#663 Packers Unscripted: Busy times

San Francisco in just a minute. But after we got back from the West Coast, there was some big news in practice on Sunday, And of course I'm talking about the activation of three players, three fairly big name players off of PUP who are now practicing with the team for the first time since the start of training camp. And that would be Elton Jenkins, Bobby Tonyon, and rookie

second round pick at wide receiver Christian Watson. Some really good health news here for the Packers heading into preseason

week number two. I don't know if I've ever recalled a time in which there was so much that happened on a Sunday after a preseason Yeah, it was incredible, you know, it was such a you know, we talked to Matt Lafleur before these practices, so he just got asked the question, point blank, do you expect anybody back today, and typically the answer to that is like, well, we're not really sure, we'll see guys are still out or no. Uh.

For him to actually go, yeah, we're gonna get back Elton Jenkins, Robert Tonyan, and Christian Watson, I think all the media collectively was like, we're not expect he Hello, now the floor did cushion it? He said, listen, this is the first step in the process. This doesn't mean these guys are gonna be practicing a team. It doesn't matter. I mean, they're gonna be in these preseason games, but it is an important step in for all three of them.

It all had different meaning. Elton Jenkins, he's back on the practice field within nine months of turing his a c L a really incredible recovery for him and hoping to continue to take those next steps back. Robert Tonyan, it's an opportunity for him to make good on what he felt could be, you know, kind of a prove it year for him after resigning with the Packers. This year.

I know one didn't exactly go how he wanted. Yeah, but this is a guy that's still only a year removed from eleven touchdown season and certainly from Christian Watson, the rookie second round pick, the guy that everyone has so many aspirations for, so high on for him to get back into the practice fold as well another critical

thing for his development. Yeah, as you mentioned, nobody's making any promises as to whether these guys will get in any preseason action or even if they'll necessarily be ready for Week one, But the fact that they've been activated at this point in the middle of August certainly puts week one, which is September eleventh at Minnesota, certainly puts week one on the table for all of them, which is great news. And what we've seen in practice so far.

For those who are wondering what is going on with the offensive line with Jenkins being back, what we have seen in in limited appearances so far is that Elton Jenkins is working at right tackle with the number one offensive line. So we will continue to watch that if at some point here in training camp, assuming along the line, he'll be getting in to the team reps the eleven on eleven, we'll see where he's lining up, if he's playing different spots or if he's locking in on one

particular position there. But with regard to Christian Watson, the rookie wide receiver. That gives us a nice transition actually into reviewing the preseason game in San Francisco, because two rookie wide receivers um made some pretty spectacular plays but also had their rookie moments in the in their first game under the lights. And of course I'm talking about the fourth round pick in Romeo Dobbs and also the

undrafted rookie Danny Davis out of Wisconsin. We saw Dobbs haul in the thirty three yard touchdown on the fourth and one early in the ballgame, but he also had a drop when he was wide open on a crossing pattern over the middle. Danny Davis makes a tremendous adjustment and catch and then move after the catch to score on a back shoulder throw from Jordans Of But then

later on he ends up in the red zone. He gets called for lining up off sides on a fourth down that essentially negates a fourth down conversion and the Packers end up having to settle for a field goal. Try. So some up to ups and downs there from the rookies at the wide receiver position, but certainly positive signs that that when those lights turned on at Levi's stadium. It wasn't too big for those guests and it all transitioned over. I mean, Samari two Ray had three catches

for forty some yards too. I mean these young guys that the packers wanted to see development from and wanted to see them carry over some of the things they've done in practice. They were able to do that at

Levi's Stadium. Romeo Dobbs to be the first one to catch a touchdown pass this preseason I thought was just so poetic because he really, even going back to O t a s this young man has sort of been one of the highlights and watching him go through the progressions and as he said, it's all about a steady, steady, gradual process for him. He wants to be able to make an impact as a rookie, but he understands where he where his situ wation is and the uphill battle

he faces to accomplish that. But for a fourth round pick, where it isn't always a given what you're getting once you get into day three, this guy's really been able to tune it up. I know he was kind of devastated that he wasn't able to bring in that pass. That out route that he caught looked like he caught, but he kind of rolled through it and then kind

of had it stolen away for an interception. There By the really good play by the defender, but one that that you know, Dobbs is kicking himself and he wasn't able to hang onto Sam Wollmack, a good defensive back and the guy that San Francisco is very high on, made it really heads up play and had a really nice game against Green Bay. But again, those are things he's gonna have to learn from Danny Davis. I gotta say, Mike, I understand that this lining up off sides, you cannot

do that, especially in that situation. But to make a route adjustment, playing with you know, the backup, you know, kind of unit there and working with Jordan's love that was next level. And and that's not the type of stuff you typically see in preseason. And it's also important to record. And I said, hey, we're gonna see a lot of man coverage, We're gonna see a lot of these type of looks. Well, I'm gonna take advantage of

