#541 Packers Unscripted: Veterans in their element

as far as the padded practices go. And I know, usually we spend training camp shows talking about younger players and you know who's climbing the depth chart, etcetera, etcetera. But I wanted to start this show talking about three veterans in particular, because they can get overlooked sometimes in training camp. But I tell you what, Aaron Rodgers looks as sharp as ever, Mason Crosby looks as locked in

as ever. Mercedes Lewis, he's still going west, and he's a He's an important leader on this team, not only for the tight end group, but in this locker room as a whole. And Mike, you know me, I want to talk about Mercedes Lewis until next Tuesday. But I got a touch on something first, Mason Crosby in practice so far, he's been exceptional. He did have some kicks during practice. I believe it would have been on Sunday where Pete Doherty and I over in the fans section

there the stands. We weren't sure whether or not they went in or not. Okay, Pete and I asked you. I was like, spot, did they go in? He's like, oh, yeah, they went in. He went nine for nine and Pete. Pete still went and asked Mason during his media availability on Monday, what did we learn, Mike? What are the lesson we learned? Never doubt Mike Spofford, don't do it, um, So I have to tell that little story. No, Mason has been great. He's been off to a really strong start.

As you said, it's really interesting that you point this out, Mike. It's the three guys in the thirty five plus club for the Packers that you that you mentioned there, Aaron Rodgers, Mercedes Lewis and obviously Crosby. And this is a very young football team. I know someone in insider inbox asked me a couple of days ago. Okay, so like, what are how do they rank against other teams, and it's so difficult to tell that until we get to fifty

three players. But when they finally do, I think it's going to be one of the younger teams that I think I've covered here in Green Bay. Now that being said, it comes down to your leadership, and the Packers have a lot of it. When you look at Rogers, Lewis and Crosby. You asked me about Mercedes Lewis, I'll give you an answer to that. You have three really talented

young tight ends in that room. And then no disrespect Evan Bayliss also coming off the practice squad last year, guys they want to develop, guys they see as the future of this offense. Mercedes Lewis is a big part in helping bring those guys along, along with Justin out In the tight ends coach. And you can just tell Mike from his twenty minute conference call with us this weekend, how excited Mercedes Lewis is about this opportunity, how much

he's still driven to compete going into year fifteen. And I'll be honest with you, Mike, You're going into your fifteen of your occupation here at the Green Bay Packers in ten more years. I hope to be as excited about it as Mercedes Lewis. I mean, this is a guy that, despite all of his interests out of off the field, uh, still has a lot to give on it. Yeah, certainly the guy a veteran player who's you know, searching for that elusive championship as they say. But that's not

the only thing driving him. The other thing driving him is he really does still love the game. He loves to play. I think he embraces whatever leadership role is

thrust upon him. And Aaron Rodgers talked about that, how Marcedes Lewis as as a leader, even though this is only his third year in this locker room, as a leader for this team, he has the timing of when to say something, how to say it um And you know, Roger sort of drew the parallel to some of the other leaders in the locker room in the past, like a Charles Woodson or like a Julius Peppers, who they just they just understand the right timing and the right

tone in order to lead the squad as a whole. And that being said, Aaron Rodgers is certainly is certainly showing his leadership on the field as as much as off the field, because I know Monday's practice was kind of, you know, a half speed jog through type of thing. Nothing really to uh document as far as reporting on the practice goes. But those practices on Saturday and Sunday, boy, I tell you, the accuracy of his throws where he was putting the football, it was really impressive to watch.

And then he capt off that practice on Sunday with an absolutely picture perfect execution of the two minute drill. I wrote about that on packers dot Com. I think the most impressive thing about him pulling off that two minute drill is there wasn't a single big explosive play that made it really easy, like suddenly, oh, they're all the way down at the other end of the field, they're going to finish this off. It was it was a matter of just being very methodical, very precise, managing

the clock. He spiked the ball three different times along the way, he used the time out at the proper time, just completely in command out there. And I thought the way that ended Sunday's practice, after the way he had thrown the ball all through Saturday and Sunday to full speed full pads practices, I thought Rogers really showedy he's

on top of his game right now. Yeah, And unfortunately, obviously fans can't see it right now because of you know, the restrictions in place with COVID and not being able to attend training camp practice and that is a non shooting period. But I wish people could actually be able to put their eyes on it, because it really, I thought, encapsulated everything Aaron Rodgers is, especially at this juncture of

his career. He made a critical third down pass on that play right down the middle, down the seam to Robert Toany, and Tany did a good job bringing the ball in. That's what extended the drive and from there a lot of outroutes, a lot of stuff underneath, just being as you said, methodical to get into range for Mason Crosby to make that forty seven yard or but beyond that, Mike, the way he's challenged the middle of the field so far during camp, I thought has been

really good. And excuse me, his deep ball stuff right now divine to Adams. I mean he opened up the team period. I believe that was on Sunday, had a deep ball off play action to Davante Adams would have been a touchdown. He did it again later in practice again to Adams. There are so many different ways that Aaron Rodgers can beat you, and I found this very interesting. Mike.

