#309 Packers Unscripted: What to watch for

but give us the update, you know, it's interesting. So obviously you were in the huddle with Rogers earlier this week. He said it is his intention to play in this game. He wanted to huddle at his locker, not on the practice field, just to clarify differentiate that uh and and he said he he really wants to get work in front of the land. Both field crowded. My mind immediately went to the fact that he hasn't played at lambeau Field since September of last season because then they went

on the road for those games. Obviously, he got hurt in Minnesota and then came back in Week fifteen at Carolina, so that made me kind of look up the stats a little bit, and I was really surprised when I've realized that Rogers hasn't played a home preseason games since two thousand fourteen, just based on some of the corks with the schedule. You know, the Packers opened, uh, some on the road, or as some at home, closed some at home, So typically those second third games have been

the games where he's played. But Mike McCarthy said, it's the goal for the Green Bay Packers to get him out there, get him on the field. There are factors that play into this, namely the offensive line and the health there. Can Brian Belaga suit up at right tackle a little more than nine months after tearing his a c L last November? Can you know David Baktiari make his way back. Both of those guys look really good in practice the last week and a half since they've returned.

So if you can get them on the field, I think the odds, you know, really do increase quite a bit for Rogers being out there. But as Mike McCarthy also said, you go back two years ago, they played a preseason game two with Rogers in there and Kyle Murphy a rookie at the time going up against Vonn Miller's So there's a lot of different things they have to consider, but I think everybody would be in an agreement that for Rogers it's in his best interest to

at least get some snaps in this contest. Yeah, and I would imagine he would get the most of his preseason work would come in the third game at Oakland next week. But there have been some instances in other years where that second preseason game he's played a series, maybe two. We'll have to see how it goes. As

you said, the health of the offensive line. If David bak Try in his recovery from the ankle, if the doctors are saying David Bakti is only going to play six snaps, those might be the only six napster Adaron Rodgers plays, and it might might not even be a whole series if they're driving down. I mean, we don't know necessarily how this is going to go. But there are some other guys that we're kind of hoping maybe

we'll see the first preseason action of the year. And some of those guys I'm talking about, jayro Alexander, Jimmy Graham, Aaron Jones, who's back on the practice field from his hamstring injury. The whole Jimmy Graham Aaron Rodgers thing I think is the most interesting thing from the offensive side, because we've seen what they can do on the practice field.

It's definitely coming along and you know, you'd like to see them, you know, connect a couple of times against an opponent and whether it happens this week or next week in Oakland. I've often said, Mike, and you know you've read you've read me, you know, writing this an inbox and what we've talked about it on shows in the past. To me, tight end pound for pound is probably one of the most difficult positions to play in today's NFL one because if you're a young guy, you're

not getting those reps in college in two. If you're a veteran that's coming into a new location, it's not always just snap your fingers and ready set go and everything's fine. Joe Philman kind of talked about that a little bit when he met with the media on Tuesday, and that Jimmy Graham's uh five times, six time All Pro or Pro Bowl type player, Aaron Rodgers two time m v P in isolation. It just seems like the perfect marriage. But you know they need to get their

fades together. They need to know how to run the route tree with each other and know what they're going to anticipate. I think Graham has done everything and more that Rogers could ask of him so far to this point. You and I see his competitiveness and practice every single time he's on the field. There's nobody, I think, on that field, maybe aside from Rogers himself, that really takes

practice as seriously as Jimmy Graham. I mean, every touchdown he scores, it's a touchdown on game day, it almost seems like and he made a spectacular one hand of grab earlier this week in practice, and those are the kind of plays you look for because it's not just beating your man and winning your route, it's all the other games that go along with that. Jared Cook was able to accomplish that with Rogers late in the season.

At times, Jamichael Finley did it. Now. Can Jimmy Graham come into this offense and sort of re emerge again. Is one of the NFL's top and most feared tight ends in this league, and he feels like this is the place that do it. Yeah, that was quite the the acrobatic catch and emphatic spike of the ball in the end zone there after that touchdown. He was pretty

fired up on that one. What I've seen so far on the practice field from Rogers and Graham, it seems to me like it didn't take long for the middle of the field, the between the twenties stuff too, for them to connect and to really be on the same page. We've seen them hit the crossing routes, the seam routes, those kinds of thing. Not a hundred percent of the shine.

