woodbuck27
07-24-2006, 11:03 AM
Posted July 24, 2006
Packers by position: McCarthy + Favre = wins?
By Pete Dougherty
pdougher@greenbaypressgazette.com
Ted Thompson didn't hire Mike McCarthy as the Green Bay Packers' coach for Brett Favre's sake.
After all, the team's general manager didn't even know whether Favre would play this season, and even with Favre's return, there's a decent chance 2006 will be his last year. So that hardly would justify such an important long-term decision as hiring a coach.
However, Thompson did tab McCarthy in part because of his work with quarterbacks. Former Oakland quarterback Rich Gannon, for instance, credits McCarthy with his development into an NFL most-valuable player. And the Packers think McCarthy's presence, along with a healthier run game, will help the 36-year-old Favre regain form after a disastrous 29-interception season last year.
"That's Mike's forte, quarterbacks, so absolutely," said Jeff Jagodzinski, the Packers' new offensive coordinator. "I think Mike will do a great job with Brett."
Season-ending injuries to receiver Javon Walker and running backs Ahman Green and Najeh Davenport were a huge factor in Favre's 29 interceptions and career-low passer rating of 70.9 points last year. His previous high for interceptions was 24 and his low passer rating was 72.2 points, both in his second season as a starter, 1993.
However, it's evident something was lacking in Favre's relationship with the offensive coaching staff that contributed to those numbers as well.
Favre is known to have gotten along well with coach Mike Sherman and offensive coordinator Tom Rossley and to have liked and respected both men personally. He also regularly spoke of his undying gratitude for Sherman's allowing him to skip all offseason practices in the spring and summer of 2005 to regroup after a series of personal hardships that included his wife undergoing treatment for breast cancer.
However, Favre's continued problems with throwing interceptions last year, at an age when his decision-making should be better than ever, suggests he harbored doubts about the philosophies and play calling of Sherman and Rossley after working most of his career with one of the game's premier offensive minds, former coach Mike Holmgren.
While Sherman and Rossley talked publicly about reducing or taking calculated risks, Favre continued to throw interceptions, which suggests a disconnect between coaches and player.
That stands in contrast to Favre's relationship with Holmgren, whose offensive coaching acumen won Favre's complete confidence even if their personal relationship occasionally was rocky because of Holmgren's hard-edged manner and mercurial moods.
No one in the Packers' organization is coming out and saying it, but there's a feeling the team thinks Favre has more faith in McCarthy, and thus McCarthy will be more effective in curbing Favre's risk taking than the previous staff. By all indications, Favre thought well of McCarthy in their one season together, 1999, when McCarthy was his position coach. However, Favre threw 23 interceptions that season, though it should be noted Sherman Lewis, not McCarthy, was offensive coordinator and called plays that year.
"I think Mike (McCarthy) and he have a pretty good relationship," Thompson said. "Like any football player, Brett's no different. If he thinks somebody's going to help him, he's going to heed their advice."
For better or worse, McCarthy probably will bring a harder edge to his handling of quarterbacks than the previous staff. Though McCarthy no longer is just an offensive coach, he will remain closely involved in tutoring quarterbacks along with quarterbacks coach Tom Clements. McCarthy said he will attend every quarterbacks meeting this training camp and season.
Favre responded well to Holmgren's hard coaching, which raises the issue of whether that's the kind of coaching needed to get the most out of him.
"Obviously Coach Holmgren had Brett in the early stages of his career," McCarthy said. "Where he's at now, he needs to be coached consistently. Every coach has a different style and the way they go about it.
"I'd think I coach the quarterback position hard as a whole. Within my approach and my style coaching that position, that will be applied to all the quarterbacks. The most important thing, particularly with veterans at that position, there needs to be consistency in the coach-player environment."
This year, at least in training camp and the preseason, should give the Packers a better indication about Favre's successor, Aaron Rodgers, though they won't truly find out until he takes over the job for an extended period in regular-season games.
Rodgers, Thompson's first-round pick in 2005, did little as a rookie to distinguish himself at the game's most difficult position. He struggled in preseason games  his passer rating was 53.0 points, and he led only one scoring drive in four games  and in his only extended playing time in the regular season, he was overwhelmed in the final quarter of the Packers' humbling 48-3 blowout loss at Baltimore. Rodgers was under a barrage of blitzes and pressure that night, was sacked three times, fumbled twice, threw one interception and had a 36.8 passer rating.
The Packers are dismissive of last year, especially the Baltimore game. When asked what he made of it, Jagodzinski said: "He was thrown into a situation where the game was over and (the pass rush is) still teeing off. I wouldn't hold credence in that game at all."
McCarthy worked extensively with Rodgers during individual "quarterback school" sessions that are allowed as part of NFL offseason training programs during the spring. Rodgers also received extensive playing time with the No. 1 offense during minicamp and organized-team activities practices, especially when Favre was given a day off, so he should be much better prepared to demonstrate how his talents stack up against NFL competition.
"Not just this offseason, but last year prior to the draft and even in training camp last year, I like what I see," Thompson said of Rodgers. "He looks, he acts, he talks, he walks like a quarterback. He's smart enough to understand where he is and how to conduct himself. You can tell he believes he's a player, and those are qualities you have to have to be a leader and a quarterback in the NFL."
