#655 Packers Unscripted: Catching attention

over the years here. So two practices we got to witness um, two locker room sessions, lots of interviews with players and whatnot. I'll just throw it out to you as an as an open ended question. What made the biggest impression on you over the last couple of days. One moment and it was where we actually Evan Siegel perfectly captured it and we paired it with your story on Aaron Rodgers. It was Aaron Rodgers talking to Samori to Ray and uh, I remember watching it live as

it happened. Yeah, you and I were standing right next to each other. We saw it and it was super cool because on the other side of the field. Evan was shooting that and it's such a great moment. What was happening in practice as there was in early routes on air period and two Ray and Rogers. Rogers had thrown him a deep ball. I think he was kind of running like a deep corner route. They don't they

didn't get it connected. But then two Ray comes back and Rogers very just calmly kind of talks through with him kind of what was going on there and what he's looking for now Before people hear me say that and run away with it and go, well, this is why he should have been here for the entire offseason program. I want to just make it the point that it's

this is what this time is for. This is why you have Mini camp um to get the veterans now working with the young guys that have had a chance to sort of grow and blossom here over the last month, and a chance to learn some of the offense, go through the eatings and learn some of the stuff that's on paper in the playbook. And what stood out to me the most. I'm not saying that there's a you know, one lead to another, but then you see the next

day happened. We get the rain, we're in the Hudson Center, and Samari Toure had as big of a day as anybody in that practice. I mean, just some incredible catches, mostly with the two's and and you know, with Jordan's love. But it's the process of these young guys coming around and we shot our three Things video and I don't want to give anything away on that, but I thought Larry had such a great take to where it's these young guys that it's just every day somebody else is

stepping up and making plays. And to have Rogers here for this week to get guys sort of accustomed to him, I just thought it was an incredibly productive week for them to get those two practices in. Fans at Nichky Field were able to actually see you know them them work a little bit. On Tuesday, I thought it checked all the boxes and from all accounts, they got through

and injury free. Yeah, and it was interesting too to watch you mentioning, you know, different guys on different days, and there there were moments in just where we saw the veteran guys Sammy Watkins and Randall Cobb making plays and doing the types of things that veterans do. They don't need all the snaps and O T A s.

They don't need to be here for absolutely everything. But it's just it's it's sort of like, Okay, get the legs under him, catch some catch some passes and whatnot, and then they're getting ready to take their break now before before they come back in several weeks for training camp, which is which is the grind that they've all been through, and they all know what they have to do to get ready for it. And before we close that chapter this, I just want to go back to Rogers for a

second to the other thing about it. And you did such a great job if you haven't read it already. Mike summation of Roger's thoughts on Tuesday, Rogers explaining, you know, kind of his thought process with this off season. Yeah, I wanted to talk about that some more. When everybody discusses, you know, him being here and he needs to be with the young guys. You also have to remember about Aaron Rodgers too, at thirty eight years old this December

will be thirty nine. You know, this is a guy that's been doing this for a long time, most of his life, and there's the body work process, in the mental process that he wants to go through during the off season. He's been big on that for years. It's something he's been doing since he basically turned thirty, making that investment into his body, making that investment into his mental health and awareness, and he feels like there's a

value in that as well. Where he goes, the people that know him, how he works, the one on one attention that he gets, and also just being able to refresh and reset going into another season with high expectations. It's not just a guy picking up his lunch pay on going to work. It's Aaron Rodgers being the two time reigning m v P deciding hey do I can I perform at this level and meet those expectations that

I have for myself. And everything he's done over the last four months plays into that, right And I thought it was interesting how Rogers described, you know, how he does need to go through that mental reset. It's not something he needed to do at two years old, necessarily, but it is something he has to do now. When you think about this past off season, think about how much he had to process. I mean, there was the incredibly disappointing play off loss in which he knows he

didn't play up to his own standards. The offense didn't hold up its end of the bargain in a game in which the defense obviously played very very well. So there there's that that bitter disappointment. He's trying to process through the off season. How much longer do I want to keep playing? Do I want to retire? Do I want to give this another go? Then he goes through.

