#658 Packers Unscripted: First impressions

you here from our studios at lambeau Field West. One practice of training camp is in the books as we record this episode, and I want to start this one sort of picking up where we left off on our last episode, because two major topics that we talked about heading into training camp were with regard to the fact that David Batr and Elton Jenkins would not be practicing on the offensive line, and that Christian Watson and Sammy Watkins would also not be starting to practice just yet

at the wide receiver position. We were wondering what would be happening with those two position groups, and the early answer is that on the offensive line, Jake hands And is running with the ones as the starting right guard for now, and at wide receiver, Jowan Winfrey was in the huddle with the starters for a considerable amount of the first team reps in the first practice. So start wherever you'd like. I'll toss it over to you to

get your thoughts on those early developments here in camp. Well, we'll start the offensive line because I think there's a lot of different ways you and I can go with the receivers here in a moment. But the Jake Hanson thing is interesting because the Packers have had six weeks to think about this. We saw the alignment during the off season program. Most of it was Yashneiman at left tackle and Cole van Land in the sixth round pick from two years ago over at right tackle. They made

that adjustment. Now Royce Newman is bumping out to right tackle. The conversation you and I had earlier this week about where you slot him, but Jake Hanson is the first one up. Now. That doesn't surprise me in terms of the rookies. Typically they're not going to push them into that spot. But this is a million dollar opportunity for Jake Hanson. Question. This is the guy that was basically a four year starter at center for Oregon. He has that hip type injury whatever it was his rookie season.

He doesn't make the roster. He's on the practice squad all season. He has the operation. It was on the fifty three all last year. I don't think a lot of people realize that, and he's kind of sort he's like been the opposite of of Lucas Patrick in a way, and where Lucas was a guard at Duke and they transition him to being a center, Hansen's had to do more and more guard the last two years. So the

Packers need that type of player. They need a guy that can be an interior potential starter, but also give them some flexibility as a backup to Josh Meyers, who missed eleven games last year. You never know when you need to call upon that person. Zack Tom was moving around at left tackle, he played some guard, you know. It really seemed like the focus there was with Sean Ryan at right guard. So they're gonna allow these young

guys to to sort of develop and come along. But from right out of the gate, Jake Hansen's getting that chance there to run with the first team unit. Yeah, and just to clarify, that first team unit on the offensive line left to right was Josh Naiman, John Runyon, Josh Meyers in the middle, than Jake Hansen and Royce Newman on the right side, and also Hansen working as

the center with the number two units. So when you talk about an opportunity for a guy to uh to not only make the roster at a very crowded position when everybody's healthy, um, but the potentially you know, work his way into into a more I guess you'd say a more elevated role even if when everybody's healthy, Jake Hanson might be a backup when it's all said and done, but a more elevated role in sort of that next

man up hierarchy with with how this shakes out. And yes, we don't know exactly when bok T is going to be back. We continue to see Elton Jenkins working with the rehab group as expected for an a c L that occurred in in mid November, but at some point the Packers are hoping to be back at full strength on the offensive line, and it's going to be very interesting to see just how all the dominoes line up

at that point. Yeah, and as you said, there very well couldn't be that Jake Hanson ends up as a backup where you look at a situation like last year where you know, Royce Newman comes out of nowhere after being in the competition at at right tackle to end up being the starting guard two weeks into camp. John Runyon didn't start the opener, but then Lucas Patrick has the concussion against the Saints and he's the left guard the rest of the season. Yeah, so you never know

how the dominoes are gonna fall. Just the fact that Hansen's getting this shot right away. Again, you're looking to hold serve if your hands and you're looking to tell the Packers, yes, you've drafted these guys, but but I can handle this job too. Yeah. Absolutely, Well. Add wide receiver as mentioned, Jowan Winfrey was in there with the with the starting offense and it didn't take long. I believe it was the second eleven on eleven period of practice.

Winfrey was lined up split out to the right one on one against Eric Stokes and it was clearly clearly single coverage based on the way the defense was lined up, and uh and Aaron Rodgers gave him the go route. He uh, he took off Eric Stokes had he darn good coverage on the play. Um Rogers through a perfect ball. Winfrey made a diving catch, really really impressive play and and Uh both those players talked about it afterward in

the locker room. It was a moment of Rogers where he was sending a message to Winfrey like all right, you know, I I trust you here. Let's get let's get this done right and uh. And it was Winfrey feeling that boost of confidence from that trust from the quarterback that all right, this guy, this guy's got my back, he's you know, and I'm gonna come through for him. I thought the Almaz Art catch, which we'll talk about in a minute, was definitely the highlight reel of highlight

