on the practice field for Day one, listed as having 0:09:39.559 --> 0:09:43.640 a hip injury. So we'll see what happens there. So 0:09:43.640 --> 0:09:45.440 so that was a bit of news on the health 0:09:45.480 --> 0:09:46.320 front for the Packers. 0:09:46.400 --> 0:09:49.120 Yeah, and I think Lloyd actually talked with reporters in 0:09:49.120 --> 0:09:51.080 the locker room afterwards too and mentioned, you know, just 0:09:51.080 --> 0:09:53.760 something you go through those initial practices or whatever you 0:09:53.800 --> 0:09:55.800 want to call them, like when the rookies first report 0:09:55.880 --> 0:09:56.720 back that walkthroughs. 0:09:56.880 --> 0:09:58.080 Yeah, those early workouts. 0:09:58.080 --> 0:10:00.520 Feeling a little bit of tightness there again, and hopefully 0:10:00.520 --> 0:10:03.280 everything can clear up with that. It is what happens, Mike, 0:10:03.280 --> 0:10:05.199 there's gonna be guys. There's gonna be injuries that happened 0:10:05.240 --> 0:10:07.400 during the offseason training. Certainly a couple of things that 0:10:07.760 --> 0:10:10.240 flared up with the offseason program. It's why you have 0:10:10.240 --> 0:10:12.120 a ninety man roster, It's why you build for these 0:10:12.160 --> 0:10:14.360 sort of things. But I thought what kind of stood 0:10:14.360 --> 0:10:17.040 out to me was the opportunities it's afforded other guys 0:10:17.160 --> 0:10:21.240 on this roster. When you look at you know, outside 0:10:21.280 --> 0:10:23.480 looking in, the packers are stacked at receiver. You know, 0:10:23.520 --> 0:10:25.240 how are they gonna allocate all these reps? Well, if 0:10:25.240 --> 0:10:26.640 there's a day where Jayden Reed is an out there, 0:10:26.679 --> 0:10:28.319 that means a little bit more bow meltin, that means 0:10:28.360 --> 0:10:30.480 a little bit more you know, don Davian Wicks being 0:10:30.559 --> 0:10:33.880 able to incorporate some of those guys into things. Aj Dillon, 0:10:33.920 --> 0:10:35.840 whom I think I'm gonna write a story on later 0:10:35.880 --> 0:10:38.280 this week. He was the guy taking a bulk of 0:10:38.320 --> 0:10:40.600 that work behind Josh Jacobs, and then a guy like 0:10:40.640 --> 0:10:42.839 Ellis Merriweather, who was on the practice squad last year, 0:10:42.920 --> 0:10:45.400 got a lot of work without Marshaon Lloyd being out there. 0:10:45.440 --> 0:10:48.760 So Emmanuel Wilson got his Emmanuel snaps on the first 0:10:48.840 --> 0:10:49.640 practice as well. 0:10:49.760 --> 0:10:52.480 Yeah, So it's that's always the thing and one of 0:10:52.480 --> 0:10:56.000 the biggest aspects of this whole thing when you look 0:10:56.040 --> 0:10:58.000 at Ben Simms, the amount of work that he got 0:10:58.000 --> 0:11:00.640 this spring and now into the summer as number two 0:11:00.760 --> 0:11:02.920 tight end and a lot of those first team offensive 0:11:03.040 --> 0:11:05.920 you know, multiple tight end packages. You have to make 0:11:05.960 --> 0:11:08.000 sure you take advantage of those opportunities mean to get them. 0:11:08.000 --> 0:11:10.559 But the best news of all to bring this thing 0:11:10.600 --> 0:11:14.360 full circle Zach tom being back, being limited, but on 0:11:14.400 --> 0:11:16.599 that road back to the football field, the fact that 0:11:16.640 --> 0:11:18.760 he could have an entire training camp here to rebuild 0:11:18.800 --> 0:11:21.040 the strength and rebuild the confidence. Because I'll tell you what, Mike, 0:11:21.400 --> 0:11:23.280 what that young man has done in the first two 0:11:23.360 --> 0:11:26.280 seasons of his NFL career and how dynamic he's been 0:11:26.320 --> 0:11:29.640 at multiple positions. I think the arrow keeps pointing up 0:11:29.640 --> 0:11:32.360 for him and the Packers. He proved last year and 0:11:32.480 --> 0:11:34.520 a lot of people wrong that he couldn't play right tackle. 0:11:34.520 --> 0:11:36.480 He showed he could he could do an extremely high level. 