He met with the media on Monday, and he talked about when he was asked by Bill Hubert about just the start he's off to and why he's feeling so good, and Rogers, you can tell it wasn't just a talking point. He legitimately feels like he's in a groove right now. And one thing that he pointed out was he went back and they were doing the installs, and with those installs, they bring in cut ups of some of his old work and there was a clip from ten years ago

and he found something in it. He wouldn't go into exactly what it was, but there was something that he saw in that that he brought to practice the next day. And then, as he put it, the next the you know, the last few days had happened. So Aaron Rodgers is in a groove. And you know, we always talked about preseason games and all it does. He need the reps and everything. What you need is practice and you need

to find yourself as a quarterback. And I think going into two thousand twenties, fight all the obstacles that have been put in his way, in this team's way. Aaron Rodgers is doing that. Yeah, I'm really curious what that thing is. I know everybody is curious just what that is. From the two thousand and ten I think he was

talking about practice film. Sounded like that he saw and you wonder, okay, is it's Was it something with his mechanics, was it something with the timing, was it something with footwork? Was it something that he saw with his eyes as far as how he's looking at I mean, we don't really know, and he wasn't going to tell us, which is which is typical of Aaron Rodgers. But it really

was fascinating. I mean, something from ten years ago, and he says he notices it, he took it out to the practice field, and then suddenly on Saturday and Sunday like boom, boom boom, like every throw is right on target, right where it needs to be. And you know, Rogers, Rogers seems to really be enjoying himself in this training camp. As much as there are limitations and the players can't do. You know, a lot of those off the field activities and other things that you know that they might normally

do during a training camp. Some of those team bonding, team chemistry type things, those are off the table at least for the time being. But um, these uh, these guys, this, this number one offense looks like it's having some fun out there. He really does. And and the other thing too. And I wrote about this an Insider inbox. Whether or not it's it's the film clip, or it's the second year in Matt Lafleur's offense, or it's like some of his teammates have even said how much Rogers appears to

be enjoying himself this summer. There's just something about him that has really allowed him to find that groove here early. And I think there is something to be said for the fact that that second year offense, the installs have been in, they ran through them mentally before they finally hit the practice field. Once they did, Matt laflor has felt very confident about the run that they've been able

to get on. And here's the thing that I think is most intriguing in terms of the pieces around Aaron Rodgers. I've said this a couple of times, but Jordy Nelson, Davante, Adams Randall, Cob James Jones. All those years, it was always the same essential components of that offense and where the ball was going to go. Who your primary skill position players are, the way they've built the backfield, the

number of options they have at tight end. Uh, you know, Josiah Deguara be able to play a hybrid role, and then certainly a guy like Mark Quizvelde Scantlin coming back with what he offers in terms of not only his top end speed but also some of the underneath stuff he's been showing early in camp. This isn't going to be the offense whereas just the same three receivers for sixty snaps. They're gonna be really multiple. But you can tell that Rogers is game to rapport with a lot

of these guys already. In being able to establish that this early, despite you know, everything they went through with the offseason program, that could be something that really helps put the Packers ahead when they get into these games here in September. Yeah, and one other thought on Crosby too, before we move on from these veterans we've been talking about. He actually did miss the first few practices ever since he came back. He's been absolutely locked in as far

as I'm concerned. But he did miss the first few practices he was on the COVID reserve list. He actually test did test positive for the coronavirus the second day that the players were back in the and the testing had begun. Fortunately for him, very mild symptoms, wasn't anything that that required a major recovery. But then he did have a lot of conversations with with his wife, Molly and his family. Molly had a cancer issue a year ago.

