#419 Packers Unscripted: Another perspective

Packers football. Aaron, We're coming off of Family Night last Friday night, kind of the big moment, you'd say, in training camp before that first preseason game. A lot of different standouts on both sides of the ball, But I want to start on the offensive side. What caught your eye on Family Night? Well, it's interesting. I know a lot of headlines have been generated around the receivers, you know,

Trevor Davis, et cetera. But I'm gonna go with Dexter Williams and I don't think he had an standing evening. I mean, he had his ups and downs, but continually through camp so far, and then particularly on Family Night, you saw him in Blitz pick up. Really know his assignments have them down. And you've been around a long time watching Packers rookie backs come in and just be completely overwhelmed when it comes to picking up the blitz, right, I think it's really encouraging to see where he is

at this point. Yeah. Well, certainly nobody wanted Aaron Jones and Jamal Williams to have to sit out the time

that they have with some minor injuries. But it's been a heck of an opportunity for Dexter Williams, a sixth round pick out of Notre Dame, coming into camp as the number three running back, to not only get reps with the number one offense, but just the sheer volume of opportunity getting Yeah, and I mean this can be really important for a young guy that the Packers they drafted him for a reason, they want to find where

he fits in this offense. Even though you know Aaron Jones when healthy is going to be the number one guy here. But where do you see Dexter Williams perhaps fitting into this mix. Well, he does seem to be such a perfect scheme fit. A lot was talked about after the draft about the zone scheme in his place in it and his ability to stick his foot in the ground and get up field when he sees that crease.

And you've seen that on the practice field. You've seen where you know, he hits his aiming point and all of a sudden he spies that little cutback and he's gone. Um. It is interesting. Jamal Williams obviously has been out much longer than Aaron Jones has. I do wonder if that gives Dexter Williams a bit of an opportunity to maybe become Obviously, I don't think he's going to be splitting carries with Aaron Jones anytime soon, but it could give him a bit of a crease to wedge himself in

there to be the guy who's in the rotation. And the longer Jamal is out, you never know what these injuries, but the longer he's out, the more opportunities Dexter has to put stuff on tape and to make the coaching staff more comfortable with him. I could see him being a guy who gets, you know, five six touches a game, at least early on in the season. Yeah, I think that's definitely a possibility, and we'll see how the rest

of this preseason goes. But with Jamal Williams out as long as he has been to this point, you would certainly think that Dexter Williams is going to get a big opportunity in this opening preseason game against the Houston Texans to really cement what he's done in the first couple of weeks of training camp. Elsewhere offensively, you mentioned,

obviously the receivers Trevor Davis and Jake Kumer. I thought, simply continued continued what they've been doing all training camp in terms of their bids to to make this team and to get into the receiver rotation. The other thing I thought that stood out, and I know Matt Lafleur's kind of was joking in a couple of press commerce is about how the officials were a little generous with the with where they were spotting the ball and how many yards they were giving the offense here and there.

But I thought in one of the move the ball drills and in the two minute drive, I thought this path Ker's offense, the ones with Aaron Rodgers at quarterback, I thought they looked as smooth and efficient as they've looked really throughout camp. And the thing that stood out to me about it more than anything, was the way Rogers was spreading the ball around. It was Adams, then it was Kumero, then it was Jimmy Graham, and it was Geronimo Alison. That ball was going to four or

five different receivers within a given drive. That's exactly what Matt Lafleur wants, right, Yeah, and the ability. It's funny because we saw early on in camp it was the Aaron Rodgers and Davante Adams show. I mean, day in and day out, it was clear. And some of that is because obviously Davante is the number one guy in the progression, so you're gonna if he's open, he's gonna get the ball. And Davante Adams is open a lot.

But as camp has gone on, you've seen Aaron really start to work with these other guys, really spreading it out, like you said, and I do think I mean it's funny because you've seen one guy we haven't talked about in that mixes Uh Vitality, the fullback who has been a legit receiving weapon. I mean, people traditionally don't think of the fullback as a receiver, but he certainly has been so far in camp in this offense. You talk

about Matt Lafleur's hopes and dreams for this offense. Not only is he going to spread it out to all these different receivers, but he can play with personnel in a way. Okay, you bring a fullback in you think as a defensive coordinator. Okay, I got a counter with power, I got a counter with going big, and then all of a sudden, we saw it the other day where Vitality motions out of the backfield into the slot and then runs a wheel route. I mean, that's not traditionally

what you're looking for from your fullback. It's all over the place, and I think all the receiving options are starting to gel with the quarterback and that's exciting. Yeah. And I think for those who want to read more about the fullback position, West actually has a story on our website right now about Vitality and everything that's been going on in training camp, going back to the very first day of camp. As I think you know, right,

and that's what I was going to say. The very first pass in eleven on eleven in this training camp went to day anybody tell you? And I actually mentioned that in our Three Things video that we do with Larry and John that it's like, if you want to sign that there's a place for a fullback in this offense. Look at the very first play of eleven on eleven in this training camp. But as you said, it's not just the fullback leaking out as like a checkdown guy.