0:11:36.679 --> 0:11:39.200 Yeah, I would think that he's he's going to be 0:11:39.240 --> 0:11:42.480 back at his right tackle post sooner than later. And 0:11:42.600 --> 0:11:44.640 however much the Packers want to talk about, you know, 0:11:44.679 --> 0:11:47.040 finding the best five on the offensive line. Zach Tom 0:11:47.080 --> 0:11:49.800 is one of the best five that the Packers have 0:11:49.960 --> 0:11:51.719 and as long as he is healthy, he's going to 0:11:51.760 --> 0:11:56.520 be a big part of things on this offense. With 0:11:56.520 --> 0:11:59.280 with regard to Tom not taking the eleven on eleven 0:11:59.320 --> 0:12:02.240 snaps and Andre Dillard, the former first round pick who 0:12:02.280 --> 0:12:04.880 was brought in as a free agent, he is currently 0:12:04.920 --> 0:12:07.120 working or at least in the first practice, he was 0:12:07.160 --> 0:12:10.640 the guy at right tackle with the first team offense. 0:12:10.679 --> 0:12:13.320 A couple other things with regard to the depth chart, 0:12:15.160 --> 0:12:18.840 we saw Jordan Morgan, the rookie first round pick out 0:12:18.840 --> 0:12:23.080 of Arizona. He was rotating at right guard with Sean 0:12:23.200 --> 0:12:26.600 Ryan with the number one offense. So it would appear, 0:12:26.720 --> 0:12:30.520 at least based on day one, that Jordan Morgan's best 0:12:30.559 --> 0:12:34.400 opportunity to win a starting job as a rookie first 0:12:34.480 --> 0:12:37.160 round pick it will be in that competition with Sean 0:12:37.240 --> 0:12:39.480 Ryan at right guard, So that will definitely be one 0:12:39.520 --> 0:12:41.400 to keep an eye on. And the other thing that 0:12:41.480 --> 0:12:44.160 jumps off the jumps off the practice field when you 0:12:44.200 --> 0:12:46.640 first see it is the guy who has lined up 0:12:46.679 --> 0:12:49.720 next to Xavier McKinney at safety with the number one 0:12:49.800 --> 0:12:53.640 defense in the first practice was the rookie second round pick, 0:12:53.800 --> 0:12:55.199 Javon Bullard from Georgia. 0:12:55.320 --> 0:12:58.120 Yeah, and that remember talking to you in the offseason program, thinking, man, 0:12:58.240 --> 0:13:01.160 will they go that Darnell Sayage route of just having 0:13:01.200 --> 0:13:03.120 Buller be the guy out there with them all spring? 0:13:03.120 --> 0:13:05.120 They didn't go that direction. He got some reps with 0:13:05.200 --> 0:13:08.240 Xavier McKinney, but it was Anthony Johnson Junior that really 0:13:08.240 --> 0:13:10.760 took a bulk of those first team defensive snaps. You 0:13:10.840 --> 0:13:13.000 had five six weeks to develop these plans. I think 0:13:13.000 --> 0:13:15.920 that speaks volumes that they gave Buller that first opportunity 0:13:15.960 --> 0:13:18.880 on day one of training camp. When you look at 0:13:19.120 --> 0:13:23.280 what his makeup is, what his athletic ceiling is, I 0:13:23.320 --> 0:13:26.520 think he's a perfect compliment to McKinney. And while McKinney 0:13:26.600 --> 0:13:29.040 is only twenty four years old, he's the type of 0:13:29.040 --> 0:13:31.240 guy that I think you want to have someone like 0:13:31.360 --> 0:13:34.120 him handling a young rookie in this league, with his 0:13:34.200 --> 0:13:36.720 experience of being a day one starter, a guy that 0:13:36.800 --> 0:13:38.720 had to be wise beyond his years when he went 0:13:38.760 --> 0:13:40.920 to New York. Sure, and I think also with that 0:13:40.960 --> 0:13:43.200 second round background, I mean, he knows what it means 0:13:43.280 --> 0:13:46.600 to be a high safety pick that teams are going 0:13:46.640 --> 0:13:48.880 to want to build the secondary around, but they're so 0:13:49.040 --> 0:13:51.240 dang versatile there. I mean, Evan Williams getting a lot 0:13:51.240 --> 0:13:55.480 of work. Katana Laedeppo is still on the NFI list 0:13:55.520 --> 0:13:57.920 because of that toe injury he sustained at the combine, 0:13:58.240 --> 0:14:01.360 but they oversee the lawn. That's been my big thing 0:14:01.520 --> 