#450 Packers Unscripted: Digging deep

locker room to get to. So following up. The Packers had to dig a little deeper into their depth chart in this game than maybe they have for the first

four games of the regular season. And it wasn't just because Davante Adams was out at wide receiver and Jamal Williams was out at unning back, but in the defensive backfield and on the offensive line, we saw some pretty exemplary performances by chan Chandon Sullivan excuse me, who got a key interception in the first half of the Packers, and then by Lucas Patrick filling in for Corey Lindsley

at center. Um. These are the kinds of performances that they go under the radar a little bit, but they really are the the unsung hero type of performances that help you pull out big road wins. So I'm not asking you to praise me here, I'm really not. But what did I tell you from like the end of July, beginning of August, what was one of my big things? I really thought Shannon Sullivan was a player? Yeah, you did. I was about this guy. And there was a couple

of reasons why. One, he's really smart, and I think you gotta feel for that yesterday being in his group huddle. Yeah, I mean, it's it's incredible if you know his backstory at all, I mean three point eight whatever, g p A Georgia State, Georgia State, the way his family pushed him. I mean, football is a big part of who he is, but it's not the only thing about who he is. And I just was really you know, the interactions I had with him during training camp, but just was really

fascinated by him as an individual. But even more than that, I don't know exactly what the Philadelphia Eagles were thinking back in May when they released him, because this is a guy who played five games for them last year as an undrafted free agent, started one game for him, and you know, they made a decision right after the draft that he evidently was on that nine bubble where they bring in some undrafted rookies, they moved on from him.

You don't see that a lot um not necessary that that you don't stick with guys, but the fact that you you have a guy that plays for you is up for five six weeks and then you just decided to move on. So he falls right in the Green Bay Packers lap. And I thought throughout training camp he displayed a lot of versatility, thought he showed a lot

of athleticism. And now given this opportunity in this game playing the nickel slot position with all the injuries that had mold in the secondary, he steps up in a big way and makes a really key leaping interception um in one of three that the Packers were able to get off of Dak Prescott. I've really been impressed by him as a player, and I just think that this was sort of the manifestation of that in that game

against the Cowboys. Well, he's certainly the perfect example of why and how a personnel department scouts the entire league. They have their files on everybody when they're coming out for the draft. The guys get drafted, other guys go undrafted, but they're around other teams, and then the pro scouts take over and they're scouting these guys, and when guys that they like become available for whatever reason, whatever reason, it didn't work out in Philadelphia, the Packers pounced on

Channon Sullivan. They brought him in, They gave him a chance to compete in a very competitive defensive backfield, as as we saw throughout training camp. But what we also saw is how many defensive backs the Packers kept on the fifty three man roster, specifically four situations like this where you went into the game aim not knowing if Kevin King was going to play. Tony Brown you knew

was going to be out with his hamstring injury. So you're digging into that depth chart a little bit, and here's Chandon Sullivan, who, Yes, the main part of his story is that he was an undrafted player who has had to take the hard road to the NFL. But as you said, West, it wasn't like walking out there against the Dallas Cowboys that he was some rookie who

hadn't done this before. He had NFL experience, and the Packers have a little bit more of that, and we'll talk about it with Lucas Patrick as well at center. The Packers have more of that in their depth chart now then maybe we've seen in the last couple of years. Absolutely, And I got to tip my captain Tom silverseein from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. I was in a group huddle with him talking to Jason Simmons, the Packers secondary coach, on Monday. He was actually the one that brought this

question up before. I did you know in these previous years, there was a lot of times where the Packers, if an injury happens, they have to turn to an undrafted rookie, a legitimate like first year player. The way that they've configured this depth chart this year, and it is probably the reason why you saw it not as many undrafted rookies make the team this year was because Will Redmond is in his third NFL season. He's the backup safety

now Chandon Sullivan makes the roster. They're at cornerback as a guy that already has one year under his belt. These are both guys that have not only you know, been through an NFL camp before but they've actually played in NFL regular season games before, so when they get thrown into those situations, it's not just completely you know, wide open in terms of their eyes and trying to adapt and adjust on the fly. They've been through some of these scenarios. So I think that was one thing

