#380 Packers Unscripted: Youth at work

are no playoff hopes at stake. There will presumably be a new coaching staff next year in some way, shape or form. So does that mean Aaron Rodgers still plays or does he rest or do some of these other guys with you know, the big contracts and getting paid the big money, all that kind of stuff, do they play? Do you sit them? Joe Philbin addressed the media on Monday and basically said, Hey, this is professional football. It's all about taking a professional approach and finishing the season

as pros because that's what we signed up to do. Now, health and all of that. If they're injury issues involved, that changes the equation. But it sounds like from what Joe Philbin said, the players who are healthy are going to play these last two games. Inside the Packers locker room on Monday, I thought David Botr had the quote of the day, quote of the hour when he said when he signed his contract back in two thousand and sixteen, now, he didn't sign it to play until you're eliminated from

the playoffs, you know, twelve fourteen games. Whatever it might be, it's play for sixteen games now. Obviously there are existential circumstances that sometimes can knock a player out from doing that, but it's his full as he said, for everybody on this roster, it should be his full intention to play

the string out. Now. There's a lot for the Packers to digest this week, and I'm sure a lot of this will be, you know, kind of hashed out during their Tuesday and Wednesday meetings with the coaching staff to figure out, Okay, who's going to be on the uplist, Who do you want to play? You have Kenny Clark dealing with the elbow injury, Brian blog and his knee, uh, you know, Aaron Rodgers. As we talked about the list of things that he's worked through this season to to

start in all fourteen games. It's a position the Packers haven't been in before. Philbin talked about it, Mike McCarthy talked about it before he, you know, was let go. So I don't know what the right answer is. My personal opinion of it is if Rogers is good enough to play, to play him, because you look at what happened last year they were in the same exact position after Week fifteen, they were eliminated from the playoffs. Aaron Rodgers, you know, Dr Pat mackenzie. They all knew the story

with him. They knew whether or not it was good or not, if he should be out there if the games don't matter, and they acted accordingly. This is completely up to Rogers. It's wetly up to the training staff to know what his body's like right now in whether or not he should be out there. But if he is healthy enough to go, I think there's a huge benefit for the young receivers on this roster, the young players on this roster, to still have him out on

the field. Yeah. I think the one caveat that you throw into the situation with Rogers is that he did say after the Bears game, and you could see it on a couple of scrambles that he wasn't running completely full speed. He said his groin tightened up on him a little bit, so he was trying to manage that

and play through the game. We didn't really get an update on where things stand with that groin injury on Monday, and as you know West, sometimes with these injuries the day or two after the game, they can actually feel

worse than they were during the game. So that would be the one thing I would say, if, if, if this is a more significant groin poll or strain or whatever you want to call it, then maybe met the eye on Sunday afternoon in Chicago when the season was still on the line, I could see the Packers certainly being very careful here. Um, but we just have to wait and see. Wednesday will be the first practice of the week, like it always is. We'll see what the

injury report says. But but I'm with you, if Aaron Rodgers is healthy, he should play and uhum, and then you know you react accordingly as far as other guys, you know, do you want to see more snaps from the Jake Kumeros and the Robert tonyans of the world, guys who potentially could be in the lineup next year with Aaron Rodgers in more significant roles if they can make progress, make the roster again, that kind of thing. And again I don't think the Packers go like all

preseason mode. You're certainly not gonna sit Davante Adams when he's on the verge of breaking potentially breaking a couple of franchise records here. But you could see the offense and defense for that matter. But but speaking about the offense with Rogers right now, you could see them trying to use these last couple of games to uh develop maybe a little bit of that chemistry that can take

some time with younger players. And I even think about to like your Jamon Moore's guys who haven't played much at all this season, but I've been on the roster this entire way, uh, to potentially get some more looks. The biggest thing to me, I think it's ultimately going to be the indicator of who plays, specifically with those

receiving corps. You know Randall Cobb, you know currently going through the concussion protocol, so you know, if he's unable to go depending on how everything works out or what the severity of it is. You know, that is where you know more Marcos, Velda, Scantling, Equanimia s Brown their

thrust back into the limelight there. I really, from a historical perspective, someone that's appreciative of history, I'd love to see Rogers play these last two games because you see what Davante Adams has done through fourteen games, have a hundred catches over yards, twelve touchdowns. Uh well, on his way right now as it stands, to breaking that franchise record for single season receptions currently held by Sterling Sharp at hundred and twelve. So you know, a couple of

solid performances there. You know, the thing that's intriguing about Adams is he's done it with anybody. You know, he was successful with Brett Hunley. You know, he's he's versatile enough that his skill set applies to anybody. But at the same time, to see Rogers and having your number one quarterback people to go to the distance with you,

I think that'd be kind of cool. Yeah, I totally agree with you there, and uh um, as far as the defensive side of the ball goes, you know, the Packers went into this game in Chicago on Sunday, Mike Daniels is already on injured reserve, and then it was determined Kenny Clark would be inactive and unable to go.

