#308 Packers Unscripted: Debut review

Field against the Tennessee Titans. And I think when you start evaluating analyzing this game, a game in which Aaron Rodgers did not play, I think it starts with the fact that all three of the Packers backup quarterbacks were productive, got things done, moved the ball, scored points all three of them. Now, there were some opportunities that were missed, some opportunities left out there on the field, but the Packers have to feel pretty good about where their quarterbacks

at suation sits right now. Yeah, the passing game wasn't an issue at all in this contest. Three seventy two total yards of offense by the three backup quarterbacks combined. And I mean you look at those passer ratings. Tim Boyle walks away with a hundred sixteen point seven Brett Hunley uh and economical eighty one point one. All told, they were ninety eight and some big plays. I think all three of them made big plays throughout the course of that game. Each one had a passive at least

forty eight yards. The completion at the beginning of the game from Brett Hunley down to Davante Adams, I mean, you could make a case that that might be the finest throw he's made in in three four four camps. Now, so that was an impressive play. And that was against Malcolm Butler, not mistaken. Yeah, so your margin for air was really small on that plane, yet he still put it in the right spot. Davante Adams, as I mentioned, are one of our videos we did for three things

this week. He looks like he's in mid season fom already to Sean Kaiser comes in fifty one yard completion down to Marquez Veldez scantling, and then Tim Boyle, not being one up to all, not to be outdone, finishes the night with a fifty two yard pass uh to Jake kumarout. So a really good solid performance, and I thought we got to see a lot from those young receivers on this roster as well. Yeah, I think when you look at where things are at the backup quarterback position.

Brett Hunley, he was going against the ones for the Tennessee Titans. I think he's clearly ahead of Deshaun Kaiser right now, and just in terms of his efficiency and everything with the offense, that's to be expected. This was Deshaun Kaiser's first game essentially running this offense against another opponent. So we will watch that as the preseason goes along. But you mentioned a couple of those young receivers Valdez, Scantling, Kumar making some big place eq St. Brown I believe

had four was a four catches for sixty one yards UM. Now, this was coming on the heels of those comments from Aaron Rodgers about some of the young receivers making too many mental mistakes, not really finishing through when they're tired after a long practice, that kind of thing. A couple of these guys really stepped up and answered the bell. I thought it was most interesting. Valdi Scantling had a really good comment after the game saying and that, well,

that's your quarterback, that's a Hall of Fame type player. Um, that's telling you you need to rise your game, need to rise your level play. H that's gonna, you know, light a fire under everybody. And both Valdes Scantling and Jake Kumro said after those comments were made last week, the wide receivers came together, they had a meeting about that. They agree they were not gonna have a practice like

that again. They were gonna rise their um you know, raise their level of urgency if you will, um and and really not let that moment be lost on them that you only get a month here to show what you have to offer trying to make that fifty three man roster, and ultimately everybody this is a full time job.

Everybody's just trying to make a living. But if you do make the fifty three, I think one of the things that everybody understands is you have to be relied on, you have to be counted upon, you have to be trusted by Aaron Rodgers. So while for them, I'm with them, you know you got impressed, you gotta show your skills and you need to make that roster for this in of this to be meaningful. Aaron Rodgers is looking in the long game to make sure that he has guys

that he can count on. Because Davante Adams and Randall Cobb drama Allison. That's the start there. But as we've seen the last few seasons, you're always going to need those young guys to step up and play some meaningful snaps at some point in the season. Yeah, you're definitely gonna need him. Valde Scantling was really the star of the show. I guess you might say with the five

catches for one one yards. You mentioned the big play down the field from Deshaun Kaizer, but really I thought his best catch was that touchdown catch in the back of the end zone fifteen yard grab. Because we've seen

this in practice, you know, the contested catches. Those are the ones that that catch the quarterbacks high and they catch the coach's eye when it's you know, as they say, like a fifty ball, when that defender has just to get a shot at it as the receiver and the receiver can not only prevent a potential interception but make the play and turn it into a positive play. That's what that play in the in the back of the

end zone look like. Because that was not an easy grab, you know, footwork wise, he still managed to to stay in bounds and and catch the touchdown. And we've seen We've seen these young receivers have their rough moments in practice. We saw Jamon more This guy was getting open a lot on Thursday night, but then his best chance for the big play could have been a sixty five yard touchdown. Really nice throw from Tim Boyle, can't quite bring it in,

you know, off the fingertips there. Those are the plays you gotta make. I think Jamon Moore is going to start making those this. Like I said, this guy is getting open, he's getting opportunities. Once he starts cashing in, I think that's another guy we're gonna be talking about. Yeah, And I was talking to Tim Boyle a little bit about this after the game too, because he's worked with

these guys pretty much since the beginning. All three of those rookie receivers when they came in, you know, in that rookie camp, Tim Boyle was the guy that they were catching passes from. And for him to you know what his his impression has been is that all three of those guys can make plays. And and you've seen all three of them really step up. The biggest key for them is going to be the consistency factor. The big playability is there with all of them. They wouldn't

