#539 Packers Unscripted: Early observations

distancing at home. So if you have a free room, you take the free room. And here I come to you live from lambeau Field. Well, I am here in our studio and I think we got some of the lighting issues figured out in here. Look good? Um yeah, starting to look a little bit better. These zoom cameras are not quite the same as your professional high tech cameras, so we've had to make adjustments along the way. But more importantly, Wes you know what, the Packers have two

training camp practices in the books. Here at the time we are taping this, and shortly after we are done taping this show. There will be practice number three, which will be the first one in pads, and we will get to more of that later in the week. But through these first two practices, a lot going on, a lot to keep an eye on. Let's break things down here in terms of our key observations on the offensive

and then the defensive side. So starting on offense, what jumped out to you from days one and two, Well, both days that you and I walked back from practice again from a socially acceptable distance, Uh, I said to you. I mean, I don't know if it's just because you and I didn't have an offseason program, although you've covered those years before, I haven't. But it just seems like there's been more happening in these first two practices than

I can remember in the past. And and you know, offensively, what is really stuck up stood out to me one? Uh, it has to start with Tim Boyle. The conversation all off season has been once again about Jordan's love being the first round pick, Aaron Rodgers, YadA, YadA, YadA, YadA, get your clicks, everybody, have a great day. But Tim

Boyle has sort of been the forgotten guy. And all this in Boil, as I wrote in our what we Learned from Monday's Practice story on packers dot Com, every single year he starts off really strong to camp and for the most part, he's always sustained it. And this year has been no exception. I thought he's made some really terrific throws. You know, you go back to two thousand eighteen, Mike, it was all about the big throwing ability. We you know, I play around with my friend Michael

Cohen and the Tim Boil Laser show deal. But what has impressed me is how over the years, uh, he's becoming a pretty good pinpoint precision pass or two in these practices. And that's how he has enabled himself as an undrafted rookie two years ago to now be going into his third NFL season last year, is the primary backup to Aaron Rodgers. A couple throws of note that he already had Markquez Valdes scantling the very first practice puts one right where only his receiver can catch it,

probably forty yards down field. And then he's also made some really nice intermediate throws too. I think about the one that he had in the slot to Darius Shephard on Monday, and then also a nice one that he had delivering the ball in stride through traffic to a J. Dillon who was coming out of the backfield on kind of a wheel route. So, Tim Boyle, you can in Jordan Love. Certainly there's gonna be a lot made about that,

and he's an exceptional prospect. But there's a reason Tim Boyle's here, And I thought through the first two practices he reminded every one of that. Yeah, I've been really impressed with Boil as well, and you everybody knows about his arm strength. You mentioned the deep ball to MVS.

Those kinds of things don't necessarily surprise me. But I think what stood out to me in addition to what you said, is that through these first two practices, just the the overall command and comfort and the sharpness and the smoothness of everything. You can tell. Okay, he's in

his third year in the NFL. Now he's in his second year in Matt Lafleurs system, and it's some of the little things like just when he takes a checkdown throw, the timing of taking the check down is much quicker and sharper as opposed to maybe holding too long onto those first couple of reads before you just check it down and give the checkdown guy a chance to make

a play. It's it's hard to describe. I don't know if I'm describing that quite right, but those are the things, those are the things that I've recognized these first couple of practices. And that's where I the word I keep coming back to his command. He just seems to have a command of the offense that is at another level. Now we're not really we're not obviously not going to get to see that in the preseason games as we've done in the past, but um, but certainly he's off

to uh to a strong start. And you know, we talked about with with as far as Jordan's Love has to go, having not had any on field work in the off season as a rookie and being thrown into the new system and everything like that. I mean, the odds are very strong, and they were even before these last before training camp started that Tim Boyle is going to be the number two quarterback I think behind Aaron Rodgers. His experience level is just too hard to ignore, and

he's certainly proving that he's out to lockdown that job. Yeah, totally and and this is the thing too. I mean last year he was in that number two role that that is a job in and of itself. People just think it's the guy sitting there holding the clipboard waiting for the quarterback to get hurt and then he enters the game. It's not like that. As Tim Boyle even said,

there's so much that goes into it. During the week, he is one of the primary guys responsible for helping Rogers and the quarterback coach Luke GETSI, you know, game plan to understand what tendencies are of the cornerbacks that they're gonna be facing too, you know, pick up on little nuances that could potentially help Rogers to be an

extra set of eyes when he's on the sideline. That that all plays into this and it's something that you know, Jordan's love is going to be learning in this process. I mean, this is still a very young quarterback in exceptional prospect. Like I said, but Rome wasn't built in a day. And I think the NFL, the way that this has trended over the last ten years, everybody wants to draft a quarterback in five minutes later, they want to have that guy in the system. Playing starting and

sometimes that works and sometimes it doesn't. But if you're not in a position where you're trying to save a head coach's job or you're not trying to change a culture, heck even sells season tickets, if you're not in one of those spots, I still think there's a lot to be said for allowing a guy to develop. Patrick Mahomes certainly wasn't behind Alex Smith as long as you know,

