Hi, everybody. Welcome to another edition of Packers Unscripted from Packers dot Com. I am Mike Spofford. He is my trusted colleague Weston Hodkowitz. We're coming to you from different locations here at lambeau Field as the Packers are in the midst of OTAs and wes. Two weeks of OTAs are in the books, one week left to go, followed by the mandatory mini caamp to wrap up the off season program. One topic I wanted to get to that
we actually didn't get to on our last show. That was a I guess you'd call it maybe one of the more lighthearted or humorous moments of the off season program so far as in relation to the media, was with the announcement of that whole fair catch rule thing with regard to kickoffs. And then just so happened, Keyshawn Nixon made himself available at his locker after practice that day, and let's just say he was having a little fun talking about, you know, what's a fair catch? I've never
heard of. I've never heard of that. So I don't think, at least it doesn't seem as though this fair catch rule on kickoffs is going to change number twenty five's approach back there for Green Bay.
I don't think it's going to change rich Spasacia's approach either from some of the tea leaves I've been reading and hearing, and I'm sure that trickle down effect has gotten a key Sean too. Hey, listen, I understand the mixed opinions on this. Obviously, Mark Murphy touched on it too, and Murphy's take five on Saturday. It's a sensitive issue because I think, first and foremost, as exciting as the play is, as much as it was a real big
difference maker for the Packers last year. You know, I still think of Jonathan Franklin, I think of I believe Sean Richardson was injured on that a kickoff. It is a dangerous play. It's an inherently danger is played. As Mark Murphy outlined, it's not just the speed, it's the spacing of the players and the collisions that take place. For that reason, I hate to be the kind of guy that's, you know, saying, hey, take the physicality out of football, because it is a physical sport. I understand
and appreciate where the league is coming from. To be perfectly honest with you, Mike, I don't know how much XFL you watched this year. I really ended up enjoying their kickoffs a great deal because it's still kept in the component of the kickoff, in the kicker kicking the ball off from the thirty thirty five wherever it was. It just moved the coverage players closer to the play
it is. It makes the kickoff slower, but it does make you still have to be gap sound and disciplined, or you could potentially end up creasing and breaking for a touchdown. I wonder if that is the ultimate direction this thing swinks, because, as I've said to you so many times, I don't like fourth and fifteen at all. I don't I don't trust the officials with it. The last thing I want to see is a defensive holding call resulting in a team getting a fresh stet of
downs and maintaining possession of football. I don't care about. Well, if you get a fifteen yard completion or twenty yeard completion a touchdown, it'd be exciting. That's not what I'm worried about. I'm worried about holding. I'm worried about defensive holding. I'm worried about some obscure, subjective pass interference call contact. Absolutely.
Yeah.
So given all these various scenarios, I look at the fair catches the middle ground in all of it. Andy Reid doesn't like to play no problem. You can coach your kickoff returner to never signal for fair catch. The ball could be anywhere and you tell them to return it. But some teams, like the Packers before Keishawn Nixon, where they were struggling to find a guy back there. It does make some sense, both strategically and from the player's
safety perspective. As Mark Murphy talked about it, it's worth exploring considering an It's an avenue that college football has been using for some time now.
Yeah, and you asked about the XFL part of things. I didn't watch any of the XFL, but I've read and I've seen the highlights in terms of how they've adjusted the kickoff, and I agree with you. I think eventually that is the direction the NFL is going to go because it keeps the the basics of a kickoff return in the game, but you are reducing the speed, the nastiness, so to speak, of the potential collisions. And you know they'll study the data in the XFL, certainly
with regard to injury rates and things like that. I do think it's going to go that way eventually. What I'm not sure about is the other issue that you raise. Then if that's what you're doing, and all those coverage guys are already downfield for a kickoff, then what do you do for an onside kick? And maybe it needs to be something where the kicking team has to declare that they're going to try an onside kick and then they actually are forced to kick the ball on the ground.
They you know, you can't declare you're going to do an onside kick and then pull a switcher through and kick a you know, a pop up, or kick a deep or something that recreates the dangerous elements of the play. So so those kinds of things that you know, I think will be in the works here in the NFL over the next several years as they as they try to get the injury rate on kickoffs reduced.
