#301 Packers Unscripted: Changing focus

mandatory for certain players. Mike McCarthy has excused sixteen veteran players with the idea that these three practices this week Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday are focused on getting the young players on the roster as many reps as possible as they review installations and the other things that we're going on in O t A s to try to give them the best possible foundation come training camp. Yeah, and it's one of those things, Mike, who doesn't love a nice day off.

I wish Craig Shieldbauer and Duke Bober would have made mini camps, you know, not so mandatory for their veterans, but maybe had some intern step up and right might have even been better. Who knows, But be that as it may, this has been a practice now for three years that Mike McCarthy has done. They actually is it used to work out is they would take one day where they would excuse the veterans and then that would be the area of concentration for the younger players on

the roster. Three years ago they made the decision to take that team building exercise, move that into O, T A S, and then use those three days to just focus solely on players usually five years or younger on the roster, so to me in my experience, and it really does. And the in the with the confines of the c b A, the amount of snaps that you have and or the lack thereof during the offseason, a chance for those young guys on the roster to get one final tune up before you get into training camp

when you know everything's really flying out there. Yeah, and this makes a lot of sense when you look at it from an overall structural perspective of how things are done. Here. You have the bulk of the off season program several weeks. It's voluntary. Players don't need to be here, but the Packers often structure contracts with workout bonuses you participate in. Usually it's like eight something like that of the off

season program, the veteran players get a workout bonus. This is all geared towards the fact that the Packers would rather have the players here for the longer stretch of the voluntary stuff and not worry so much about the three day mandatory mini camp. If the players are going to show up for something, they don't want them to skip all of O, t a s and then just show up for the mandatory mini camp because that's not as conducive to how they want to prepare for training camp.

So there's kind of a lot of things that are built into the structure and how it's done here. Mike McCarthy is very confident that this is how it works, and it gives those younger players a chance in the classroom, on the field these last three days of the offseason program to really have everything focused on them. Absolutely, And you look at how the off season is structured and

there's a method to all the madness. I mean, the Packers they put a big premium on their workout bonuses making sure they get their veteran players into the off season program participating in it. And it's on both sides of the ball. This year, in particular, a lot of changes to get used to, and you've got new players like Mohammed Wilkerson coming in that you want to get

acclimated everybody around you. If you check all those boxes for eight weeks, it only makes sense that you want to take that last week not only concentrate on your younger players, but also make sure that there's you know, no injuries or whatever have you might pop up with

your older players and you're returning veterans as well. The thing I keep going back to, and it was such an off the it had nothing to do with this, But when I was talking with Lance Kendricks last week at that team building exercise that they did on the second day of O T A S that week, him and Mason Crosby both talked about how you know that last week is a grind for a lot of vets because now you've been going at it week after week

after week, four days for practices. Um, you're feeling pretty good at that point about where you are mentally in the playbook after going through the installs as much as you have. So for a lot of them, it's not to say there's no value in many camps. I'm sure there still is, But for a lot of them. I think it's already been reinforced. It's already you know what

the direction is going to become training camp. This is a chance now for them to step away and give those young guys who have not really been through this process that often one more chance to take a look at everything. Yeah, and it's reinforced as well. That not to say that competition isn't always ongoing, but this particular time, it's not focused on competition for roster spots. It's focused

on teaching. It's focused on getting guys up to speed to give them the best opportunity to compete for roster spots. Mike McCarthy reiterated on Tuesday morning that when training camp rolls around, hey, it's go time. It's the teaching phase of things, you know, really starts to you know, go into the background because now it's like, okay, we're gonna

rep everything and it's gonna be about competing. It's about beating not only the guy across from you offense versus defense, but then you know, supping forward in front of some of those other guys that your position to get playing time,

to get a roster spot. All those things are what training camp in the preseason are about It's such a great excellent point you make there, Mike, because you've seen sort of parts of that throughout the three public O t A practices, the receiver situation, you know what, Davante Adams missing some time with the hamstring, with Randall Cobb being gone during one of those practices. It's given a lot of those young guys a chance to really step

up and play. But contrastly, you look at maybe the defensive line where you had Wilkerson and Mike Daniels and in some of these positions where you had the veterans there day in and day out, where those young guys don't get as many opportunities. So it's a it's a you know, kind of a push and pull a little bit and towards the towards and towards getting those opportunities and trying to see exactly who's going to be able to make the most of them this time of the