He said he was involved in all the conversations regarding Davante Adams and his you know, his favorite target, good friend, decides it's best for him in his career personally and professionally to get back to the West Coast, and uhum and Rogers has to process losing, losing the guy who's been his top target here for the past handful of seasons and and you know, arguably the best receiver in

the league. Then there's all the coaching changes. You know, Luke getsye Nathaniel Hackett, uh justin out and the coach, the coaches on the offensive staff that he's gotten to know for the last three years, those guys and yets, he longer than that, those guys moving on to two bigger and better career opportunities for themselves. I mean, he had a lot, he had a lot to go through here.

But then all that said, and he had made the comment after the golf match last week about yeah, like, of course I still think about retirement, but he made a point to emphasize when I decided in March, you know, amidst everything with Adams and you know, than him signing the contract extension and all that, he said, I'm all in. Yes, I'm still going to think about retirement and maybe what the future holds, but right now, for this season, for two,

I'm all in. I'm here, I'm committed. Everybody knows that. Um, he's got his old quarterbacks coach, Tom Clement's back in the building. He said, for all the change that's gone on, that makes makes things sort of feel a little bit better, feel a little bit more. Okay. You know, as as this uh, this offense goes through this transition and uh

and Rodgers's Rogers ready for it. He's uh, he planned it is to be all set to go for the start of training camp, and then at the end of the season he'll go through his He'll go through the process again and see where he is he is mentally with regards to his future. Yeah, and I don't think this was intentional, but I am personally enjoying kind of the Benjamin Button sort of aspect of his career here where you know, Clements is back, who was his original

quarterbacks coach. He's grown the long hair back out again, which is kind of the way he entered the league back in two thousand and whatever that year he did that,

oh seven. But at the end of the day, it's just the appreciation for greatness and that was what my takeaway was when I was covering the match that night and afterwards, I as I'm writing, I left on you know, the quarterback conversation that Ernie Johnson did just expertly, and listening to Rogers and Brady talk sitting side by side, um, it was incredibly refreshing because I feel like so many times we just talked about, well, when so and so going to retire, and they've been doing that now with

Brady for seven years, and both of those guys recognizing that, you know, trying to figure that out is very difficult for human being in any walk of life, trying to figure that out when you're a first ballot Hall of Famer, When you're gonna go down as one of the greats, When when my son has children, when when you have grandchildren, they're they're gonna hear stories about Aaron Rodgers that, just like how I heard stories of bart start and and

understanding that jumping off point and leaving that aspect of your life behind it's not easy. And even Mercedes Lewis touched on it this week too. You know, he's going into year seventeen now he has his eyes on tying Tony Gonzalez and and obviously Jason went for that record then maybe potentially surpassing it, depending on how this is where your goes. But as he said, you know, when your body feels good, it's just about mentally figuring out when is the next step for you. And I feel

like with Rogers he said it perfectly. Once March came, he was all in. This was it. We are going. It's two thousand twenty two now, the season and the goal of the Super Bowl. That's all in touch and

and building with this group that they have. I think it's incredibly exciting because for the first time in a long time, Mike, I think there's a lot of people in the NFL, A lot of people like myself, we don't know what form this offense is going to take and what the identity is going to be at this football team, and there's a certain amount of you know, adrenaline I think, sort of hits when you're when you're

when you're going through those emotions. Yeah, I think it was also interesting, I thought, and I wrote about this in the story that I posted on the website the other day, just his perspective on where things are with this receiving corps right now, and the line, you know, if you want the SoundBite, the one line that jumps out about it with regard to this Packers receiving corps, he's as well, I'm in favor of production over potential.

Now that's not a knock against the rookies, but that's basically the reminder that you know, whether you're talking about Christian Watson being drafted at the top of the second round, Romeo Dobbs in the fourth round, tour a in the seventh round, he made a made a very clear point of saying the expectations for the rookie receivers need to be reasonable and um and yeah, that that goes for that goes for him, but it also goes for for the fans and everybody as well, because as far as

