CAMP NOTES: 7/28/13

From an Article in Fox Sports Wisconsin --

Sidelined:
* CB Tramon Williams (Knee -- Sat out the 2nd half of Sunday's practice)
* CB Casey Hayward (Hamstring -- Consecutive Missed Practices: 3)
* CB Davon House (Illness -- Consecutive Missed Practices: 3)
* DE Mike Neal (Abdomen -- Consecutive Missed Practices: 3)

* RB DuJuan Harris (Knee -- Consecutive Missed Practices: 3)

* OL Derek Sherrod (Leg -- Consecutive Missed Practices: 3)

* S Sean Richardson (Neck -- Consecutive Missed Practices: 3)
* S Chaz Powell (Foot -- Consecutive Missed Practices: 3)
* WR Charles Johnson (Left Leg -- First missed practice)
* WR Kevin Dorsey (Leg -- First missed practice)
* OL J.C. Tretter (Ankle - likely out until midseason)
* DL Jerel Worthy (Knee -- likely out until midseason)
* WR Sederrick Cunningham (Wrist Surgery -- Return date unknown)

He's back: LB Jamari Lattimore (Returned after missing 2 practices)

Movin' On Up: DL Datone Jones
It was a terrific full-pads debut for Jones. While it was difficult for defensive linemen to make much of an impact when the Packers were in shells and shorts for the first two practices, Jones was an instant impact player in pads Sunday.

Early in practice, Jones flew by fullback Jonathan Amosa and crushed Eddie Lacy in the backfield. Later, Jones had a fingertip deflection to break up a pass attempt. In one-on-one blocking drills, Jones "won" all three of his snaps, easily getting by Garth Gerhart, beating Andrew Datko and sneaking by T.J. Lang.

During 11-on-11 team competition, Jones went unblocked around the edge for what would've been a quarterback sack and later narrowly missed a "sack" on Aaron Rodgers.

"I thought Datone looked very good, very comfortable," coach Mike McCarthy said. "He's in good shape and I thought he had a good first day just from what I saw."

So You Had A Bad Day: CB Jarrett Bush
Not having Casey Hayward and Davon House available (along with a mid-practice injury to Tramon Williams) has given Bush an unexpectedly increased role in training camp. He's had a significant amount of snaps with the starting defense, both on the outside and in the slot.

In Sunday's practice, Bush was beaten by receivers on multiple occasions. On a deep pass from B.J. Coleman to Myles White, Bush was too far behind to make a play (even though the pass was slightly underthrown). Graham Harrell also connected with White on a play that had Bush directly in coverage.

Unlike last season, when Bush was a starting cornerback in the Packers' regular season opener, there's a very small chance he sees much -- or any -- action on defense in 2013. Bush was yanked from Green Bay's 2012 starting defense because of his issues in coverage and, a year later, the 29-year-old is still the same player: Strong tackler, not consistent enough in coverage.

Noted:

- Myles White and Jake Stoneburner were the only two players to fumble during the ball-security gauntlet drill. Both White and Stoneburner have struggled holding onto the ball in general over the first three training camp practices.

- Very early in practice, James Jones made a great catch over Sam Shields on a pass that Rodgers threw a bit high.

- Jamari Lattimore was very vocal during practice. Nearly every time he exited the field, Lattimore yelled loudly to try to get his defensive teammates fired up. Lattimore also had a good day on the field before cramps forced him to the sideline.

- Sam Barrington made a nice tackle during an early drill, but, unfortunately, the defense was not supposed to do that level of hitting at that point. McCarthy wasn't happy and let Barrington know about his displeasure. Plays like that fall under the player safety guidelines.

- In kick returns, Jeremy Ross was the first player up. Ross was followed by Randall Cobb, Sam Shields, Johnathan Franklin, James Nixon and Loyce Means. Nixon muffed his first attempt.

- Eddie Lacy had a rough day, through little fault of his own. On several plays in which he was in as the running back, the offensive line failed to block well enough and Lacy got stopped behind the line before getting a chance to do much.

- In addition to Datone Jones, the other stars of the one-on-one blocking drills were David Bakhtiari (whose highlight was stopping Clay Matthews), Don Barclay (who "won" all four of his attempts) and Mike Daniels (who beat both Evan Dietrich-Smith and Lane Taylor).

