#665 Packers Unscripted: Final stretch

like best? As far as what you saw from the Packers against the New Orleans Saints on Friday night at lambe Field, Jordan's love attacking downfield was the number one thing I wanted to see And it actually goes back to what has been this recurring storyline learning more about Jordan's love the quarterback mistakes are gonna happen. You're not gonna have every throw where you wanted to be, but taking chances. And I thought you heard Matt Lafleur discuss

that a lot this week. And you know, being able to see this young man stand tall in the pocket, create off schedule plays, deliver the ball with accuracy, power down field his receivers and and his receivers at times didn't catch him that that was one part of this

thing there. Yeah, the Floor pointed that out after the game too, He said, boy, you know, if if if some of those passes are caught, and they were certainly multiple catchable ones that were not, we're talking about a completely different statistical line for Jordan's love in this game. And since day one, Mike I've said that he's had the right temperament for the position. He's a guy that's

naturally confident and he's unshakable in the pocket. You don't see him forsaking his footwork because he's nervous about the pressure that might be coming. He's going to go out there and deliver the football. But it's just about making sure that everything is syanked up. And Aaron Rodgers is disgust. He feels like Tom Clements coming in has had a big you know, a lot to do with that and also just a young man maturing that that stack gets

thrown out there a couple of times. Now when you look at these young quarterbacks coming into the league this year, Jordan loves in the same peer group as all of them. You know, he came into this league as a young quarterback and now he's had two years under his belt.

There still things to iron out. He's not a finished product by any means, But if you're looking for a guy that's taking gradual steps from two thousand twenty to one to twenty two, as the Floor said, it's like he is light years ahead of where he was three and six days ago. Yeah. Absolutely, I think there's no doubt about that. And what I really liked in terms of the the overall picture of things and what I think really helped Jordan Love in this game is I

thought the Packers got something going on the ground. I thought there, I thought the running game, No, it wasn't. It wasn't perfect. There were still some plays that you know, runs get stuffed at the line of scrimmage, but I saw more holes being opened. It felt like it felt like when some of those five yard nine yard runs were being churned out by you know, Patrick Taylor, Tyler Goodson, that Jordan's Love was able to really stay settled down,

stay into a rhythm, stay in command of everything. And I don't know what you think, Well, I mean, you look back to two thousand nineteen, Matt Lafleur first got here, and the Packers really couldn't do much with regard to the outside zone running and and sort of shifted everything to become an inside zone running team with Aaron Jones, right what I what I've seen, you know, the joint practices with the Saints than the preseason game and even

a little bit in practice this week. I think this outside zone is maybe looking better than it ever has on the floor now that we're into this this fourth year, and who knows, maybe it'll show up in the games. Maybe it won't, you know, maybe with with Dylan and Jones, it's still going to be more inside zone and outside zone. But I've seen some encouraging signs with that, and I think that started to show up against an opponent in

the Saints on Friday night. It was so interesting too, because I think for so long it was almost like the Packers were trying to find themselves with it that you wanted to go back to maybe the safety blanket of running, you know, you know, between the tackles and everything and staying there, and that still can be really

valuable actually with the back like a j. Dillon. But the more the idea what the outside zone is, you're able to stretch teams more, get them thinking more, play sideline to sideline and look for opportunities look for holes in that that defensive front to execute on. I've always felt like Aaron Jones, whatever way you want to run him, I can have the greatest philosophy, I can have the worst philosophy in terms of running football. I think Aaron

Jones is gonna get you yards. We've seen that throughout the course of his career. He's a big play waiting to happen. A j Dillon is really the one I think where the Packers are finding out more not only about Dylon, but about how he can fit into this offense. Whether it is the inside zone, outside zone, whether it is you know, getting him out in space and throwing

the ball to him. Uh, those are all things that I've I've really believed are the principles are there, and now they're bringing in offensive linemen that are really learning in this scheme rather than trying to make a transition

within it. So, but for Tyler Goodson, looking at him specifically, I thought this game um this past week against New Orleans, that was one of his best showings because you were able to see more about how the running back, especially when they're decisive, they have a good one cut ability, they can execute and make plays happen at the second level. His fifteen yard run that got him down to the four yard line. That's set up the Romeo Dabs touchdown.