Rogers perspective on the Green Bay Packers Receiving Corps, he sees three veterans that are at the top of the depth chart right now, put him in whatever or do you want Al Lazard, Randall Cobb, and Sammy Watkins the new edition. We'll talk a little bit more about him in a minute. And then from Roger's perspective, the rest of it is all guys competing to see where they fit, and Rogers like, hey, those top three, I feel pretty

good about those top three. And then we're gonna see, We're gonna see what happens with the rest of these guys. And yes, there is a ton of potential there. This was a this was a retooling, a reboot of the Packers Receiving Corps with with trading Adams, with losing mvs and free agency, all of that um. But Rogers knows what he has and then he's going to see exactly, you know, how that potential potentially comes to fruition um with these other young guys. And and it's a it's

a complete it's a complete reset at that position. But he's excited about it. He knows that and made a point of saying that having Randall Cobb in that receiver group as a leader, he's a guy that even when Rogers is not around, Randall Cobb can you know, look at the film and explain to the young guys, Okay, this is this is how the quarterback sees this. This is what he's gonna want you to do. You know, Randall Cobb can be his his voice in the receiver's room.

So conjacent Rabel, who has now worked with Rogers for multiple years. So um, all of that is part of the process here as the Packers are putting together their offense for two. And another receiver that we definitely should mention as well, happens to have the same last name, that being Rogers. You talked with Amari Rodgers and wrote about him a little bit, and there's been you know, a lot of a lot of speculation as to okay, just what's happening. You know, the rookie season didn't go

the way he too. Here he's headed into year two. But but share what you learned as far as Amari Rodgers and where he's headed in his so called sophomore season. It was interesting on Packers dot Com. I had the Rogers story, Marie Rogers story, and then the next day

you wrote about Sammy Watkins. And while they're different players at different junctures of their careers, it was interesting listening to both of them and reading about both of them, you know, feeling like they have something to prove this season. In Watkins case, it was that, yeah, he has won a Super Bowl, He's done a lot in the lead. You know, he came out just you know, gangbusters his first two years in the NFL, but has had a lot of injuries, has had some stuff to work through

on that side of things. Well, on the other side of it, Amari comes out and as he equated it, it it was kind of like a freshman years. How he looked at it like going back to high school, going back to Clemson and trying to find your way. And that's a difficult, humbling experience. This is a young man that won a national championship, was a thousand yard featured receiver for for the Tigers, and now here here he

is in the NFL trying to find his way. Unfortunately for him, you talk about cobbying a you know, uh, you know, kind of a guiding light for all these guy as well. Cobb has known him since the kid was nine, based on the connections with Cobb playing for his father T. Martin way back and win over at uh Kentucky and now this aspect I thought was really interesting him saying that, you know, last year, everything that happened, maybe he let it get to him a little bit.

Maybe he did have kind of a confidence, you know, loss there after what happened with the kickoff or the punt returns, uh, you know, and also just his his body, you know, wanting to get back to being himself again. You know, I think he was trying to fill out a little bit more and trying to be this NFL receiver when you know, I think a Marie starting to realize the Packers drafted me to be a Mari Rodgers,

not to be this guy. I thought a Marie Rogers should be in the NFL, and and all those things together, I think is really going to be what carries him forward. And to be honest with you, Mike, we said it, Larry McCarron said it. He's looked a lot more confident in this camp and just seeing some of the place he made in the two minute period on Wednesday, you know, coming across on across or fifteen yards a third and ten got have its situation to keep the chains moving.

He comes up in that in that area you're seeing the pre stap motion and how he could potentially fit factor into that equation. That was something we thought he was kind of you know, earmarked four from the day he was drafted. So he said that when that media conversation we had with him on Tuesday, was that he wasn't quite a Marie Rogers last year. He was a Marie Roger. Marie Roger, but he wasn't a Marie Rogers. He's like he's feeling, you know, like himself again. Yeah.

And it was interesting too because Matt Lafleur was was asked about him, and one of the things la Fleur said is is he's definitely in better shape here in his second year than he was as a rookie. And those are the kinds of things that that you kind of just never know exactly what's going on with a guy, right and and um, you look at you look at this Packers receiving corps. I mentioned the three, the three veterans.