I'll tell you west, when I saw that ninety minutes before kickoff, my heart sunk a little bit because I just I wasn't sure how the Packers would be able to hold up against that Bears running game with Howard and Cohen and everything they like to do upfront. But um, I'll tell you what hats off to some of these young guys, and I'll say Dean Lowry first because he was kind of the veteran in that defensive line group.

But these younger guys who now got thrust into much, much bigger roles, and I'm talking about Tyler Lancaster, Fidel Brown, um,

Montravius Adams. They for the Bears did not control the game with their ground game, and I think that's a credit to these young defensive linemen who who really stepped up and showed with their made up I want to start with Dean Lowery because I think one of the he's such a easy going, straight forward personality type that he doesn't get a lot of attention, especially this year when they brought in Mohammed Wilkerson. You have Mike Daniels

and Kenny Clark's coming to his own. But you gotta remember back to September Mike, Dean Lowry wasn't playing much at all with how that rotation was going and Clark both on the field. I want to say Dean lower is playing somewhere around the defensive snaps like through the first four games, our first three games going into Washington, what he did down the stretch here, He's again come on again like he did last year in the month

of December. He believe has three sacks now on the season, played fifty three of the sixty defensive snaps against you know, the Bears in this contest. Being the guy that you know played at Northern Illinois. Northwestern had been from Illinois, you have to imagine that was kind of special. I know he had a lot of friends and family there. Uh, yes, you're right, there are some really young talented guys that stepped up, but I thought that started with Dean Lowry.

He didn't get very He had seven breathers the entire game, and for him to go the distance playing over the defensive snaps, I thought said a lot about him, and then you look at what Tyler Lancaster has done, his fellow Northwestern alumnus, this guy considered he was a practice squad guy. Know you and I both talked about it during the offseason. We felt like he was one of the gems that undrafted class. But the fact of the matter was he did start the season on the practice squad.

For him to have to be basically an every down nose tackle for them in that game, specifically without Kenny Clark, and ended up with the career high seven tackles, I think that said a lot about him too, and what they were able to do against that Bears running game. Yeah. I broke down a lot of the film on defense, and for those who want to check out a handful of plays, my what you Might Have Missed feature is

um up on our website. I highlighted about a half a dozen plays involving Lancaster and Montrevius Adams, some of which I saw during the game, but others that stood out to me later. One particularly with with Adams um if you remember the shovel pass to Trey Burton where he only got about five yards. I believe it was

on first and ten. If you look at that on film Montravius Adams is that he starts to get shoved the wrong way, he spins out of the block and then is able to come back around and tackle Burton when he probably gets at least nine or ten yards on that play because because Adams ended up being the first guy to get him there. So it's things like that. Now, Granted, you know a player like Montrevius Adams needs to take a play like that and do it all the time.

That's how you become a Kenny Clark or a Mike Daniels and and take your game to the next level. But when you see that stuff on film from a young player, it's really really encouraging. And what I liked in terms of Tyler Lancaster, I tell you what I know, he's not much of a pass rusher, but boy, against the run, especially playing the nose, like right on the center, he has a he has a way to just stick out that left arm and keep that separation so that he can see the ball and then you know, and

then make the move to get off the block. That's that's really impressive, especially for especially for a young guy. As you said, he was undrafted, started the season on the practice squad. This is a guy who's really who's really really come along, and I think he's got a chance to to be a future mainstay on that defensive line for Green Bay. What's been my nickname for him since he got here, going back to the spring. Do

you remember what I've called him? I mean just the way that he's built, the way he plays the position. You know, there's two types of players I've always said this that I think are draftable type players. But you often see leaking into college free agency. There your your four year starting guards because everybody's chasing the tackles and everybody likes their centers, but the guards sometimes will slips

through the cracks. I think that's how you see a guy like Lane Taylor succeed the way he has in Green Bay. There's no question my mind, Lane Taylor should have been among the sixty one whatever it was offensive lineman taken in that draft. He wasn't. And I think it's nose like run defending nose tackles the league for whatever reason, and I get it, it's not it's not

an attractive pick. You don't draft a nose tackle. You know that that is, you know, run base and go, Yeah, that's what our fan base is going to rally around. I get that. But and the more I watched Tyler Lancaster, the more I think it's a travesty. He didn't get drafted just because I'm not saying I'm not trying to make him out that he's gonna be the next Reggie White or anything, But I just he looks the part.