year so critical at the end of this stage. Yeah, definitely. With that, we're gonna go to a break back with more and Packers Unscripted right after this. Welcome back to Packers Unscripted. Mike Spofford in this chair. West Hodkin wits in that one. So okay, West. It's the final week of the offseason program before the players are going to take an extended break prior to when training camp begins at the end of July. But I want to maybe throw out a few training camp preview ideas here and

offensive side of the ball? First, what do you think when training camp begins July first practice? What do you think is going to be the biggest storyline for the Packers on the offensive side of the ball. It's kind of a question that's spoffed the cuff. Oh boy, yeah, too bad. We don't have a laugh track over the top of that. But no, my my thought really is going to be looking at in my opinion, you take it for what it's worth really seeing. We have all

these pieces now in the backfield. Uh, Tie Montgomery, we've seen what he can do, Aaron Jones, Jamal Williams, all those guys are healthy and they've been able to stay healthy throughout the offseason program. Now, what do you how does this get sorted out? I think for my money, Michael,

this is your seven. I think for me now on the Packers beat, this is the most competition I can remember at a position, not necessarily in terms of just the quality of or anything like that, but just that the stakes, in my opinion, are pretty high because the Packers do like to ride the hot hand and they want to find a guy that all three downs is

gonna be able to play that position. But they have three guys in four if you want to include Davante May's five, if you want to include Aaron Ripkowski, who all brings something different to the table. None of those two guys are different. All of them have different strengths. So how does that play out? I think Time Montgomery's a guy you want to get on the field. I think he's a guy that could be a matchup nightmare

for teams. I love the idea of having him and Randall Cobb and Jimmy Graham all potentially on the field at the same time and seeing how defenses react to it. But then you've seen the expulsivity, if even that it's

even a word, explusiveness, explosiveness. I kind of like explosivity that I actually kind of like it, to be honest with you, Aaron Jones, what he can do um somewhat in a vacuum, you know it was only about a month and a half stretch, but just how explosive he is as an athlete, Jamal Williams, how consistent he was, how much he really took that third down running back job and really ran with it near the end of

the season. No pun intended, No exactly, but whatever the case may be, it's different looks, it's different skill sets, and it's all those guys competing for ultimately a chance to be on the field with Aaron Rodgers. I just think that the stakes at that position are really high, and I'm exting I'm excited to see what that brings out of each of those guys. Yeah, I agree with

you there. I do think that's going to be interesting, and it is for exactly the reason you said that you don't look at any of these running backs as sort of a carbon copy of the other guy. They

all they all do bring something different. I love the explosiveness or explosivity of Aaron Jones, but like you, I also like the versatility of a Time Montgomery and the matchup problems that you can create where you line them up in the backfield, but then you know, you motion them out and then he lines up in the slot and then Aaron Rodgers is looking around at Okay, how's the defense reacting? What matchup are they giving us in

this situation? That situation? So I do think how that running back depth chart shakes out is going to be very interesting. The thing I will say on the offensive side, as far as when training camp starts, is just where are the Packers going to be on the right side of the offensive line. What's the update on Brian Blog? Will he be ready for training camp? Is the word going to be maybe he'll be ready sometime during training camp to have a chance to be ready for week one?

Or is the entire training camp in preseason going to be about who will start at right tackle in week one? If Blog is not ready. You brought in Byron Bell as a veteran. You have Jason Spriggs and Kyle Murphy both entering year three draft pick investments, but also both coming off of injuries. We've talked a lot about Justin McCray. Kind of looks like maybe right guard is his position to lose at this point. You would expect him to hold that down, but if an injury happens, you know,

Lucas Patrick, the opportunity would be there. For him or for Cole Madison, the fifth round draft pick from Washington State. So to me, it's, you know, just what is going to be determined on the right side of the offensive line when training camp rolls around. Yeah. And it's a great point by you too, Mike, because again, when you look at how that is sort of settled right there in terms of who's out there right now competing for it, I mean Jason Spriggs physically visually, uh, just coming back

looking like a different player. I agree, he he looks different, and to me, it almost reminded me of thirteen to fourteen, those seasons with David Baktier in terms of the weight he put on. It appears to be good weight. We haven't had a chance to talk to him at the time in which we're taping this yet, but he's put on significant pounds and it looks like it's the kind of weight that can really help you anchor out there

and really take that next step. Kyle Murphy with the foot injury, trying to come back from that now, and we've seen him practicing on a limited basis. I was talking to Corey Linsley last week for a story and he mentioned Brian Bulaga and saying that if you didn't know any better, you wouldn't even think that Blaga was injured, that he's come back from that. The way he looks and and just seeing him walk around, obviously that's different than being on the field, but just really looks like

he's he is the player he's always been so. Um. Yeah, to your point, I think justin mccraie right guard, that looks like a really solid home for him. Depending on what happens with Bulaga, who's that next guy to step up to be that number six kind of guy on the offensive line, that'll be a big question mark. Yeah. Well, I want to talk about some issues on the defensive side of the ball as well. We'll get to those after the breakback with Moron Packers Unscripted. Right after this