It seems like the red zone, the you know, the tight quarters type of stuff in the red zone around the goal line is what has taken some more work and some more reps. And so you'd like to see, you know, the Packers get down there, say first down from the fifteen yard line. Okay, let's throw the fade to Jimmy Graham. Let's see if that get you get that timing down with a with a an opposing defensive back on the field, did you play Saturday like sixth

grade basketball at all? I was right, and I've always been short, but I always remember in those specific specific instances there would always be that one kid that was like six two and it's like a sixth or seventh grade and just towers over everybody. You just put him in the middle of the court and he just you know,

not quite dunks, but it's basically scoring on everybody. To me, that's what it kind of looks like a little bit at times with Jimmy Graham, not just in Green Bay, but over the course of his career, and that he's able to be a presence in the middle of the field because he is as tall as he is, as

let athletic as he is. I mean when you factor in his his speed, his vertical jump, everything that that makes Jimmy Graham who he is, that catch radius is just ginormous and and I think you've seen some of those signs so far. Yes, you know, he is thirty thirty one, now he's in that that back you know, nine of his careers what we always talk about, but you've seen guys like Tony Gonzalez and and other players

around this league be really effective into their thirties. And you know, the thing that's interesting about Graham is as much as was made of him not maybe having the explosive plays as much in Seattle, very underrated was how efficient and effective he was in the red zone and how many tough stones he ended up scoring. I think you've seen a guy evolved. I think you've seen him get smarter and again getting into an offense that Taylor is a little more tailored to him like it was

in New Orleans. I think it's ultimately going to make him the player that the Packers think he can still be. Yeah, moving on to some other players, Jaire Alexander, Aaron Jones, a couple other guys I mentioned. We saw Josh Jackson quite frankly take advantage of the fact that Alexander and Kevin King did not play in the opening preseason game. Neither did Tremont Williams, and Josh Jackson, you know, lining up in the slot sometimes on the boundary really performed

quite quite well. Excuse me, and maybe a little little bit of a fire under Jaire Alexander, not in the not in the necessarily the competitive sense, but in in the sense of, you know, hey, I want I want to get out there. I want to I want to, you know, really get ready for this season. And and you know, Alexander, another guy that the packers have lined up in some different spots. He seems pretty comfortable wherever they put him. So now let's see what happens against

an opponent. Earlier this week in the locker room, Alexander was asked if there was any feeling of fomo at all with him not being in that game. Now, fomo is an acronym that I probably hate more than any other in the end of in that really the world right now or in the English language. Uh, but you know, he said, while there isn't. He didn't feel like he was missing out on anything. He was motivated to see Josh Jackson have that success and to be like, Okay, he did it. I can want to go in there

and try to do it too. That's cool. Let's see what I can do. What I love the most about Jackson is I think a lot of people pigeonholed him till being a boundary outside cornerback and that's all he did because, as we talked about on the show earlier this week, that's what he did. In that one season where he started at Iowa. They didn't move him around. He wasn't a guy that started in the slot and then worked his way to the boundary like Kevin King

did during his time at Washington. But I don't think you really can say what a guy's really capable of until you see it, unless it's already been shown in the college levels to extent, like what Alexander did a little bit at Louisville. I was really impressed by what I saw with Jackson when he pushed inside. I think he can be a press man boundary cornerback. You know why, because he looks like a press man boundary cornerback. And

getting Alexander and his athleticism in this defense. Now again, you'll have to make sure everything checks out with a groin injury, but if he's on the field, whether it's on defense, whether it's even on special teams, punt returns potentially with ron zook Uh, he has a lot of ability and and it's gonna be interesting and fun to finally see it kind of get put to work a little bit. Yeah, and potentially some important snaps here in the preseason coming up for Aaron Jones. He's missed some

time with a hamstring injury. DeVante Mays is still out with a hamstring injury. Saw Jamal Williams score touchdown on a swing pass last week against Tennessee. But as we all know, Aaron Jones is going to miss the first two games of the regular season. He needs some work in the preseason. You have to get the other guys ready for weeks one and two, but you also want Aaron Jones to be ready when he's back in week three.