Packers by position: McCarthy + Favre = wins?
By Pete Dougherty
pdougher@greenbaypressgazette.com
Ted Thompson didn't hire Mike McCarthy as the Green Bay Packers' coach for Brett Favre's sake.
After all, the team's general manager didn't even know whether Favre would play this season, and even with Favre's return, there's a decent chance 2006 will be his last year. So that hardly would justify such an important long-term decision as hiring a coach.
However, Thompson did tab McCarthy in part because of his work with quarterbacks. Former Oakland quarterback Rich Gannon, for instance, credits McCarthy with his development into an NFL most-valuable player. And the Packers think McCarthy's presence, along with a healthier run game, will help the 36-year-old Favre regain form after a disastrous 29-interception season last year.
"That's Mike's forte, quarterbacks, so absolutely," said Jeff Jagodzinski, the Packers' new offensive coordinator. "I think Mike will do a great job with Brett."
Season-ending injuries to receiver Javon Walker and running backs Ahman Green and Najeh Davenport were a huge factor in Favre's 29 interceptions and career-low passer rating of 70.9 points last year. His previous high for interceptions was 24 and his low passer rating was 72.2 points, both in his second season as a starter, 1993.
However, it's evident something was lacking in Favre's relationship with the offensive coaching staff that contributed to those numbers as well.
Favre is known to have gotten along well with coach Mike Sherman and offensive coordinator Tom Rossley and to have liked and respected both men personally. He also regularly spoke of his undying gratitude for Sherman's allowing him to skip all offseason practices in the spring and summer of 2005 to regroup after a series of personal hardships that included his wife undergoing treatment for breast cancer.
However, Favre's continued problems with throwing interceptions last year, at an age when his decision-making should be better than ever, suggests he harbored doubts about the philosophies and play calling of Sherman and Rossley after working most of his career with one of the game's premier offensive minds, former coach Mike Holmgren.
While Sherman and Rossley talked publicly about reducing or taking calculated risks, Favre continued to throw interceptions, which suggests a disconnect between coaches and player.
That stands in contrast to Favre's relationship with Holmgren, whose offensive coaching acumen won Favre's complete confidence even if their personal relationship occasionally was rocky because of Holmgren's hard-edged manner and mercurial moods.
No one in the Packers' organization is coming out and saying it, but there's a feeling the team thinks Favre has more faith in McCarthy, and thus McCarthy will be more effective in curbing Favre's risk taking than the previous staff. By all indications, Favre thought well of McCarthy in their one season together, 1999, when McCarthy was his position coach. However, Favre threw 23 interceptions that season, though it should be noted Sherman Lewis, not McCarthy, was offensive coordinator and called plays that year.
"I think Mike (McCarthy) and he have a pretty good relationship," Thompson said. "Like any football player, Brett's no different. If he thinks somebody's going to help him, he's going to heed their advice."
For better or worse, McCarthy probably will bring a harder edge to his handling of quarterbacks than the previous staff. Though McCarthy no longer is just an offensive coach, he will remain closely involved in tutoring quarterbacks along with quarterbacks coach Tom Clements. McCarthy said he will attend every quarterbacks meeting this training camp and season.
Favre responded well to Holmgren's hard coaching, which raises the issue of whether that's the kind of coaching needed to get the most out of him.
"Obviously Coach Holmgren had Brett in the early stages of his career," McCarthy said. "Where he's at now, he needs to be coached consistently. Every coach has a different style and the way they go about it.
"I'd think I coach the quarterback position hard as a whole. Within my approach and my style coaching that position, that will be applied to all the quarterbacks. The most important thing, particularly with veterans at that position, there needs to be consistency in the coach-player environment."
This year, at least in training camp and the preseason, should give the Packers a better indication about Favre's successor, Aaron Rodgers, though they won't truly find out until he takes over the job for an extended period in regular-season games.
Rodgers, Thompson's first-round pick in 2005, did little as a rookie to distinguish himself at the game's most difficult position. He struggled in preseason games  his passer rating was 53.0 points, and he led only one scoring drive in four games  and in his only extended playing time in the regular season, he was overwhelmed in the final quarter of the Packers' humbling 48-3 blowout loss at Baltimore. Rodgers was under a barrage of blitzes and pressure that night, was sacked three times, fumbled twice, threw one interception and had a 36.8 passer rating.
The Packers are dismissive of last year, especially the Baltimore game. When asked what he made of it, Jagodzinski said: "He was thrown into a situation where the game was over and (the pass rush is) still teeing off. I wouldn't hold credence in that game at all."
McCarthy worked extensively with Rodgers during individual "quarterback school" sessions that are allowed as part of NFL offseason training programs during the spring. Rodgers also received extensive playing time with the No. 1 offense during minicamp and organized-team activities practices, especially when Favre was given a day off, so he should be much better prepared to demonstrate how his talents stack up against NFL competition.
"Not just this offseason, but last year prior to the draft and even in training camp last year, I like what I see," Thompson said of Rodgers. "He looks, he acts, he talks, he walks like a quarterback. He's smart enough to understand where he is and how to conduct himself. You can tell he believes he's a player, and those are qualities you have to have to be a leader and a quarterback in the NFL."