reel plays of the first practice. But I wrote about the fact that I thought the most important play, if you want to talk big picture here, the most important play of the first day of practice in my mind was the deep ball to Winfrey. It was Mike because of what it means for Jowan Winfrey, Alan's Art. Certainly, that's a play that happened. We'll talk about in a second. Aaron Rod just will be thinking about that week three if that type of defensive alignment works out and he

needs to give his guy a chance. But ultimately, Winfrey is the type of guy that needs to make plays to make this team. And Mike, we've seen it for two off seasons. He he really had that coming out party. I would I would put him up there as one of the m v p s. Him and Jordan's love. They had a synergy going on there. But then he hurts the hamstring. He isn't able to play in the preseason. Yeah, it knocked him out of the out of action for

an extended period of time. Yeah. If this guy is just able to get to that first preseason game in San Francisco, I'm really excited to see what he can do. Good size for the position, you know, he had a good makeup. I believe he was a six round pick or somewhere around the sixth round pick by the Broncos in Yeah, so it's not like this guy's just completely coming out of nowhere. But it's just a matter of if he can stay healthy and keep making the most

of these opportunities. One of the reasons I wanted to delay the conversation with the receivers is because it goes back to something Aaron Rodgers said in the group huddle you were with him and Tom Clements, the Packers quarterbacks coach, longtime assistant. He's not the type of guy that's sitting there doing like dabs and like you know, pattent guys on the back it's pretty stoic individual. But after that, in addition to kind of cracking a smile at a

few points, given Rogers a fist pump. Aaron Rodgers doesn't have the day that he did coming out of the gates if his receivers aren't making plays for him. And whether it was Winfrey, whether it was Romeo Dobbs and Samari too Ray, two rookies that have come in and Mike, I've said it time and time again. They have not blanked. These guys have made every opportunity that has been presented

to them. And again, I'm not saying that means it's gonna lead to a hundred forty yards in the opener, but I do I've said it time and time again, and that we know what it's like when a rookie doesn't go out there and make plays. When you start to get two or three weeks in the camp and

you really haven't noticed a guy yet. Both of those guys have gotten themselves noticed since the very beginning, and going back to Alan Lazard, there really is nothing more than you can say about this guy that catch, and you can do the blow by blow hunt it if you want it. Reminded me so much. Yes, of the Antonio Freeman that he's going to the ground two years ago, Yeah, the all kind of kicks off his leg and it

ends up in his hands. But more and more that I see on Lazard the comp that I start drawing as Jordy Nelson because the way that he can utilize his body and can toward himself and make the point that the catch at the high point that I think is ultimately what his real hidden strength is, and I think you're going to see more of it this season with more targets. Ann Lazard is a professional football player.

He's been a guy that has been a stud since high school and for whatever reason that led to him being undrafted free agent three years ago, this guy, I think is steadily proven that, you know what, everything I did at Iowa State, everything I did back in Urban Dale, this can translate to the National Football League, and Aaron Rodgers certainly has trusted him. Yeah, the um the deep ball to Lazard was it really was quite a highlight. I mean it was it was essentially almost like a

jump ball deep down the middle of the field. It was Lazard against Adrian Amos, and Amos was in a good position as you could could be as as a safety trying to guard against a deep ball like that,

but obviously Lazard is six ft five. He was able to out jump him to make the first contact with the ball, and then in kind of the the the jockeying and the fighting and the ball being deflected and everything, it eventually deflected off of off of Lazard's leg and then he was still able to grab it soccer background as he was as he was falling to the ground.

But here's the thing. As big a highlight as that was, and it's always fun to see a play like that, especially on the first day of practice, I thought the more telling play, perhaps with regard to Lazard, and I know you know what I'm about to say here was when Aaron Rodgers got the defense to jump offside and had a free play in the eleven on eleven where'd the ball go to? Allen Lazard, number thirteen was the guy to make the play, you know, just a simple

you know, route over the middle and whatnot. But uh, um, but when Rodgers had a free play, his eyes were going to number thirteen. There, I thought that was And again it's one day, um, and I should say to follow up also on what you said, We saw some really good moments on the first day from Amari Rodgers, from Romeo Dobbs, from Samari to with those guys, you're looking, Okay, can they start stacking days now? Right? Can they? Can

they put him together? Can they string together multiple good practices and then and work their way up instead of getting the occasional rep with Aaron Rodgers to maybe get more and more reps with Rogers because those guys were catching passes from all the different quarterbacks on day one.