Welcome back to Packers Unscripted. Mike Spofford Here, West Hodko, it's over there, okay, West training camp a handful of weeks away. Here. We just talked about some things on the offensive side of the ball. What do you see as the biggest storyline at the start of training camp on the defensive side for Green Bay cornerback and it's it's by far the uh it's I think that's the unanimous decision in terms of the position with the most intrigue going into camp. The reason I say that is

because to me, you were there for this. It reminds me a lot of the two thousand and twelve season. The Packers have made the announcement, at least going into camp that okay, Charles Whitson's moving to safety. There were a ton of jobs open in terms of the secondary, the cornerback position. You knew you had Tremon Williams, but even then he was coming back from a nerve injury in his shoulder. Was it gonna be Sam Shields? Was it gonna be Devon house Casey Heyward had just gotten drafted.

This situation reminds me a lot of that. I think at this point in time, there is one certainty as far as that Week one lineup, if everyone stays healthy, and that's how Clinton Dicks will be starting at safety. The rest of it, who's starting where, What positions are they going to be looking at. It's all up in the air right now. Kevin King's coming back from the shoulder injury, feeling good, looking good. Everybody knows what he's capable of if he can get on the line and

really power against people. I think Alexander's had a really nice offseason program. I think Josh Jackson has made some plays as well. Devon House is back, Tremon Williams is back. There's all these different pieces for Joe Witt, the new you know, defensive passing game coordinator, to utilize. How do you utilize them? Who starts now opposite of Haha, Clinton Dick's at safety, Josh Jones is in their Kenstrol Bryce

is in there. They have a lot of experience coming back, and they have a lot of young players that have been added this offseason through the draft. I'm really I'm eager to see who emerges, who grabs those spots because the opportunities there. Yeah, I agree with you, and I do think corner is a very intriguing spot because in addition to everybody that you mentioned, and now we know there's not room for everybody, So the competition is going

to be there for roster spots. But guys like Lenzy Pipkins and Josh Hawkins, they've played some, they're not they're not complete novices at the NFL level. They've been on the active roster they've played in some games, so where are they in their stages of development. Then you have a guy like Herb Waters, who has been converted from

wide receiver to cornerback. We've heard a lot of positive things about him, a lot of things that they like, but the injury from last year, you know, really set back his opportunity to try to, you know, grab a hold of something and and make the make the progress at a new position. So this is going to be that chance for him. We're gonna be watching a lot of these guys every every single practice. Just who's out there.

I mean, I'm really looking forward to those, especially when they put the pads on those one on one wide receiver cornerback you know where there's there's really no pass rush, there's nobody else out there, and and it's it's those corners jammed, jamming guys at the line and go on one on one with a wide receiver and trying to break up the play. Yeah, Quentin Rollins is back to coming off the you know, the Achilles injury. Absolutely. Dmitri

Goodson is still a part of this equation. What he offers not only on defense, but also the fact that when he's been healthy, he's a stalwart on special teams, and he's really probably their top gunner right now when he's healthy. And those are guys on defense who have played even more than those other young guys I mentioned in terms of having experienced. Rollins and Goodson are another step above just in terms of the number of games

they've played at this level. And I think I mentioned this in a previous episodes, but there's fourteen defensive backs on this roster that have played in an NFL regular season game now and that's on again, that's not counting the two rookies that came in through the draft. So I think that competition is hot. I think it's heavy, and I think it's probably gonna give the Packers their best chance, their best look at and having the secondary

that they ultimately desire. Yeah, the other thing I was going to say that will be worth watching in training camp, but I'm almost going to qualify it a little bit because I'm almost wondering how much we're really going to find out during training camp in the preseason. And what I'm talking about is with the defensive front, just where are these guys gonna line up and who's going to be playing what role and what packages? I mean, are there going to be times when Kenny Clark, Mike Daniels,

and Mohammed Wilkerson are all on the field together. Now, what I say qualifies that is how much does Mike Petton and how much do Mike Petton and Mike McCarthy want to give away during the preseason. How much are they going to keep under wraps in terms of these different packages. There are portions of training camp, there are practices that are not open to the public, not open to the media. You know, they're working on things for

