#317 Packers Unscripted: Setting the stage

bulletin board material. I guess you could say a chem Hicks defensive lineman lad the Packers and Sacks last year did a conference call with Green Bay Media and Um basically said, I don't think the Packers can block Khalil Mack. Now, for context, apparently he was in the trainer's room doing this conference call, and Khalil Mack was kind of right next to him, or at least within earshot. So I think he was having a little bit of fun and and you know, getting his new teammates attention in terms

of the confidence that he has in him. Um, I think more fun than anything else. But yet you know, something to get people talking, Yeah, it was, I think it was. Brian Bulaga had the perfect comment about this, Like his teammates Koil Mac he's excited. He should be excited. Uh and and certainly when you add a guy of his caliber, how young he is, how accomplished he is despite being that young. Um, it's gonna add a lot of juice to a room. There's no question about that.

The bigger thing I think that's it's always tough with stuff like this because I think sometimes things the context gets lost if you're just looking at a quote. Uh A Keem Hicks, I don't think he got on that conference call being like, oh, I just want to disrespect everybody. I think he just wanted to really pump up his teammate and talked about how excited he is personally. You know, he's he's coming off a pretty darn good year as well.

And he said, you know, when you get a guy like you know, Khalil Mack in a defense, now that's gonna open up more one on ones for me. So it isn't just about what it's going to do to improve that group, it's what it's gonna do to help

him as a pass rusher as well. Uh do you look at Mac and and you know Mattnege moments before Hicks was on the conference called nag was talking to Green Bay media, and you know, this whole week has basically been dedicated with Vic Fangio and those in those defensive coaches to try and to get Mac up to speed on what is going to be asked of him in this game. And from the Packers perspective, yes, it's an unscouted look if you look at your entire off season,

but Brian Blog has seen him before. The Packers have gone against Mac before. It's gonna be about taking that knowledge, processing it quickly, and trying to put a good product out on the field on Sunday night. Yeah, what do you think of this matchup? Assuming that the matchup ends up being blogged against Mac, which is what most people are anticipating based on where Mac has lined up the majority of his career for the Oakland Raiders. You look back at that game in Oakland, when the Packers went

out there first quarter. I believe I looked it up. I believe it was the second series of the game. Mac makes a wicked spin move and ends up getting a sack on Aaron Rodgers. And you know that early in the game, you're you're like, oh boy, here we go. And as you mentioned yesterday Mac was on this like

you know, sack barrage of the last few weeks. But then for three the last three and a half quarters of that game, Khalil Mac added one assisted tackle to his stat line for the game, and that was over three and a half quarters. Now, Brian Blaga, to his credit, he's not he wasn't standing at his locker yesterday, you know, resting on that performance and saying, oh, you know, Khalil Mack I handled him before. You know, that's not That's not Brian's approach, as it shouldn't be. He knows he's

going to have his hands full. It's going to be a fired up player. Guy wants to make the right impression with his new teammates, all of that kind of stuff. But Brian Blaga is, uh, he's down to business. He's a serious about this as it gets. He's confident in what he can do, but he also respects his opponent. Yeah, I mean, Brian blagh is such a pro at this point. I mean he's nine, you know, nine seasons into this now, Uh,

nothing is really new to him. And the you know kind of analogy I threw out there, sort of thinking at this whole process is this isn't you and your buddies getting together for a football game on Saturday morning and going up against another group of players, another group of guys, and then somebody just brings out this you know, college former, you know, college player, Yeah, the ringer, And it's like, oh man, what are we gonna do about this? Um? Yeah,

there is a short window here to prepare. I get that, but this is you know, the coaching staff, James Campon and Bolaga, you know, maybe even David Bactr a little bit, depending on how they want to use Mac. They're all prepared for this. You know. It's not like they're just

going to be completely caught off guard. And you know, and I was thinking about Bolaga and kind of what you're talking about there with that Oakland game, and it goes back to something he said in Kansas City when he got the chance to go out there for a handful of snaps. The biggest thing he got out of those reps were going out there getting initial feel for the game, in making those in game adjustments, making the

corrections that you can't make really when you're in practice. Yeah, you can do certain things, but it's different when it's live. I think that Oakland game was a perfect analogy of that in that you know, Mac threw a move out there early on, he learned from it, he adjusted, and then pitched to shut out the rest of the way. That's what you have to do against the player of this caliber, because he's a guy that's gonna get his rushes, he's gonna get his opportunities. He's too good not to.