But uh, but Lizard for him to have the day one that he had when he was gone the entire offseason, was not here, did not sign his restricted free agent tender, so he wasn't even here for the mandatory minicamp because he didn't have to be. He wasn't technically under contract. He made that, you know, that was that was his own personal decision to kind of keep his off season to himself. And then uh, and then the first day here, he he shows up and really balls out at at

Nichiki Field. That was impressed. Well, and I know so much has been made of the off season program, not just in Green Bay, but veterans taken part through across the league. When you see Lazard come back in the shape that he's in, though in the shape that Aaron Rodgers came back in. I mean, Mercedes Lewis, these guys put in the time. They know their bodies, they know their process, and I understand Matt Lafleur said it. You know, you want to have as many guys as you want

during those nine weeks. You want all of them here. Uh. But I get the veteran's perspective on this. I understand the season's got one week longer now. I mean it's getting eat more and more. You and I were figuring that out. We were trying to figure out our PTO schedule. It's not it goes by fast. So for Lazard, you know, to be able to come back here, be in the shape that he's in, and then play and practice to the level in which he did, I think it shows

that he put his time in good use. He went back to Iowa State, worked out with his his college coach. I mean, just just really focused on himself here and what is going to be a critical you know, two two thousand two seasons, Yeah, no question about it. I'll take care of some sponsor business here West, and then I want to get back to another point you raised earlier.

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in better. All right. You mentioned the return of Tom Clements as Aaron Rodgers position coach, and just when you thought perhaps Aaron Rodgers head exhausted all avenues for motivation, right, a guy who's entering his eighteenth season in the NFL, this is his eighteen training camp. How does a guy like that motivate himself to go out there? You know through You know, we're not even to the dog days yet, but for a guy like that, it's, you know, sort of everything maybe can feel like a dog day of

summer when you've been doing this for so long. What is Aaron Rodgers tell reporters after practice when he gets that fist bump from Tom Clements for what turned out to be a pretty good day for the offense on day one and he and he said, yeah, those uh, those types of compliments from Tom clements can be difficult to come by. And he said, I wanted to show my old coach that I still had it right. That He's like, hey, coach, like I can still play right.

And it was partly tongue in cheek, but yet in some ways not because because Rogers does find different avenues, find different ways to motivate himself to keep his level of play, even on just day one of Harvard many days training camp is going to last year. Um, and he did, and he did have a good day. It

was it was impressive what the offense did. Now that being said, Rogers also said, hey, this is a darn good defense the Green May Packers have, and they're going to be some days in this camp during the installs, mate, whether it's during third down or red zone or the other city stuational periods they do. He says, we're going to take our lumps on offense because this defense is darn good. They're going to be days where they get

the best of us. And he said, and that's going to be good for us as well, because as as this offense is making the transition to you know, a new receiving corps working in these guys on the offensive line who are filling in while other guys are out dealing with that kind of adversity and kind of getting it handed to them here and there from the defense, which Rogers does expect to happen, is going to be

good for them in the long run. So the give and take here between the between this offense and this defense over the course of training camp is going to be fun to watch. Al Lazard said it too. I mean, not only just for him, these rookies, they're gonna be going up against one of the best secondaries of the National Football League for the next month. They're gonna see him day in day o jr. Alexander is a measuring stick for cornerback play right now in this league. Russell Douglas.

I mean what he did last year and the fact that you know he's already aspiring for another five, six seven interceptions this season. And as you said, a guy like Eric Stokes that's men as young as he isn't being able to make the impact. They are going to take their lumps. I think what's most exciting for me watching this defense right now is I'm not saying you can just roll the ball out there and they're gonna

just dominate everything. But this is the one time where in my time covering the defense and covering this team where I went out there and I looked and when they put out their first package, especially once Dean Lowry started practicing, I was like, where's the whole? I mean, you look at it across the board with with you know, kway Walker in there now too. You gotta stay healthy. Guys have to perform, but it's complete. If you're playing Madden and you're trying to build out your defense, you're

starting eleven. The Packers got it. And the thing that's scary about it is they got young guys behind that. I'm not talking about Davonte Wyatt right now. Ten years ago. Packers draft a defensive line in the first round. That's the story the first day of practice because they needed somebody to step up there. Colin Jenkins left, who's going to replace him? Packers are deep man and and seeing

how that defense performs. And again there will be give and take between the offense and defense throughout camp, but that unit, if they're ready week one. I I just I think it's it's a huge cliche, but this guy truly is the limit for where that group could go. Yeah, I I agree with you, and yes, you cross your

fingers for good health and uh. And with regard to you know, a young guy like Kay Walker, a guy like DeVante Wide who we know is going to be in the rotation, a second year guy like Eric Stokes, you just hope that all of the all of that cohesion with those younger guys and the veteran players, because that is that is quite the veteran defense. When you're talking about Jaire Alexandra Adrian, name is Preston Smith, Devandre Campbell.

I mean there is there is a ton of NFL experience and quality NFL experience on that defense with a lot of young up and coming talent and if it comes together right, you know, and that's what this training campus for is all these reps the guys are going to get day after day after day on the practice

field pads are not um. That's where you're you're hoping it comes together from a cohesion standpoint, and then in week one, this is this is going to be the unit that is that is ready to roll from the get go and look at the player acquisition phase of this right. Eric Stokes shows you why the draft matters, why it matters to hit on your first round draft picks.