That there is some of that, but there is also the fullback running a wheel route or even running down the scene, like down the hash and if it's there and if it's the right matchup, Roger's gonna throw the ball at direction. What's great is it On Sunday they ran Vitality down the scene and he was wide open, I mean wide open. Rogers hays something for a big game. So that tells you, you know, the defense is so

worried about those other receiving options. If Aaron can get those going, they're going to forget about the fullback because you're not as a defensive back or a defensive coordinator. It's just not You're the primary guy you're gonna be focusing on. You're gonna be rolling coverage to Adams. You're gonna be worried about Jimmy Graham up the same and then here comes vitality screaming wide open, and it's a

lot of possibilities. Yeah, well before we switch gears to the defensive side, Aaron, and you take care of a little bit of sponsor business. Select Cousin Subs locations are now offering delivery. Whether you're ordering catering or your favorite sub, they're delivering right to you when you order online at Cousin Subs dot com. Cousin Subs. We believe in better alright, defensive side of the ball. When it comes to Family Night,

what caught your eye? You know, there were a number of plays where you know, you always like to watch the young guys, you know. Aaron Rodgers mentioned it at his locker last week in regards to what he was looking forward to for Family Night, And you want to watch the young guys how they respond to being under

the lights. It's such a big crowd for a practice. Um, I thought a couple of guys too, In particular, Montravius Adams had a play where he was so quick off the ball he completely ruined everything they were trying to do on offense. And then Rashan Gary, I think, holy cow, you see the athleticism you see the burst, you see the pot stability is the ceiling, as scouts like to say, is so so high because he can do. No man that big and that's strong should be running that fast.

And there are so many instances where and some of this was against the two, so you take it with a grain of salt, right, He's just wrecking things and closing on the ball so quickly. You do think this is a major chess piece for Mike Patton. Yeah, well,

that's what I was going to say. And I mentioned this in our Insider Inbox column the other day because a lot of people are asking about Gary West, and I have been talking about him a lot because he does stand out on the practice field almost every day. But it's time for Rashaan Gary to get more reps against number one offensive because because the twos and the threes, he has nothing left to prove against those. I mean, he stole to beer Soul yesterday on the practice field.

There are just moments where he is a complete mismatch for some of these, you know, and that's these guys are doing work. They're doing you know, They're every rep is valuable. You're gonna learn something from both sides of

the ball. But if you're continually winning with ease, okay, it's time to let's let's see him go against Ryan Bolago or David Batari, Right yeah, I mean it's it's definitely gotten to that point, and I think we're going to see that as camp goes along, and certainly he's going to get reps in the preseason games, hopefully when the other team has its number one offensive line out there. Obviously the other thing with regards to family and on

the defensive side of the ball, a couple of big interceptions. UH. Packers working on their cornerback depth, which now Kevin King has another hamstring injury, he's dealing with it. The depth at the cornerback position is going to be important, and UH we saw Tony Brown with a pick six. He jumps the sideline route, uh snags Deshaun Kaiser's pass and takes to the house and then kedar Holm in the rookie sixth round pick out of um A heck of

a heck of a play. He attacks a essentially I don't know if you call it a slant or a stop route either way, but he gets the deflection, the ball pops way up in the air and then Chandon Sullivan another uck he comes and makes a diving interception. Um. A really good play by by both players there. But these guys number twenty and twenty nine, and they happened to be consecutive on the roster. But Tony Brown and dar Holman, these are two guys who could end up

playing some important roles on this defense going forward. You mentioned Kevin King being out, Tony Brown steps in with the ones on stirring Sunday's practice. So you know that's the confidence the coaches seem to have in him. And I think for good reason. Anybody who has uh come here from Cheese Had TV knows. I've talked Tony Brown up all summer. I thought he got limited playing time, even more a little more playing time towards the end

of the year last year. UM. I think people, most fans maybe remember him for the penalties, the two penalties earlier in the season last year. But I'm here to tell you this kid can play. He's got everything they need in Petton's defense, manning man defense especially, UM. And I don't I think he's picked up right where he left off. He's continuing to be I think he's an

ascending player, and I'm with you. I mean, I've had a lot of kind of pushback for the pick six, people saying, oh, it was a poor throw, but there are no poor throws on Sundays in the NFL weekend a week out. There are poor throws. Job back is to take advantage of it. That's exactly what he did. Um. I'm really excited about Tony Brown and I Holman. What a find. This kid can play some man defense. Yeah, obviously that's pretty important in Mike scheme. He's an aggressive,

in your face corner. Another guy who's getting some reps with the ones. So it's clear that the work they've done this offseason is starting to translate here when the pads are on, they're they're going in live situations. And I mean, so far, and it's still very early, but so far, these guys are answering the bell. Yeah. Well,