that really lifted the Packers in this game. The fact that, Okay, you have a guy like Will Redmond that you feel confident in. You can put him on the back end. You can slide up Adrian Amos into the box to play closer to the line of scrimmage. You can put Channon Sullivan in at nickel cornerback, you can slide him around. You know. Jason Simmons said this was all by design, the way that they designed these things in training camp. He wanted to give these guys opportunities to make the

roster by showing versatility. But through that you start to understand what these guys can really handle. Yeah. Well, and give credit to Channon Sullivan too, for a key play in the fourth quarter. It didn't work out in the Packers favor. Excuse me, but he was all over Randall Cobb and slot on the pass into the end zone that was a little bit high and got tipped and that Redmond picked off in the back of the end zone. Off the deflection ended up getting wiped out by a

penalty and the Packers did not get the turnover. But that was another play that Sullivan made, you know, guarding a veteran accomplished wide receiver obviously in Randall Cobb, and I took my cap to him for the celebration after his interception. He talked about this at his locker, that he did the slide on the knees into the end zone and and you know, stretched out his arms before the rest of his teammates came around him. And that was a tribute to Nick Collins and his pick six

in Super Bowl forty five in that same stadium. And he talked about how there's that picture of Collins is actually on kind of right on the corner of the outside of the cafeteria near the player's entrance when they when they enter and leave the building on a daily basis, So he'd seen that picture. And I forget what grade he said he was in when he was watching, want to say it was like seventh or eight or something

like that. He was pretty young, but but he he did watch he saw that Super Bowl live and saw that play, and then seeing the picture of that from a T and T stadium in the Packers player entrance area, he decided, Okay, well if I get one at a T and T stadium, I'll I'll tip my cap to Nick Colin. I really wish I could be a fly on the wall in these defensive back meetings when they're talking about what they want to do for celebrations. That

was one thing Sullivan said. Basically, the veterans had already talked to him about, Okay, if you make a play, you gotta be ready to celebrate somehow. You've been thinking about that and these are the things that goes through guys minds Um, I thought a really nice homage to that play, um and just understanding of history there. I mean, you can tell that was something that wasn't just like he was trying to do it just to do it.

He knew what that play meant and to be able to kind of celebrate in that way I thought was really special. Jannon Sullivan, I think is gonna have a bright future here in Green Bay. But Mike, we have to talk about Lucas Patrick. I mean, what a mention this guy is. I mean, you wrote a story about it on packers dot Com. You're not going to tout

your horns, so I'll tute it for you. It's an incredible look not only into the relationship between Lucas Patrick and Aaron Rodgers, but also the thing that really strikes me about that story, Lucas Patrick, when it's all said and done for him, he's going to go down as one of the real true undrafted success stories in Green Bay.

And you know, you can talk about your story a little bit, but it's incredible to me that Corey Lensley plays consecutive snaps spanning two and a half almost three seasons, and here's Lucas Patrick, who never played center in college. He's suddenly thrust into that role where you're snapping to Aaron Rodgers and just hearing and learning about their relationship and and everything that's gone into it. It's, uh, it's really neat. It's it's really cool that that that that

story really struck a chord with me. Yeah. Well, the story kind of starts back at the beginning of Patrick's second season in Green Bay, which technically ended up being his first season as an NFL player because his rookie year he was on the practice squad, so he didn't get on a crude season um in terms of free

agency status and whatnot. But he's in his second preseason with the Packers in the summer of and his mom is visiting from out of town and one day, kind of random training camp day, whatever the case might be, Patrick and his mom are leaving the players parking lot in his mom's Ford Escape and Rogers an early two thousand four escape, so this vehicle is probably fifteen fifteen

years old something like that. Rogers, completely out of the blue, is walking through the players parking lot and he walks up to the vehicle and he knocks on the window and has Patrick's mom like rolled down the window so that he can introduce himself to his teammates mom. Now, mind you, this is a guy who has done nothing but spend one year on the practice squad, hasn't been on a regular season field in the NFL yet, hasn't really taken any legitimate snaps with Aaron Rodgers as an