And even if they would end up and I agree with you one hundred percent on what you're saying with the on site, but even if let's say they would have a pop up, you still have a returner back there and you still have the coverage players and the return team closer together. That's the biggest thing in this that I've learned over the last ten years, because dude, trust me. When they pushed up the kickoff from the thirty to thirty five, however, many years ago, that was
I hated the idea. I hated the idea of there being more, you know, kickoffs that are just going to be brought for a touchback, you know, and starting at the twenty five. I didn't like that because it is an exciting play. I grew up with Desmond Howard and Alan Rossam and you know, these guys that made a
lot of excitement out of that. But that being said, as you grow older and you understand the physical safety aspect of this, and that a majority of these plays that I have significant injuries are coming off of special teams, I feel like you do need to finance because unfortunately, Mike, you worry about every single player on the field. But let's be honest when you're talking about special teamers, these
are your rookies, these are your first year players. These are some young guys a lot of times that still have their entire careers ahead of them, and I want to see them be able to have those opportunities to be on the respective side of the ball that they desire and you know, not just that introductory phase.
Yeah, well, it's a story to watch throughout this season as we see. You know, if the Packers are gonna have Keishawn Nixon back there, he may not call any fair catches all season. Line.
I doubt it.
There may be, there may be other teams. There may be other teams that will call a fair catch every single time and just say, hey, we're gonna take it out of the twenty five. We're not going to risk a hit, an injury, a turnover, you know, possible fumble, anything like that.
So but this is this is why they do it, right, Mike, because at the end of this year, they'll take all that data. They'll see if it's gone up, if it's gone down, what the returns have been, what have the percentage has been, how many touchdowns have there been. They'll take all of that into consideration and make their best
move forward. I like the one year your sort of provisionary rules at the Packers now the Packers, but the NFL has done I think that's been a good change, not just with special teams, but all across the board to see do a test trial to see if something works. Put that balloon out there and see what comes back.
Yeah. Absolutely, Well, the other thing from a news standpoint, I want to get to here before we dive a little bit more into OTA's and our observations. The Packers are during training camp this year, are going to be
having joint practices with two different teams. They've Matt Lafleur has announced that for the first week of the preseason, when the Packers travel to Cincinnati, they will go a couple of days early and have a joint have one joint practice with the Bengals a couple of days before the game, than do the usual walk through the day
before the game. The following week, when the New England Patriots are coming to lambeau Field for a preseason game, there is a joint practice agreement of some kind, although the details in the schedule with regard to that have not been released. But we've seen we've seen this trend developing, and not just with the Packers, but with teams all
across the league. West that you know, the more starters are not playing in the preseason because of injury risk, and the preseason games are about, you know, your roster evaluation for guys who are going to make the team or not make the team, and the starters are going to rest and not take that risk that joint practices, joint practices in August, practicing against another team, you know, against another defense, against another offense, in that controlled environment
where the quarterbacks not getting hit, where you know where you know guys are going to you know, still take care of each other because it is it is just a practice. That's that's where things are going. And the Packers are now going to have joint practices in two different weeks in the preseason in twenty twenty three.
And this is the older I get again, kind of like in the special teams side of things. I think this is the right way to go. I think there is We've seen a handful of these just says. Yes, the first one they did against the Houston Texans wasn't great, But over the years, especially like the Jets ones where you had Robert Salah, Matt Lafleur be that friendship, some of the cohesiveness between the staffs. I thought they gave themselves really good work. I thought the practices last year
with New or with New Orleans were really good. The idea of Green Bay, you know, the Packers leaving Green Bay to go down to Cincy for an extra day. When I first thought about it, I'm like, oh, wow, that's different. But you know, at the end of the day, we typically end up not seeing that last practice before a preseason game anyway, So I don't know how much really changes. It maybe takes one away that we normally
the public and the media would see. But to go up against a team like the Bengals with Joe Burrow and you know Jamar Chase, you know, seeing you know jyr Alexander working against him, You're not going to see that in the preseason. So so to have those opportunities
I think is really big. Certainly to see an old school mindset coach like Bill Belichick buying into this and wanted to make the trip over here, I think it says a lot in terms of where this league is headed, and in the fact that these joint practices are probably going to become more commonplace. I would be really interested to see if this is the first time in franchise history the Packers have had two joint practices against another team,
two separate teams in the same preseason exhibition season. I don't know if that ever happened, maybe in the six preseason game seasons. But one thing I'll mention this has nothing to do with your question, but I was because the question is going to keep coming up about Jordan Love and is he going to play in the preseason? Are the starters going to play? You know what I didn't realize, Mike, because I'm a couple years younger than you.
