#421 Packers Unscripted: Plusses and minuses

the bulk of the week in Green Bay. And I don't want to read too much into it, obviously, in a game where the vast majority of the starters for both teams didn't play, this really was a game about reserve players and backups fighting for spots. But if you want to look for anything that maybe hopefully for the Packers set some kind of a tone for nineteen, is that they were looking for turnovers and for better impact on special teams. And they got both of those in

the Texans, and they got it right away. It wasn't one of those things where they needed to like go down to crunch time and then someone made a playing you know, the garbage moment in the ball game, and the you know, the decisions already at hand. They made three impact plays right off the bat, and then they did another one right when they came back after halftime.

We could talk about the turnovers and takeaways on defense, but man, it was just like you could feel this collective sigh of relief when Econemius st Brown was able to force that muff punt early in the first quarter there. Last year, the Packers actually got off to a good start last year. They got a block punt right off the bat with Josh Jackson recovering it. Yeah, Week two against the Vikings, but it was all downhill from there and they weren't really ever able to re establish that momentum.

To get a play like this, and to see a young receiver like st Brown make a play when you need them to it was important. I think it's something that the special teams unit when they looked to cut down and they woant umber of penalties they had last year, but also makes some impact plays that can change the course of a ball game. Uh st Brown did that. He got on the guy, he pressured him and then also had the presence of mind to be able to

take the ball away and get the touchdown. Afterwards, he's talking to Tim Boyle and some guys after that Kadar Holman who had the interception, and they mentioned just how big those impact plays are, not just so trying to make the football team, but really dictating the tempo. It's one thing the Packers are able to accomplish against the Texas right off the bat. Yeah, I was really impressed

with Holman's interception. That was another one of the early ones, and we had talked about him going into the game, guys like Kadar Holman, Tony Brown getting a lot more snaps in practice with with you know, ones and twos with Kevin King being out and uh, you know, Holman

made a nice play there. Now, it was an under thrown ball, but he had talked about it was something he saw in practice against the Texans during the week, and then the recognition was there, so he undercut the route and boom, he took advantage of of a poor throw and got a big turnover in the red zone. You have to do that too. I absolutely love when he said that, because this is the preseason, it's training camp.

But for guys like Holman that are trying to carve out a role in this defense, these are the moments you need to have along the way for him to be able to have that intelligence football i Q recall if you will, and then make it that play happen, will it to existence into a football game? That That's the one thing that really was missing from Holman's resume so far. He's been sticky good in coverage. He's incredibly fast. He just really hadn't had that big mark he takeaway.

He was able to get that off of Joe Webb and then another guy really quickly to jump off of two. Raven Green is a player who right off the bat was playing with the first team unit, whether it was as deep safety when Darnell Savage was still out with the wisdom teeth or moving into the boxes that hybrid in the box safety linebacker role. Well, here's the young man coming through with a force fumble that ends up

getting recovered by Will Redman. I mean, by all intents and purposes, Mike, if these practices, if that preseason game, there's anything to draw off of it, it's that Raven Green is going to have a role in this defense. That's the way it looks right now. Kind of like what the Tally did on offense, Green has done a lot of that on defense as a guy that you thought going into camp might be on the fringe. It

looks like he's very much in playing. Yeah, well, it wasn't all sunshine and roses in the first preseason game. Because if there were a couple of things that the Packers definitely are looking to clean up as they head into their second preseason game this week in Baltimore, it's

the penalties and the miss tackles. There were a dozen penalties for over a hundred yards Matt Lafleur counted, and when he went through the film, twenty four miss tackles that equated to about a hundred and sixty four yards of offense um or yards in general for the Houston Texans. So the tackles thing, I get it. Obviously you want to see guys tackle better than that. But when you look at it West, you know, three weeks of O t A, it is a week of mini camp, two

weeks of training camp. These guys have played football for six weeks without tackling anybody. So okay, let's see what happens in Baltimore before we, you know, make any grand pronouncements about this is a major issue that the Packers need to fix. So let's see what happens in Game two the penalties. We saw a couple of things that

our points of emphasis for the officials this year. One is offensive holding, because right away in the first quarter both teams were getting flagged for holding left and right. The officials really trying to get these guys to pay attention to their technique and what's going to be called this year. And then the other one to watch out for two. It was on Holman's interception, the blindside block