But now over the last two years, you've added a second round, a third round, and a fourth round draft pick to this mix. Plus you have some returning guys and Malie Taylor, Juwan Winfrey, the seventh rounders, some more a toure an undrafted rookie, and Danny Davis otto Wisconsin. I mean, the competition and training camp will definitely be

um something to watch. I do want to talk about Watkins as well, because I wrote a story yesterday late in the afternoon yesterday that we posted on on the website, and um, it was the first we had heard from Watkins in the media. He had held court at his locker after practice yesterday and uh, and I tell you, Wes,

it was um. Um. You know, whether whether you want to talk about sports or politics or whatever, all the obfuscation that goes on in the media in terms of in terms of messages and this and that and what people want to perceive or believe and whatever else that you know, eight minutes with with Sammy Watkins at his locker was one of the most refreshing things I've encountered in a long time, because he was he was absolutely honest. He was. He was insightful, um very blunt about his

own situation. He's as far as his career, He's like, hey, my back is against the wall. I mean he's played for multiple teams. Now, he admitted, I haven't had the career that I expected to have. Right. He was the number four overall pick back in the same year the Packers drafted Davante Adams in the second round, and he got off to a great start those first couple of years in Buffalo, but then the injuries. You know, he

over the last six years, I counted it up. He has He has missed in totality, more than two dozen games over the course of six years. That's a that's more than a season and a half of football. And that doesn't include the games in which you only play like part of a game, or you miss a big chunk of a game because of the moment that you do get hurt and you can't continue. So he knows it's all it's all on him to stay healthy, to

stay on the field. But he was also very honest in saying you you could see the look in his eye and hear a little bit of the excitement in his voice about how great a fit. He feels this is with the Packers, where you have you have a Hall of Fame quarterback in Aaron Rodgers. You're on a contender.

He's with a head coach who was his offensive coordinator five years ago two thousand seventeen with the Rams, where he caught eight touchdown passes that one year with the Rams, by the way, which is the most touchdowns he's had in a season since those early years in Buffalo. Jason Vrabel was an offensive assistant who worked with the wide receivers those early years in Buffalo. That's now his position

coach and the passing game coordinator for this offense. A lot of the a lot of these other outside elements kind of came together to to to say to Sammy Watkins, hey, this is this is my shot at reviving my career. This is year nine for him, but he wants to play another three, four or five years and this is his chance to make that happen. He has a one year deal in Green Bay. He's playing on a really good team that's going through major transition at his position.

This is uh, this is the the opportunity for the reboot of his career and he and and he mints no words about that. Yeah, you know almost in a way and again different part of his career, but it almost kind of reminds you, like of Devandre Campbell, where he was just he was very deliberate about what that next move was going to be this offseason, understanding he needed to get in the right opportunity with the right team.

He's played with m v P quarterbacks, He's won a Super Bowl, right knows the standard that that is out there. But the thing that stand out stood out to me the most after going back and reading your story and looking at what Watkins had said, is that Sammy Watkins has had a fine NFL career. He really has. This is a league where guys come in, whether they're hyped

or not. I mean, they would all love to have, you know, over five thousand yards in their career, you know, thirty or four touchdown passes, a guy that has played in all these offenses and started all these games. But when you're drafted fourth overall, the expectation is that you're the next Calvin Johnson, Right, You're You're the guy who's

going to play tenant. You know you're going to end up with that that ten or twelve year career, whatever it is, and you're gonna be talked about for Canton, Ohio. That hasn't happened for Sammy Watkins. Yes, he's had a really really good career, but even he was willing to admit it's not the career that he wanted. But it's funny to me because I think a lot of people still wouldn't even say that. A lot of people that are in his shoes that would be a top pick.

They'd kind of rest back on that and be like, yeah, it turned out, Okay, I made some money. It's been fun a super Bowl, got a Super Bowl ring. But it was listening to Watkins be like, no, I still got time and I have an opportunity here, and I want to show everybody that that guy that flashed early on I can be that guy. And some of that ultimately is out of his control, you know that, The

injury factor of it. Sometimes there are things that you can't quite you know, do I mean you go back to two thousand thirteen, Randall Cobb breaks his leg randomly, you know, and going across the middle against Baltimore. Sometimes this game dictates your future more than you do. But in terms of the self awareness factor of it and Watkins understanding where he is at this point career and

what he still feels like he needs to accomplish. As you said, it was one of the more refreshing things I think you've really heard said in the Packers locker room, at least during my time on the beat. Yeah, another point I think is worth making because we've talked about how Watkins does have a Super Bowl ring. Another thing I think that makes him a good fit here for for a Packers team that expects to contend, wants to make another run at the Super Bowl and all that.