Somebody asked, just a couple, just a couple somebody asked an inside or inbox about how Steve Young did in his first couple of years replacing Joe Montana. I knew the story with Montana, the elbow injury that kept him out in ninety one. I did not realize that he suffered that elbow injury in the preseason. I didn't know that that was something. It took thirty five years for
me to realize. And there's been countless you know, when Green Bay we always talk about Jordan Nelson in fifteen, but you know, in a seventeen game season, the more I just wonder if the juice is not worth the squeeze in that regard to putting your guys out there, because the tangent there is if you're putting Jordan Love out there, well, is David Bakhtiari practicing or is he playing? Is Elton Jenkins playing?
Right?
Those are really hard questions in scripted, somewhat vanilla game situations. Well, in these joint practices, you can actually throw the book at the opponent a little bit more kind of a handshake agreement, you know, so show some of your stuff. It's probably not a great answer in terms of what the NFL wants and keeping. You know, people go into preseason games. But the more time that passes, the more I'm sold. Now on these training camp joint sessions.
Well, you just look at the number of reps too, because you know that in the day when the starters did play in the preseason, there would maybe be one game in the preseason where the starters would play a whole half and otherwise these other preseason games they were playing one series or two series. Well, those games, I mean, what's one series, two series? Maybe eight snaps, ten snaps,
maybe a dozen. You play a joint practice against another team, whereas you say the Bengals with Joe Burrow and Jamar Chase are going to go up against the Packers defense.
You know, Jay r Alexander and Preston Smith on the other side, you can go eleven on eleven in a practice, they might go twenty five thirty snaps against each other, you know, in a in a controlled environment, in you know, a relatively short amount of time, and it helps with the you know, just you know, the looks as well as the conditioning and everything that you're supposed to get out of training camp. So it's not a surprise that that things are trending this way in the NFL. And
who knows, we may get to the day. We may get to the day west where with these three preseason games where every preseason week, whether you're at home or on the road, you're going the team is going to go early in practice once or twice, you know, in a joint practice against the other team. That will just be be part of how training camps in preseason schedules are built. It may it may get to that point.
Because the Packers now already are at two out of three with with just the three preseason games on the slate.
A couple of other things to touch on really quickly before you look at some more at OTA's first and foremost Family Knight has now been announced August fifth. Can bring your family, your friends, your fireworks, all of that good stuff.
We leave. Mccaren would say, leave the fireworks.
Yeah, leave your fireworks. We'll have the fireworks.
Stadium has its own. Yeah, oh yeah yeah.
But Family Knight always need to see that tradition. But did you notice something last week that I thought was very interesting that Matt Lafleur said, as we start to transition into OTAs from all this the call it periods in practice in you know, they also made the switch, so we're not doing installs all four practices. It's not
a new install. They're doing basically two per week, and within those installs and within those two minutrils, they're doing call up periods, you know, kind of mixing it up a little bit. Obviously, it's everything that they're doing is installed.
They're not just calling it off the dirt. But does that remind you at all about the end of training camp last year when Aaron Rodgers was talking about, you know, how much he enjoyed those final practices because he didn't have the last preseason game, they did a little bit more unscripted stuff. Yeah, it's interesting to me that that's that's something that's getting more incorporated into this thing. And I just wonder again, is teams look to maximize their
amount of time that they get with these guys every day. Yeah, it's just it's it's very I feel like you and I are watching an evolution of how teams are preparing, not just Green Bay but in general, and what the NFL is doing to sort of tailor itself now to this this post. You know, two player safety heavy cbas to to make sure that you get the most out of your preparation.