Will Redmond. As Holman got up to return the interception one way, Will Redmond was running the other way to pick off a trailing player. Can't do that anymore. At least you can't block him forcibly. You could run that way and get in his way and try to prevent him from getting there, but you can't lay the guy out. That's gonna get a flag. That's going to be an obvious fifty yard penalty. The officials are watching for that

kind of stuff. I don't know if you realize this, Mike, but I'm now a officionado when it comes to understanding the blindside block. After having our conference last week with the officials, there you go the one thing you want to look for now on that play is you can stand in their way, you can shield them, is the way they describe it. Otherwise you can extend your hands, but if you throw the shoulder, if you lower your helmet, all that stuff is what the reps are gonna be

looking for. And it doesn't matter if you contact him in the head or neck area or whatever. It's what you do if you're literally if it's what they're gonna call forcible contact and you're running towards the goal line that you're defending, if you're running the opposite way, so

to speak, they're gonna flag it, right. And it doesn't like you just said, like if Mike Spofford's running on the football field like that and I throw my shoulder into you, which is typically a legal hit if it's in the course of play, like a defensive back going to hit a receiver after catching ball, all that's legal. But not on that one because the guy doesn't see it coming. So yeah, that's one thing that they're gonna

have to clean up, no doubt about it. The packling I thought it was somewhat maddening, to be honest with you, because if there was any time in which I expected them to miss a lot of tackles. It was going to be early on in the football game. They actually were pretty sharp there. I thought Raven Green, Tony Brown, uh Tye Summers and number of guys had really nice solo tackles in the open field. But maybe it's just

the attrition, you know, conditioning. As the game wore on, it became a little bit more uh you know, hit or mess. Yeah. I think fatigue was definitely setting in with these guys when you look at the fact, you know, all these guys sharing reps in practice for these one hour, forty five minute two hour practices. Suddenly there's a three hour football game and a bunch of starters are resting, they're not taking any reps, and a lot of these guys, the twos and three, so to speak, are playing an

entire football game. The miss tackles definitely piled up as the game went along, and I think conditioning was definitely a part of it. Yeah, And that's why I kind of feel for Thy Summers a little bit. I mean, say what you will, I know there were some places

you wanted back in the second half. The guy played almost eighty snaps, found special teams in there one thing I want to point out, though I thought was really cool, it hasn't really come up to this week, is the Packers actually started cycling their offensive lineman during that game. Historically in those preseason games, you'll see the number one line or whatever's left of it, the number two line, and the number three line. They actually had guys like,

for example, de Beer. Gerard de Beer started at right tackle, then came in again later in the game. You don't always see that kind of stuff. So I think where he came out for a while and then went back justin McCrae ended up leaving the game, came back in as a center for Manny Wilkins. I thought that was one way as far as the bigger guys concerned, to make sure that they can make it up for the whole game. Yeah, well, real quickly, Wes need to take

care of our sponsor business here. 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 all Right, West, there is an injury situation here that we need to discuss with regards to the Packers, and unfortunately, very early in the Houston game, second year inside linebacker or in Works went down did not come

back in the game. He was seen on the sideline with a big ice wrap over the the upper part of his his body, his chest shoulder area. The Packers have announced it as a chest injury. Matt Lafleur has not given any updates yet, saying they're still gathering information on the injury, something that's taking this long. Unfortunately, I don't think it's going to be good news whatever it's going to be at the end of this. But where the Packers are right now is that the picture has

changed at inside linebacker. You mentioned Ye Summers. He led the team with ten tackles in the Houston game, probably could have should have had fourteen or fifteen to be the first one to admit it, because he did miss some in there. We've also seen Curtis Bolton, undrafted linebacker, undrafted rookie from Oklahoma. He's been working alongside Blake Martinez

in practice. Summers has kind of been the signal caller with the helmet communicator and everything for the number two defense, a couple of other young guys James Crawford, Brady Show Olden in that mix as well at inside linebacker. Um, this Baltimore game is going to be a big one

for that group. Because I don't want to make two grand of an announcement here, but in a lot of ways, maybe how this Baltimore game goes with these young inside linebackers will determine how strongly the personnel department is going to look outside to bring in another guy if or in Burke's injury is a long term deal. So there's a lot to pay attention here. Pay attention to here as far as what's going on and inside backer indubitably right,

that's Mike Spotford. Word. Here's the thing. Last year when Burke's had the shoulder injury, that's where you saw them claim Antonio Morrison the next week after the Oakland game. So this, I think you hit it right on the head. This is gonna be a game where those young guys have to show that they can, you know, really hold down the fourth there so to speak. They want to keep that job in house. These guys are not only

fighting for roster spots, they're fighting for playing time. They don't want to force the personnel department to look outside like they did last year totally. And and and the thing is is that let's just be honest. The guys that have come free, whether it be through a trader on the market, there typically there for a reason. This time of year, you're not going to find just another

