Hi, everybody. Welcome to another edition of Packers Unscripted from Packers dot Com. I am Mike Spafford, joined by my partner in crime, Weston Hodkowitz. We're coming to you here from different locations at lambeau Field, wes OTAs for twenty twenty three are officially over. There is one week left of the Packers' off season program and it is the mandatory mini camp coming up this week. We will have access to practice when the Packers are on the field,
press conferences, locker room interviews, all of that stuff. So let's talk about maybe a couple of storylines to watch here heading into Mini caamp as the off season program wraps up in a few days. What's on your mind?
Well, first and foremost, we'll get Jay R, Alexander and Russell Douglas back in the building, and that's going to be such a pivotal piece of this defense with you know, everything that the Packers accomplished late last season. Looking to kind of, you know, use that as a leap frog now into twenty twenty three, I thought, you know, for as difficult of a mid season stretch as Green Bay went through, they found some answers in the middle of
towards the final stretch that season. One of them was in a now two time All Pro Jyry Alexander, and the other was in Rasoul Douglas, who ended up getting I think three more interceptions to his total in the month of December. There was actually a statistic that I saw, Mike.
I believe it was from Pro Football Focus, want to make sure, or maybe it was a thirty third team, but both Jaiere and Rasul the last two seasons leading the National Football League right now in the month of December interceptions, So it showed you I thought how far that secondary came during the final month of the season.
And certainly having both of those two guys back here for the mandatory practices, I think will increase in heightened sort of the sense of urgency there with the Packers defense.
Yeah, and I think it'll provide a little bit more of a challenge for Jordan Love as the Packers offense is continuing this trend position to a new starting quarterback with the defense presumably at full strength. Although Vershan Gary is not expected to be back just yet. I don't think Eric Stokes will be back on the fielder, certainly
not in team drills if he. Matt Lafleurd indicated that maybe by the end of the offseason program Stokes might start doing some individual drills, but the eleven on eleven I'm sure is still quite a ways off for him. But that added challenge I think for Jordan Love will be interesting to watch in practice this week as well.
And on top of that, then Keyshawn Nixon settling in as that primary nickel corner with as you said, Alexander and Douglas both on the outside, another thing I'm going to keep an eye on, just because you know, in the three practices during OTAs the one per week that we were able to watch, we did not see any field goal kicking periods with the new rookie kicker Anders
Carlson around pick out of Auburn. Now that we're going to get multiple practices within the same week, I will be very curious if we do get to watch the rookie from Auburn potentially kick some field goals or maybe kick off in the special team's drill. Just you know, we haven't actually seen his legs so to speak, you know,
just yet since he's put on a packer's uniform. So I think that's that's something to watch and as always, keep just keeping an eye on the depth chart with special teams as well, because with everybody that's presumably going to be here and on the field for the mini camp this week, it sort of sets things up in terms of how we can maybe expect to see the special team's depth chart starting at training camp when the players come back at the end of July.
Yeah, and it stands to reason that if you look at the safety position or maybe some of these other posts, that you know, the rotation's just going to set up a certain way. And I could see the Packers coaching staff saying that, but it is telling when you go on that first practice field and Rasul Douglas, Jyry, Alexander, you know the starters are going to be back there. How do all the pieces fit? What is who is the sec the safety back there with Darnell Savage, What
offensive line configuration do they go with. Is David Baktiari out there or is it going to be another situation where maybe Caleb Jones gets some work there and they want to focus on Joash Niman being at right tackle. All those things are what we're going to have to
be monitoring. I think the most exciting part of the off season program, or the end of the off season program is, as you said, Mike, getting a feel of where this team is going to be at and what will amount to the final run through before we come back at the end of July. And I always go back to thinking about, you know, Eddie Lacy in the progress that he made during his first nine weeks in
Green Bay. I think about, you know, guys like Micah Hyde and Romeo Dobbs, guys that came out and impressed right away as rookies, and then we're able to carry it over into the training camp. This is the starting point of everything. And in addition to that, guys on the offensive side of the ball, they've now had a full program with Jordan Love their starting quarterback for twenty twenty three.
I think that's really exciting.
And I think when you're building out the identity of your football team for a season and everybody knows how young Green Bay is gonna skew, everybody is on the same page and pulling in the right direction.
Now going into the.