Yeah, and just to explain a little further for those who might not be familiar with what a call it period is in practice, traditionally, when teams are installing their playbook, you have a series of installations, you know, where each
practice you're installing certain segments of the playbook. Maybe it's one installer, two installs in a given practice, But the plays that are going to be run essentially are scripted ahead of time and the players actually have a chance, at least the ones that are putting in their time off the field. Certainly the young players who don't know
the playbook very well. They have a chance the night before the morning of whatever to go over all of those plays that they would potentially be running in practice the next day, and to really get the mental part down, the assignments down, all that kind of stuff. What Matt Lafleur has done this year for the first time in OTAs is part of the installation of the playbook. It's
not just scripting all the plays. Okay, here's the fifteen plays of this installation we're going to run in practice tomorrow. It's like, okay, here's the installation, here are the various concepts, and here are the various plays. But then when they walk out on the practice field, he's calling a play into Jordan Love's helmet or into Sean Clifford's helmet and saying, Okay, this is what we're going to run. And then the player, the players have to draw on their knowledge that Okay,
this is what I remember this play. Now I got to go out and run it. They didn't have the extra that extra preparation time in advance knowing that that play was going to be run in the practice. So there's certainly a balance point there. When you're dealing with a lot of young players. The Packers have a lot of young wide receivers, young tight ends all of that, and a lot of young linemen with the twos and
threes certainly trying to work their way into things. So there's a balancing act there in terms of getting the young guys to learn the playbook, but also testing them and finding out, you know, what is it that how do these guys think on their feet and react Because because when it comes to you know, September week one, week two, and the Packers are going to be counting on these young guys to do some things, the coaching staff can't be standing there on the sidelines wondering, well
is this guy gonna be able to handle it or not. They've got to find out, and they're trying to They're trying to find out even a little bit earlier than in the past. Instead of waiting for training camp, they're doing it. They're doing it more here during OTAs. One
last thing, also on Family Night. Tickets for Family Night will go on sale Thursday, June twenty ninth, ten dollars a piece, So for those who who take part in that wonderful annual summer tradition at Lambofield, no better deal, no better deal to see the Green Bay Packers in
the see Lambo Field. Ten dollars gets you in the door and gets you a pretty up close seat to what normally is a pretty entertaining practice as long as the weather cooperates, which doesn't always happen on that particular evening. So I will get to some sponsor business here Wes before I forget, though, I have a couple other topics I want to get to. But serious XM NFL Radio delivers hard hitting analysis, an up to the minute NFL
news that true fo ball fanatics need. Twenty four to seven, three sixty five And at Cousin Subs, we have something for everyone, like our Wisconsin cheese curds, mac and cheese, golden fries, and creamy shakes, all paired with your favorite sub or sub and a bowl Cousin Subs fifty years of better. All right, you brought up their names just a little bit ago, David Baktiari and Elton Jenkins talking about Okay, what are going to be the decisions as to whether or not they play in the preseason? How
does that impact? Jordan Love We spoke with both bak Tiari and Jenkins in the locker room after last week's open locker room session following the practice that was open to the media, and Elton Jenkins came right out and said it. He said, you know, he's talked to Dave. Their goal is at left guard, left tackle. Their goal is to be the best left side in the NFL.
And certainly when you're talking about a guy who's had five All Pro selections at left tackle, you know, multiple first team, multiple second team All Pro selections in Baka, and then a guy like Jenkins at left guards who has been named to a Pro Bowl and then also
played obviously various other positions along the line. But you get the sense, Wes that the goal here, as much as Elton Jenkins has helped out this offensive line through a lot of injury situations with moving around and everything else, the goal here in twenty twenty three is to have David Baktieri and Elton Jenkins lining up side by side on the left side absolutely as often as possible for Jordan Love here, because that is what is going to
help this Packers offense really make this transition to a new quarterback.
It feels like to me, Mike, like your favorite band getting back together, right like the reunion tour, the Blink twenty two reunion tour here, because while there wasn't a separation by any means, obviously Bakhtiari and Jenkins kind of went their own directions and a lot of that had to do with injuries. But I felt like the Packers finally started to find some answers with their offensive line
during the final month of that season after well. Sandwiched in between was the appendec to me, because obviously you have to just throw in an emergency app and dect to me in there.