Blake Martinez or or and Burke's sitting out there. So from that perspective, if it is a long term issue here with Burke's, do you have to The thing that Mike Patton is gonna have to do, much like last year, is kind of shuffle the deck a little bit. I think they've made it pretty much a common thread in that defense now that you're going to see the safety playing in the box, specifically in those dime packages. You're you know, Raven Green's, Josh Jones is those type of

ball players. The thing I like about Bolton is that he kind of gives that dimension. He's sort of an undersized inside linebacker six ft um, not your typical, you know, six six two eight kind of guy, and so, uh, I don't know a lot about him, to be quite honest with you, I know the Packer is very high on them. We'll see how that young man does realistically, though, I think this is a big time for James Crawford. Crawford talked about this offseason and he wanted to be

more of an inside linebacker. He didn't want to be seen as a tweener anymore. He felt like he was settling into that position. Uh. This is a guy that I think is showing everything you want to see on special teams, aggressiveness, discipline, just sure tackling. It'll be a big camp for him showing what he can do there. And also for a guy like Summers. If Summers is going to be leading this defense on those second team units, especially in this game against Baltimore, that means that you're

pretty much the next guy up behind Blank Martinez. And while Martinez has been incredibly durable for this defense, the loss of Burke's is one of the guys that makes it even more important that they have a guy that could step up it should something happen at number fifty. Yeah, Summers is a really interesting one to me because we talked about when he was drafted in the seventh round out of TCU. He was a converted quarterback from high school.

He started to learn defense in football as a college player. By the end of his college career, he was one of the best defensive players for Gary Patterson, who has had a really good defense at TCU for a long time. Now, he comes here to Green Bay as a late round, third day draft pick and he's learning a three four

scheme for the first time. So there there's a there's a learning curve here with Summers, and I think that's I personally think that wearing the communication helmet and being the guy who's calling the signals, I think that speeding up the learning curve for him. I was talking to him last week and he feels a lot more comfortable with calling out you know, the checks and adjustments and and working on the stunts. And of course he gets fired up if he if the call is for him

to blitz and go after the quarterback. We've seen him come free a couple of times on Family Night and in the preseason game. But this is a guy who's picking everything up really really quickly. Um. We know the athletic ability is there. Um he's uh, he's got an opportunity now in front of him, as does Bolton and Crawford. You know, as you mentioned um, but I think Summers. Summers is a guy who's made a pretty strong pression early on here, and uh, you know, let's see if

he can continue to build on it. Yeah, Well, gives him a chance. Is sort of like when we talked about Tony Brown a little bit. Now, Summers didn't toss off the charts like Brown did with his forty and everything, but he tested really well. It's one of the reasons why he got drafted was just his speed. Has a pretty good vertical uh, and there were some questions coming out of whether or not he could play to those statistics.

Be quite honest with you, Mike, I thought that was one thing that he did well in that game against Houston. He looked really quick. Laterally, he had some good sideline to sideline speed. The thing is, especially as a rookie, if you're gonna make mistakes, you want to make him in a hunter miles per hour, especially at that inside linebacker position we talked about in the past with Blake Martinez and even to some extent Burke's last year. You

don't want to be hesitant. You want to be to be decisive, and I think Summers brings that to the table. The biggest thing that was being able to tie it all together. And you know, there's one thing about being aggressive in the tackle, it's another thing to miss the tackle. You have to be able to do it. Now, you're not gonna be facing Joe Webb every week, but you are going to face running backs with that type of speed and quickness that are going to be able to,

you know, cut on you. So I just think these next three weeks are gonna be a big learning curve for him, big learning experience for him. And we'll see what you know, the packers can come up with their trying to find someone is sitting next to Blake Martinez. Yeah, Bolton is an interesting case too, as an undrafted guy, he didn't really become a full time starter in college

at Oklahoma until his fifth year there. His red shirt junior year, he got injured a nasty ankle injury that cut that season short, and he had mentioned that there were some questions outside, not from internally but outside as to whether he'd even come back for his fifth year senior year. After the injury. He did come back. He was a starter, He was honorable mention all Big twelve.