specific opponents. Then, so while I'm very curious as to how that's going to shake out, I honestly don't know how much we're going to find out in the month of August. It may we may have to wait all the way up until Week one against the Chicago Bears to find out just how Petton is going to use

the different chess pieces so to speak. In my opinion my experience all the years I've covered this team, now, I don't think there's been more intrigue in terms of what a defense is going to look like, probably going back to two thousand nine when Don Capers came in, But just we have an idea of where the emphasis is gonna lie how they've built that defensive line, but you really can't be too sure. Yeah, I agree with

you with that. We're gonna go to another break back with more on Packers on screw did right after this Welcome back to Packers unscripted Mike Spofford alongside West hodkowits West before we go. A topic that I think it's worth touching on here because it's a question you and I have been getting fairly frequently in our insider inbox from the fans, and that's in reference to the new

kickoff rules in the NFL. How they're eliminating the high speed collisions because players are going to be running more side by side as far as offense versus defense, so to speak, running side by side down the field, um and the kicking team players not getting the running start that they used to get. They can only be one

yard off the ball, all of those things. Fans wondering, Okay, so if the kickoff is going to be such a different play, now, will that impact final roster decisions in terms of what coaches, personnel people think are the players that can help them the most. On special teams. What's your take here, Well, first off, I think my initial reaction when I saw this, and again we have to see it play out in real time, we'll just speculating

at this point. I think the value the kick returner just went back up and then had kind of been eliminated for a couple of years where I was like, okay, if you have a guy that can return kickoffs and punts, you're okay. But then the Quardrel Patterson's of the world that are mainly kickoff you know, artists, what what is their value now if they're only returning them. So I think with these changes, I can definitely see got you know,

kickers putting the ball in play more. Um As far as the value of coverage players and all that, I don't really know how much that's going to change. Maybe you might see teams now not looking for as many stalwarts and guys that are specialists when it comes to their play on special teams. Maybe you want to try to get more of those guys with upside that you think can help you on offense or defense, and then you know kind of hope that they get you through

what you need to get through on kickoffs. And whatnot. Um, So again, I'm very interested in how this plays out. It I remember talking whatever it was now four years ago with Mason Crosby on a golf outing about what it was like when they're pushing back the field goals the extra points and and he had such a great comment on it, and that you can think about it, you can process it and what it's gonna be like, but until you're actually out there, you don't know how

much it's gonna change anything, if at all. I like where the heart is at with the league trying to make the game safer for players. I don't argue whatsoever that it is an extremely dangerous play when you have players moving that fast, you know, those forces going against each other. So, uh, the question I have is exactly, ultimately, what is going to be the end of this Are we're gonna see more kickoff returns and if so, what

does that mean for the contact of those plays? Yeah, and again, as you said, we have to see how this plays out. The preseason has going to tell us some things. I think there's there's a possibility that with more of the coverage, players forced to start a kickoff play within fifteen yards of the line of scrimmage. And then with those players on the kicking team not getting the running start, if that puts a bigger premium on

just flat out speed. You know, the kicking team they want a guy who maybe is going to beat the other just simply beat the other guy down the field with pure speed. And and conversely, the coverage team doesn't want guys, you know, maybe the heavier linebackers are tight end types who might get beat by pure speed down the field. If that makes everybody sort of smaller and faster on both kickoff and kickoff coverage, maybe that does affect the last one or two roster spots. You know

that you decide on that fifty three man roster. But because the punt isn't necessarily changing, and that is a play, a special teams play that's run just as much as a kickoff, and then you have field goals and extra points are not changing in that respect. I don't think it goes beyond maybe one or two roster spots. I don't think we're gonna see some wholesale change in terms of what those final four or five roster spots look like.

Just because of the kickoffs, and you see you have your personnel, your personnel protectors, you got your you know your gunners, your jammers, all the different facets of the punt play. A lot of those do carry over to the kickoffs as well. You don't see a guy that's just a specialist in one area and it doesn't translate. So I think in that way you're gonna you're gonna

see personnel not really be affected. But as you said, it really does come down to number fifty two and fifty three on that active roster, what teams are going to value and how it's impacted. I don't know if we're even going to see a trend this year at the Packers, just based on how they can be very fluid with their roster. But I think as the years go on, I'll probably tell you the ultimate truth. Yeah. Absolutely. With that, we're going to sign off on this edition

of Packers Unscripted. Be sure to follow all of our coverage of the team on Packers dot com on Twitter. He's at west Hot, I'm at Mike Spofford at Packers for the team account. Thanks for tuning in, everybody. We'll see you next time. I