- Nixon, who muffed his first kickoff return attempt and allowed a couple big plays on defense, did have a very good moment when he intercepted Rodgers and returned the ball for what would have been a touchdown.

- Practice ended with Jarrett Boykin making an impressive touchdown catch in a pass from Rodgers.

- The three songs played during the team's water breaks were: U2's "Vertigo," Metallica's "Enter Sandman" and Dave Matthews Band's "Funny The Way It Is."

Newlywed Jolly says he's in a good place

Nice article on the return of Johnny Jolly in the GBPG --

 

After more than three years away from football, Johnny Jolly says he’s in a good place, both personally and professionally on the Packers roster again. Jolly spoke in the locker room for 15 minutes today and among other things, said he got married last Monday to a woman he has known since 2010.

Jolly last played for the Packers during the 2009 season and then was suspended by the NFL indefinitely for violating the league’s drug policies.

He was reinstated this year and says his goal is to make the Packers’ roster. Jolly considers himself a changed man and said he loves football, but said he doesn’t need football to continue his rehabilitation from his past struggles. He said he would likely go back to college if his return to football doesn’t work out.  Jolly said his first full-contact work since January 2010 went well.

"It comes to you after a couple days,” Jolly said. “Once you get everything situated with the plays and everything, you get more comfortable in the system. Everything’s just fine.”

Defense expects to be better prepared for read-option in 2013

Article written for the Green Bay Post Gazette

Colin Kaepernick revealed last week the chaos that the San Francisco 49ers’ read-option created for the Green Bay Packers’ defense in their divisional-round playoff matchup last season.

Kaepernick gashed his way to an NFL-playoff rushing record for quarterbacks (181 yards) in the 49ers’ 45-31 win, and as the game wore on, he heard the Packers sniping at each other about assignments. “It got to a point where we could hear (the Packers) arguing while we were in our huddle,” Kaepernick told SI.com. “ ‘You’re supposed to do this,’ or ‘You have to do this, then the other.’ At that point, our offense was like, ‘It’s over.’ As soon as you start turning on your teammates, you’re not going to be productive. You know you have them in the palm of your hands.”

Several Packers defensive players asked Saturday about Kaepernick’s observation gave the impression they didn’t know what he was talking about.

“(The 49ers) were talking more trash than anything,” defensive lineman Ryan Pickett said of what he heard. “It was a real mouthy group; (Kaepernick) is, talks. But it’s football.”

Still, the outcome suggests Kaepernick wasn’t making it up. The Packers’ defense was not ready for the heavy dose of read option that 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh gave them after having a first-round playoff bye. Leading up to the game, several scouts from their rivals in the NFC West Division said the 49ers actually ran the option only a few snaps a week in the regular season. Watching the same game video, Dom Capers, the Packers’ defensive coordinator, scheduled limited time to practice against the read option.

So when Harbaugh went heavy on the read option and it produced, it’s not difficult to see the Packers questioning one another’s assignments.

But the Packers’ approach to the read option changed this offseason. With Kaepernick and Washington’s Robert Griffin III scheduled as the Packers’ first two opponents, one of Capers’ primary projects this offseason was to study the read option. He and his assistants visited Texas A&M’s coaching staff and talked to Wisconsin’s coaches for tips.

Beginning with individual player workouts, Capers and his staff have been teaching their plan to their players. They worked on it periodically in offseason practices, and on the second day of training camp, they used a good part of a jog-through period rehearsing read-option assignments, though they haven’t practiced against it in live 11-on-11 drills. “We’re going to game plan better for it,” cornerback Tramon Williams said. “We’re going to have certain calls for certain things. That’s the key thing, we weren’t on the same page (against the 49ers).”

The Packers won’t reveal any specific changes, but several players said a key to defending the read option is eliminating one of the quarterback’s options. In the pistol read option, the quarterback lines up for a short shotgun snap, then either hands the ball off to a running back up the middle or fakes the handoff and runs wide on his own. He then usually has another running back or slot receiver as a pitch option.

“You’ve just got to be gap sound,” Pickett said. “You have to take away something and you have to be decisive, you can’t wait around. You have to take away the dive or take away the pitch. You have to pick your poison.”