it a little bit. Davis not only made their adjustment on it, but then also being able to come back for the ball and make the play just an incredible touchdown. Yeah, absolutely well, those two touchdowns by both Dobbs and Davis thrown by Jordan's Love. The stat line also has three interceptions for Jordan's Love. It was certainly a performance he played the entire first half, a performance in which he had his ups and downs. But um, but to the eye test, and it was confirmed by Matt Lafleur both

at halftime and after the game. The first two of those three interceptions, it's really hard to put on the young man at quarterback. The first one, it's in the red zone. It's a slant pass to the tight end. Throw appears to be pretty much on target. Tyler Davis can't bring it in and the deflection ends up going for an interception you talked about. The one with Dobbs along the sideline, also a third down play, if I

recall correctly, Um, not any easy catch. Maybe the ball could have been in a better spot, but Dobbs almost is able to get it. Not a pass that that, in any normal circumstances going to get intercepted, except for the way in which the play unfolded as the two players went to the ground. The one that Jordan's Love, of course is is is going to be kicking himself

about is the third interception. Um. Now, we heard from Matt Lafleur afterward that two guys ran the wrong route on the play and again this was another third down excuse me, a little bit of a do or die situation as far as that drive goes. Two guys ran the wrong route. The only guy who was running the correct route was a Maori Rogers, but he wasn't open. Jordans Love tried to force it in there to him anyway, the pass was a little bit behind him. Um and uh,

and ends up getting picked off by the cornerback. That was That was the one that hurt, because I really felt up until that moment that Jordan's Love had put together statistic Acide had put together a pretty solid performance. Now to his credit, after that interception on the throw to Rogers, he came back directed the two minute drive the back shoulder throw to Danny Davis. They end up

getting a touchdown before the half. So the bounce back, the bounce back from what really was probably his worst throw of the night was there for Jordan's love. But on balance, overall, I thought we saw way more of Jordan's love and what his capabilities are in this one half of football than anything we saw last season in his second year in the league. Yeah. I mean, whether it was the two preseason games that start against Kansas City, I said it, and I don't apologize for it. I said,

I want to see Jordan's love play fast and free. Yeah, and whatever happens happens. It's a preseason game. People like you want to actually see this young man actually played the position because ultimately, when Tom Clements and Aaron Rodgers and everybody goes back in that quarterback room, that's the tape that you can coach off of. You can't coach off of just five aren't out routes and stuff underneath. You need to allow him to play downfield a little bit,

and he did that in this game. The thing that was most surprising to me, though, is that the most erratic moments for him actually seemed to be just working out into the flat. Uh. There were some plays there that I think could have been made um and and as you know, as you know, La Fleur said, I mean, some of these receivers need to make these catches too, but that including on the interception that became an interception,

the ball wasn't exactly where you wanted it. The third one, it's just dealing with adversity and and maybe if there's one thing you could you know, put down the negative for is well maybe that's just where you got to just get out of the play, throw the ball away, whatever you gotta do. Yeah, la Fleur said. La Fleur said, uh, I believe. On Sunday, in his press conference before practice, he said, that's just one where when a couple of routes go haywire and the one guy who is running

the correct route is covered and it's not there. You just have to go off schedule. You know, you can't just throw the ball away from the pocket right because you're going to risk the intentional grounding that makes everything worse. But go off schedule, get out of the pocket, try to reconnect eye contact with the receivers to get into the scramble drill and and maybe maybe something happens there. So that was that was the downfall there where he

forced it. But also I will say with regard to Jordan's love, we've seen him and he's talked about it at his locker with reporters. He doesn't want the tucket and run to be the first instinct all the time. He wants he knows that he needs to stand in the pocket and deliver the throws. And these are the things that a young quarterback learns. Having that mindset in training, camping,

in practice is definitely important for his development. You get into the game situation, and there are going to be situations where, yes, the extended play you know, the tucket and run and and stay alive to fight another down kind of thing has to be what takes over in certain moments. And the only way you learn that is just to play. You're not going to learn that on the practice field, quite frankly, because you don't get sacked. You don't get it. You know, you're wearing the red jersey.

So and this is a young man now, he's only in his career. He's only played three preseason games and he's only played one and a half games of regular season football. So there's still a long way to go here for Jordan's love. But to me, I was I was definitely encouraged by what I saw because we did

not see the same quarterback. We saw last year. No, No, we saw what we've seen the quarterback that at intervals, We've seen him play and be able to make plays downfield, and he certainly has the arm I thought this game, more than any other moment, really demonstrated his arm strength. Not just about fifty r bombs or thirty three yard touchdown passes. I'm talking about just having some zing on a pass across the middle. I mean that really impressed me.