offensive lineman at this point. But Rogers knows that Patrick was raised pretty much by his mom uh solo. She raised two kids and uh Um and Patrick ended up going to Duke where he had a really nice career as a Duke Blue Devil before making his way into the NFL. And Patrick was kind of blown away by that, by just the fact that Rogers would strike up a conversation introduce himself to his mom, and then fast forward

now to training camp in twenty nineteen. Patrick is taking on a lot of duties at Center that he's not necessarily used to because his two years on the active roster he had pretty much played guard, had started about a half dozen games as a backup. He's fighting to make the roster again in twenty nineteen and not things maybe not going the best in terms of adjusting to the scheme and all the stuff he's being asked to

do at Center to back up Lindsley and everything. He's kind of down during training camp and one day at lunch, Aaron Rodgers sits down at the lunch table with him and just to have a conversation and see how he's doing, try to, you know, give him a pep talk or something like that for lack of a better term, And Rogers didn't say much from what it sounds like, but the conversation meant everything to Lucas Patrick. He he's like the quarterback kind of has my back and believes in

me here. And Patrick was then asked, we were a group of reporters, we were talking to him yesterday in the locker room. He's asked, well, then when did things start to turn around for you and training him, because obviously then he made the team and he is the backup center on this team. And his answer was the turnaround was immediate. He says, when you feel like number twelve has your back, it's like the whole state of

Wisconsin has your back. And the boost of confidence that that gave him, and just getting that reminder from Rogers that hey, you've played in this league, you've proven you belong here. Just go out do your thing and be you. It'll it'll take care of itself, because you know, he's got the toughness, he's got the smarts, he's got the work ethic, everything like that. And it has worked out. And now all of a sudden, Patrick gets thrown into a game against the Cowboys nine people a T and

T Stadium. He's never played center in an NFL game before regular season game and the Packers offense quite frankly, doesn't skip a beat three or four points. Um. Yes, a couple of snaps that were shotgun snaps that were off target. Fortunately Aaron Jones was able to catch him and still make positive plays. Those are the things that

Patrick is going to work on. But but his relationship with Rogers is really interesting, and it's it's illustrative of how young players who have fought the hard road to get where they are in the NFL, what veteran players can do for them in certain situations, and also what Aaron Rodgers means to uh to the locker room in general. Patrick couldn't say enough about how much Rodgers has gone out of his way in certain instances to not only do that for him, but for others in the locker

room as well. And it was just really really interesting getting the insights from an incredibly smart, incredibly tough, and incredibly humble player like Lucas. So so many different layers to this. The first thing I just want to touch on very quickly, because it's a very small part of a bigger story, is that I really appreciated the way that Lucas went about telling this because he even kind of warned you guys when you were in the huddle, like you got a minute? You know, there's only so

much time. I don't think it only hears though I'm covering this team. I've ever had a player asked the media do you have him minute? Like do you have a minute? Um? But the reason I want to point this out is whatever outside narratives maybe, and there's been a lot thrown out in the last few years, there is one opinion, one relationship, one reality that truly matters. And it's what Lucas Patrick feels, It's what Davante Adams feels, It's what that locker room feels amongst each other, not

just with the quarterback, with everyone. That's the only thing that matters, regardless of what the outside sentiment might be, because the thing is is that outside sentiment a lot of times is thrown out there to create discussion, to create narratives, to create conversation. But be that as it may, your word exactly. But what happens behind those closed doors in the cafeteria, in those interactions, that's what matters on Sunday.

That's what matters to that team, to that camaraderie, that chemistry. Yeah, I think the thing that struck me the most about Patrick's story in terms of in terms of the perspective, is that when we see whether it's Aaron Rodgers talking to mattel Floor or Aaron Rodgers talking to another guy in the huddle on the field or after a play or some reaction, that's that's heated, that's emotional, that's in the in the heat of battle, when things are tense

and and and things are intense. Those are the things that everybody analyzes in terms of leadership and all these other narratives that we're talking about. It's the stuff that goes on in the cafeteria, in the locker room, behind closed doors that paints the entire picture. And if you don't know the entire picture, your analysis, quite frankly, isn't worth a whole lot. And what Patrick's story reminded me