0:14:03.679 all off season when I talk about that position and 0:14:04.000 --> 0:14:07.040 to have that many options, I think it not only 0:14:07.160 --> 0:14:09.200 enhances the competition, but it gives you a lot to 0:14:09.200 --> 0:14:11.320 think about in terms of where you want certain guys 0:14:11.360 --> 0:14:15.079 lined up, Because even if it ends up being Bullard 0:14:15.200 --> 0:14:18.000 at safety, there's still a lot of flexibility that they 0:14:18.000 --> 0:14:19.720 can do in terms of how they handle the slot 0:14:19.800 --> 0:14:21.400 in both the nickel and the dime. 0:14:21.600 --> 0:14:24.480 Yeah, and I think Bullard's experience in the in the 0:14:24.560 --> 0:14:27.680 slot at Georgia obviously it's what led to him perhaps 0:14:27.760 --> 0:14:30.120 being drafted as high as he was, but I think 0:14:30.160 --> 0:14:32.320 it's going to serve him well as he makes the 0:14:32.440 --> 0:14:35.880 transition to the NFL as a rookie. I want to 0:14:35.920 --> 0:14:38.480 get to some other topics that you and I will 0:14:38.520 --> 0:14:41.200 be watching for and whatnot is training camp unfolds. But 0:14:41.240 --> 0:14:44.200 first a little bit of sponsor business serious XM NFL 0:14:44.360 --> 0:14:47.600 Radio delivers hard hitting analysis and up to the minute 0:14:47.680 --> 0:14:50.840 NFL news that true football fanatics need twenty four to seven, 0:14:51.320 --> 0:14:53.640 three sixty five, and at Cousin Subs, we have something 0:14:53.680 --> 0:14:56.840 for everyone like our Wisconsin cheese curds, mac and cheese, 0:14:56.880 --> 0:14:59.560 golden fries, and creamy shakes, all paired with your favorite 0:14:59.560 --> 0:15:02.880 sub or sub and a bowl Cousin Subs fifty plus 0:15:03.040 --> 0:15:07.880 years of better. All right, we're just gonna go back 0:15:07.920 --> 0:15:09.760 and forth here a little bit. Wes. I'm gonna let 0:15:09.760 --> 0:15:11.560 you take the first one, then I'm gonna come back 0:15:11.600 --> 0:15:13.840 with another one, and we'll go back and forth until 0:15:13.880 --> 0:15:16.760 we run out of topics. But under the umbrella of 0:15:17.240 --> 0:15:20.760 what are you watching for, whether that be position battles, 0:15:20.800 --> 0:15:24.480 whether that be certain details, whether that be specific players, 0:15:25.440 --> 0:15:27.880 what's at the top of your list other than some 0:15:27.960 --> 0:15:29.360 of the things we've already talked about. 0:15:29.880 --> 0:15:31.920 It's an excellent question. I mean, one of the things 0:15:31.920 --> 0:15:34.760 that I think yesterday in particular, that I was looking 0:15:34.760 --> 0:15:38.960 at was the defensive line, and Brian talked about it 0:15:39.000 --> 0:15:42.240 at the podium, and he feels like it's not just 0:15:42.240 --> 0:15:44.440 about Okay, well, these are our defensive tackles, these are 0:15:44.480 --> 0:15:48.240 defensive ends. It's about how that group expanded now under 0:15:48.320 --> 0:15:52.080 Jason Rebervich can really round itself out to whether any 0:15:52.120 --> 0:15:55.200 injuries that could happen, any type of issues that flare up. 0:15:56.000 --> 0:15:59.200 They have the type of depth there that it's as 0:15:59.240 --> 0:16:00.920 he said, it's the it's the deepest they've been in 0:16:00.920 --> 0:16:03.800 a long time. But it's as versatile as they've ever been. 0:16:04.160 --> 0:16:07.040 And to be able to have guys like Colby Wooden, 0:16:07.600 --> 0:16:11.920 you know, Lucas vanass Rashawn Gary, players that can play 0:16:12.000 --> 0:16:14.000 multiple positions in that front, I think is going to 0:16:14.040 --> 0:16:17.640 be so key and and honestly, like once, we're a 0:16:17.680 --> 0:16:19.520 week away from the pads going on, so we still 0:16:19.560 --> 0:16:21.160 got to get through some of this ramp up period, 0:16:21.200 --> 0:16:23.800 this acclamation period to really see what these guys look like. 0:16:24.400 --> 0:16:27.880 But my goodness, Mike, just watching