That's about as pretty as a place you're going to see in preseason football. It's not easy Mike to run the ball in the preseason. That that was a that was a classic backside cut back lane that the outside zone play is designed to create. It was there, he hit it, and uh and as you said, fifteen yards and and and it's a matter of it's a matter of the timing division. You see it at the right time, and instead of just a four or five yard gain on a garden variety outside zone, you see the cutback

lane and suddenly it's an explosive run. Absolutely, So those are all things that are going to be very interesting to watch develop. And and certainly we don't know when David Bactier is gonna be back. You don't know when Elton Jenkins is going to get back. But for as much as people talked about this offensive line and the uncertainties there, and certainly they need to figure out who those guards are going to be in this whole equation.

But the fact of the matter is the Packers have the type of offensive alignment to run that type of offense if that's where they want to go. And I really do believe is you and I have said so many times during this training camp. There are a lot of good options that receive a lot of potential, but the proven commodity right now is this running game. And when you're talking about what's best eleven getting them on

the field, it starts with Aaron Jones and AJ Dillon. Yeah, and one other thought on the offense before before we shift gears to the defense from Friday night. It's a really interesting battle slash decision that's going on here as

far as the number three running back. When you look at what Tyler Goodson has done, you look at Patrick Taylor, his body type, his experience in this in this offense, having played in some regular season games, really good past protector Dexter Williams coming back obviously plenty familiar with the offense and all that. I think it's going to be very difficult numbers wise, for of the Packers to keep

four running backs on the fifty three man roster. So um they will have some others, at least one or two others. I think on the practice squad. But the decision as far as which one gets the number three job and it's on the fifty three, I think it's it's a really tough call. If you're looking at, say specifically Goodson and Taylor. They've both they've both been productive, they've both shown what they can do. I think partly what makes it a difficult decision is they're two completely

different style of backs. Right. It's in some ways you're not able to compare just apples to apples because Goodson is sort of the speedier, shiftier guy and Taylor is more of the the upright power back. Right. So, um, it's it's going to be an interesting decision. And and certainly Thursday night in Kansas City is is going to factor into this as well. So this is your ten year eleven with me now covering the Packers, and you're

twelve going back to training camps. In terms of not only just the running back position, I don't ever remember the stakes being this high going into a preseason finale. You mentioned the backfield. You look at tight end, you look at offensive line, defensive line, safety, cornerback, so many of these positions. Mike I wrote about our Insider Inbox column. The decisions are not going to be easy here for

Brian good Kunst and his scouts. I mean, because it's not just about the fact that, Okay, who's the best prospect or who's the best player. These guys offer different skill sets, different strengths, different weaknesses, different things that you're gonna be able to potentially do with them on special teams. And that's really when you get back to this running back equation. You have to factor that in as well. Patrick Taylor, It's been a pretty good staple with a

lot of Green Bay special teams. Tyler Goodson has been the number three kickoff returner in camp. Where do you want these guys to fit and how will they be part of this program? You have a practice squad now that's sixteen players, where guys can be brought up up to three times now as elevations. These are all things that have to be swirling around in your mind a little bit. In all so, getting back to just the

pure basics of the running back position. I've said it since the beginning, Patrick Taylor is your quintessential Green Bay Packers running back. That's the way they've typically had backs here in Green Bay. Maybe not with Matt Lafleur, but in terms of the Ted Thompson, Brian Goodkins. He is a big back. He's a guy that can stand up to pass pressure. He's going to be able to offer you a lot of different avenues to to move a football.

Tyler Goodson has been incredibly explosive. Oh and then you have Dexter Williams returning to the equation in Dexter going back to the short shuttle and the things he did at the combine. He checks all the boxes for what the Packers like in their running backs. There's been a lot of years, Mike, where the Packers have had some backs and you're watching them out there and you're like, Okay, well they got to get through the third and fourth quarter. Here this is gonna be the guy and we know

what will probably happen on Saturday. All three of those guys, I could see any of them being the number three back. That's really how tight that competition is. Yeah, I think so too. On the defensive side, I'll say this West what stood out to me in this game. We know that Deveandre Campbell and Kay Walker are you know, one and two in terms of the inside linebackers, and we

talked about, you know, two guys six ft four. You know, Aaron Rodgers used the term range e in terms of having guys like that um in the middle of a defense and what that can mean. But I tell you what, Chris Barnes, Isaiah McDuffie, Ray Wilborn, these other these other guys that inside linebacker are really showing up in these

preseason games and really really playing some good football. I've been impressed with that position specifically in terms of its depth, maybe maybe more so than any other position on the defensive side of the ball right now, because it's also a position where the Packers haven't historically had great depth, right And I think in a lot of different variations and metaverses and and you know drafts that you could do, Packers very easily could have winned this season as Chris