of is they're the interactions on the field. And he even said he was asked, you know, what, what did Rogers say about those bad snaps? And he's like, get a snap to me, you know, like it's pretty simple, like this is what you gotta do, and that's the reaction on the field. But a player like Patrick can take that and he said, I'll respond positively to that on the field because of the relationship that's been built

elsewhere that people don't necessarily see. And so what I wanted to try to do in the story, and I hope I accomplished it, is to show that it's the entire picture of the relationship with these players that really matters, and as you said, it's ultimately their opinion is the only one that matters, because they're the only ones who

know the whole story right absolutely. The second part I just want to touch on very quickly about this, looking strictly at Lucas Patrick, is this is the maturation of an NFL football player. He's no longer a tryout guy. He's no longer an undrafted free agent. He's no longer a practice squad player. He's an NFL player now. And I think Lucas understands that and he appreciates that, and that's the reason why he was feeling the way he

felt in the cafeteria that day. This was a tough training camp for Lucas Patrick um competitively personally, you know, Justin mccraize is one of his best friends on this planet. Justin mccraie isn't here anymore. And the reality is is that he got traded in in you know, Domino's Fall, and that's life. Yeah, incredibly competitive offensive line training camp here for roster said it all along. I felt like this was the deepest that I've covered in my time

in Green Bay. But here's the thing about Lucas Patrick is he wants to get better, he wants to be proved, and he's had this chip on his shoulder. I mean it comes from when you have one tryout offer, you don't even have any undrafted contracts out there. You have one tryout offer and it's from and it's from Green Bay. And then after that tryout weekend, you don't get a contract offer for another month or so exactly. And it goes home and he's thinking, he's going looking at the

next phase of his life. And here he is now in his third NFL season, his third official NFL season, and now he's snapping Aaron Rodgers. I mean the steps that he's taken there, there is no I tweeted this when I tweeted your story on Tuesday night. Sorry, I'll mix up with my schedule. Yeah, I tweeted this out. You're gonna be hard pressed to find anyone more real than Lucas Patrick. And I think that's one reason why when it's all said and done, he's gonna have a

bright future ahead of him in this league. Yeah, and this is one of those guys. He's he's one of the first guys to defend a teammate. He's one of the first guys to throw himself into a scrum if something's going on, whether it's in a game or whether it's in a training camp, practice, and and whatnot. And now we'll see moving forward, Corey Lindsley is in the

concussion protocol. We'll see what happens if he's able to get cleared and ready to go from Monday night against the Lions, or if Lucas Patrick will end up getting his first NFL start at um At Center, Select Cousin Subs locations West 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. Okay, before we go today, I do want to touch on a few of the

Week five results around the NFL. The one, the most significant one affecting the Packers occurred across the pond in London, a really interesting ball game as the Oakland Raiders jumped out to a seventeen to nothing lead on the Chicago Bears.

The Bears came all the way back to take a twenty one to seventeen lead in the fourth quarter, and then lo and behold that Bears defense somehow, and I'm not quite sure how this happens with a defense that good, but they allowed the Oakland Raiders to go ninety seven yards for what turned out to be the game winning touchdown in the fourth quarter, and the Bears dropped to three and two. The Packers are four and one, and that is why the Packers are in sole possession of

first place in the NFC. Know, well, these are the I always call them the gotta have them games, And what I mean by that is there's no positive implications of that result other than the Bears losing. And that's that's the outcome if you're cheering for the Green Bay Packers. When you see those inner those in truck conference games, that right, or inter conference games. But I always just say cross conferences because then I don't have to worry about.

I like cross conference prefixes correct, but when it's when you're going against THEFC, you want the FC to win absolutely. And I'll say this right now, I'll put this out there about John Gruden's team. They still have a lot of work to do. Josh Jacobs is gonna be a really talented running back in this year, in this league for years to come. David Derek Carr, they established him as their franchise quarterback, but I think they got a

run with Jacobs now. And to see him have that kind of showing against that defense, Um, that's how you get to it. That's how you beat a dominant defense. You have to be able to run against it. The Raiders did that overseas, and now the Chicago Bears have some questions to answer. Yeah, and the Bears get now get a bye week coming off of the travel to London.