be in Green Bay if it wasn't. I mean, you look, it felled this scantling again, I mentioned over and over again, but four point three seven forty time six ft four you just don't coach that. That's just something either you got it or you don't. So for him and Jamon Moore, you know, trying to improve his hands, and you know eq St Brown showing that, you know, leaving early from Notre Dame, it's not that big of a jump for

him to come into the pros. I think that's pushing all those guys, to be honest with you, and I know there were some mistakes there and things they want to clean up, but I thought, in my opinion, it was exactly what you wanted to see coming off of Tuesday's practice. A lot of those guys stepping up and when those big play opportunities came, they capitalized one shifting gears for the moment to look at things on the defensive side of the ball. I think it's safe to

say that, and Mike McCarthy essentially confirmed this. The Packers came in with a very basic game plan defensively, not a lot of scheme, not a lot of crazy stunts and different things, different packages. It wasn't that type of game. It was a game of let's line up and play and let's see what we have a lot of guys, a lot of read others. On defense, we're sitting out, um not participating, some just for rest, some because of

of some minor injuries they're dealing with. But if you had to pick two guys in my opinion anyway that that stood out a little bit on on the game field Thursday night against Tennessee, I would say Reggie Gilbert and Josh Jackson, two young players. Gilbert obviously a couple of years on the practice squad. As we talked about leading into the game, somebody needs to be that next guy at outside linebacker that the coaches are going to call upon when you need somebody aside from Clay Matthews

and Nick Perry to make a play. Reggie Gilbert right now is the guy who's raising his hand in the classroom. Here's what I've always loved about the way, and this goes back to Dom Caper's two and his defenses, and and Caper's definitely blitz more in preseason than what then what Petton did in this game, but with the when it is getting vanilla, when there isn't a lot of scheme. And I wrote about this an insider in box this weekend.

This is where it's on the player to make a play, show your work, make a play, and make progress in those apps. And Reggie Gilbert, you go back and look at all three of these years that he's been in Packers training camp, he's done that. The first year was a little bit more of an uphill climb because he was making that switch from a defensive lineman to playing an outside, stand up two point outside linebacker. Last year, as he even said he thought he'd made the roster,

he was shocked. He was blindsided when he found out he didn't talked with his agents. And and i'll tell you this right now, Mike, I remember I won't name names, but I remember dealing when I was at the Press Gazette with cutdown day, and how many agents will get upset that their guy didn't make a roster. So they had that that window between when the final cuts are made and then whatever it was the next sixteen hours, twelve hours, whatever it was before they had to sign.

You can start signing teams on players on the practice squad, and I can't tell you how many times I remember agents being upset that their guy didn't make it, and then they go and sign somewhere else and they don't make it there either. I think Reggie Gilbert understood that, even though there was that disappointment that he didn't get on the fifty three, that this still the best place

for him, and Mike McCarthy even admitted this too. He probably should have been elevated earlier with what he showed at the end of last season, but that isn't what motivates Reggie Gilbert. What motivates Reggie Gilbert is the idea that you know what, I'm confident what I can do as a football player, I want to show it. I don't need any chips on my shoulder or anything like that.

I just want to play football and in this game, and I know it ended up only being what two tackles and a quarterback hit, But you need to consistently watch Gilbert in those two final regular season games and in this contest, the guy affects the football game, and I thought he did it again, and now he's putting himself in a position to not only make the fifty three this year. But to go into the regular season

and have an actual role on that defense. Yeah, And I think he's putting himself in position to do that. And and we'll see how things shake out. We saw at the end of training camp last year one of the decisions the Packers made was they thought, Okay, we'll bring Reggie Gilbert back on the practice squad, will sign a Mod Brooks, a veteran outside linebacker. That was the

decision that was made. Then, Reggie Gilbert, if you're in his shoes, you're looking at it now going I don't want them to be looking outside the organization for that next outside linebacker. I want them to believe that I'm the guy. So but with that throw one more thought in there too. I thought it was really interesting. David Botry was asked about him in the locker room on Sunday, and he even went out of his way to mention him.

And Brian Blaga have been big Reggie Gilbert ban since day one, not just because of what he does on a football field, but the way he handles himself, the way he conducts his business, in the way everything with him is a first class approach. He's a guy that knows he came from nothing and knows what it's like to have nothing when it comes to the NFL, and with that in the back of his mind, every success

he has is always humbled. At that moment, I thought that was really important for a veteran and two time All Pro like Box try to go out of his way to really commend a former undrafted free agent like Gilbert on his approach. Yeah, no doubt about it. Looking at the secondary, a handful of guys not playing in this first game. Tremont Williams rested if I recall um Kevin King dealing with an injury to his non surgically repaired shoulder, JayR Alexander a little bit of a groin tweak,

so he was on the sideline. Josh Jackson, we talked about it late last week, getting a chance to play on the boundary, play in the slot line up in some different places. Now, you didn't have any much like Gilbert didn't have any splash plays. You know, there weren't wasn't a sack or an interception, a big turnover, a runback or anything like that. But but I thought Josh Jackson acquitted himself pretty well for a rookie making essentially playing in his first NFL game, in a preseason game.

