#304 Packers Unscripted: Off and running

to on cable television. We still have the podcast obviously, of course, but through training camp we will try to post new episodes Slash Podcast on Mondays and Wednesdays, and then once we get to the regular season, we will revert to what has been our regular season format for the past two years, which is five days a week,

Monday through Friday. So with that, let's get right into it, West, because the Packers as we speak right now, had the first few practices of camp under their belt, and it sounds like from what we heard from players in the locker room that things got off to a rather rousing start, you might say, with regards to Mike Petton's opening speech to the team um in one of those team meetings the day before the first practice, seems like he really kind of set the tone for what he wants to

get out of this camp from his defense, he did, Mike, And the thing that probably stands out to me the most with Petton, and I wrote about this during the off season program, he always the three times I think he's spoken to the media now every time he coaches with we have yet to give up a yard, So you're always going to be in that honeymoon phase zero yards, zero points, so exactly. But I think he's hit all

the right notes up until this point. I wrote a story going back to the off season about how he met individually with every defensive player in his position. Coach made sure to carve out that time go over goals, had players right down their goals for the upcoming season, something a lot of those guys really responded well to.

And now they get back. Mike McCarthy said he wanted first time he's done this, he wanted all three the coordinators, Petton, Joe Philbin coming back as the offensive coordinator in ron Zook to speak to the entire team offensive defense, defense

to offense, special teams intertwined into that. He wanted everybody to be on the same page and Petton being up in front of that room in front of Aaron Rodgers those offensive position players, giving them an idea of what he expects from his unit, what his philosophy for defenses, and what he believes the role of the defense is in a team's success. And for Aaron Rodgers to go out of his way. He wasn't asked about this speech.

He brought this up on his own. Yeah. For him to do that in in mentioning that, you know, it was an all timer, a guy that's now in his fourteenth NFL season, that's been through so many different years, so many different coaches, so many different mentors. For him to say that, I think gives you an idea of exactly what Petton has done to this point to really get guys to buy in. Yeah, And what I liked about what I was hearing from the players in the locker room. I go back to a comment that Mike

Petton made to the media. I believe it was when he spoke to reporters during the mini camp in the middle of June, and that he said, if he were to boil it down to one message to his players, it's more important how they play than what they play. And what he means by that is the attitude the approach. The mentality of beat the guy across from you is way more important than scheme and the xs and ohs

and anything that he's going to dial up. And I asked Tremont Williams about that, Williams obviously having played in Patton's defense for two years in Cleveland when he was the head coach there, and Williams said, flat out that is exactly where he comes from. It's about beating the guy across from you. You cannot lean on scheme as

a crutch. If a pass rusher, for example, it's having trouble getting to the quarterback, don't look to the sideline, don't look to the coaches to say, hey, dial something up for me to get to the quarterback. No, you beat the guy across from you first, and then then you know what Williams said, you start mixing in scheme to that mentality, then the scheme becomes a bonus. But how you win is to be is to win your matchup and and and that that message is definitely getting through. Yeah,

it's the It's a tale as old as time. I mean, when you look at winning one on ones in this game, it is what it boils down to. And being able to if there's gonna be situations where teams double cover guy or put two blockers on a pass rusher, the other guys being able to take advantage of that because you always are going to have that one for one matchup.

I think the thing that that really resonates for me so far with pet and coming in here and in that message of you know, we're looking for individuals and in winning those matchups rather than letting the scheme save you,

so to speak. Mike McCarthy mentioned, I forget which portion of the offseason program this was, but you know, as parentially successful as the offense has been top ten and whatever it's been now seven in the last nine years, something like that, they want the defense to be better than that. They don't want the defense to feel like the step child. And we've only, at this point in time which we're taping the show, had three practices to

go off of one of those being padded. But there just is an energy there um and in in a feeling, and I think an attitude that has been instilled with these guys that has been passed down and in seeing Pett and you know, bringing a couple of extra coaches but also finding you know, guys on this current roster. You know, you look at a guy like Joe Witt, who has been promoted a passing game corter. Their ideals a line and they all have a feeling in an in an idea of where they want this defense to go.