I talked with Tony Brown after practice on Sunday. I'm actually working on a story for later in the week with as you said, him stepping in for Kevin King and working with that number one Nickel defense as a boundary corner. I talked to him about how things got off to a bit of a rocky start last year.

He had that really bad on sportsmanlike conduct. But but what I what I asked him about when a when a brand new undrafted guy comes on the team and basically that's his his first foray onto the field in a game, and you make a really really bad and what a lot of people would consider a stupid mistake like that. I asked him to, you know, did you think you were even gonna be able to stick around here? And the fact that he did and he and he said, hey, you know, he obviously made the case that Okay, I

gotta learn from it. It's not going to happen again, etcetera, etcetera. But the fact that the Packers stuck with him says something about his talent, because there are a lot of guys in that situation with really no pedigree. They make a mistake like that in the game that the team ends up losing there on the street and the GM is finding another guy on the roster to replace him the next day. That didn't happen with Tony Brown, and that says something about what this personnel department thinks he

can become. Absolutely, I mean, like I said, I've think all the tools and the talent are there. And it's funny. People remember the penalty, but they don't remember he's celebrating because he makes He makes a great play on third down which should have got them off the field, but it didn't because of penalty. But it just he the kid makes plays. He is in position more often than not. And if you're going to test him, and you got to think if for whatever reason, he has to play,

you know, significant minutes this season. Well, people aren't going after Alexander. They're going to go after Tony Brown. Yeah, they're going to attack. So hey, good luck to you, because I think this kid is gonna be up to the challenge. Yeah, and this is a kid he likes to trash with a with Aaron Rodgers no less two. He likes to try to get it. He said, you like completing one on him, so he shuts up. Yeah. Yeah, Well we got a few more minutes here, Aaron. And

you've been here since the start of training camp. I think you're you're here through the first preseason, right after the I'll be here through the Texans preseason game, then I fly out on Friday. Okay, well, just give me your general observations. This is the first we've really seen this Matt Laflor offense in eleven on eleven, full contact type of work. What are your overall impressions from from a scheme perspective, What jumps out at you in terms

of what you're seeing out there. Well, it's funny. The watchwords have been the phrase that both he and Aaron Rodgers have kind of glommed onto repeatedly as work in progress, and I think that's certainly what we've seen so far, especially recently on Sunday. The defense just owned the offense, and I think part of it They're going against a very talented group on the defensive side of the ball, so I think there was always going to be a

bit of stubbing your toe as you get going. When things start flowing on offense, and they have in like bits and pieces here and there. It's exciting to watch, and you do get that sense of they could hurt you any possible way, like whether it's at one point they were working five wide, which is kind of a very Mike McCarthy esque looking thing, but they can go

there if they want. And Aaron was so great. My was Patton was trying to bring all these blitzes, and they were working on picking up pressure in an empty situation, Aaron just picks it apart or they go power and they're running that zone scheme, and all of a sudden, you got these backs with holes open and you see like the possibilities, and then bootleg action off of that, which is the Shanahan tree staple from the quarterback um,

and then you've got all the receiving options. I think it's gonna be slow going, and I know people want to. I think the sense I get from some fans is, well, it's the Sean McVeigh offense. It's the Kyle Shanahan offense. We're gonna look like that, right, And I just don't think it's that simple. I think it will be a bit kind of stop and start fits and starts as the season begins. But the potential you can see it

each and every day on the practice field there. It will take a bit for it all to gel, but once it does, it's going to be scary. Yeah. Well, one thing our colleague John Coon has talked about a lot in our Three Things videos and other play is all of the shifts and motions that we're going on with this offense. And you see you see jet sweep type action with the wide sometimes sometimes they get the ball,

sometimes they don't. And those are the kinds of things that you know, they're they're running the bootleg action and

things like that off of that. There's they're just there are so many things going on, you know, so to speak that and and that's what Matt Lafleur means when he talks about the the illusion of complexity, because for the players out there, it's not necessarily complex for them, but it's throwing a lot of the motions at the defense to get them to to distract them essentially, get them off their keys and uh, and to get them think something is coming when it's something else that is