Take a look at Sammy Watkins postseason statistics two thousand eighteen and two thousand nineteen, um. Those two years, the one year where the Chiefs lost in the a f C Championship Game to the Patriots, the following year they won the Super Bowl, and twenty nineteen, just in the postseason, Sammy Watkins had I believe it's twenty four receptions for over four hundred yards UM in five playoff games for

the Kansas City Chiefs and Patrick Mahomes. That's another thing when you're talking about working in rookie receivers and guys who haven't been in the NFL. Sammy Watkins hasn't just been in the NFL. He has been a producer in the host season in January where it matters, outdoors in Kansas City. All those things that those are just other things that point to him being a really, really good

fit here. Now it's on him to stay healthy and stay on the field, and he and and that's his goal and he said that, but he's excited about it. Matt la Fleur is excited about it. Aaron Rodgers is excited about it. And uh, and we'll just see where this goes. And Watkins might be the greatest Week one receiver in NFL history too. I mean, he's had some incredible performances right out of the game, you know, for

for all these teams too. But the thing I like that you said, they're especially at that time where you know, Tarik Hill, all the eyes are on this guy. You hear you read about it. We saw it. There were so many one on one opportunities created for Watkins there and the guy absolutely just you know, devoured those. He

delivered me. And seeing this offense and the way it's it's built now, certainly there aren't gonna be as many double teams as there was, you know, as much cloud coverage as there was when Davante Adams was roaming around there. But Matt Lafleur, you know, Adam Stenovitch, these offensive coaches, they're gonna try to trick the defense's mind. They're gonna try to really get their eyes mixed up and to have a Guyli Watkins, to have these plethora of different

types of playmakers, different body types. That that's the exciting thing about it because I think you're going to see an active backfield. I think you're gonna see an active pre snap and seeing how they kind of build the offense from there at the road Trees is gonna be fascinating. Yeah. Well, I do want to touch on a few things with regard to the defense before we go, and I'll take

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One not too much of a surprise in that in seeing particularly in Tuesday's first mini camp practice, we saw JR. Alexand er Eric Stokes, Russeul Douglas the top three cornerbacks out there with the number one defense, and uh, you know, low and behold, a couple of different guys were playing the slot position. Right. It was, I mean it was we saw Douglas probably more in there that but but Alexander was in there as well. We had talked about

that on our last show. How um, the Packers aren't going to label label one of those three guys the slot corner. That's not not how this defense is gonna work. The other thing that that caught my eye was that while we see the two first round picks from Georgia Kuaywalker Davante Wyatt, they were getting getting worked in, getting some reps with the number one defense UM in some

different spots. We also saw plenty of Chris Barnes and T. J. Slayton um linebacker and defensive line um those same positions that the first round picks from Georgia play. It was it was almost you know, for me, it was almost like a reminder that, Okay, these guys are still these guys are still here too, and they're gonna be They're gonna be factors. They may not play fifty snaps a game, but those are those are two guys who are going to be factors in the rotation in the in this defense.

And uh and perhaps we saw a little bit more of Slaton on the defensive line than we expected because throughout this uh these offseason workouts. Dean Lowry, the veteran has been has been sidelined with with an undisclosed injury. But um, when you go when when you have a guy like Barnes, you know, I expect, personally, I expect kay Walker to play quite a bit on defense with

the way Joe Berry likes to play defense. But when a guy like Barnes, who has played as much as he has suddenly is uh is a really really solid, reliable depth piece. Potentially as as this defense evolves, you just got a heck of a lot better at that position. Well, you gotta remember the way they use their personnel last year too, I mean not just Barnes, they found ways to get or in Burke's involved on defense, whether it

was Nickel or Dime whatever. I think you're gonna see a lot of those same parallels with Walker, maybe even more so. I think there's gonna be ways for this defense to be able to maximize the playmaking abilities of him while also realizing that, hey, two years ago, Chris Barnes was our Mike. I mean that was the way

this defense was structure we had. Yeah, So I feel like that middle interior the defense is really strong right now and and being able to be multiple with that, I think it's gonna be Joe Berry's real strength here

moving forward. I mean, if you think about it, Mike, the Packer defenses at least during my generation, I couldn't give you all the scheme breakdowns of we know how Friz Shermer did it, but it's been strong, sturdy up the middle has been sort of the winning recipe for them, right the thousand pound line back in like nine and ten with you know, Johnny Jolly and b J Raji and and also having Ryan Pickett involved, But then you had really good inside linebackers in the prime of their career.