And to be honest with him, Mike, something we don't talk enough about Jordan's love now is gonna be able to play and back to back games for the first time. He had the injury last year and was held out of that game against Houston with the shoulder. So like he's actually gonna be able to really build on this and that's what I'm most looking forward to. Yeah, I want to shift gears to defense. But a little bit

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with some coverage. Bus those were black eyes for the performance of this defense. Unfortunately, Um the guy the young players that I thought stood out that sort of that sort of jumped out in terms of their effort in their production in this game. Four guys to me, Isaiah McDuffie at line inside linebacker, Kingsley n Igbari at outside linebacker, and then two young defensive lineman T. J. Slaton and

Jack Heflin. I thought those four young players who are trying to work their way into whether it's roster spots, potential playing time, all of that through this training camp, I thought those four young men on the defensive side of the ball all made a statement of sorts, giving themselves something to continue to build on here the rest of the preseason, because now it's not just about okay, here you have this game film. Now do you have another one you could put alongside of it to show

that you're the same guy? And I think Bari is probably the one that I was most excited about coming out of this game. And he didn't draw a lot of the headlines because one there were really a lot of people there to write the headlines. It was just us um. But I didn't catch him in the locker room, so that's how that happens. No, but he got a lot of pressure. I thought he pushed the pocket well, and then he carried that over Monday. He had probably

his best practice in Green Bay. I mean evens or was it Sunday, even as Sunday that he might have had two or three sacks. And then Matt Lafleur, even after a little bit of argument in the meeting room, admitted he might have had two sacks. He was he was single handedly trying to wreck that two minute drill

by by Rodgers in the offense. So though I did see in the locker room Rogers giving him the business a little bit about like, hey, don't just don't assume that those were gonna be sacks, kind of thing, like from about halfway across the locker room, they were kind of, uh, drawing in a friendly way, drawing back and forth a little bit as to just how those plays might have finished on the practice field. But anyway, the veteran quarterback,

the rookie pass rusher certainly making a connection. But that's what you want to see from a fifth round pick and being able to really learn and grow. He hadn't had a lot of opportunities in O T A S and the non contact stuff. He put the pads and I think you're really seeing kind of player that he is. Defensive line wild me in this game. Because Devonte Wyatt going through was being evalued for concussion, was not he

didn't practice going into the game. They held him out even though he was back on the practice field on Sunday. That so that meant it was a lot of you know, Chris Slayton, it was a lot of t J. Slayton, I mean. And then certainly Jack Heflin has been this this workhorse for them, Uh that really shows up in these preseason games. And yeah, those guys. Those guys played a lot of snaps and they really I thought they

really bawled out all night long. For when you go from getting maybe twelve or fifteen eleven on eleven reps in a practice to suddenly you're playing thirty or forty snaps in a preseason game. That's a big transition to make, and yeah, they got tired in the fourth quarter, understandably so. But for the bulk the game, I thought the Packers defensive front held up quite well. And Trace Sermon is a legitimate running back. The Packers saw him as a

starter last season. I think he's a third round pick coming into the league. I mean that that was a good back that they were facing and then by then being able to fill their gaps and do their assignments. That's where I thought opened up things for Isaiah McDuffie and McDuffie showing that he is a tackling machine. It's one six in college and he's doing it again in these opportunities. Yeah, six tackles in twenty six snaps. That's

a That's that's pretty productive work there. Now, that's how the defense is designed to work with regard to defending the run. But I thought I thought McDuffie again a guy he's now a second year player, looking a lot different from the rookie who was sort of that barely heard from sixth round pick out of Boston College last year.

I know we're tight on time here today, but I do want to just address one more thing before we go, and that is that we are about to head out for the first of two joint practices against the New Orleans Saints practices Tuesday and Wednesday, and then the preseason game on Friday night at lambeau Field. Just quickly, what are you keeping an eye on with regard to these joint practices? Really? How the offense looks the number one

offense against the Saints number one defense. Saints actually have a really good unit to Statistically, I think they were even better than Green Bay in terms of the total yardage last season and points. So it's not gonna be any less of a challenge than what they faced the last few weeks. But how do the rookie receivers respond to that? You know, who steps up in this setting and what kind of plays does Matt Laflour in this

offense want to get in? Then I also just want to say, Gayer Alexander versus Michael Thomas is gonna be a main storyline these next two days. Watching that battle, watching the one on ones, I have to imagine it's gonna be good on good there, and I know Jayre is really excited about it. Yeah, I think if the if the way things are set up on the practice field is similar to the way it was against the Jets in the joint practices last year. You'll probably be

watching the Packers number one offense. I'll be kind, you know, with my eyes trained towards the other end of the field and the number one defense. And yeah, I'm excited to see, you know, because simply we didn't see last year. Uh, Eric Stokes Jr. Alexander and Russell Douglass three cornerbacks on the field together eight snaps in the playoff game. That was it. And of course they you know, they weren't

playing in in the preseason opener. So as you said, Michael Thomas, the Saints offense, the way this, uh, the way this, this Packers cornerback group lines up against against those guys and and uh and how that goes, that's going to be I think fun to watch the next couple of days. It's gonna be worth the price of admission alone, which by the way, it's free, it's free. Absolute. Well.

I apologize for the short show today. We just happened to be really tight on time because of all the stuff going on with the Saints and the joint practice fighting that was the issue you can just be honest about you ran out of time in cash, but we'll call it a wrap on this edition of Packers Unscripted. Be sure to follow all of our coverage. Continue to follow it on Packers dot com. We've got everything for you, training camp, preseason games, all of it on the website

for West, I'm Mike. Thank you for tuning in, everybody. We'll see you next time.