It's kind of a delicate balance the Packers have to to uh to figure out here in terms of the reps and and the distribution. But I'm interested to see Aaron Jones get back into some game action. Yeah, I am too, And out of those three options that you gave, I think he's the one right now. I think it's probably the most up in the air as far as whether he's on the field against Pittsburgh. But that being said,

him getting back into practice week was huge. So regardless of his availability on Thursday night, he plays, he doesn't play, I really want to see him in these next two games really try to build up some momentum there so that he has a base when he goes into that break. Unlike before probably about five six years ago, players who are going to be placed on the suspended list, they're able to stay with the team. Now they can't practice with them, they're not in meetings, but they can use

the facilities. They can stay in the rotation, whereas before you basically got shipped off to a training center or something until you are allowed to come back. I think that's really gonna help Jones a lot. And one other thing, just to touch on with Jamal Williams. We talked so much about Time Montgomery and his receiving ability, and rightfully so. Jamal Williams is sneaky good and sneak effective as a pass catcher, and I think when you look at him in his skill set, I don't know how this is

going to shape out. I don't know who's going to get the reps once the regular season start. But Williams is proficient as a pass blocker and he's profession as a ball catcher. So in addition to what he does as a running back, that's ultimately what keeps you in that that plans for being a three down guy down the line. Yeah, and what I pointed out this week in our Insider Inbox column that I really liked about that touchdown play of Jamal Williams against Tennessee is he

made a guy miss in the open field. That was if there was one thing that was missing from a very impressive rookie season from Jamal Williams, it was making guys miss And to see that in the first preseason game, really the first time he catches a pass out of the backfield, I thought that was a really good sign. Um, we got more to talk about. But before we get to that, west a little sponsor business at home or

here in the stands. We all know that Green Bay fans give it their all and that takes a lot of energy. So grab a warm bowl of Campbell's Chunky Soup. It's meaty goodness fuels the greatness of Packers Fans everywhere tried the delicious classic chicken noodle soup. Just visit your local supermarket and ask for Campbell's Chunky Soup, the official sup partner of the Green Bay Packers. Okay, moving on to some other guys here that we're going to have

our eyes on Thursday night at lambeau Field. I mentioned this in our Final Thoughts video that that's on our website that previews the game in a in a much more condensed fashion than we do here on Unscripted. But one thing I always look for in the preseason. When you see a young player make a player too in a game, it gives them a headline, It gets them a lot of attention. You know, they're making a bid for roster spot all that stuff. What do they do the next game? Can they follow it up? Can they

make some plays again? And in that respect, I'm talking about guys like Mark Quez Valdez, Scantling, Jake Kumero, Kendall Donnerson who had the strip of the running back, created a turn over there, Reggie Gilbert, you know, did some

nice things. So now it's about following it up. It's it's it's about not just to being that flash player, you know, who makes that splash play every once in a while, but it's doing that on a consistent basis, because that's that's when everybody starts to really notice your performance, that hey, we can count on this guy to maybe

make something happen every time we put him out there. Yeah, and Velda's Scandling And there's been a lot of receivers that have come through here, uh in the last five six years, young guys, you know, trying to make this roster, trying to find roles on this offense. He has a long way to go. I'm not trying to say like he's finished product. I think he's had some you know, there was some drops before. There's some obviously the you know,

different things that happened with being a rookie player. But I love his skill set. I just the speed and his size and uh, I know the story was written a few weeks ago about you know, him working with Randy Monster in the off season. He's just a guy who takes this incredibly seriously. And you know the work he put in this offseason, both on and off the field.

I think you're seeing some of that translate now again though, much like with Jake Kumero too, it is really showing that, Okay, you had five catches for hundred and ten yards or whatever it was, can you have another performance, maybe not necessarily hundred ten yards, but can you have another you know, four catches sixty yards something that just shows the consistency factor of it, where you just don't appear and disappear

some reliability, right exactly. For Kumero, he's in a position, Michael, you know what this is like for an undrafted guy, especially a guy that's coming off the practice squad. There's no room for error. There just isn't. You you have to be able to do it every single practice, every single preseason game. There just isn't a lot of time to take a breath. The thing that's impressive about him is he understands that he's been in Cincinnati, he's had

a little bit of time in New England. He gets where he's coming from and what he needs to do to show that, you know what, I'm worthy of a spot on the fifty three man roster in last week, finishing that game with that big play. I know he lamented about the place, he felt like he didn't make over the course of the game, But to me, that just screamed the type of player, the type of playmaker that is going to find a way to make something happen.