Aaron Rodgers is behind Brett Farve. But still even that one year I thought made all the difference for that young man in what is now turned into a twenty

four year old m VP of this league. So one of those things that consider, but beyond that, Mike uh in order for Boyle to look good, that means the offense has to have moments and and through these first two practices, whether it's been a J. Dillon, the way that the Packers have used Tyler Irvin, the you know this cat back that they claimed last year, and the returner Alan Lazar Darius Shepard, there's been a lot of guys that have stepped up and made plays, and you know,

you've have been able to see some of the depth at these positions that have some question marks. Well as far as the starting offense, the number one unit is concerned, there is a competition underway. It was underway right from the get go in the first practice on Saturday. And what I'm talking about is the right side of the offensive line. The Packers, Matt Lafleur, the offensive coaches are are shuffling things around in the different eleven on eleven

reps as they go through practice. There are times that Billy Turner is at right tackle with Lane Taylor. The whole Turner Taylor thing. I know I'm going to screw that up at some point, but anyway, Billy Turner at right tackle, Lane Taylor at right guard. There are other times when Rick Wagner is at right tackle and Billy Turner is at right guard. Obviously the other combination is

Taylor at guard and Wagner at tackle. So the coaches are trying to find what is the best combination that is going to work on the right side of that offensive line for the Packers. And uh, this is not something that's going to be decide did tomorrow where the next day was. I think this is a competition that the coaches are gonna let this play out pretty much through the majority of camp, at least for the first couple of weeks before they they settle on what that

starting lineup is going to be in Week one. Yeah, and and once they made the decision to to keep Lane Taylor and to figure that thing out for this season, I felt pretty confident that he was going to be in a competition for a starting job. I mean, he brings a lot of versatility. He can play both guard spots. He can play right tackle. Um, heck, I mean he

played left tackle. He started a game at left tackle in this league already in a bitch So uh, certainly, this is a guy that you just didn't want to see him walk out the door. But at the same time, when you lose somebody like Brian Balaga, Mike that that's one of the best tackles that has ever walked in the doors at lambeau Field in this franchise's history. So to go ten years with him and then to try to replace him, you can't just have one remedy. You

have to have multiple options. Rick Wagner was a part of that. Keeping Lane Taylor was a part of that, and keeping in mind Billy Turner's versatility is also something the Packers are considering. Going back to last year, it made a lot of sense for him to come in and probably take that right guard spot. But one of the reasons why Green Bay went out and signed him

was because he can play multiple positions. The green Bay Packers when they go to Minnesota and Week one, they want to have their best five offensive lineman on the field, and this is gonna be an opportunity for those three guys to show that they can be that guy. Yeah, well,

shifting gears to the defensive side. There was a big piece of news on the first day of practice, and that is the uh I guess you'd call it the long awaited contract extension for Kenny Clark because GM Brian Goodakounts had been talking about this, you know, even dating back more than a year, that he wanted to get Kenny Clark in the fold long term for this defense. It took a while. Everything with the pandemic and salary cap ramifications and all that maybe delayed things a little

bit in terms of finally reaching an agreement. But that agreement has been reached and the contract is official and Kenny Clark will be a centerpiece literally and figuraively in a lot of ways for the Green Bay Packers defense for the next several years. Yeah, and a remarkable signing and a remarkable job by Clark and his team to get this thing done before the start of training camp. Twenty four years old, Mike, he doesn't turn twenty five

until October. Uh. An incredible rise he's made. You know, this is a guy. You know, we're gonna talk about Rashan Gary here in a little bit, But Kenny Clark came in as a twenty year old rookie. He had to go through his you know, kind of bumps and

bruises along the way. But man, in the December of two thousand, uh seventeen when he really started to come on there and that last month of the season, you saw exactly what Ted Thompson and this personel department liked about him and where they thought his career was headed. And to be honest with you, Mike, I feel like this kind of completes, uh, you know, a five six,

seven year of evolution of this defensive front. When I started covering this team, as Kenny Clark alluded to in his press conference with the media, it was all about you know, gap filling defensive tackles, and they had one job, and that was really to take some blockers and allow the people behind them to make plays. It's not like that anymore. Kenny Clark can do it all. And when the Packers drafted him six ft three pounds, he wasn't a Ryan Pickett type, but he also wasn't like a