But it's about limiting those moments and really continuing to have consistency through the ups and downs of a game. And that's why I think it's really valuable having a guy like Brian Blog with his experience that you don't necessarily have a first or second year tackle out there against Mac. You have a guy that's been through everything right tackle can go through in this game, And for my money, that's the reason why I think going into this game, it's an excellent matchup to watch, but it's

also not one that I think is really panic stricken. Yeah, playmakers are going to make plays in this league on both sides and the ball. What it comes down to is when you're in charge of trying to limit them or trying to stop that other guy, When do they make that play, if they make it early in the game as opposed to late in the game, that's a win for you because, as you said, they made something happen, You've made the adjustment, and you've you've won the war,

even though you might have lost that early battle. And and that's how these games are decided totally. Yeah, And it's it's one of those things too that I think when you look at, you know, on the other side of the coin. And I was thinking about this too after we talked about our preview for the Bears. There's a certain element to that. Right now with the Bears offensive line, you know, you have Nick Perry, you have Clay Matthews, you have a new system with Mike Petton.

They have to make those same type of adjustments. Yeah, they've had four or five six months to prepare for this now, but it's still unscouted. There's still gonna be things that both sides are gonna be thrown at each other. And when you look historically the teams that prevail in these instances, it's the ones that conquer that. And I think that's going to be one of the determining factors in this ballgame. On Sunday Night. Yeah, I totally agree

with you. Real quick though, West, some sponsor business. It's time to enter the Cousins Subs Best Seats in the House promotion. You and a guest could win a chance to kick back on the fifty yard line in style. Two pairs of lucky Packers fans will be chosen prior to each home game for this v I P experience. Enter daily now through December sixteen by completing the entry form and submitting. For complete rules and eligibility, go to Packers dot com slash Best Seats Cousin Subs. We believe

in better. Okay, another guy I want to talk about here, West, with regards to this Week one matchup. You look at this Packers offense. If you were to pick one guy who is walking into this new season taking on a larger role and a larger responsibility than he's ever had before, and that change being greater than anybody else on the Packers offense, I think it's Geronimo Alison um He's held down that No. Or Three receiver spot from the start

of the off season to now. The drafting three wide receivers. Jake Kumero's emergence everything all of that, notwithstanding, nobody budged him from that number three spot. But this is a guy who's never come into the season, come into a season before with this place on a depth chart and with these types of expectations in terms of how he can perform. And one thing that's really stood out to

me is that you go around the locker room. You can ask Aaron Rodgers, you can ask other receivers, any guys in that locker room, there isn't anybody who doesn't have the confidence that Geronimo Allison is up to this, even though this is a big change in a big shift for him. Do you get the same sense I do?

And I've gotten that sense really going back early into the off season program that there was a lot of confidence that even though you maybe don't have that veteran leadership and into everything that Jordy Nelson presents as a receiver, that there was an understanding that Allison in many ways is the next guy up and and he was ready

to be able to take that task gone. The thing I thought was most interesting, if you haven't had a chance to check out spot story on packers dot com talking to Allison and kind of reflecting on his journey is you know, he's been through a lot in his life personally, even you know, professionally at you know, as an amateur athlete, a lot of ebbs and flows to

this thing. And there's such a great quote in there about and I'll probably end up watching this because I'm not good at these things, but basically saying that, you know, the environment he came from, he let it shape him. He didn't let it become him. You know, it's just a part of who he is. And and he was able in a lot of ways to get out of that where he came from in Tampa Bay. But it also allowed him to really learn how he needs to overcome adversity and what he needs to do to be successful.