built off of something that was run four or five plays ago. Um, that kind of thing. Most offenses are like that, I just in terms of in terms of how they build off of other things, you know what I mean. There's so much you talk about, like the shifts in the motion. Yeah, that's that's what that's And it's funny because you've seen and I think it kind of got onto the La Fleur's skin last week where there were like a number of plays in succession where

there were pre snap penalties. You know, guys moving early, or two guys move at the same time, et cetera. Things you just can't have. And I think it's to be expected when you're incorporating everything we're talking about here. It's it's very new for some of these guys, and so I think you stepped back and you look at it thirty feet You're like, yeah, of course this is going to happen. This is how you've got to expect

to begin. But if you're the head coach, you've got to demand that they clean this up because you can't. It's got to get sharp. And it's interesting. It's a fun juxtaposition when you're out there with all the music that the floor has going from the moment I mean, from the moment you step on the practice field, at the moment it's over, there is blaring music and it's

a great I mean, it's a great mix. I'm I'm not I love it, but I don't have to like practice in it, you know, I mean, And then all of a sudden, it's like, Okay, now I gotta go like, okay, well, then why do you think there are priest and penalties because guys are like kind of vibe and it's been a fun mix in that regard in it, it's been a big time departure from what we've been used to. Well.

On the defensive side, you mentioned obviously Mike Petton second year, a lot of new personnel, but we're seeing the defense certainly ahead of the offense in training camp, which is which is to be expected. One guy that I wrote about on our website after Sunday's practice was Darius Smith. We heard from him in the locker room with interviews for the first time since training camp started, and uh, this is a really You talked about Rashan Gary before

as being an interesting piece. Zadarius Smith is a really really intriguing guy to me because me and a few other reporters we were trying to pin him down like Okay, well, what's your best pass restaurants, what's the what's your favorite spot where you want to line up? And he's like he's not interested in being pigeonhole day at all. He's like, Hey, I'll go to any move I'll line up anywhere you

want me to line up. This is a this is a really interesting guy who was in essence, a backup guy behind some really, really good players in Baltimore the first four years of his career. But from the day he walked into this Packers locker room, he became a leader on this defense. And that was even before Mike Daniels was released. And I think it's interesting you talk about everything he can do, You've seen that day in and day out on the practice field. I mean, he's

a real chess piece. He's a guy that can dominate and dictate to the offense, and those guys are rare, and they tilt the field. And I think if you look at this defense as far as what it could be, he's a key, if not the key piece, because you can come from anywhere. Uh, he's going to cause all sorts of problems, and you're gonna have to kind of key on him as an offense and as an offensive play caller or a quarterback, which allows I mean, there's

all this other talent. You've got Kenny Clark, You've got Gary, You've got all these other guys that are going to be able to take advantage of what is undoubtedly going to be extra attention paid to it. Aius. Yeah, well, I think we've seen in the shift from with Mike Petton taking over as defense coordinator Brian Gudkin's taking over

as the general manager. The investment that was made this offseason in the outside linebacker position, it just shows you the importance, the paramount importance that's being placed on it. And I mentioned this in our Insider Inbox column. You go back from the time the Packers drafted Clay Matthews

in the first round in two thousand nine. If you look at major investments, being a first round pick or a major contract the Packers made in a span of nine years, they made four big moves at outside linebacker. They resigned Matthews, they drafted Perry, they signed Julius Peppers, and then they resigned Nick Perry. So those were the four moves. They made three of those in one off season. They signed the Darius Smith, they Preston Smith, and they

spent a first round pick on Rashaan Geary. Just that juxtaposition of the investment in the commitment to the position says something about the importance of it. For Mike Pettins, absolutely, and the versatility I think is the real key, because you know, we talk a lot about Snarius and for obvious reasons. He's been all over the place. But Preston has played extremely well, as you know, very solid, and he has been much more versatile than I expected. And

obviously that's because he's got a different play caller. He's going to utilize him differently than he has been throughout his NFL career up to this point. But I, you know, Layman, just looking at the tape of his time in Washington, I didn't see a guy who could do all the things that we've seen him do on the practice field. So uh yeah, there's no question that Brian thought, Okay, we've got to pump up the talent level here and that has certainly borne out early on here in camp. Yeah,

no question about. Well we're out of time, Aaron, but I want to say thanks for joining us on the show today, filling in for West for uh for one morning, and with that we will sign off on this edition of Packers Unscript. Would be sure to follow all the coverage of the team and of training camp on Packers dot com on Twitter. You know where to find Aaron Egler on Twitter, check it out TV dot com. I'm

at Mike Spofford at Packers for the team account. Thanks for tuning in, everybody, We'll see you next time.