Barnes as this number two inside linebacker, and I don't think a lot of people would have batted an eye tackling machine, right. But then you have kay Walker fall to them and they feel like that's a good value at that pick, and he gets brought in. You have two six ft four speedy linebackers down in the middle of this defense. But Chris Barnes, you look at how he's played in these preseason games, Mike, I mean that's

a guy on a mission. I mean some of the sideline tackles he made against the Saints, they get your attention. He knows how to call the defense if it's asked that of him as well. And Isaiah McDuffie has taken about as big of a year one a year to jump right now as anybody on the roster. This is a guy that had a hard time even getting active in games last season and now suddenly he's on all

this basic special core units, special team's core units. In addition to the fact he's they're leading tackler in the preseason. Ray Wilburn is a guy that's been around for two years now. The Packers have put a lot of time and effort into him. And we haven't even mentioned Ty Summers in that equation too. This this competition, not only you know, we'll look so much about defense, but realistically what these guys could potentially do for Rich Pisacchi on

special teams. Again, it's going to be a sixty minute competition on Thursday night to show what you can offer because there's been so many of these young men who have really stepped up. You haven't seen a lot of mistackles from the inside backer position in these preseason games. Guys know and understand the sense of urgency that goes along with this, because it's not just about the spot and the job, it's about how you can potentially help

this team throughout the course of a season. Yeah. Well, the other spot I want to talk about with regard to the defensive side of the ball is the safety position. Um Darnell Savage has been out since Family Night when he tweaked his hamstring. Vernon Scott had been filling in with the number one defense paired with Adrian Amos. We've seen that in practice. Vernon Scott injured his shoulder Friday

night against the New Orleans Saints. So and there had been some other safe these out with injuries as well. Now this week we've seen in his Gains and Tore Carpenter, the seventh round draft pick rookie this year. Those guys are now back in practice. Presumably they'll be able to play in the In this preseason finale show a little

bit of what they can do. But a guy brought in I think less than two weeks ago, if if my math is right, because of these injuries at safety, Mica Abernathy talk about a guy who shows up suddenly, sort of out of nowhere in a sense. I mean, there's no way he has a decent chunk of the playbook down in the very short time that he's been here, but an interception against Saints quarterback Ian Book in the game. I think he also had a tackle for loss um

in there as well. You talk about a young man getting an opportunity, jumping on the scene and sort of like raising his hand and saying, hi, here I am. I mean, Mica Abernathy is a is a guy who's gonna make the personnel department think a little bit if he can follow it up Thursday night in Kansas City with another performance like he had at Lambeau. This is there's so many different things to like about the Abernathey situation. One having the USFL that avenue to give players some exposure.

That maybe because Abernathey had been in the league. I think he came into league in two thousand nineteen, you know, kind of went through the process, ended up falling out.

I think he was in Minnesota for a time and ends up finding his way to the USFL, and he said, you know, had a decent solid season there, you know, multiple games, you know, started the season, seventy some tackles, a few interceptions, but the season ends and you're kind of just sitting there waiting like, hey, did anybody notice me?

Did anybody see what I did here? And he gets that call and in so many ways might get reminded me of what Chris Banjo did in two thousand thirteen, where this young guy comes in understanding I don't have

any room for error. I need to maximize every single time I'm on the field, and a few different things unfortunately end up going his way on the injury front, that he's put in a position to make some plays, and walking with him after the game and him mentioning that, yeah, that was something that Jerry Gray this past week had talked to him about because there was a play very similar to that in practice where he wasn't in the right position and didn't make the play that could have

potentially been there for a turnover. In this specific thing, the guy crashes like lightning down the sideline and as he said, he's like, I didn't know if I got in or not, but I was sure going to act like it, you know, just to make sure and he did. But like, those are the type of plays you have to make as a young safety trying to make this roster,

especially this late in the process. Sean Davis was on the practice squad last year, originally a draft pick out it, I believe Indianapolis and as Gains comes back, tore Carpenters the seventh round pick. Again, a number of guys here that are trying to get those numbers two and are three and four spots in the safety depth chart, and it's a wide open competition going into the final turn. Yeah, Davis is the guy who now is stepped up to fill in for Vernon Scott with Vernon Scott being injured.