Right right when things were starting to settle down and they were going to start lining up next to each other, then David Boktieri has an appened neck. To me, interesting though, I'll throw the statistic at you and then I'll let
you continue. I actually look back because of Boktieri hurting his knee at the end of twenty twenty and then obviously November twenty one, Elton Jenkins has his knee injury, Boktieri has complications with his return and then ends up having the appendct me and everything last year, if I did the research correctly, including playoffs. The Packers last thirty eight football games, Baktiari and Jenkins have lined up side by side on the left side only six times in
thirty eight games. And when you think about how important those two players are to this Packers offense being at its best no matter who the quarterback is, Yeah, and just the continuity that that can provide. If those two guys, two of the best in the business at those spots left tackle and left guard, if they can be side by side on a weekly basis, how much of a difference that makes, And how for the last thirty eight
games only six times in thirty eight games. It's kind of hard to fathom that note that those numbers are what they.
Are well, and just how freaking good they were next to each other in nineteen and twenty nineteen was a situation where it wasn't even looking like that was going to be the original arrangement because Lane Taylor had made his way back from his injuries. It was going to step in there, but that's the direction it had to go, and Jenkins proved to be just a revelation at that spot. I give so much credit to Elton because no matter where you put him. He always stood up, He stood
in and really stepped up. But we got to remember that this guy is a two time Pro Bowler at left guard, and I think, in my opinion, when he's healthy, he's the best less left guard in the National Football League. Could he play something else down the line, sure, but right now you have a five time All Pro left tackle that is healthy again, a guy that still has potential Hall of Fame, you know, possibilities in David Boktiari.
Being able to work those guys together. I think that was one of the reasons why Jenkins grew as quickly as he did in this offense, being able to be between Baktyari and another All Pro and Corey Linsley, and now those two are going to become sort of the stalwarts on this thing. Is things we try to figure out what gets worked out to their east. Everything I
think is pointing up for them right now. The other aspect of it I like too, and this is where the Packers are going to have to figure out what the plan is for David Baktiari with how much he practices, you know, how much he plays because I look at him in a lot of ways as like a level one hundred Pokemon, where if you ever played the video game, a guy gets to a certain level and you know, I know they always say you can improve and whatnot,
but realistically, we know what David Boktiari is going to give you if you get him to Sunday. How do we get him full health, full stamina to those markers. That's what I want to see because I felt like in the second half of the year, once we got past that Washington game and a little bit of a hiccup in a really weird day in Detroit, that that's
what they were able to do. And that Thursday night turnaround, Mike, because I wrote in the story that I put together on Monday, when you think back to the fact that the Packers they needed to start winning some games there and David stepped up and played on four days rest in that game against the Titans, that was what showed me, Okay, they figured something out here, and if you get that piece worked out, then things start to settle in with Okay,
where's the Ashneimen working, Where is Zach tom working? Is John Runyan going to stick in there at right guard? That everything when you look at the possibilities off on the offensive line starts with having David Baktiari and Nelton Jenkins available and healthy on the left side.
Yeah, absolutely, and what's going on on the right side will certainly be a story to watch all throughout training camp, especially after the pads go on in terms of you know, where is Zach tom competing You mentioned John Runyan, is he going to you know, stay in trench there at right guard or is anything anything going to happen there? And then with Josh entering his third season at center.
Although you know, as Luke Bukis pointed out, I mean, Josh Myers only played a handful of games as a rookie, so last year wasn't really year two for him. It was more like year one point five. So this is sort of like year two point five for Josh Myers, and there are a lot of expectations there for him as well as the rest of that offensive line sorts itself out. So one other topic I want to get to before we go today, and it has to do
with the rookie receiver Romeo Dobbs. He was another player that spoke and to his credit, he's often available at his locker and is very accommodating to the media with all the questions that want to be asked about the rookie wide receivers. But we saw something in practice. The one practice we got to see last week, there's a two minute drill at the end of practice. Jordan Love, I believe, completed either six or seven passes on that drive to get the offense down into field goal range.