Another potential tactic is to hit the quarterback on every read-option play, even if he hands off or pitches the ball. That could dissuade opponents from using the read option because of the injury risk to their franchise quarterbacks. Even without the read option, quarterbacks such as Kaepernick and Griffin can do great damage scrambling, which offers protection because of the slide rule.

“I think it’s a great philosophy myself,” Williams said of hitting the quarterback on every read-option play, “because guys don’t want their quarterback to keep getting hit. Eventually they’re going to be like, ‘We can’t keep running this, our guy is getting hurt or taking too many licks.’ At the end of the day, you have to protect your player.”

Even the possibility of those hits could convince some coaches to use the read option infrequently during the regular season. Maybe just enough so defenses have to spend valuable practice time on it.

“We’ll work for it, get ready for it,” Pickett said, “but they might come out and not even do it. (The 49ers) didn’t show it all year (last year).”

Mike McCarthy's mission is to avoid injuries

Here are a few quotes from coach McCarthy on avoiding injuries...

"I have all the confidence that we will do a better job being healthier. There's certain stress points in the camp, particularly how many days you practice in a row and what you do in those particular days. You may notice the changes, you may not. We probably have about six or seven adjustments that we'll discuss with the team tonight on how we approach training camp and I'm confident it will help us be a healthier team, which gives you a chance to practice and gain the consistency and conformity that you want coming out of training camp."
 

"We go to the night schedule in training camp for other reasons. The a.m. practice schedule is definitely one of those topics, six or seven points that I talked on earlier, that I feel will help us as a football team as far as battling potential fatigue injuries -- what every team is threatened by in a training camp schedule. We have building blocks in our program and one of them is availability and accountability, and we have not hit the target on availability two out of the last three years. It's definitely a point of emphasis."

 

James Jones thinks Donald Driver still wants to play

Here is ANOTHER GREAT ARTICLE from --FoxSportsWisconsin


I'm like totally Jonesing on their articles lately... well written and researched.





GREEN BAY, Wis. -- A golf outing with Donald Driver has current Green Bay Packers wide receiver James Jones thinking that his former teammate may be having second thoughts about retirement.

Driver retired in February after 14 years with the Packers, but Jones interpreted their recent conversations to be that the franchise's all-time leading receiver might want a 15th NFL season in Green Bay.

"I guess he's feeling like everybody feels when you've been playing football since you were 7 and now all of a sudden it's done and you kind of get those bubble guts and stuff when training camp comes back around and you want to be back out there playing," Jones said of Driver. "I'm assuming he wants to play, that's why he hasn't turned in his (retirement) papers or anything."

During his visit to Houston for Driver's golf tournament, Jones questioned the 38-year-old's decision to retire in the first place.

"He tells me every day how much he's staying in shape, and I tell him every day, 'Why did you retire?,'" Jones said. "'If you still wanted to play, you should've still tried to play. Don't let nobody walk you away from the game if you can still try to play.' But at the time he felt like he was done and didn't want to play football anymore. I talked to him in Houston, and he said, 'Man, I didn't want to play football anymore. I felt like I was done. Me and (general manager) Ted (Thompson) and (head coach) Mike (McCarthy) and everybody was on the same page.'"

Earlier this summer, Driver made it clear that he would definitely return to the NFL if Thompson and the Packers were interested in a reunion.

"If the Packers called me and said, 'Drive, come back to training camp,' I'd be back for training camp," Driver said June 16. "But until then, I'll be sitting at home and just watching football."

Driver claimed he was getting attention from other NFL teams since his retirement, but he decided to reject any offers that didn't come from Green Bay.

"I think the thing is, if you have the itch to continue to play, then it doesn't matter who you play for, because that's what you want to do," Driver said on June 16. "You just want to play the game. I love the game, but I only love one team. When you love the game, you'll play for anybody. Anybody who offers you something, you're willing to step on the field and play for them.

"I decided that I love one team. But I do love the game. At the end of the day, if I get that itch, it would only be for the green and gold."

There could suddenly be an open receiver spot with the Packers. Both of Green Bay's seventh-round pick receivers, Charles Johnson and Kevin Dorsey, were injured in Saturday's practice. Johnson will have an MRI done on his left knee. Also, wide receiver Sederrick Cunningham's wrist injury required surgery and will keep him sidelined for an extended period of time.