Mike Daniels type. He was right in the middle, and he can pretty much give you everything that you want out of that one nose tackle position and allows him

also to have some pass rushing opportunities. The closest distance between the defensive line and the quarterback is right up the middle, and I think Kenny Clark has shown the value in that, and certainly Brian goodcouins this organization wanting to maintain that commitment to him and keep him in the fold now with a defense, mind you, that has a lot of key pieces in place now for the

next three, four or five seasons. Yeah, I'm really curious to see what the next step is going to be for Kenny Clark in the past rushing world, because he's had six sacks each of the last two years, which is a real solid number for an interior defensive lineman in this league. But here's the thing, West, you know this as well as I do. He's had a couple of different months in his career where he's had three and a half or four sacks just in the span

of a month. So if a guy can do that from an interior D line position, then you wonder can he get double digit sacks a dozen sacks in a regular season like the guys on the outside are used to getting. And I'm I'm really curious to see if if Kenny Clark starts to h to push those sack numbers up as as he really comes into his own

here in the NFL. Yeah, I'm with you on that, because the thing is, if you look at all those Next Gen stats and Pro Football Focus, i mean, they're talking about this guy's had I think it was something around fifty pressures last year. He was around the quarterback a lot. It's just so happens that well, he had

two pretty decent outside linebackers chasing after that same quarterback. Yeah, those other guys were finishing off the edges and you know, and but Kenny Clark was definitely involved in a lot of that. But as Clark said, I mean, one of the things that he's talked with Mike Petton about and Matt Laflour is they want to probably move him around a little bit more this year, create more opportunities for him.

The major question I have is when push comes to shove, when the regular season starts, you you're gonna have Kenny Clark, assuming he's healthy, for X amount of snaps. Do you want those snaps dedicated to help stopping the run where he can help you a lot, or getting some pressure on the quarterback where he also can help you a lot. That's where the Packers have to be cognizant of this because he's played over the snaps here the last couple of seasons when he's been on the field. That's a

really tough number for a three fifteen pound body to fit. Fortunately, he's been young and productive and been able to do it. But it's going to be incumbent on those other defensive linemen in that room to help take some snaps out of him, because I really think that sweet spot is probably around se That's where you're gonna get the most out of a really well conditioned defensive tackle, but also still allow Kenny Clark to have the explosiveness that everyone

really likes about his game. Yeah, well, you mentioned Rashan Gary earlier, and he's another guy who's uh, certainly making some noise here in the early portion of camp. You and I've been doing this for a while. West. You look at the first couple of practices, especially when you're into August here like we are, even though the pads are only going on for the first time later today.

But when a guy is getting a lot of reps with a first unit, that's sort of that sends a signal that the coordinator, in this case, Mike Petton, the defensive coordinator, he's definitely got plans for Rashawn Gary in this defense in because we have seen Gary on the field a lot with the number one defense, with both of the Smiths out there as well, all three of those guys officially listed as outside linebackers, but all taking the field together with the number one unit, And those

are the kinds of things that, as I say, they send signals for what the defensive coordinator is has in mind for later down the road, and we just have to see what those plans are going to be as they unfold. Yeah, I think this has been the truest testament of the Packers trying to get their best eleving guys on the field. I think they feel like Rashan Gary is one of them and they need to find ways to create for him. Uh. The thing I keep telling people one the kids twenty one years old, he

was twenty one years old. I know he's the twelfth overall pick. I know people are super excited about that selection, and you need to have some patience with them. I mean, much like I even made this thing in an insider inbox. Uh. You know Rashawn Garry's twenty two ZA Darius Smith didn't even take his first NFL snaps he was twenty three, and it was a few years after that where he really became a difference maker for Baltimore. This is a tough game. You need to be able to develop and

you know, really find yourself as a pass rusher. Now that being said, I thought he checked all the boxes you wanted him to check. This offseason. You know, he looked to tone up his body a little bit more. As he said, he still is around that to seventies six. Market's not like he's had like this huge uh you know, you know, just he looked drastically different from last season.