There you know, whether it was you know, Nick Barnett and a j Hawk, Desmond, a Ship Brandon Chillar. I mean like they had deep pieces there in the middle of the defense, and I just feel like the deeper you are there, the more things you can do. And Mike I said it from Draft night. I'm gonna say it again, even just watching individuals. When Devandre Campbell is standing next to kuay Walker. I'm a short guy. I

get that, but I'm not much taller than you. But but I mean, like just the way those two guys sort of lord over the defensive front. There's just there's so many things you can do, and especially when you're that explosive in and out of your hips, you can cover sideline to sideline. There's there's a there's a presence there when those two guys are next to each other, there's no doubt. It's and off the bus, you know, walking off the bus kind of you know, intimidation factor.

And you mentioned the cornerbacks too, and the way you can use these guys. You want to match up and go athletic with the jyr Alexander inside. You want to go with the Rasul Douglas who's a bigger body, you know, almost more in that that Charles Woodson type build in terms of what his body looks like when he's in on the field. It's the most exciting I think it's been here on defense in a number of years. But

certainly Matt Lafleur said it. It looks great on paper, but you've gotta have it, you gotta execute, you gotta keep guys healthy. But my goodness, Mike, the sky is

the limit for that defensive unit. Yeah. A couple of other uh call them nuggets regarding the depth chart, just to just to throw out there for now, to keep in mind for when we do UM when the team does come back for training camp at the end of July, on the defensive side, for the most part, UM, it looks like the fourth cornerback is Keishaan Nixon, the um, the veteran acquisition from the Raiders who's also going to

play a significant role on special teams. Right now, he would you know, he looks like he's the fourth corner and then the third, the third safety behind your starters um Amos and Savage at this point looks like Sean Davis. Um. Again, these are things that can change when training camp rolls around, or you get one week into training camp and other guy start to emerge and whatnot. But I just throw those nuggets out there now for those who like to

look look at the depth, look further down. That's sort of sort of where how things look right now. And as far as the offensive line goes, we didn't see David Bak try out on the field yet, Elton Jenkins still re having his knee. We saw, you know, some some flip flopping back and forth with with Yosh Naiman Cole van Landon playing both of the tackle spots. And we also saw Jake Hansen get some snaps um as a guard with the number one offensive line when Royce

Newman moved out to right tackle. So some some different combinations there um with regard to to the top units.

But so those are just some names all throughout there in terms of keeping your eye on the depth chart and uh and where things will probably be at the start of training camp and then we see where it goes from there the offensive line and if you just take all of it with such a big grain of salt, because you go back and you think about, you know, really it was just Josh Myers is the only rookie I can never really remember just starting and being right in with the starters from day wonder in the off

season program. The defense was really telling though, because those are two positions with cornerback and safety where they don't really have rookies. It's a lot of returning veterans. So the fact that Davis is kind of sitting up there right now when you have a Vernon Scott back, when you have an inn, its gains and even the rookie and Carpenter, I thought that was very interesting. And in Nixon, man,

I'm just gonna say it. I'm not trying to do comparisons, but my goodness, the more you learn about what he did with the Raiders and the more you see what he can do potentially playing inside and outside in Green Bay, you kind of get that Jared Bush kind of vibe from him a little bit. But I will say this maybe a maybe a tad shorter than Bush. I would say, not quite not quite the same, not quite the same

body type, but I definitely get where you're going. And the fact when they are in the special teams period, there is no question who is one of the guys that's one of the Rich Pisaccia, Leaders Disciples, It's Keishawn Nix and that kid makes his voice heard on the field. Yeah. Absolutely, Well with that, we'll call it a wrap on this edition of Packers Unscripted. We will be back next week for one more show before kind of signing off for the summer break and then coming back for training camp.

But for now, thank you for tuning in everybody for Wes. I am Mike. We will see you next time.