And he's done that all throughout the preseason. Yeah, and he knows, as you said, he's got the experience in previous training camps, previous preseasons. He knows he can't just disappear now. He can't just ride on the coattails of a fifty two yard touchdown catch. As impressive as it was, great play by both the quarterback and the receiver, Tim Boyle hitting him right in stride there down the left

side line at lambeau Field. But don't disappear. Now, go out and do something more and getting back to Veldes scantling just for a second. Heard it from two different players, very respected players, obviously in the locker room. Davantae Adams and Aaron Rodgers have both said the same thing about number eighty three. He plays fast, and you don't hear that about rookies, because rookies are usually kind of swimming in the playbook and trying to figure things out, and

all the thinking slows them down. Both of those guys have been impressed, not to say that he hasn't made any mental mistakes or has been perfect or anything out there, but they've both been impressed with the fact that he plays fast. He gets off the line of scrimmage and uh and that's a heck of a start in you know what, is not a simple offense. And it seems to me, just watching that first preseason game, he's always

looking to make a play. Uh If and if that play is just a ten yard hitch route or something like that, that's what the play is. But it just seems like there's something about him just watching him even in practice too, that you're only one mistackle away off something really special happening. Now has to work on some

of the downfield stuff. Obviously the route running is something that's going to come with him in time, But in terms of just being able to to show your skill set, I thought that debut against the Titan showed exactly what he was all about. Yeah, I would agree. One other guy I want to talk about here west before before we call it a show, Davante Adams. If there was a play obviously with the starters or the bulk of the starters in the game last Thursday night, that that

was the highlight, real play. It was the over the top throw Brett Hunley Malcolm Butler in coverage. You know, I looked back at it a couple of times. I thought this when I saw it, and then I wanted to confirm it by looking back at the film. But two things really really stood out to me about that

play that illustrate just how good Davante Adams is. One he knew exactly where the ball was and but did not change his route and start fading towards the ball, because that allows the defender to get more into the path. He still eight on the path that he was on, knowing that he would sort of catch it over the outside shoulder. But by staying on the path he was on, he shielded Butler from having any chance of making a

play on the ball. And then the other thing, which is something I've heard from a lot of the receivers and I've talked to Adams about this too, the technique right at the end what they call late hands, where he doesn't stick his hands out to catch the ball until the last possible second, because again that's a signal to the defensive back, is to when the ball is arriving and and when you you look at that play and the two things that he did in order to in order to make that catch. Heck of a throw

by Brett Hunley. But what Davante Adams did to make that play work and to make it look so smooth and so easy, it's just another example of where he is right now in his career compared to a couple of years for me, pound pound for pound to throw that termount. Again, I think Davante Adam has had the

best camp of anybody. What he's done consistently in a daily basis and practice has been fun to watch and and you know, to be honest with you, I think surprise some people to some extent that Davante was out there for that first preseason game, considering the eighteen players that were scratches of majority of those guys healthy starters, they just didn't want to just didn't want to put

out there. Adams went out there and he bawled out and you know it was even the the forty eight yard is going to draw all the attention, but just that first catch for eight yards, I think it was just on a quick stop route. I believe it was with Brett Hunley to kind of get the drive moving. We talked so often Michael about you know it's about

that first series. It's about that first first down. To me, Davante Adams is just instant energy in that way and and the one thing I just want to throw out there. I know he's always looked at at James Jones is a big brother of his and and those two are incredibly close. They got to spend that two thousand fifteen season together. To me, when I see Davante Adams, I see James Jones I see it taken to another level.

I see the accountability, I see the catching, but just the athleticism of Davante Adams is just through this roof. And and for him to be able to be at this point in his career to work through what he's worked through and now be on the cusp of what appears to be becoming a superstar type player in a in a huge leader in that locker room. I just I'm really excited about I'm excited to see what he can do. I'm just excited to see where the trajectory

of his career takes him. Because he's always had that confidence, in that mentality, and now that the health thing has kind of worked out for him, you're really being able to see his his star really shine. Yeah. And as Aaron Rodgers pointed out this week, his confidence in his swag. As Rogers put it, it's it's all natural. It's not it's not manufactured, it's not artificial. It's just who he is. But he also has the drive and the desire to back up the confidence that he naturally has in himself.

And that's what I think makes him a special person, a special player. And for those who have you know, been fortunate enough to be at the practice field this summer, if you've gotten a chance to see him, like leap frog the referee, the thing that he does where he jumps over top of the I mean, I don't know he and he does it when nobody's suspecting it, you know, the guy who the the official who gets jumped over

like has no idea that it's coming. But but you know, after the Packer the Packers Titans preseason game, I tried jumping over garbage can in the concourse. There's video out there. We're not going to give it to Marvin to play, but let it be known I just didn't quite make it o Marvin. Marv may have to find that for us. But 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 and of Thursday nights preseason

game 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, See you next time.