Four of those completions went to number eighty seven went to Romeo dobs and I don't want to make too much of it. It was one practice, it was one two minute drill. But we know that those two guys have worked a little bit together in the off season, you know, away from Green Bay, and then with what we saw with with four catches and one two minute drill, there's definitely a chemistry developing between Romeo Dobbs and Jordan Love.
And it's going to be really, really interesting to see just where this goes between those two guys, because they you can hear when either one of them talks. You can hear the excitement in their voice as far as as far as where this might be headed and their opportunity to work together in Green Bay.
I just love watching Romeo Dobbs play the game of football. You know. The fact is, Mike, Now, Christian Watson's going to probably over the long haul here, if he stays healthy, He's going to get a lot of a national recognition and accolades. His size, his speed, I mean, he's a walking sports center top ten, right, I mean, I think the ten longest plays last year for the Packers, I think he had five or six of them, and he
played in like half the games. So we understand what there's a reason why Christian Watson was drafted where he was and why a lot of people thought he could have potentially been a first round pick. But Romeo Dobbs is the type of player that you win with because I think he could be just as productive in the National Football League. I think he is an absolute magnet to the football. But you know what you said there,
and it just brings me back. And I wrote about an inbox last week too, about you know, it was just one practice, just one two minute trill. But by golly, when he's healthy, this is all this kid does. It's all he does, Mike. The only time we've seen Romeo Dobbs kind of had a hiccup was when he was coming off with that ankle injury. A couple drops here and there, but by and large, man this guy last year, every single practice we kept putting that same qualifier on him.
One practice, one OTA, one offseason program, one training camp practice, one preseason game, and he just kept stacking. And what does that tell you, might Well, it tells you that the quarterback that was throwing to him and learning a lot of those offseason practice is the quarterback that was throwing to him in those preseason games was Jordan Love.
And as Jordan Love gets his comfort level in this offense, I think there really is something to be said for the fact that he's already developed the report that he has with Dobbs, with Samori Toure. You know, Christian Watson missed a lot of camp last year with the knee thing. But the fact is is that these young guys that came in last year, they got to rep a lot
with Jordan Love. And I think when you're seeing some of these team periods now with these now second year receivers, you can tell that there's a chemistry and a bond that has sort of been forged in those settings that now we're going to have a chance to see sort of translate on game days.
Yeah, and I thought I pressed Dobbs a little bit with regard to, you know, that comeback from the injury and you know, sort of what he learned and his perspective on it was really interesting because he admitted like it was really tough and he knows that when he came back after missing a month and that was that was a nasty ankle injury from uh. I mean, in essence, he missed five games because it happened on the first play,
first offensive play in Detroit. He messes up the ankle, he misses that game and the next four before he comes back. But we also saw he wasn't he wasn't the same player when he came back from that, and I think that's something that that's something that stuck with him a little bit. And uh and he appreciates, you know,
looking back at it now, it wasn't fun. It was difficult to go through, but he appreciates the fact that he had to work through something that significant as a rookie when you know he was off to a really good start. You know, his arrow is pointing up, things are going great. He has a major setback as a rookie with the injury, and then he comes back and he's not able to quite get back to the player
that he was. That's something that could that that can provide a lot of fuel and and really a solid foundation for a guy like Romeo Dobbs going into year two, because there is nobody there. There isn't There isn't a young player. I shouldn't say nobody, but it's been a long time since I've talked to a young player in the locker room with with a lot of expectations put on him and a lot of early success and everything that we've been talking about. Who is so self aware?
He you know, he doesn't. There's there's nothing there. There's nothing phony about this young man. It's everything. Everything he says, Everything he says is absolutely genuine. He's he's very very introspective and uh and he wants to be as honest and forthright in answering the questions as possible. And it's
just it's how it's how he carries himself. What he went through as a rookie, both the positives and the negatives, I think provide a foundation for a young man who's going to have a really, really good career in the NFL.
That's an excellent point something I hadn't really thought about because when you think about his last two years in Nevada, I mean, he was just a world burner, right, I mean, the guys has a thousand yard season, seasons, touchdowns after touchdown. I mean, he was the wolf Packs offense a lot of times, and in certainly the passing game aspect of it.