I thought he looked pretty good. It's funny you mentioned that, because, Okay, if Gilbert doesn't make any splash plays, he's an outside linebacker. If you're a cornerback, you might not make any splash plays, but it might be very easy for someone to make a splash play against you. Josh Jackson did not allow that. He had a really solid, just steady handed game, and

the Packers need that in that secondary. They need guys like that this season that can even you know, if even if it isn't the big interception, at times, the game is a lot more than that. It's also being able to contain. And I thought Jack's and stood up to that challenge. I thought he's really head first dove into, you know, work in the slot when he's been asked to and what that's required of him. But at the end of the day, here the thing I like the

most about him. He's a guy since the offseason program, since training camp even started, every practice you can see him getting better. You can see him with that mental mindset of what he knows what to do in this game. And now mentioned that with more experience, more reps, more work with Joe Jr. This guy started one year in Iowa, had a heck of a year. But I mean he is he's He's not a guy that got a lot of reps in college. So, um, this time is really valuable.

And it was interesting talking to Alexander in the locker room earlier this week. He even mentioned too, he's like, you know, seeing him out there, It's like, oh cool, I want to do that now. And he's hopeful Thursday night against the Pittsburgh Steelers he'll be out there as well. Yeah, And one thing I always look at with regards to rookies, especially these guys who are just starting to find their way. But you know, the promise, you know, the potential is there. Okay,

Josh Jackson had a pretty good game. I'm sure there were some nice plays on film that they looked at in the film study with the other defenders. You've got another game, so now go out and do it again, you know, don't rest on your Laurel said, Okay, I got this preseason thing licked. You know, let's get the

regular season here. No, go out and do it again in another preseason game, have another game, maybe make that splash play, um continue it, don't you know, don't don't be riding you know the the young player roller coaster where it's like, you know, a good game and then you relax too much and then you got to kind of crank yourself up again. Josh Jackson strikes me from a personality standpoint as a guy who's pretty even keel.

He doesn't talk a lot, uh, you know, unlike Alexander who likes to, you know, talk a little trash out there in the field. And that's fine too, but Jackson is is a steady eddie in a sense, and uh, I like, I like that approach, especially for a young guy, And I'm interested to see how he looks now. As the preseason continued, he almost see hearing him talk and listen to him in the locker room. He sort of reminds me a little bit of Casey Hayward. I can

see that. I've always made that point that case he was really quiet his first year. Yeah, not off putting at all, but just really was was quiet. And as the years went on, he always had that swagger on the field and the confidence, but as years went on, you can see him get more and more comfortable. Jackson are really nice, seems like a really good, humble guy. Um, And it'll be interesting to see him grow now in these years to come, because because the personality is definitely there,

you see it with his teammates. It's just that, uh, you know, he's not quite as gregarious as as j Alexander, but few are. Yeah, that's a good way. That's a good way to put it. Um. But the Packers then returned to the practice field on Sunday after Thursday's Thursday's game, their first on field work. And we've mentioned a few of these guys, Kevin King Jr. Alexander, David Baktry. These guys are getting back on the practice field now, um

in a limited capacity. At this point, some of these guys have been cleared for all the eleven on eleven, all the full context stuff. But bat was back in practice. We saw Brian Bulaga doing some eleven getting eleven on eleven reps. Randall Cobb was back in practice, Lane Taylor Um, Alexander and King and Mike Daniels was back in practice

with the pads on. So granted three preseason games left to go, not everybody fully cleared by the medical staff, but a good sign that this Packers team on both sides of the ball is starting to mend a little bit. There were there were basically ten players that came back that they were sitting out of that game against the Titans just for Nix and bruises and that. But the three that stood out to me the most for different reasons. One Aaron Jones being able to come back from the

hamstring injury. On seeing him out, there's gonna be big for this team. He needs to work. We know what's going to happen at the beginning of the season. He's gonna miss the first two games, so he needs to be able to get some snaps now when he can get them. As a young player, Bolaga, because he has progressed to the eleven on love and work. That's really a big step for him. And absolutely he said he

estimated he probably took seven or eight reps. All good work for him, because he said it's not really so much trying to regain like confidence in the knee, it's more making sure that his technique his techniqu because right and he's getting in his stance comfortably. Wants to make sure that Okay, when I am playing, I'm gonna be

the player that I've always been. And then lastly, I mean David bak tr When you see your starting again, two time All Pro left tackle get carded off the field during family Night, there's a lot of Packer fans there that we're holding their breath. And then now you see him being able to get back on the practice field, as he said last week just kind of equated it

to your typical basketball ankle sprain. So having him on the field is going to be so important, especially if you can get in these games when Aaron Rodgers is going to get a little bit of work this preseason. Yeah, and we'll see. We won't really know, probably up until game time on Thursday, how many of these guys are going to potentially play on Thursday night or if they're going to be held out from game action until that third preseason game in Oakland. So we'll have to see

how that shakes out. But for now, I say we call it a wrap 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. He's at West Hod I'm at Mike's offered at Packers for the team account. Thanks for tuning in, everybody, We'll see you next time. H