And we saw Davis have a fum more recovery. We've seen him make some plays in PRAC this so that that's another guy who's who's right in the mix here as well. Um, I'll take care of some sponsor business here West before we move on. Serious x M. NFL Radio delivers hard hitting analysis and up to the minute NFL news that true football fanatics need seven three and

had Cousin Subs. We have something for everyone like our Wisconsin Cheese Kurds, mac and Cheese, golden fries, and creamy shakes, all paired with your favorite sub or sub in a bowl. Cousin Subs fifty years of better. All right. Well, the big piece of news that we need to talk about that occurred since our last show was the return of David Botry from the pup list. He is back in practice doing only individual drills at this point, same with Elton Jenkins and Bobby Tounyan who came back off of

pup the week prior. We haven't seen any of those guys in eleven on eleven yet, but bot is back. He's working his way back. Chris and Watson has jumped into eleven on eleven. Now we'll see what that means with regard to whether he gets some preseason action Thursday night in Kansas City. Um, but once again a couple of big names. The health equation is starting to turn a little bit more in the right direction. For it is and for David box tr I mean, what a

you know, sigh of relief. I think for a lot of folks, and I have to imagine, you know, King among them being boxed and being able to actually put the pads on again get out there, and you hope he can do it in a you know, a pain free type matter. Excuse me, you hope he can do it in a pain free type matter, because you know, he's put so much work into this recovery and to have to go through three procedures, uh to, to to

get back out there. And you can just hear him when he was talking to the media this week how much this means to him and how much he wants to prove he's still the same five time All Pro tackle that he can be that guy once again. And I'll be honest with you, Mike, one of my big takeaways from practice was just how active he was at

the young tackles. You know, he's sitting there working with yosh Niman, who has been the you know, kind of the replacement here the last year, and then also Caleb Jones, who has been a really promising, monstrous undrafted rookie out of Indiana, you know, and he's going through the reps with with Luke Buckiss, but he's also talking those guys through them too, and over on the other side with the rights the right side of the offensive line. You

had Elton Jenkins doing that as well. You need your leaders, and I think there's a tangible difference when those leaders are out on the field. You saw it when it was Josh Sitton and t J. Lang. You saw it when it was Mark Tauscher and Chad Clifton. You need somebody to be able to hold up that flag and tell everybody this is the way. And as good as box tr he is, it's one of the best in the NFL, one of the best tackles the Packers have

ever produced. It's also the leadership aspect that I think so often gets forgotten, and a confidence and a swagger when he's on the field. Now, we're gonna have to see what this all means if weak ones of possibility, as Matt Lafleur said, he's not getting into the expectations with no expectations called no limitations. They want to be able to get this guy healthy and get him healthy for the long run. But my goodness, does it look good to see number sixty sev back on the field. Yeah.

And what you talked about with regard to those two guys as leaders in the way they work with those other those young alignment on the practice field. You know, that's that's just to carry over from what's going on in the meeting room behind the scenes when they're studying film and whatnot. But there is another element to it when it is that type of interaction, that type of advice, instruction, whatever you want to call it, that is that is out on the field and not just in the meeting room.

And the fact that Jenkins and bok Tr are both are both out there now, as you said, we'll see what happens with regard to week one. It's certainly on the table for both of those guys and for Robert Tunyan as well. Nobody's making any promises at this point. It really is a day to day thing with these guys coming off of the a c l S and certainly with bok Tr having the multiple follow up procedures and everything that he's had to go through to get

back to this point again. I mean, this is probably the the third time in a sense over the course of the last couple of years that he's returned to practice and and and gotten back out there. So it's it's it's been it's been this you know, stop and start thing. With box tr but he's hoping, as he told the media, hopefully it's no more back and forth that now it's just at whatever pace it's going to be, but it's going to be forward, moving forward, and just

a quickly touch on Christian Watson. I mean, my goodness, could the kid not have been more impressive out of the gates. I mean, now again, it's gonna be a process. Just like Romeo Dobbs, He's gonna have to get everything down. But to finish practice on Monday, I'm so messed up on my days on Monday, it's with the training camps

winding down or we'll get it figured out. The two minute drill and the Packers are needing to get the ball down to put, you know, to set up a game winning field goal opportunity, and he comes free off the side. In his leaping ability, man, the vertical has shown up every single time we've seen him on the field. I mean, his catch radius is incredible, and uh, I know, I think it was Rico Gafford or one of the

dbs wasn't happy. He was looking for a flag on a push off it didn't come, and the offense just the way it was rejuvenated there when when Watson made that, because they had taken some lumps in that practice, but to finish it that strong and to Watson to show up where he has Aaron Rodgers mentioned it as locker two. This kid has been making some plays and that was a nice sideline ball from Jordan's Love two minute drill