"As of right now, I hope our young guys get healthy," Jones said. "I'm a big fan of D-Drive, but that's for them to talk about upstairs. If I was a GM and stuff, I would've brought a bunch of players in here if people got hurt. But Ted believes in everybody in this locker room, and so does Mike, so you've got to give them guys a chance to get healthy."

Driver was not a big part of the Packers' offense over the past two seasons. In 2012, Driver had only eight catches for 77 yards. In his career, though, Driver totaled 743 receptions, 10,137 yards and 61 touchdowns.

Driver's departure from Green Bay was a major event. The Packers hosted a public retirement party for Driver while giving him a key to the city and his own statue. The city of Green Bay also renamed a street Driver Way.

"I miss it a little bit; not much," Driver said in June. "I think the training camp part of it, and minicamps and OTAs, I'd never miss that. I think once September hits and I know it's kicked off, I think that's when it will really hit me that I'm not playing football anymore."

Rodgers Speaks About Jennings

Hat Tip: Fox Sports Wisconsin

Aaron Rodgers focused on team, not Jennings' comments





GREEN BAY, Wis. -- Aaron Rodgers isn't interested in a back-and-forth battle of words with former Green Bay Packers wide receiver Greg Jennings.

After answering multiple questions about Ryan Braun on Friday, Rodgers had another fire to put out. Since signing with the Minnesota Vikings in March, Jennings has made several negative statements about Rodgers and about the way the Packers operate.

Rodgers heard those comments, but the former MVP quarterback doesn't seem to care what Jennings has to say.

"Well, like I said last year when there was some comments kind of like this, I've got a great responsibility to the guys in this locker room and the fans, and at this point, I don't have a whole lot of time or energy to spend worrying about things that are said outside the building," Rodgers said in the locker room following Green Bay's first training camp practice. "I know those are stories for you guys, but personally, I'm focused on this team. Obviously, you hear about them, but I'm not going to spend a lot of time or energy on them."

Jennings questioned Rodgers' leadership, telling the Minneapolis Star Tribune this week that "when you have a guy who creates that spotlight for himself and establishes that and takes a lot of that, it becomes so-and-so and the team. It should always be the team."

Rodgers was asked if he was disappointed that Jennings didn't think more highly of his leadership.

"To me, I'm concerned with the opinions of the guys in this locker room and the guys we have here," Rodgers said. "We've got 90 guys right now. It's exciting to be able to be one of the leaders of this football team, and I'm very confident in my style. I think the guys respond well to it. It's fun being the oldest, longest-tenured guy on the team.

 

"I've seen a lot, I've been around a lot, and I've learned a lot of lessons. And I think one of the lessons you learn is that you can't control everything and you shouldn't worry too much about the things that are said outside the building. You worry about the opinions of your teammates and how they feel about you."

Jennings' comments also went beyond Rodgers, describing the Packers organization as "cookie-cutter" and saying that he now isn't "walking on eggshells" in Minnesota.

"When you put on that purple, something happens to you," Green Bay head coach Mike McCarthy said Thursday." I don't know. Greg was a great player for us, we had a lot of great moments, and he was fun to coach. I don't put a whole lot into that."

Jordy Nelson, who spent five years working alongside Jennings as wide receivers in Green Bay, spoke with his former teammate "two or three times" this offseason. However, Nelson hasn't talked with Jennings recently and admitted that he didn't expect him to say the things that he did.

"I think anytime anybody says anything about your team, you're surprised," Nelson said. "I think you might be more surprised if it's a former player. I'm a little bit surprised. You can't control what someone's going to say, so you just have to move on."

 

Nelson didn't get the sense last season that Jennings was overly upset with Rodgers or with the team.

"I think everyone gets a little frustrated at different points in time," Nelson said. "With his injury last year, that was part of it, too. We're in the room day in and day out and we know how this place works. We have great respect for everyone in here and for everyone we play."

Rodgers has had the benefit of being able to distribute the ball to a lot of high-quality receivers, but for every pass that's caught, there's more than one player not being targeted. That can be a difficult balancing act for Rodgers, but Nelson has a solution to it.

"You want to keep everyone happy in this locker room? Win the game," Nelson said. "That's what it comes down to. In our room, over the last few years, obviously we've been very deep and have had to share reps. All we've preached in our room is make the most of your opportunities. The only time guys might get a little upset ... we get upset with each other if you drop a ball because that's a ball that you should have caught or I could have caught.