He's intelligent, and he's powerful, and I don't think people can fully appreciate how difficult it is for an undrafted rookie to be able to get off blocks and get arms separation from starting NFL guards and interior linement in

this league, it's not easy. And when you look at the path that they've had the last couple of weeks and some of the interior lineman I've seen Alex mac a week ago with Atlanta UM, there are some really talented guys out there, and for for Lancaster to step up into that role without Kenny Clark, you know, we're gonna have to see what this defensive front looks like next year. Who's going to be back. But I mean, you know, Clark and Lawry are going to be again

one of your centerpieces. I just think that Lancaster, what he's shown during this last you know, half of the season, proves that he should be thought about in that rotation. Yeah, I think. I think the fact that he wasn't drafted really doesn't necessarily so much speak to him as to what all the scouts and everybody are after, which is which is pass rushers and the ability to get after

the passer. And Lancaster hasn't gotten his game to that point yet where he's a consistent pass rusher, but you said it was he's powerful, which means that opportunity is there for him to add that to his game as he continues to grow into a very big, strong and powerful body. And I'll point out as well with Fidel Brown, I know you mentioned yesterday the play that he made on the third and short run with the number three

running back for the Bears. When I looked at that on film, he actually kind of caught a break there because they kind of forgot to block him. But what I didn't what I what I had neglected to see, and one of our insider inbox readers pointed this out, is on the wildcat shotgun play that where Cohen fumbled.

The exchange with Howard Brown actually splits two guys and is the one who I think kind of started and that's what so it doesn't go down as a forced fumble for number ninety eight there for a young defensive lineman, but in essence, he forced that fumble. You combine that with the stop that he made on the fake punt and everything. Another young defensive lineman who's saying kind of raising his hand and saying, hey, I want to stick around here for a while, you know, make sure you

take a look at me too. I don't get I don't want to. I'm not trying to be controversial here, but like I was gonna say, I don't get why the Raiders released him, but I mean, there's a lot of moves there I don't quite understand that the Raiders have made. I didn't want to make too big of a joke out of that. But Brown is a young guy and he's lengthy. Uh I was. I was talking to Dean Laurie about him after the game and just

what sort of stuck out to him. Now, he couldn't comment specifically on Brown's game because they're basically playing two opposite positions when they're in their base front. But he said, the thing that stuck stood out to him in the first to practice weeks that he's been in Green Bay is his twitch. Uh. He has some good twitch to him and he has some pretty long arms. So when you're able to get that kind of jump and you're able to be able to to keep defender or offensive

lineman off of you, good things are going to happen. So, uh, he's another young man too that you know, when you get these expanded rosters for these teams that aren't in the playoff hunt, that you start seeing guys go on I are a little bit more. One of the things that a byproduct of all of that is that you start to see some of these young guys that, hey, you might want to take a look at this offseason. When are you getting a chance to get some snaps

on him right now? And I thought, for what that for what you said originally for where your your gut kind of dropped a little bit when you saw that Kenny Clark was out three point three yards per carry, not making life easier on them. The bigger plays Cohen made were as a pass catcher and as a returner. As far as the run game was concerned, the Packers were pretty stout. I really thought, I really thought the Packers only had two bad plays against the run that

entire game. The nine yard touched on run by Howard, Uh, you know, right up the middle, and that was way too easy. And then um, towards the believe it was towards the end of the first half, Cohen busted a twenty two yard twenty plus yard run. Other than those two, I mean the other eighteen or nineteen however many carries. It was that that Cohen and and Howard combined. For

I I thought the Packers held up really well. And if you had said that to me, you know, at kickoff, knowing that Daniels is out, and then Clark ninety minutes before kickoff was announced as as inactive, I would have thought, uh, the defense against the run would have had a much tougher day. So I tipped my hat to him. I want to mention one more thing, Michael, before we move on from the defensive front. We're talking to Kenny Clark

in the locker room on Monday. You know, he was asked about what the prognosis is going to be for him with that elbow injury, if he'll be able to come back. He feels like he's good to come back. With the training staff doctors exercising some caution there because of the risk of him possibly re injuring it. We're gonna have to see how these next two weeks plays out.