as well. That gave Watson the chance to go up and and and make that play and it was It was a heck of a play. And Yeah, on a day that the defense kind of had its way for the most part against the offense. The offense in both the two minute drills Rogers with the ones, Love with the twos, they made the plays and and got it done in those crunch time moments and it's amazing. It's six ft five four three eight speed or whatever it is. That can be a real problem when you get into

a secondary. Yeah, well, I'll just throw one other question your way before we go here. The this will be our only show of the week with our travel schedule the game on Thursday. Um, we're gonna have to take a little bit of a break here and then roster cuts coming up and and all of that. So we're gonna take a mini hiatus and uh and be back by Yeah, a mini by with unscripted for and we'll certainly be back when when the fifty three man roster

and practice squad have been established. But I just want to ask you. We talked about a couple of things already with regard to Thursday night in Kansas City. Anything else that you are keeping your eye on here in the preseason finale Thursday Night. Two things special teams in

Jack Coco. Uh, special teams as I talked about earlier, I mean now, Matt Lafleur said they have a pretty good idea of who their core guys are gonna be, but without down love it, and with some of these injuries that they've had, it's created opportunities for other guys to get noticed and and seeing who could potentially be that James Crawford type that maybe the average fan doesn't think is going to make the team or doesn't even know who they are, that sneaks their way onto this roster.

That's gonna be very interesting to watch. And I can't think of anybody with higher stakes in this game than Jack Coco, because I really do believe probably with one strong performance here, it may be enough to get him the long snapper job. And if he can actually do that, a guy that again was the backup long snapper on punts at Georgia Tech and was the short snapper for three seasons before just concentrating on tight end is last year.

If the Packers in the scouting department, in the special team staff identified this young man and can actually make him a viable week one long snapper. One, that's an incredible testament to Coco in the work he put in this offseason. But two. I mean, I can't think of more unparalleled developments for a guy as a rookie that could potentially be put in that spot. And he's been consistent and that was one thing they've been looking for.

I wouldn't say that the snaps are the fastest you've ever seen, but they've been mostly where they've needed to be and that's been a big issue for the Packers the last few seasons. Yeah, Um, Dalen Levitt was another injured safety that I forgot to and neglected to mention him when I was going through the safety position before. Um so um, I apologize for that, but I'm totally with you with regard to special teams. I've said from

the beginning, I've said it all through training camp. I've looked, I've been looking at these three preseason games as guys trying to state their case to Rich Pisaccia that I can get the job done. You can trust me, I can be one of your guys. Right this this is the last opportunity for a lot of these guys who who are on the bubble, on the fence to whether it's returning the ball, whether it's throwing a block on a return, whether it's going down and making a coverage tackle,

whatever the case might be. This is this is your last chance to state your case to Rich Pisacci that I can be one of your guys. And and that's something that that not that I want to see. The Packers have to pump the ball eight times on you know, Thursday night in Kansas City because you want to the offense be able to score, you know, put together drives and score points. But when the special teams are on the field, this is going to be something to watch.

Here be is this really is the final audition for for what's going to be those last few roster spot and we had so many new Glusha's out there in Packers fandom last weekend kind of freaking out about special teams and it's like, folks, I get last year was not good, but you gotta see what rich Pisac is doing out there. Somebody who was you know, these people commenting about they broke a big return or whatever. The

Packers had. Out of their eleven guys on the coverage, I think maybe two guys that were the ones that we've seen With the ones, I mean, he's literally trying everybody. It has been a wide open audition, which is exactly the way I thought he was going to approach training camp in the preseason. He's trying to find his guys and the guys he can count on, and then when he gets that collection of guys and it's like, all right now, let's go. And I promise you Packer fans

you don't even know what you saw. That's the only time you're gonna see three outside linebackers on a kickoff coverage unit. It just doesn't happen that way typically. But he helped from whether it's Kingsley Nigbari or or Kobe Jones. He wants to see everybody. YEA, because that's the only way you know whether or not they can do it. If they end up making their way absolutely well. With that, we will call it a wrap on this edition of Packers Unscripted. Be sure to follow all of our coverage

with the rest of training camp. Will have everything for you from Thursday night's preseason finale in Kansas City and then as the roster decisions are made early next week, the fifty three, the practice squad all that, We'll have it all for you on Packers dot com for West I Am Mike. Thank you for tuning in everybody. We'll see you next time.