She's been given a clean bill of health, which is great news, but he had to think about, you know, well, should I play, Should I take this risk, you know, exposing myself with obviously what his wife went through last year. And uh, fortunately for the Packers, Molly's Molly's doctors have said everything's good to go. They gave him the thumbs up and uh, and Mason Crosby looks, uh, he looks as good as ever as as he is going to continue to put all those scoring records he owns just

further out of reach. And yeah, this has been this has been a wild twelve months for the Crosby family. You know, Molly got diagnosed with her nero endocrine tumor that she had on her lung right before the start of training camp. She had the surgery to remove that the day before. The Packers ended up playing the Kansas City Chiefs in that preseason finale. So Mason's flip flopping between Green Bay and the Mayo Clinic in Minneapolis. He's

trying to get all this stuff going on. Oh and then, by the way, he also has the kicking competition at that time with Sam Ficken, and through all that he ended up having a career year ninety one point seven percent, tied Yon Standards record for single season accuracy, and then also got rewarded with the extension, being able to come back now for a fourteen season with Green Bay the second longest tenured player on this roster now to Aaron Rodgers.

So it's just it. I'm not saying the same apropos, but it's just I mean, when you talk about all the adversity they faced. Of course, when he comes back to Green Bay, he ends up being surprised by a COVID test, but he was able, as he said, he was able to do a lot of his strength and conditioning stuff away from the team, he had his ten day quarantine. Once he came back, he felt good, he felt strong. It was bizarre. I mean, he did have

a negative test that first day. The second day is where he had the positive one, as you pointed out. So whatever it is, they made the decision him and Molly her doctors. They felt like it was safe for him to proceed onto into this two thousand twenty season. Might have been a different story if she would have been in a different spot in this would have happened

last year. But all that being said, I mean, when you have a kicker like Mason Crosby, the confidence, the wherewithal and just being able to be, you know, sure about who that guy is going to be, that is such a value right now in today's NFL. Yeah, and all three of these veterans we're talking about, Aaron Rodgers, Mason Crosby, Marcedes Lewis, all members of the Packers what they call the leadership Council as far as a group of veteran players that meets on a regular basis with

Heath coach Matt Lafleur. They actually had an impromptu meeting after Monday's practice to talk about the police shooting situation in Kenosha, and I think we'll be hearing some more as time goes on, as far as as far as some plans that the players have things that they want to talk about, things they want to bring awareness to as the season goes along. So we'll certainly stay tuned for any news we hear along those lines. But Wes, it would not be a training camp unscripted episode without

talking about some younger players who are getting noticed. And I think the one guy we definitely have to talk about here who is certain the U is getting noticed by the coaches, by the reporters. Everybody who's out there at practice is fifth round draft pick rookie linebacker Kamal Martin.

And uh, I tell you what, a lot of the rookies, I think they're all in a really, really tough spot in terms of trying to do something in a in a regular role on offensive side, offense or defense, aside from just special teams, because of not having any o t a S, no mini camp, no rookie orientation as far as any on field snaps until training camp rolled around. But Camal Martin doesn't really look like that kind of

rookie right now. He looks like he's making a bid to uh, to find a role somehow, some way in Mike Patton's defense, and uh, it's it's been interesting to watch. Yeah, And if you don't believe Mike, well you can't watch it. But I'll just tell you about it. The hit that he laid on De Marier. Crockett asked Maria Crockett about what this guy can do at the inside linebacker position. The Packers did their live tackling drill. At the end of I believe it was Saturday's practice. Correct me if

I'm wrong on that. Mike was Actually it was Sundays. All the days go together. If you asked me, I would have said today was Sunday. But at the end of it they did a ten minute period. It was just Jordan's love running the offense and it was the young guys in the offense versus the young guys on

the defense. Kamal Martin sniffs out this this play he blitz is to kind of does this a gap blitz deal, gets past one two guards somewhere in there and just ends up in the backfield and just puts a nice thud on on crock A good clean hit and it really he was. He was jacked about and the defense was pretty excited about it too. I was talking I wrote about this an Insider inbox, but I was talking

with Zach Helpern, who covers the Badgers. He's a friend of ours, and uh, you know it works down in Madison, and you know, he was saying and it was really eye opening to me. I mean, I wrote, I read your story in the offseason. I obviously did my research on Martin, but when Zach kind of mentioned, He's like, you know, that guy would have been a much higher

draft pick had it not been for the injury. What he would have been able to not what he had already put on film largely got him a fifth round draft choice, if he would have had a chance to build upon that last year in a more meaningful way. He Zach really felt like this would have been a guy that that could have really opened some eyes on people and for the packers to find him where they did. I mean, when he stepped on the practice field the first day, I was like, this guy is a little different.

I mean he's tall, he's lengthy, he's got good size, he carries his weight well, and he he has some real nice athleticism for the position. So for a fifth round pick, it's very interesting. They can go either way. You can have a guy come in like Corey Lindsley who just looks like he belongs from day one, and then you get some of these guys that don't even look like they necessarily can play at this level. I'm

not saying Martin is in Lindley's category. There's a long way to go yet, but you just see a maturity with him in the way the confidence that he has and the way he plays the position, and certainly an opportunity there if he continues to make the most of those opportunities here in practice. Yeah, well, certainly what what what Zach Helprin said is exactly what I heard from Minnesota's defensive coordinator when I talked to him about Martin's career.