You know, he goes from Tampa, he goes to Iowa Western, he ends up at Illinois. He's still kind of an unfinished product when it comes to a receiver when he gets to Green Bay. And I wrote about this an inbox I think two or three weeks ago. Every single year has just been a cont and progression of him, his understanding of the offense and what Aaron Rodgers requires

of him. So I think, out of anybody, I think This is gonna be the most exciting to see where he takes his game now, because now reps really aren't a question. You know, he's gonna get snaps. You know

he's gonna get opportunities, and how does he capitalize on them? Yeah, And as I wrote in the story, Mike McCarthy was asked about Geronimo Allison multiple times throughout training camp, throughout the preseason because he was having such a steady camp and as I said, no one was budging him from that number three receiver spot behind Adams and Cobb and McCarthy. Every time he talked about Geronimo Alison, he used either the word toughness or the word tenacity. And those characteristics

are really a part of who he is. And I asked him about that and he said it comes from the upbringing. He grew up in a rough part of Tampa, Florida. He played only one year of high school football and then took the junior college route, went to Iowa Iowa Western for two years, then made his way to Champagne, Illinois. Comes to the Packers is an undrafted receiver when this receiving corps was pretty darn deep. If I recall so he starts out pretty darn low. Begins his rookie season

on the practice squad. First game, he gets called up from the practice squad. First game in Atlanta, catches a touchdown pass. We know then what happened at the end of his rookie season. Had that tremendous touchdown on Rogers, you know, forever scrambled drill in Detroit where then he you know, whips it into the back of the end zone and Allison makes the diving catch. Had three catches all for first downs in the Dallas playoff game. Had the big seventy two yard catching running overtime to beat

Cincinnati last year in Week three. So every time, you know, every time the bell has been wrung, so to speak, he's he's answered that call and the other thing. And I know you've heard this from his receiving mates, from guys like Adams and Cob and I have as well. The other way that he's earned respect is not just the way he's performed on the field, but that confidence from his teammates comes from they've seen in the meeting room,

what they've seen in the weight room. Everybody that you talked to about geronim Way Allison says, this guy's a pro. And you don't hear other players say that about a guy not only just an undrafted guy who's still so young, you know, only in his third year, but a guy who, you know, let's face it, if you just look at the statistics, hasn't accomplished a whole heck of a lot. But he's got that respect and confidence of his teammates that he is ready for this role now being thrust

upon him. Yeah, and he's understood exactly what that role has been, you know. And and he's had to be the guy that's been ready to step in for Jordy Nelson or Randall Cobb or Davonte Adams. He's been really that next guy here the last two seasons, and now he's stepping into a different role where he has to be prepared to be that number three depending on how many times we see those packages throughout the course of the season. Historically that's been sort of the base offense

here the last three or four years. So that's a huge chance for him to really elevate game to the next level. And getting back to your original point about the meetings that we hear almost to a point where you know, you almost sometimes didn't take it. You took

it for granted. But when Edgar Bennett would talk about it's starting in the classroom, when he was working with him as an offensive coordinator, when you had you know, David Ryan there now and before that, Luke GETSI you had a guy in Allison that was willing to sit next to Jordy Nelson, was willing to sit in front of him and sort of have that absorption of information.

And it's so easy for a young guy just to tone that out and not really pay attention and not really care and just want to do his own game. But I think one of the benefits to him is that he did come to this light. He played only one year in high school football. So every time he has a chance to really be able to to learn something,

he's capitalized on it. And I think for a lot of people now, and you look at all the storylines going in the regular season, Michael, I think seeing Allison where he's at and where he could potentially go is one of the most intriguing ones to watch because when you have Aaron Rodgers as your quarterback, is he said in your story, it's all about getting open you get open,

He's going to take care of you. Yeah. And the other thing I like about Alison's journey in a sense, I guess saying I like it maybe isn't the right word. But what also I think contributes to the confidence is this hasn't this hasn't been a completely smooth ride even since he made it total in the NFL. He was suspended for the first game of last season because of

a substance abuse violation. He had a big fumble at Carolina last year that you know, dash the Packers comeback hopes in that game and their playoff hopes and Aaron Rodgers comeback hopes for the season after the broken collar bone and all of that. He's had some things at the NFL level that he's had to recover from and bounce back from. And and to see just the confidence that his teammates have in him is uh. I think it's really important heading into this season for a young guy. Totally. Yeah.