And even though it's just been a couple of practices, I think you've been able to kind of sense that that mentality so far. Yeah, and there's definitely been plenty of energy on the offensive side of the tall as well. We saw in the first padded practice on Saturday, Um, a tight play in the end zone between Jimmy Graham and Josh Jones. They get into it a little bit. Hey, you know afterwards both guys brush it off. Hey, that's

training camp. That's how it goes. But um, but if we want to talk a little bit about the offense, you're interesting to see that it looks like Aaron Rodgers Jimmy Graham off to a pretty fast start. Maybe some things to work on in the red zone, that things weren't quite clicking between them in the red zone work on Saturday, But as far as the stuff we've seen normal down at distance middle of the field, Jimmy Graham

definitely making his plays. He certainly is, and again this is a guy that you have to see him to believe just how big he is and what he offers. And seeing those reps against Josh Jones, Josh Jones is a big kid, uh six ft two to twenty and you can see the height advantage. And we talked about last week and one of our three Things videos when Aaron Rodgers with how pinpoint precise he is when he puts the ball where the cornerback can't get it or

the defensive back can't get it. Jimmy Graham also gives you a catching radius that widens that whole a little bit, and we saw it on a couple. I think one of them was that outroute last week was very impressive. Um just a really quickly pivot too. Because you mentioned the competitive rep between Jones. It doesn't always need to be something where guys are having conflict though. I even look at you know what Davante Adams and Kevin King have been doing in practice. You know there hasn't been

any bickering or fighting or anything like that. How competitive those reps are for a guy that's coming off a pro Bowl working against the second round draft pick from last year trying to elevate his game. So, whether it is a Jimmy Graham and Davante Adams, you look at the defense, specifically the guys they get to work against, and and seeing those two, those two things kind of clash.

To me, That's what I look for in these practices, and as time goes on now too, I think a guy like Josh Jones is gonna learn a lot from going up against the Jimmy Graham because you know what, Michael, there aren't a lot of six seven, two or sixty pound tight ends in this league that can do what Jimmy Graham does. Yeah. Absolutely, and and and to uh, to expound on Graham a little bit, he had a lot of comments. He spoke to the media for the first time in a while after Saturday's practice, yet was

very complimentary, obviously of Aaron Rodgers. He had talked about that in April, how excited he is to be in this offense. One comment from Graham that really stood out to me though, was when he talked about how he can completely trust Aaron Rodgers not to throw a ball that's going to put him in a bad situation where he has to worry about one of those you know, across the middle type of hits, or or one those blindside type of shots that you don't see coming and whatnot.

And it got me thinking, I made and I made this comment in our Insider Inbox column that you know, you and I. Every year there's a there's a few days where the group of officials comes in UM they show us, They show the media as well as the players and coaches a video of rules, changes, points of emphasis and all that for the upcoming season. The whole defenseless receiver thing has been a part of that video for a number of years now. They've been changing the rules,

they emphasize different things. I can't recall one time in any of those videos that an Aaron Rodgers pass was in there. That says something, And that's exactly what Graham is talking about. Aaron Rodgers. Not only is his accuracy amazing, but he protects his players. His awareness of the field is such that he doesn't put his pass catchers in a compromising position. And Graham is one of those guys

who really appreciates three dimensional chess. I don't know how many times we've talked about it as it relates to him and the pre snap, being able to win that battle at the line of scrimma, finding ways to draw guys off sides, finding ways to gain a favorable matchup for the offense, even you know, the twelve men on

the field things. But I think that's a really good point you raised, because one of the things we never talked about because it's not an issue in this offense is guys getting lit up because of the ball being in a particular place that allows the safety or allows the defensive back to come in and lay a heavy hit on a guy. Um. And I think when you look at Graham in the course of his career, he's

been able to catch passes from Russell Wilson. I know, probably didn't go as well as he wanted it to in Seattle, but you know, he also had Drew Brees. He's had some high quality quarterbacks to kind of take care of him. And now you also have a guy like Aaron Rodgers who with that precision, with that accuracy, also keeps his receiver's health in mind, a really big thing not only for the safety of the player, but also the health of the football team as a season

where's on. Yeah, and the fans might be asking, is we're discussing this, so what about Davante Adams and those shots he took last year? Well, take a look at it. The first one against the Bears, it was a short pass over the middle. Adams was basically being held up by a Bears guy and then another guy comes in, Danny Trevathan and clocks him. And then the one in Carolina was after interception on an interception return, you know, which those blindside type of blocks the league is trying