So here he is, he hits the ground running, He's the NFL offensive player the way three weeks into his career, rookie Offensive Player of the Week, and next thing you know, you know, it looks like he's just skyrocketing. Hey maybe this guy will be, you know, better than Christian Wantson. Those debates started, and then he has the ankle injury
in Detroit. Fortunately for the Packers, they only have to play in Detroit once a year, so hopefully you hope that you can get through that, you know, trap and you know, continue on. But I think in a lot of ways it can be positive because it is now kind of telling Romeo Dobbs, this is what adversity looks like,
and it's what it looks like at this level. Because I think one thing that I've started to learn more and appreciate is that difference between like injured and hurt, right, yeah, because it's not just about hey, Okay, you were out for four weeks and now you're back and now you're a hundred percent again. I doubt Romeo Dobbs is one hundred percent the rest of the season with the foot
way no way so or with the ankle. So it's like that I learned so much from that in twenty fifteen with DeVante and how that can affect you and you and I were talking with some readers last week about the footwork of you know, Jordan Love translates at every position. It starts from the bottom and works its way up, and how you're able to play the game.
So I'm just really excited for it because I feel like, as much as we've talked about and beaten the whole hey do they need a veteran receiver, the thing I keep coming back to is, as long as they're healthy, I want Christian Watson and Romeo Dobbs on the field
as much as possible. And beyond them, you have five other draft picks that could potentially be In that conversation as well, so the options are limitless, and as Romeo Dobbs keeps proving, no matter what the challenge is, even for a second year player, he continues to meet that standard.
Yeah. Absolutely, it's gonna be. It's gonna be fun to watch with with that entire receiver group, but certainly with all the attention that's going to be paid to Christian Watson. The foundation that Romeo Dobbs got is a rookie in this offense and now the raport he's developing with Jordan Love, it'll be it'll be fun to watch.
You ever talked to a player like Romeo Dobbs. Can you think of one that you've talked to?
I mean, been in that locker room for a lot of years and he he is a one on one Yeah, he is. He just the way the way he addresses questions. I even I even mentioned an insider inbox. He has a way of he has a way of being of being honest and revealing but also very protective of certain details at the same time. You know, he can give you a really good answer to a question and you really appreciate the answer, and then you walk away kind of going like, oh, I wish I knew more, like
I want to know more and he doesn't. But he doesn't quite give you, doesn't quite give you, and you have to respect that. You know, the players are players are not obligated to share every detail, you know, in answering, you know, every question about trials and tribulations that they've gone through. But he gives. He gives very very good answers.
But he does leave you. He does leave you wanting more because you always feel like there's a little bit more to the story that he's keeping to himself, and you respect that and then you pay attention and see where it goes.
I don't know what the antonym is for, like a cliche, but that's him, Like he's just he's so genuine when in how he answers things. But at the same time, it's not like he's just sitting at his locker with the lights on him, with his big smile and you know, like, hey, everyone, come talk to me. He sits in his locker, people come talk to me. He always says yes. He stands up, you know, he's very thoughtful, has his arms crossed usually
like this, and usually a smile will peak up. But it's not like he's like this extremely extroverted I've never covered anyone like Romeo Dobs for real, Like he's like, there's so many of these guys that it's like they kind of fit into a certain area. And not saying if you're extroverted that's a bad thing, that's a great thing we appreciated as writers. But like he just defies a lot of different laws and uh.
Yeah, he certainly defies some conventions. But it's yeah, but he's very he's very refreshing. He's very refreshing and and and very introspective and interesting to listen to.
At the same time, I felt really bad because like at the one point last year, I remember talking to somebody locker Room'm like, man, Romeo is talking like every days.
It's like, is he when's he going to get worn out? Right? You know, it's like we try, we try to pick our spots and uh, but yeah, it seems like, uh, you know, it seems like sometimes sometimes maybe he does need to say no just uh, just so he can give himself a break.
Yeah, but he's just he's just really super chill guy. I've enjoyed covering him so far.
Yeah, me too, absolutely well with that we will call it a rap on this edition of Packers Unscripted. Be sure to follow all of our coverage of the team one more week of OTA's mandatory mini camp next week. We'll have it all for you on packers dot com for Wes, I am Mike. Thank you for tuning in.
Everybody.
We will see you next time.