It's just as he was saying, you know, eating clean, a little bit more conditioning, you know, doing a little bit more of those high school drills of running bleachers and gas ers because of the restriction in place because of the quarantine. But also, Mike, it's a twenty one year old man going to a twenty two year old man, and then there's just certain maturation that goes along with that.

But the one thing I think we're gonna learn this year is I think I think Rashawn Gary is gonna be more than just a dime rusher, which is what the role he predominantly played last season when the Smiths needed a breather and often was Kyler Facrol going in there. And I think Gary is going to be that guy this season that's going to be able to compliment them and then potentially even have some opportunities to be on the field with them together. But he's a part of

that trio and the Packers. They last year was the emergence of the Smiths. I think this year the Packers want to be able to give more of those opportunities to Gary as well. Yeah, and one stad to throw out there about Gary too. Yes, he only had two sacks as a rookie, but this is the stat west. He had nineteen quarterback pressures in approximately two d forty defensive snaps. That's that's actually pretty good production for limited playing time, and I think I think the Packers are

are looking for him to build on that. Okay, one last thing before we go. A very interesting development on Monday. In Monday's practice, the first interception of training camp in the eleven on eleven work was turned in by none other than the new guy on defense, Christian Kirksey at inside linebacker. He took a deep zone drop and picked off and Aaron Rodgers past that was intended for Davante Adams. Just kind of neat that the it was the new guy on defense that that you know, got the old

man at quarterback so to speak. Yeah, And it was off a zone drop into coverage. He was probably about fifteen yards deep and they were trying to hit Davante Adams on a crosser. Just a really good job of recognizing what was in front of him and reacting to it. We didn't get a chance to talk to Kirksy after this practice. We actually talked to him after Saturday's practice. But you gotta imagine that that was a feel good moment for him. This is a guy that again, mind you,

he's only played in nine games the last two seasons. Uh. The fact that he's just in there calling this defense right now. You see when the plays gets re relayed from Mike Petton from the sideline. Uh, Kirksy is already the general. He's already stepping into that role and they need him to step into that role. He's the only proven commodity that they have at this time at inside linebacker. But he even said it's been a long journey for him.

It's been a long road back and then obviously having to wait through this quarantine to be able to get into Green Bay and start to meet these guys in person. Uh, that that had been a big moment for him, and it did you a lot of good moments for the defense so far. I thought, Vernon Davis, excuse me, Vernon Davis, Vernon Scott. Vernon Davis was not at practice on Monday. Vernon Scott was the rookie seventh round pick out a TCU.

He had a couple of past deflections. I thought you've seen some really nice play recognition so far from you know, some of those defensive backs trying to make a run for a roster spot. In addition to Zadarius Smith and Preston Smith, they were saying after Saturday's practice they felt like the defense set the tone and they wanted to

keep it that way. So watching this battle between especially now that we're gonna see more ones verse ones in these eleven and eleven periods, Uh, these battles are gonna be terrific to watch, and I think you're really going to get a good sense for where both of these sides of the field are. Well. One last thing on Kirksey before we go, and you mentioned kind of his long road to these last couple of years, dealing with

a lot of injuries and everything. He just looks and sounds like a guy who's having a blast being back on the football field and being the guy in command of the defensive huddle and running things. And obviously he knows pett and system from earlier in his career. Just a veteran guy who really seems to have rediscovered the joy of the game that he loves and it's fun to watch. Yeah, and I gotta mention too. I want

to get your thought on this. Uh. And Broyke Martinez is terrific and I wish him well with the Giants. It's not this is not has nothing to do with Blake, but considering Blake is gone and seeing Kirksey for the first time, I mean, since fans are not able to watch this right now, I just need to say. I mean, this is a guy that looks like a three down inside linebacker. He just he has a certain presence about him. I think you look at his physique and the way

that he carries his weight very evenly. I I just I think when you see a guy like Christian Kirksey, when fans finally get a chance to actually see him on the field, Uh, and not just a couple of photos here and there are a couple, you know, two second videos. Uh, this guy is gonna impress you just based on the way that you know he brings He's exactly what you think think that position should look like in in this time and age. Yeah, I would absolutely

agree with you. But with that we do have to go. So thank you for tuning in everybody for West I am Mike. We will be back again later this week. To talk more Packers Training Camp West. We're talking about practice. Does it feel good? Mike feels as it feels awesome. Thanks again for tuning in, everybody, We'll see you next time.