Month of July, Yeah, I think another thing to watch too, because it was with what we had witnessed last week in practice with regard to the two minute drill, Sean Clifford, the rookie fifth round pick out of Penn State, led a very impressive two minute drive some clutch catches, including the touchdown to win the drill for the offense by young receiver Jeff Cotton. And so I'll be curious this
week as we look at the reps. Obviously we're mostly watching, you know, the first units, but where exactly is the backup quarterback situation? Is Sean Clifford, the number two? Is Danny Eetling the number two? Where are things going to go?
Uh?
What are things going to be looking like when that first training camp practice rolls around? And we may get a hint this week in these last few days of the offseason work.
Yeah, and I have to smirk a little bit, you know, as you mentioned the the part about Jeff Cotton being a young receiver, You're You're absolutely right, there's nothing get in their actorate.
He's the oldest, the oldest receiver in Green Bay at A I think, absolutely right. But yes, he's still a young RECEIVERI no, no, but I mean it's still like twenty five years old or whatever.
I mean just remarkable that that's where the Packers are right now. But but to get back to your point, Sean Clifford, man, now you've seen him more. I know people that have watched the Badgers have seen him more. I haven't seen a lot of Sean Clifford to this point. I was so impressed by that guy and how he handled the two minute period. I thought he showed a live arm and as Matt Lafleur said in his post practice press conference, say that five times fast or four uh.
The guy showed the ability to not only know where the sticks are make the right decisions, but then he even tried a couple passes I think in that deep corner for twenty four yards I believe was was that the one to Heath? Yeah? Yeah, e Malik Heath, Malik Keith, Yeah, the guy going down the field. I think it was seven of nine on that series, and then being able to cap it with the eight yard touchdown to Cotton. That's what Sean Clifford has to do. You and I got a chance to meet him a little bit be
around him. I mean, he is a very confident young man. He's a guy that and I say confident, in every sense of the word correctly. A guy that has been the face of a big ten Power five football conference team for three four years. So he is not going to be, you know, one that's gonna like be a He's not going to want to shy away from the bright lights, even though it's just the training camp practice. He's going to be able to go out there and
do it. And honestly, Mike, I thought Danny Etling made a couple of nice throws in this offseason program as well, So watching that competition because that's a big thing, man. I mean, I know there's going to be the emergent see quarterback rule back this year. So it's not going to be just okay, who's inactive, who's active, Yeah, but it still matters who that number two is and who's the guy that's going to potentially be stepping up in
case of emergency, And I think Sean Clifford. When you look at guys like Matt Flynn and the number of rookies and young players that came into Green Bay, you know Brett Humley being one of them as well, there is a role to be had there right off the bat. If you can prove that that you're worthy of it.
Yeah, I'm really interested to watch Clifford moving forward here, not only this week in mini camp, but then into training camp. For all the talk during the draft about you know, well, did the Packers draft him too early? Maybe they're you know, maybe they could have just gotten him as an undrafted free agent, and all that, you set all that aside. Sean Clifford played in a happy Valley in front of ninety five thousand people. He's played
at the Horseshoe, He's played at Camp Randall. He's you know, this is not a young man who's going to shy away from a challenge, and that the challenge put in front of him to nail down as best he can the number two job behind Jordan Love and potentially beat out Dannyettling, who's you know, who hasn't played regular season football yet but has certainly played his share in the preseason and impressed the Packers last year, which is why Dannyetling is still around.
Absolutely, you know, and again one of the older, more veteran players on this team. If that's the metric that you're trying to hit, I just want to close on this really quickly. If you're someone that actually is debating whether or not a fifth round pick was drafted too high. I think you need to find a new hobby, would be my only suggestion. If we're going to critique day three picks and where guys went or didn't go, you can take I mean, outside of what maybe a long
snapper in the fifth round. I don't know if there's really a huge debate to be had there as far as from fifth to seventh exactly where guys go. Other than to have something to complain about, I guess yeah.
And I can tell you who really doesn't care, and that's Sean Clifford because he's here to just play some football and try to nail down a roster spot here with the Green Bay Packers as a rookie quarterback. So
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of better. Another thing sort of topic of interest from OTAs that we haven't had a chance to touch on yet, although you have a story on our website for those who like to dive in and check out a few more details. But second year pro Tarique Carpenter drafted in the seventh round a year ago as a safety. The Packers have actually moved him to inside linebacker. He's now part of the group of depth there behind starters Campbell and Walker with Isaiah McDuffie, Eric Wilson. Tarik Carpenter is
now in that mix. He established himself last year as a rookie as a special teams regular, and that you would expect is going to continue. But in terms of his opportunity to get potentially get snaps on defense, sounds like the Packers are going to see what he brings a little bit closer to the line of scrimmage than where we saw him last year. Yeah.