Chris Barnes shows you why it's great to find undrafted rookies, the diamonds and the rough the guys that got passed up two or fifty six times, but still we're there and that can prove to be real capable NFL talent. It shows you why unrestricted free agency matters when you look at a guy like you know, Jaren Reid coming in, Adrian Amos on the back end, Preston Smith on the edge, and more importantly, as we've talked about time and time again,

now why street free agency matters. Why when a guy like Rasseul Douglas comes in, what he can do, Devandre Campbell being still out there in June, why those guys are being brought in. The Packers built that defense. It wasn't one specific thing. They didn't buy it, they didn't draft it, they didn't claim it off waivers. It was a sum of the whole. And I think that's why the ceiling and why when you get all of that

to come into alignment, why the potential is so great. Yeah, Well, one other topic to touch on before we go, because I know a lot of fans are are curious, concern whatnot with what's going on. We did get an update on David Baktier, the five time All Pro left tackle. Brian Goudacounts before the first practice on Wednesday, was asked

about him. UM a couple of key things that he said. One, he was asked whether um he had any concerns that Baktr could eventually get back to his All Pro level, and he said no, even as long as this layoff has been and whatnot, he has all the confidence in the world that bat will eventually get there. But the reason that this has taken so long is a Gudacoon's revealed that this was not just a garden variety a c L tear from December of This was a much

more complicated injury. UM we knew that that bok Tr last year had already had a second sort of follow up procedure, and then Goudacunts revealed that this past offseason, bok Tr he had yet another procedure, and then bak Tr he spoke to reporters after practice to uh to add a little more clarity to the situation as well. Now, he wasn't making any predictions, not giving any timeline as far as when he's going to be back, but he said three things that I thought were really really important.

One that he's no longer dealing with the a c L. That what's going on with the knee is the is other issues now. And he didn't get into the specifics, but he said the a T the a c L has been has been put to bed. That's that that rehab, that recovery has done. And over with Two he said,

yet this has been a nightmare. I mean the the he had no obviously had no idea that that he was going to get into this type of recovery with all sorts of fits and starts and ups and downs, and and that that here we are, um in July of two and he's not back on the practice field. But then he also said with regard to his his concern level for his future and he says, my concern

level is low. UM. Now, he's not going to predict when he's going to be back on the field, but David Bactieri is confident that he's going to get there um, and it's just a matter of as patient as everybody has had to be throughout this whole thing, the patients needs to continue because bat is putting in the work. He plans to get back out there at some point, and we just have to wait until that day arrived. Yeah.

And as Aaron Rodgers said too, I mean, you gotta remember, this is a guy that he wants to not just be an All Pro left tackle, he wants to be an All Pro left tackle for the next four or five six seasons. Um, this has been frustrating. I can't imagine what has been going on. I can't. I can't either to perform at the level he did, to be as durable as he was, to to have everything come to fruition in his career. It was the beginning of a Hall of Fame career that still very well might

end up in Canton. To to have to do a full stop on that, I understand, Packer fans, can you know patients can be tough, But the work that he's put into us, I don't think it's it's you can deny it. And as I wrote an inbox this week, don't count this guy out. Don't bet against him, because no, I wouldn't either if he's back. I mean, you look at what some franchises have gone through, what Washington has gone through, you know, trying to replace Trent Williams. Some

of these Francis. These guys, much like quarterbacks, aren't just all out there. It's the elite ones make a huge difference. And as I've written, as I've written multiple times in inbox as well, it's one thing to be able to win games in the regular season, put yourself in the playoffs and whatnot, as the Packers have done when Bok tr has been has been sidelined. It's another thing to be in the playoffs and beat the best teams in

the league. When you don't have your best guys, and the Packers have, the Packers have missed as as great a job as the offensive lineman, the backups, the coaches, everybody has done to put the Packers in the position they've been in the last couple of years despite all the injuries. The bottom line is not having their best guys in the biggest games has shown up and and if the Packers are going to get where they want to go in two I think David Bakti needs to

be a big part of it. So you cross your fingers that that eventually this long nightmare for him will be in the past. And I'm not the training staff, I'm not Doc Mackenzie. I don't know what those conversations are like. But if it was me, the only advice I give is just breathe. Just focus on this day and what's in front of you. The Packers will be better the day that number sixty nine is back on the field. Still, that day it has to fully be on David bock Terry making sure his body's right so

that when that day comes, he's ready for it. Yeah, no question about it. With that, we'll call it a wrap on this edition of Packers Unscripted. Be sure follow all of our coverage of the team of training Camp. We've got all kinds of content for you on Packers dot Com. For West, I'm Mike. Thank you for tuning in, everybody. We'll see you next time.