"As long as JJ (James Jones) is out catching 14 touchdowns, we're going to be happy for him and not have a problem. He's doing his job. That's what we preach in our room every day. From old guys to young guys, you just have to make the most of your opportunities."

Jennings led Green Bay in receiving yards for three consecutive seasons from 2008-10, but his string of injuries and the emergence of Nelson and Randall Cobb dropped his production in the past two years.

Even with Jennings gone and Donald Driver retired, Rodgers believes the Packers have "one of the best threesomes" in the NFL with Cobb, Nelson and Jones. Jennings, in a role that he seemed to desire, will immediately become the No. 1 go-to receiver with the Vikings this season.

Notes From Practice: Day 2

- The defense practiced against the read-option and pistol offense during an early jog-through period.

- At backup quarterback, Harrell and B.J. Coleman switched off every two plays. Harrell was the first up, but the two of them rotated consistently.

- For the second day in a row, Newhouse got the first set of snaps as the starting right tackle.

- The No. 2 offensive line unit included David Bakhtiari at left tackle, Andrew Datko at left guard, Barclay at center and Greg Van Roten at right guard.

- Charles Johnson suffered what initially seemed like a potentially serious left leg injury. Johnson was on the ground for a couple minutes but limped off the field under his own power into the Don Hutson Center. Johnson later rejoined his teammates on the sideline but did not play.

- In punt return drills, Randall Cobb was given the first opportunity. Jeremy Ross was the second player to get a chance in punt return. Jordy Nelson, Tramon Williams and Johnathan Franklin also returned punts.

- Jerron McMillian got the majority of the first-team defensive snaps at safety next to Morgan Burnett. M.D. Jennings was on the field first on Friday, but he and McMillian could be going back and forth every day until one of them becomes the clear-cut leader of that training camp battle.

- There was no live field-goal kicking in this practice. McCarthy stated that the team plans to do field goals with the entire special teams unit every other practice.

- The three songs played during the team's water breaks : Pearl Jam, "Even Flow" - Johnny Cash, "Ring of Fire" - Bob Marley, "Jammin'"

Aaron Rodgers vs. #85

Here's an interesting "take" I found on YouTube about the current "Sometimes playes loose their heads when they put on the Purple" Feud. Please excuse some of the "salty" language. (F-bomb alert)

Images From the 1st Day of Practice

95/46/and5?

Tomorrow morning marks the start of the 2013 Green Bay Packers NFL season.

The Packers 95th as an organization.

My 46th as a fan
(First game true Packer fan Super Bowl 2).

And Hopefully, our 5th Super Bowl Ring.

Hear's to a Great Season!
Go PACK GO!
The following schedule comes from the JournalSentinel

TRAINING CAMP SCHEDULE

July 26: Shells (8:20 a.m.)
July 27: Shells (8:20 a.m.)
July 28: Full pads (8:20 a.m.)
July 29: No practice
July 30: Full pads (8:20 a.m.)
July 31: Full pads (8:20 a.m.)
Aug. 1: Full pads (8:20 a.m.)
Aug. 2: Full pads (7 p.m.)
Aug. 3: Scrimmage (6:30 p.m.)
Aug. 4: No practice

Aug. 5: No public practice

Aug. 6: Full pads (8:20 a.m.)
Aug. 7: Full pads (8:20 a.m.)
Aug. 8: Full pads (8:20 a.m.)

Aug. 9: vs. Cardinals (7 p.m.)

Aug. 10: No practice
Aug. 11: No practice

Aug. 12: No public practice

Aug. 13: Full pads (11:15 a.m.)
Aug. 14: Full pads (11:15 a.m.)
Aug. 15: Helmets (11 a.m.)

Aug. 16: No practice

Aug. 17: at Rams (7 p.m.)
Aug. 18: No practice

Aug. 19: Shells (11:30 a.m.)

Aug. 20: Full pads (11:15 a.m.)

Aug. 21: Full pads (11 a.m.)

Aug. 22: No practice

Aug. 23: vs. Seahawks (7 p.m.)

Aug. 24: No practice

Aug. 25: Shells (11:30 a.m.)

Aug. 26: Full pads (11:15 a.m.)

Aug. 27: Full pads (11 a.m.)

Aug. 28: No practice

Aug. 29: at Chiefs (7 p.m.)