I remember back in ten years ago now when they got Sean Richardson as an undrafted free agent former teammate of Casey Hayward at the Vanderbilt University. I remember thinking, man, this is a really big safety. Tarik Carpenter is like a bigger version of Sean Richardson. I remember there was a couple times. I think I even said it to you in the locker room, some of the availabilities last season.
I'm like that guy that's not a safety. I mean, the rules have changed, certainly, there's more hybrids at that position, and in a box safety versus inside linebacker, what's really the difference, right? But he just he looks like aligned in terms of just his frame. Maybe he has to
put some more weight on. I don't know what the Packers are going to ask for him in that department, but the size is prototypical I think for an inside backer and you go buy listed weights, which isn't everything, but from a size and weight perspective, he's basically smaller than Devondre Campbell and that's pretty much it in terms of the inside linebackers. You know, he has three inches on Isaiah McDuffie and also a couple pounds in the
listed category. And McDuffie, as we've seen, is a more than capable special teamer and then also been the MIC in a few instances too, So I get what the Packers we're getting at with this guy. The thing you have to understand with the Packers, And I was thinking about this long and hard when I was writing the story. Whether it was Mike McCarthy or Matt Lafleur, I think it's probably maybe a little bit more symblematic of the.
Front office as well.
When the Packers bringing a guy that could potentially be a tweener, they're going to play him at his college position first. That's just been the way they've done it, and then if they feel like there needs to be an adjustment made, they'll do it after that and give him an oppertunity to get comfortable at a new spot. And for Touri Carpenter's standpoint, this has been a completely
new language and education. He's in the same playbook, but he's basically reading it differently and there have been some rough times that have come along with that. But he credited Devondre Campbell for being an excellent resource for him, somebody that he can go to, whether it's just trying to get advice, whether it's getting a little bit of a confidence boost, feeling like, you know, this can be
his position. Because the other aspect of it is I think the Packers have a really elite prospect with special teams. His size is speed, everything you look for in a coverage in a flexible body type that can help you
in multiple phases, it's there With Touri Carpenter. It's mostly about now figuring out, Okay, where can we rep him defensively and as we learned with him playing a little bit outside linebacker last year, some of the techniques that you teach him at those defensive positions and how that can potentially help you on special teams, case in point, outside linebacker, edge rush, also being a potential punt blocker.
All that stuff is married together.
So he's taken it right on head on this offseason, and if you look at it with them on of depth and experience, now that they have its safety in the fact in the inside linebacker room Chris Barnes was non tendered, the case can be made that the better opportunity with making this fifty three resides in that ILB room.
Yeah, I think so, and we certainly expect to see Carpenter continue that special teams role. But it sounds like the young man is very excited about the positions which and the opportunity that maybe in front of him here in his second season with Green Bay. One other player I want to touch on before we sign off and get ready to head out to cover practice for a mini camp, a veteran player. We haven't talked about him
much this offseason. He's been, you know, somewhat quiet, but he's always been a little bit quiet since he got here. But now he's he really has established himself. He's an entrench defensive leader on this team. And we've talked about other guys in that regard, Kenny Clark j R. Alexander,
but Preston Smith is a guy I tell you. He spoke to reporters after practice last week, the one that we attended, and there's absolutely nothing about Preston Smith that would indicate that a he will shy away at all from the leadership responsibilities that are thrust upon him. But he also doesn't shy away from acknowledging that the defense
came up short last year. And while he's not going to go into you know what went wrong, chapter and verse, he's not interested in the details and talking about it. The players have all gone over it, they've gone over it with the coaches they know, and he's acknowledged the shortcomings on defense. But it's all about looking forward. It's not even it's not just putting last year in the review mirror. It's like the review mirror doesn't even exist.
And I can appreciate that approach because because Preston's Preston Smith has has been there, done that in this league, right and he came in he you know, was sort of second fiddled as Darius Smith and all the Smith bros. Things for a couple of years, which was which was great and all, but he's had to grow into a new role here in Green Bay and one that he didn't really have in Washington in the four years that
he was there. And uh, and I think the young players in that locker room, you know, appreciate where Preston Smith is coming from. And he even says that he appreciates guys, you know, whether it's Kings, LeAnn Igbari or Lucas van Ness, the new first round draft pick at his position coming to him and asking him questions, and he feels good about being able to help these guys out and not just send them back to the coach,
uh to get to to get their answers. We're seeing that the evolution of a of a of a veteran player who's embracing everything that the coaching staff and the front office is asking him to do. And it's been fun to watch and fun to get to know Preston Smith.