He actually put probably his a lot of his best tape on film uh in the season and in the first half of twenty nineteen. But then he started to try to battle through this knee injury. It was slowing him down a little bit. Eventually, the Gophers just shut him down and they didn't even have him, you know, prep or play in the bowl game at all at the end of the season because they knew he was headed to the NFL Draft. They didn't want to jeopardize that.

He you know, needed to uh to get that knee taken care of, and and it's a it's worked out. It certainly worked out for him. He's a really interesting prospect at linebacker, as you mentioned, was because of the

size and the body type. This he looks like a guy who can thump a little bit against the run, but he's got he's got the length, you know, the arms, the height and everything, and apparently the athleticism in in coverage against against tight ends, potentially some tough matchups there are running backs trying to sneak out of the backfield, that kind of thing. So it really, it really is interesting to to watch him because I'll admit, you know,

the fifth round pick. Now, this was the first pick out of six that the Packers made on the third day of the draft because they did not have a fourth round pick. He was the first guy they took on Day three in the fifth round, So that says

something in and of itself. But with the way everything went in the offseason, I just figured, Okay, this guy is probably going to you know, be a regular on special teams right away, and then you see what happens on defense, and uh, he's you know, like I said, he's he's making a push to have a role on defense right away, right away as a rookie, which I

think is pretty impressive all things consider. Yeah, I mean, just a quick shout out too for this rookie class you're talking about having just not really sure what you're gonna expect with these guys, I've been impressed by a lot of them, Mike. To be quite honest with you, I mean A J. Dillon got a lot of attention for his legs, but I think you and I can both agree when you watch him hit the whole, especially once the pads come on. The guy has a real nice knack to him. I mean he isn't just all

size and no substance. I mean he brings it. And I even tweeted it. Someone asked about, you know, is he elusive and all these things? Guys. I mean, if he gets to the second he is elusive. But if he gets to the second level, it is problems. It's problems for linebackers, is pop problems for defensive backs. He's not a guy you want to tackle. Um. You talked about Martin, you talked about John Runyon. I thought has come in and looked really good in the one on

one stuff so far. I was really impressed by the way he carries himself. I mean, you know, talking with his dad in the offseason, he his dad reminded John Jr. Hey, I didn't come in as a first round draft pick either. He was a fourth round pick. He ended up becoming a pro bowler because he just had a grittiness and a toughness and this kind of mean thing to him that allowed him to succeed. Now, John Jr. Isn't that guy, but I think you've seen the grittiness in his play

and his willingness to work for it. Vernon Scott, I mean, all these guys. I think there's been a lot of big days for these guys early on here and to their credit. As Kirk Olvidadi said when he was talking about Martin, the fact that he was able to take it from the computer screen to the field, that's a challenge that not a lot of guys have had. I mean, it's just did not have any of that offseason program to not be able to really, you know, communicate with

your teammates at a position that demands communication. It's not easy. Yeah, all these rookies have certainly had their good moments, and they're bad moments, as any rookies do. But I will say something about John Runyon's toughness, because you were talking about that live tackling period at the end of the weekend practice. He actually limped off the field and was kind of being looked at by a trainer, took himself out of that drill while he was right back in

practice on Monday ready to go again. So so certainly something to be said for that. But as our good friend Larry mccaren likes to say, west anything else for the good of the whole, I don't think so, Mike. We have a big week ahead of us here. The packer is gonna they're gonna hit the practice field I think four or five more times some practices inside Lambeau Field.

It's been an absolute marathon for a guy like me who is not an athlete uh and is not being asked to do things mentally that strenuous on a daily basis. So I wrote about it going into the weekend. I think it was unsad heard. I mean, this was the biggest grind of camp right now, and it's gonna in some ways separate the wolves from the sheep. I mean, it's it's a very difficult time to be able to push through this, and we'll see who comes out on

the other side. And at the time, we are taping this on Tuesday and then again on Sunday too with the players have a day off on Wednesday, but two of the packers next five practices will be inside lambeau Field. I think those will have some some good atmosphere to them, and will certainly talk about them here on Unscripted as training camp and continues. But for now we will sign off and be sure to follow all of our coverage of training camp on Packers dot com, stories, videos, everything else.

For West, I am Mike, thank you for tuning in everybody. We will see a nice time