to eliminate and try to get rid of. Thomas Davis just lights up Davante Adams for no reason. So in discussing this, that hits that Adams took last year certainly not on Aaron Rodgers, although Rogers was not happy about the fact he through an interception, Yeah, totally. You know, I gotta say this too. I don't know if I'd bet a cooler cucumber right now than Davante Adams. I mean, the fact that he was willing to kind of make

peace with Thomas Davis at the Pro Bowl too. He's a He's probably a bigger man than I at that point of his season, you know, trying to do in a contract. Oh yeah, he's he's in. He's in a contract. You're trying to get a new deal and everything. And then he ends up having to having to sit out the last few games with another concussions. It was certainly unfortunate, But I agree with you, Davante Adams very big man there.

But continuing the discussion about the wide receiver's west, you wrote about a guy late last week, and we've talked a lot about the three rookie d wide receivers, how that depth chart is going to shake out. There's a young man from Wisconsin, Whitewater. Now it's early in camp. We haven't even gotten a family night letter in the first preseason games, so we you know, throw in the caveat that it's early. But Jake kumarole to me, there's nothing and I don't I don't mean this as a

as a detriment to him. There's nothing that stands out to me about him except that when we're watching practice, he's getting open and making catches. And that's that's really the name of the game here for these young guys trying to make the roster. Well, I will say this, the thing that stands out to me about him, is he six four and twitter and nine pounds. I mean,

he's a big kid. And let me put it this way, Michael, if you didn't know, he was coming from a Division three background and Whitewater has had a lot of success, power to them for that. But it is still Division three football, right, you don't see a lot of it. We saw Matt Blanchard at trying to make the roster a number of years ago. There isn't always a proven

path for D three guys in the NFL. If you would have told me Jake Kumaroo take away all the colleges and asked which one is the Division three kid, I wouldn't have said him on this receiver's roster. That's a good point. And that's and that's quite a compliment

to h Yeah. And and the thing that stands out to me is he had a phenomenal practice on Friday, had three catches in a two minute period, came back right the next period, had a nice play in the past under pressure where he was able to split the cornerback in the safety, made a nice cut CATCHU believe on a corner route. Look great. But what stood out to me is Saturday morning, McCarthy was asked about him, and there was no surprise. He said that they've been

seeing this throughout the offseason program. It wasn't a one hit wonder. Now, don't get me wrong. Camarade has a tough road ahead of him to make this roster. There's seven guys at the receiver position right now that have been drafted into the NFL, including three this past year's rookies. Asked him about that on Friday afternoon, said that didn't bother him. He was watching, he was expecting it. His goal, though,

is still to show that he can do this. His father was a first round draft pick, his cousin Joey Bosa Defensive Player the Year, a Rookie of the Year a year ago. He has NFL bloodlines, and he has full confidence that he can make that dream come true. Yeah. I wasn't aware when he came to Green Bay about the connection, you know, those family connections playing in the NFL.

The last name sort of rang a bell. And then when I when you had looked it up in terms of his, uh, his father being a rather high draft pick, first round pick. Yeah, that's uh, that is that is pretty impressive. Those those bloodlines can can matter at certain points with regards to the rookies. A lot of people asking, okay, are there any of those rookies you know, eq St Brown, Jamon Moore, Marquis Valdes Scantling, any of them standing out?

I will say this, Valdes Scantling unfortunately missed his chance to be maybe the star of the day on Saturday. He had made a great catch with a safety draped all over him in the end zone. You know, kind of a corner route there off to the side, great catch, gets his feet down in traffic, but then end later in practice runs a go route down the middle, really starts to separate eight from the defensive backs. Looks like a really good throw. Can't quite haul it in the

end zone. He left his feed, he dove, maybe he didn't have to one of those kinds of things, didn't bring it in. If he had caught that pass. And I know if ifs and butts for candies and nuts, but if he had caught that pass, we'd be talking about him being, you know, maybe the early star amongst these rookie wide receivers. Here's what's interesting, Michael, I've covered this is my seventh full time training camp I've covered.