It really has Mike.
And he's the guy too that he will be a captain, he'll be a leader, and he doesn't necessarily just need to wear the sea on his chest. Who knows, maybe he will this season, but I mean he's a guy that I think silently behind closed doors, without drawing much attention to himself. He's been doing this since twenty nineteen. I think we just caught onto it a little bit later.
And now at this point in time, as you mentioned with that interview with media, he recognizes he is the oldest player on defense and I think now what probably the third longest tenured player on the defensive side of the ball, behind Kenny Clark and jyr Alexander. So the responsibilities that go with that, he does not shy away
from them. And also, you know, just seeing the way he interacts with the guys, you know, I'm working on a little bit of a story on him right now that I was waiting down the locker room to talk with him about four about four, yeah, whatever, before I came up here, and just seeing how he interacts with Darnell Savig and young players, veteran players. The guy really can step into any conversation and hold his own and I think the relatability of him has been such a breath of fresh air for.
This locker room.
And when you talk about making a big transition both defensively and as a football team, Preston Smith's gonna be a big part of that. The other thing I think that needs to be talked about very quickly is he's a guy that, when you look at the totality of his career, can be really hard to can be really easy, I should say, to overlook everything he's accomplished and achieved.
When you talk about signing a free agent Mike, the investment you're making and a guy coming into the building and you don't really maybe know him, I don't know if there's a better investment than Preston Smith. I mean a guy that has been in historically durable at a position in which durability isn't always doesn't always go hand
in hand. And he's missed one game I think, and during his time with the Packers to break up his consecutive games played streak, which I think was around one hundred or hundred and two.
So yeah, and that's the only game he missed in his entire career, including the four years and what and he didn't he didn't want to miss it either. It you know, it really hurt him to have to miss the game. Yeah, because he he takes he takes a heck of a lot of pride in in that durability and showing up for his teammates and his coaches every Sunday. And he's he's done that. He's done that now for eight years with only missing one game along the way.
It's pretty remarkable. And on top of that, I think including playoffs now he had I think he's up to sixty two sixty three sacks in his career if you include his postseason numbers. So he's, uh, he's put together quite a career. And and he's still going strong here in Green Bay by all.
Accounts, and as steady as they go from a performing standpoint. So the Packers obviously last year they lost for Sean Gary. That was a big hit. Preston stepped his game up, he stepped his leadership up to get the young guys up to you know, to par being able to welcome in a guy like Justin Hollins and get him producing. And now this year you get Lucas Fanes in that room.
And as you said, Michael, when you want to learn how to be a professor the National Football League and a young twenty one year old and impressiable kid like that, I don't think you could find a better guy to learn from than present Smith. Yeah.
Absolutely, and I'll be excited to watch him. He did. He did also talk about sort of breaking that the curse of the even year odd year thing because of the way his sacks attistic.
He said he was gonna do it his career and yeah.
And he did, because in twenty twenty two he had eight and a half sacks and he had not had I believe his his high water mark in an even numbered year was like four and a half in his career, and then all of his like nine sack and his career high twelve sacks in Green Bay, those were all in the odd numbered years. Well, he finally got over that hump, and he followed up a nine sacks season in twenty twenty one with eight and a half sacks in twenty twenty two, So he feels like the curse
is broken. That's it. It's it's done and over.
With, dude. And if you ever want a better example of why sacks aren't the only thing to measure a pass rusher on, go back to twenty nineteen and Brian Goodikuin signing him to a pretty lucrative contract right after a four sack season in Washington.
One of the first free agents to sign. Yeah, amongst amongst all of them.
Yeah, Packers weren't. They weren't concerned about the sack total that year. They liked what they saw from the pressure standpoint, And certainly I think he's a guy that you know, you can always count on pressed and first production, in addition to the fact that he always sets a pretty good edge too.
Yeah.
Absolutely, he's uh, he's an all around player against the run and against the pass. And as you said, steady as h steady as they come. So with that, we will call it a rap on this edition of Packers Unscript. You'd be sure to follow all of our coverage of the team's mini camp this week as the offseason program wraps up. We will have it all for you on packers dot com for wes I and Mike. Thank you for tuning in everybody, and we will see you next time.