how the defensive line, 0:16:27.880 --> 0:16:29.840 the defensive front was getting off the ball in the 0:16:29.840 --> 0:16:32.760 offseason program, in some of the team periods, I mean, 0:16:32.760 --> 0:16:36.200 it just you can tell the swagger that has been 0:16:36.200 --> 0:16:38.200 infused into that group because they're. 0:16:38.120 --> 0:16:39.960 And they're being trained in a different way they are, 0:16:40.160 --> 0:16:42.360 frankly in terms of as you say, the you know, 0:16:42.480 --> 0:16:46.520 getting off the ball, because this is this is an 0:16:46.600 --> 0:16:50.240 an up the field, attacking front as opposed to a 0:16:50.800 --> 0:16:52.800 read and react, So they're being trained to play a 0:16:52.800 --> 0:16:53.280 different way. 0:16:53.400 --> 0:16:55.040 And I did like what Brian said. I mean, he's 0:16:55.040 --> 0:16:57.440 probably the first person that's acknowledged like, Okay, there are 0:16:57.560 --> 0:16:58.440 some drawbacks. 0:16:58.600 --> 0:17:01.760 Yeah, exactly. It's it's like if there weren't, everybody would 0:17:01.760 --> 0:17:03.640 play it this way, right, So, I mean you have 0:17:03.720 --> 0:17:06.040 to learn how to play. You have to learn how 0:17:06.040 --> 0:17:09.680 to play that aggressive style without making yourself too vulnerable 0:17:09.760 --> 0:17:12.960 in other places. That's where the transition really comes in. 0:17:13.000 --> 0:17:15.119 But it is it's about turning up the heat on 0:17:15.160 --> 0:17:17.359 the quarterback. It's about reducing the amount of time that 0:17:17.359 --> 0:17:20.160 he's back there to make decisions. And ultimately that could 0:17:20.520 --> 0:17:22.399 the hope is is that type of pressure is what 0:17:22.440 --> 0:17:25.080 also helps you generate more takeaways. And that was the 0:17:25.160 --> 0:17:27.080 number one thing that had to change from last year. 0:17:27.080 --> 0:17:28.679 You can boil it down, you can blame this, that 0:17:28.760 --> 0:17:31.000 and the other thing, but the Packers did not have 0:17:31.119 --> 0:17:33.480 enough interceptions last year. They did not take the football 0:17:33.520 --> 0:17:35.320 away enough last year. And the way that that defense 0:17:35.440 --> 0:17:37.440 was playing, the way it was set up, the philosophy 0:17:37.480 --> 0:17:40.919 behind it, it just wasn't conducive to having success This 0:17:41.040 --> 0:17:44.200 Jeff Hafley defense, especially with his background as a secondary coach. 0:17:44.400 --> 0:17:46.680 I think that's gonna be the real true litmus test 0:17:46.680 --> 0:17:48.760 of this thing. I've said it once, I'll say it 0:17:48.800 --> 0:17:51.760 a thousand times. I don't care about top one, top five, 0:17:51.840 --> 0:17:54.479 top ten, wherever you finish ranking. It's about how you 0:17:54.520 --> 0:17:56.919 feel when your defense is on the field. Yeah, and 0:17:57.040 --> 0:17:59.600 you could be I've said this year before. Twenty fourteen 0:18:00.240 --> 0:18:02.240 ring fifteenth in total defense by the end of the year, 0:18:02.359 --> 0:18:04.920 but the second half of that season was a much 0:18:04.960 --> 0:18:07.280 different picture than they painted in the first half. 0:18:07.359 --> 0:18:09.919 Yeah, when you talk about turnovers, all you have to 0:18:09.960 --> 0:18:14.200 do is look at the two playoff games last January. Right, 0:18:14.280 --> 0:18:17.120 the Packers get the interception from Alexander, the pick six 0:18:17.160 --> 0:18:19.000 from Savage, Yes, and they you know, they go on 0:18:19.000 --> 0:18:20.600 to a blowout in Dallas. What do they do in 0:18:20.640 --> 0:18:25.200 San Francisco? They drop multiple interception opportunities and the game 0:18:25.240 --> 0:18:28.040 gets away in the final minutes and your season is over. 0:18:28.160 --> 0:18:34.880 So there is no overstating the value of generating those 0:18:34.920 --> 0:18:37.800 turnovers and what this new defensive staff is after. 0:18:38.000 --> 0:18:39.760