I covered a couple before then on an interim basis, but full time to me, and I'm not trying to speak in hyperbole here, but this is going to be the most fun receiver battles watch. And we're talking about years where Jared Boykin came out of nowhere and you had Tory Gurley and and DeAndre Barrell and guys that you really were excited about, you know, possibly pushing the

rest of that deep receiving corpse. This is the most excited I've been to watch this group work because you're right the Elda Scantling didn't come down with the ball on that, but his speed is ridiculous. That was that was impressive. That was pure separation while the ball was in the air. He just continued to separate from the DBS to go and he's done it several times in this camp. I think Jamon Moore is a guy that has an NFL build. I've been excited to watch him.

He can hold up. You can see that the way he's built is going to be able to translate I think in the NFL in terms of a sixteen game season. E q st Brown the bloodlines, the pedigree, the work ethic. I'm excited to watch this on full because you also have Geronimo Allison and Trevor Davis competing for spots too. It's gonna be really exciting to see. Yeah, and I think Allison is off to a pretty solid like like what I've what I've seen there, as you say, very steady.

One other thing I want to hit on on the defensive side here West before we bolt out to practice. A guy we didn't see much of last year, Montravius Adams. The pads go on for the first time on Saturday, and suddenly he kind of jumped out a little bit, didn't He did, He really did, and they did one on one drills. This he beat three offensive linemen with the same swim move technique. And the thing you got to keep in mind with one on ones, this is your you want to beat your guy, but you're also

working on things too. In a year ago, that first padded practice, Montrevia's Adams wasn't on the field. He broke his foot after the second one, didn't practice the rest of training camp. So realistically, this is the first time I've been able to see him in competitive reps because we don't get to see a lot of this stuff during the regular season. And I was impressed. Larry mccaron

mentioned the kid has a really good first step. I thought his swin move was nasty, being able to, you know, give coporation very quick in the middle of the offensive line, and I get it. You talked about it, Larry talked about he's going up against guys that are lower on the depth chart. You know, it's only one on one. There's gonna be more traffic in there in the regular season.

But I've covered training camp practices for a number of years now, and I'll say this, I'd rather see what Montrevia's Adams put on film on Saturday then the guys that go in there and just gets held up at the line of scrimmage. You don't know what you got. I thought he flashed him serious potential. It's a deep d line room. He's gonna have to work hard to

get reps in there. But I really liked what I saw so far from Montrevia's Adams, given that that was our real first taste into the first or the former third round pick. Yeah, and or third round pick out of Auburn. Definitely showing why he was a top one draft pick a year ago. But I made this point in our Three Things video, and I'll say this, if if fans are going to only go on our website for two minutes a day, you have to watch Three Things. We want you with us for the minutes what you're

doing Packers unscripted. Don't get me wrong, but if you want a two minute Packer fix every day during training camp, just check out Three Things. Larry McCarron is the star of the show. We love it. He cracks us up and hopefully he cracks you up as well. But I made the point in in our Three Things segment that with those swim moves you're talking about, Adams was beating some guys lower on the depth chart. But what that does is that potentially earns him reps in the one

on ones. Now as camp goes on against the guys a little higher on the depth chart, maybe he's gonna go against Lane Taylor or Corey Linsley as an inside Russia as opposed to those guys further down the depth chart. And then that's when you really see what a guy like Montravius Adams have has and does he have another move because Corey Lindsley is not gonna get Corey Lindsley is watching that he sees that swim move. Okay, that's what that guy's got. I'm gonna make sure I take

that away. So then what can Adams do when he goes up against a better player to to make an adjustment? Those are the kinds of things that are fun to watch as training camp goes along. Yeah, and one thing to point out to the reason why he was taking on a lot of the guys lawering the depth chart. You know, Lane Taylor wasn't going through the one on ones. He's coming back from that ankle injury, so he got Justin McCrae and Lucas Patrick getting a majority of the

work against the starting guys. So, yeah, you gotta beat the guy in front of you. And I thought montrevious Adams, for our first taste into seeing him in one on ones, looked really good. We'll see where he takes it from here. All right, West, Well, you and I have to get out to practice, so we're going to do that and sign off on this edition of Packers Unscripted. Be sure to follow all of our coverage of the team and

of training camp on packers dot com. On Twitter, you can find him 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.