Ended up not getting drafted, but this is uh. You know, he's he's your classic undrafted guy who shows up every day with something to prove and uh, and he's getting noticed. He's working alongside Blake Martinez right now these last couple of practices. He's another guy to keep an eye on. Yeah, totally. And again, these guys that come in sometimes at that linebacker position inside outside, you find a gem or two

there that can really solidify your defense. If they have the right mindset and they have enough athleticism, we get the job done. Yeah. Well, another thing, it wouldn't be a training camp or preseason show without talking about the wide receiver competition at some point here. But I bring it up, and I know we've talked about a lot. I bring it up right now because some things are

changing with what's going on. Trevor Davis has been injured unfortunately, since the first joint practice with the Texans, so he's been out for about a week now. And we just saw eq St Brown uh in practice on Sunday. If I'm getting my days right, he dropped out of practice. The announcement was there's something with his knee that's bothering him. We don't really know what to the extent of it, but we've seen we're starting to see guys like Darius

Shepard and Alan Lazard and others. They're making plays and they're getting noticed. And this this last three weeks, as far as how this wide receiver competition is going to sort itself out, is going to be really really interesting. Brian Goodkouin's last year, there wasn't an easy decision there because you had to make a tough call on whether or not to keep Jake Kumerou and then the three young receivers. He's had some tough decisions to make, which

is the way you wanted to be. Packers have been very fortunate over the years that you know, they've been putting this position. Geron Wallison once put them in that position when he was a rookie, didn't end up making the team, but obviously he's turned into a contributor. It's funny because I think every year before camp, everybody does their little Okay, well, you're gonna keep this player and this player is going to get cut, and this is

what the fifty three is gonna be looking like. You can't do that with the receiving corps in any season. But I think specifically, this year has proven it to be the case, really, Mike, all ten of those guys competing behind Davante Adams have had their moments this past week. It's sort of belonged to Alan Lazard, I feel, and

that preseason game showed some really nice downfield speed. He said he's always been kind of dogged on a little bit for his speed, but I think you see some explosiveness and his ability to sort of hit the second third gear there heck of a touchdown grab on a really nice throw by Tim Boyle, and and with that type of size at six five being able to kind of box out um whatever that Lonnie Johnson, that defensive back from the Texas being able to box him over

for the twenty seven yard touchdown. It also draw the defensive pass interference that helps set up that play that ended up getting him a four yard penalty. I think Lazard has been really solid this week, and Mike would be remiss if we didn't talk about Darius Shepherd. Daris Shepherd is the kind of guy that if you saw him at the mall, you would think he's probably a

soccer player. He definitely looks like an athlete, but does not look like an NFL football player, which I think probably played in the fact that he was a tryout guy. He was not signed as a college free agent anywhere. That the guy just makes plays and his shifting nous underneath the league has shown that if you can stay healthy at that size and you can stay on the field,

there is a place for those players. I think Darius Shepherd is a guy that practice one after another and now even this the preseason games with that hit that he took on that touchdown, has shown he can stand up to the rigors of this league and also be a consistent football player. One thing to keep an eye on whichever Davis being out and jo Will Davis being released this past week, it was Darius Shepard was the

one taking punts in practice this week. If he shows something on those punt return units, man Derris Shepherd's gonna have a chance. Yeah. One other thing I want to say about the receiver competition. Um Geronimo Allison I thought was having a fairly quiet camp for the first couple of weeks, and then on Saturday, the first practice after the opening preseason game, I actually thought he had a very poor practice. He just dropped a couple of balls.

He didn't look like the Geronimo alson we're used to. Number eighty one came out in Sunday's practice to play and he was all over the place. He made every play I thought. I thought he was the star of practice and really what was one of the longest full

pads workouts the Packers have had throughout this camp. And whether it's you know, coming back from that injury that wiped out a good chunk of his season last year, everything about getting his feet under him, I think we're starting to see, based on what I saw on Sunday, we're really starting to see the Geronimo Allison that the Packers are going to be counting on in absolutely and there's a reason why that even after he had some of those struggles on Saturday, that the Packers had him

still in there. When you go to your two minute offense, it's him. It's Davante Adams as Marquis about the scantling, it's Jimmy Graham that's gonna be the home base for them. And the nice thing about Allison is he does have that education on the outside to be able to be you know, solid out there. But man, he has conditioned his body, he's conditioned his mind to playing in the middle of the field and playing in that slop position.

I think in that regard he's really shown something. He was making those spectacular catches again on Sunday that you've been wanting to see from him, and if he can build up some more of those in these next couple of practices. Again, this is a guy that I think is going to be looking to get back on that track he appeared to be on last year when he was on pace for a thousand yards before those injuries pumped it up. Yeah, I totally agree with you. Well with that, we're going to call it a wrap on

this edition of Packers Unscripted. Be sure to follow all of our coverage of the team and of training camp on packers dot com. Like us, subscribe to us on iTunes and other podcast services. If you're so inclined on Twitter, you can follow him at west Hod I'm at Mike Spofford at Packers for the team account. Thanks for tuning in, everybody, See you next time.