He did not disqualify himself from potentially playing again this season, but a part of me it it kind of sucks to see that because fifty five tackles, six sacks, three pass deflections at his position, playing of the snaps or whatever it was going into Sunday later tonight on Tuesday, as the time we're taping this, we're gonna get the Pro Bowl announcements. I don't know whether or not Kenny Clark is going to be a part of that, but he really deserves it for a nose tackle. He's not

Aaron Donald. I'm not trying to put him in that same category. There's levels to this game. I get it, he's still only twenty three. He has some room to grow yet. But for what he did for this defense this here, I don't think there's any way you can make an argument that he isn't the defensive player or the defensive m VP for this team this season. How consistent he was, how accountable he was, and how durable he was. It's incredible what Kenny Clark put on film

this season. I think there's no question about that. I think he's been the best defensive player the Packers have had in eighteen. Quickly before I forget Packers fans, be sure to stop in at your local quick Trip and pick up your Packers cup today. Nine cent refills on your Cafe Careba coffee all season long. Alright, West, We ended yesterday's show talking a little bit about that Monday

night game Saints and Panthers. It ends up a twelve nine victory for the New Orleans Saints, but but a but a final score that didn't really indicate what kind of game it was, because both of these teams were moving the ball and getting in scoring position and having opportunities to score, and then they kept turning the ball over, so the score, the score of the games stayed low. You end up the Panthers end up getting two points by running an interception back for two on when the

Saints were going for two. Just a weird game the way it played out. But the bottom line is the New Orleans Saints are absolutely in the driver's seat in the NFC. Now. You can't put any style points on it, but you're on the road. You're taking on a team that has Christian McCaffrey. You know how explosive offense can be when cants going. Do you take the wins that you can get them? I tell you what, though, the one thing that this game taught me um And and

I don't you know, Sean Payton. They've gotten their team to where they need to get to. They don't need Wes Hogwitz as help. But as they look to build now some momentum for the playoffs and I'm sure trying to get their offense a little bit more on track in terms of their explosiveness, I just think Alvin Kamar is a guy that should be touching the ball five times a game at this point. I just I think he is the biggest playmaker. I know they have some

good ones. Michael Thomas is excellent, mark Ingram is a great counter punch, but Alvin Kamara is special. And I know he was a guy that you looked at in the draft over a year ago now, but I just when I see him play and when he touches the ball, it's like Buzz Williams always just talking about paint touches right at Marquette. If you get the ball in the paint, the percentage of what what you can do and where your points are going to be scored increases exponentially. I

think Kamar is the same way. If you get him the ball three or four times a series, good things are gonna happen. It's gonna be tough now for the NFC. H And I'll tell you what, just from a pure football standpoint, I would I honestly would love to see the Bears in that defense matchup with the Saints at some point in the postseason. I think I think that would be Yep, I think that would be the I think that would be the playoff matchup in the NFC that people would like to see that that hasn't been

seen yet. I mean, I think the Rams and the Saints certainly have an opportunity to meet in the postseason. We did see that in the regular season and it turned into quite the shootout game at the super Dome. So maybe maybe there's a rematch. Uh, maybe there's a rematch there involved as well. But I'll say this about

the Saints, with the type of team they have. You go on the road on Monday Night football against a team that's playing that it's season is basically on the line, because the Panthers needed to get back to seven and seven to stay in this thing, to come out of there with a victory. And when at twelve to nine, in a somewhat unconventional way, when teams like that late in the season west, when they start finding ways to win games in different ways that maybe you don't think

they would win that way. The stat was put up. I believe at the end of the game that it's the first time the New Orleans Saints have won a game with twelve points are less on the board since twenty years since they've done that. That's the kind of thing that jumps out to me is a sign like, Okay, look out now, because because these guys don't have to win a game just one way with just a certain style, they can play their way, they can play your way,

and they can beat you. I'm glad you brought up that point as we closed the show here, because was as good as their offenses and as good as some of those Packers offenses were over there is what did Dom Capers always say? It was stopping the run. The Saints defense is not perfect, but the fact that they are leading the league right now in in opponising run offense holding right now seventy nine point one yards per game.

That's uh four points better than the Bears and number two right now, that's what gives you a chance because if you disrupt teams run patterns and you get them into a shootout situation. I like your chances with Drew Brees at quarterback, and to me, since two thousand nine, this is the most perfect team that they've had. You're always chasing perfection. You're never gonna change, but it's it's a really intriguing group of guys. Yeah, and I said

it last year. I take nothing away from the Eagles and what they accomplished, but I thought in the postseason last year, I thought the Saints were the best team and I thought they were going to win the whole thing, and I think they would have if not for the

Minneapolis miracle. And all they've done is pick up where they left off, because I think they've been the best team in the NFC, if not the entire NFL all year this year, at just the way I felt about them last January, there's been nothing that's changed my mind. I Mean, they're special and it's gonna be fun to watch her see what they can do. They gotta get it done though. I Mean that's the other thing too. With the resources they've invested in this year's team, there

is some pressure there to win this thing. Yeah. Absolutely. With that, 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 at west Hodd at, Mike Spofford at Packers for the team account. Thanks for tuning in, everybody, See you next time.