They get a bye week to stew about a game that they felt they had their backup quarterback Chase Daniel getting him close to field goal range to potentially tie it at the end and get it to overtime. He throws an interception and uh and the Bears take their second loss of the season. We did see the Minnesota Vikings. Turns out their show does travel. They got their first they got their first road win of the year. Um the defense really clamped down on Daniel Jones, the rookie

quarterback for the Giants. New York only scores ten points. Minnesota gets big games out of Adam Theland and Dalvin Cook despite all the distraction wherever you want to call it that's going on with Stefon Diggs, but Adam Theland and Dalvin Cook looking like the real go to guys for Kirk Coz. They had to be what did I say last week? You have to be able to throw against the New York Giants. You just have to be able to do that if you're going to legitimately be

able to say you're turning this thing around. That was probably the performance they needed. It's sort of like that tune up fight a little bit, right, I mean, you just kind of get your your momentum back, you get your gusto back a little bit. They got it out of that game and also helped them that the Giants lost Wayne Gelman and that sort of had been that Barkley replacement. Without that, right, they were already thout Barkley, Can I close on one thing? Yeah, San Francisco forty Niners,

man are really legit. I was that that was the next one I was gonna ask you, But I know that's a an opponent further down the road for the Packers. This week it's the Detroit Lions who are coming off of bye at the to one on one Mark and we'll talk about them quite a bit on tomorrow's show. But yes, the San Francisco forty owners don't look now they're four and oh and they're looking awfully tough. I've said this to a buddy of mine watching the game on Monday night. They are the Tim Duncan in the

NFL right now. They are the big fundamental Uh. They don't do stuff that's gonna wow you. Jimmy Garoppolo does have his weak spots, but they are a well oiled machine and they play to the scheme that Kyle Shanahan has. Now they're gonna be challenged here if Kyle Ustcheck is going to be out a month or whatever that knee. Indrey ends up being yeah, very very dynamic fullback and a guy who's been a key to that offensive scheme

and production in two thousand nineteen. It's so strange when you can actually say, I mean, he is the fullback that makes that offense work, that's the run game work. He makes their outside zone work out. Uh. And George Kittle was at the peak of his powers in that performance. Defensively, I mean, you've got a boast. Is just a different type of player, and he's a beast. Cleveland has issues on their offensive line right now, but for them to get the penetration that they got, they are just a

well oiled machine right now. And it's gonna be fun to watch them see where this season goes and what potentially the implications of that game in San Francisco could be, or technically San Jose when the Packers meet them in November. Yeah, I mean coming up, the Packers will be traveling out West to play the forty Niners, and we have yet to see the forty Niners play either of their contending

division rivals in the Rams or the Seahawks. Those are four games to forty Niners Rams games to forty nine Seahawks games that are coming up here over the course of the next three months that a lot of people are going to be watchings. I get a kick out of this one too. Next week he got the forty Niners and Rams play. So it's next week, and I think it's like a regional television game, Like if I undertood that correctly, let's see here, Yeah, what is it?

Is it? The Giants know which one is. There's there's a really bad like game in meanwhile, like the people in California are gonna be able to watch and Rams play. They're defending NFC champs against an undefeated forty Niners team, and there's gonna be hardly any portion of the country that gets to watch. It's Cowboys versus Jets as the national game. Oh boy, wow, but that's gonna be great. There's gonna be some great NFC West matchups coming here. Yeah.

I think yeah, I think that that is. That is a division too, That is a division to watch because those teams are gonna have much like the NFC North teams we've been talking about, They're gonna be a lot of games as we go along here with with playoff implications, because I think we're already seeing there are going to be some good teams in the NFC that are not going to make the playoffs because it's it's just that competitive.

Yesterday you were talking about, you know, the NFC East, and you know how you had Philadelphia and Dallas both competing. I mean, if you get enough losses, you're gonna be behind the driver's seat there too. So right now, the North and the West are driving this thing and the Packers have to keep pace. Yeah, alright, 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. Subscribed to us, like us

on iTunes and other podcast services. Please on Twitter, He's at West Had I'm at Mike Spofford at Packers for the team account. Thanks for tuning in, everybody. We'll see you next time.