And there's you know, a lot of talented receivers on this roster. If they kept eight of them, the fact that Allison is the number three after they drafted all these guys, you had Trevor Davis coming back I think it says a lot about him and the fact that he was able to he he was in front of the race when he started, and he consistently stayed there. Yeah. Well, another topic to hit on here, West before we go. I know you've been talking to some of the guys

in the Packers locker room. You're going to continue some more interviews, But um, we're all eagerly anticipating the great unveiling of the Mike Petton defense here for the Green Bay Packers, because, as we know, there's only so much that they're putting on film for opponents in the preseason. Most of the you know, the real practicing that they're doing with the scheme and everything that they're going to use in a lot of games is the stuff that's

in practice, that's behind closed doors and whatnot. What's your sense? I mean, the sense that I get is, uh is, these guys can't wait to take the field and and start playing these calls, and there's just there there's the the whole renewed, refreshed sense of everything, which which is what we've sent since the offseason. Programs Packers probably played about based during the preseason that should tell you everything.

You need to know about what what that type of the year is like in terms of just the the vanilla nature of it. What I like the most though, particularly just to quickly point out one specific area I think is going to be exciting is the dime in the third down units. I just we've seen and even in the preseason games, some of these rush packages they've come up with, it appears like, you know, they got some He's had some double a gap looks with the

inside backers. The big thing is and Petton talked about it from the beginning. On any given down, if you're in that box, he doesn't want the quarterback to know who's coming at him. And I thought there was a couple of instances, especially in those last two preseason games. And I get that he's going up against a lot of backups, but that being said, he was utilizing a lot of backups and being able to to kind of get their feet hot in the pocket and not allow

the quarterback to get comfortable. I think we saw him force some some errors in that way. I'm really excited to see what he can do now that he has Clay Matthews available and Nick Perry and in some of

these slot cornerback combinations we've seen. There is so many unknowns right now, even to to us who watched a majority of the training camp practices, I think it's just gonna be really interesting to see those domino effects kind of layout and and you can just tell listening to some of these guys talking about in the locker room.

Kevin King after the game in Kansas City last week was already talking about how excited he is to finally get in that first regular season game because you've had five six months where they've put in now to learning this scheme and wanting to you know, be able to

really implement it, and now we're days away. Yeah, And for those who want to get a little bit of a sense x as and OHS wise of how this works, Larry McCarron has a rock report that he put on our website where he breaks down in really good detail the uh it was a pressure package against Oakland in the preseason game where the Packers kind of schemed things up and they were able to get safety Kentroll Bryce blitzing free because nobody picked him up, and it led

to a quarterback hit and in fleet pass because he he sped up the play wasn't even a sack. But it's that that sort of effect on the quarterback and effect on the offense that that dialing these things up can do. Now, as you said, you know that those maybe we're against some backups. You know that, I mean a number one offensive line of veteran running back who knows how to pick up blitz is. You know, these

kinds of things are are not easy. But but a couple of those, you know, flat free type rushers, if you can get those, those are the opportunities where big plays can happen on the defensive side. Absolutely, And the thing that I like too, as I mentioned, is a

double sided coin. The Packers now are going to have their full source assortment of weapons defensively and Mike for all the years that I've covered this team, now there are so many guys that can play so many different spots, the blend between the cornerback and the safety positions, the safety to the inside linebacker, defensive linemen to the outside backers. So many different guys can line up anywhere now and we've seen this evolution over the last five years with

the NFL. But I think Petton has proven especially in this new CBA environment to be able to do that and keep it simple. Now, the Packers are hoping that it leads to them being, you know, one of the top units in the NFL again when it comes to defense. All right, well, we've got one more show to do this week, and we will kind of hit our final preview elements for Packers Bears. But for now, we'll call

it a wrap on this edition of Packers Unscripted. Be sure to follow all of our coverage of the team on Packers dot com on Twitter, you can find him at west Hot. I'm at Mike Spofford at Packers still the team account. Thanks for tuning in, everybody, See you next time.