a few thoughts from camp

[red]

i stopped by the stadium today and caught an hour and a half of practice and a few things really jumped out at me

jason chery was the first player out today, almost 45 minutes before practice started, he fielded punts from the machine for 45 minutes and i never once so him bobble or drop a ball. the kid is like a glove. i have no clue if he knows how to run with the ball, but he knows how to catch it.

with that said

sam shields came out about 30 minutes before the start to also field punts. in that time i didn't see him field one clean. either he dropped the ball or bobbled it, he's got a major case of brick arms. he's trying hard to learn how to do it, but its clear it doesn't come natural to him and he's got a long ways to go before he's a reliable return man.

they spent some time working on kickoffs, covering and returns, 11 on 11. after every return subs were brought in and others had to leave. this 10 or 15 minutes was by far the biggest cluster fuck i have ever seen. the guys have no clue where they are suppose to be and where they are suppose to go. this was madness. slocum is a complete disaster. m3 was just standing back watching and he eventually snapped and screamed a few f-bombs at quinn porter. why porter got chewed out well i just couldn't figure that out, neither could anyone else including porter.

after what i saw today i have a bad feeling that special teams will be our downfall this year. i was just shocked by what i saw

i did become a fan of derrick martin today. he was the third guy out and he spent the whole time working with shields giving him tips and advice for receiving punts. thats all he did, he didn't field anything. he just went out early and spent all his time trying to help out shields and chery. this is a man that was just trying to improve others on his team. big props

we are a very lucky team to have kevin greene on our coaching staff. olb vs tackles took place right in front of me. the man still has the fire for the game. very positive guy did his best to fire up both sides and actually coached his guys after every single play. plus he still looks like he could go out there today and play

i can see why harrell was getting knocked for being lazy last week. the guy works at a whole different level then every body else. everyone walks slow, he walks even slower. about 10 minutes into practice after warm ups he took 2 or 3 snaps where the players were going about 1/4 speed. he then walked to the back of the line a took a knee. a looks like he's off in la-la land. he's always off by himself, he never talks to his team mates or coaches, and he's always in sloth mode. however the kid looks like a monster. you just wish it would click for him, but from what i saw it doesn't look like he has the heart for it.

oh, also. after the cluster fuck that was the special teams showcase the team broke off to work on a ball control drill where a rb has the ball and guy randomly try and kill him. during this drill, c-wood pulled m3 and slocum of to the side along with one other coach and seemed to be discussing the mess we just witnessed. we can only hope and pray c-wood said, ok, you know what guys, just put me back to return everything

grant did not practice, he was out there but didn't do anything. mathews was not dressed, dietrich-smith was out and barnett was out there but i'm not sure if he was going through all the drills, i think he was in shorts

[get louder at lambeau]

Thanks for the update, red.

I wouldn't be overly concerned about the special teams just yet, since they don't even have the roster set and 27 of those guys are gonna be cut pretty soon.

[swede]

sam shields came out about 30 minutes before the start to also field punts. in that time i didn't see him field one clean. either he dropped the ball or bobbled it, he's got a major case of brick arms. he's trying hard to learn how to do it, but its clear it doesn't come natural to him and he's got a long ways to go before he's a reliable return man.


They need to have Chery catch the ball and pitch it back to Shields running at full speed from behind. If we have a Long Snapper why can't we have a Designated Catcher?

And thanks for the update, Red. Very informative. The description of the Special teams practice makes it seem as if the pressure is on to not suck so much. I don't know how the authors of such a successful offense can produce such Keystone Coppy special teams.

[Freak Out]

Thanks for the update, red.

I wouldn't be overly concerned about the special teams just yet, since they don't even have the roster set and 27 of those guys are gonna be cut pretty soon.

A return game would be real fucking nice this year.

[MadtownPacker]

You growing hair would be a really nice Freak. You dirty white boy.

Nice report Red. Glad they thought you how to read and write in them backwoods. :lol:

[gbgary]

if chery makes the team what do you think will be said when he gets hit really hard for the first time?

[Joemailman]

You growing hair would be a really nice Freak. You dirty white boy.

Nice report Red. Glad they thought you how to read and write in them backwoods. :lol:

Glad they taught you how to spell. :D [/b]

[MadtownPacker]

You growing hair would be a really nice Freak. You dirty white boy.

Nice report Red. Glad they thought you how to read and write in them backwoods. :lol:

Glad they taught you how to spell. :D [/b]Ha ha, got me there you pureblood.

[Joemailman]

they spent some time working on kickoffs, covering and returns, 11 on 11. after every return subs were brought in and others had to leave. this 10 or 15 minutes was by far the biggest cluster fuck i have ever seen. the guys have no clue where they are suppose to be and where they are suppose to go. this was madness. slocum is a complete disaster. m3 was just standing back watching and he eventually snapped and screamed a few f-bombs at quinn porter. why porter got chewed out well i just couldn't figure that out, neither could anyone else including porter.

Apparently Porter was supposed to be on the 2nd team KOR unit, but didn't know it. This may play in to what you described above.

RobDemovsky: Rough start to ST period for Porter. He was supposed to be on the # 2 kickoff team but didn't go out on field and then dropped a kickoff [via Twitter]
2:48

MikeVandermause: Quinn Porter can't handle kickoff return. Shawn Slocum not happy about that. [via Twitter]
2:48

kareemcopeland: Porter called out twice, once for not being in the right spot, then for dropping a kickoff during coverage period. [via Twitter]
2:49

RobDemovsky: Let's just say that McCarthy wasn't too happy with Porter. [via Twitter]
2:51

PeteDougherty: Quinn Porter mishandles to KORs in a row for show team, gets yanked [via Twitter]
2:51

[cheesner]

sam shields came out about 30 minutes before the start to also field punts. in that time i didn't see him field one clean. either he dropped the ball or bobbled it, he's got a major case of brick arms. he's trying hard to learn how to do it, but its clear it doesn't come natural to him and he's got a long ways to go before he's a reliable return man.


They need to have Chery catch the ball and hand it to Shields running at full speed from behind. If we have a Long Snapper why can't we have a Designated Catcher?

And thanks for the update, Red. Very informative. The description of the Special teams practice makes it seem as if the pressure is on to not suck so much. I don't know how the authors of such a successful offense can produce such Keystone Coppy special teams.fixed

[cheesner]

Thanks for the update, red.

I wouldn't be overly concerned about the special teams just yet, since they don't even have the roster set and 27 of those guys are gonna be cut pretty soon. But that is true for all the teams. The Packers look pathetic compared to them. I think there is a problem with coaching - and Red's report seems to confirm this.

[swede]

sam shields came out about 30 minutes before the start to also field punts. in that time i didn't see him field one clean. either he dropped the ball or bobbled it, he's got a major case of brick arms. he's trying hard to learn how to do it, but its clear it doesn't come natural to him and he's got a long ways to go before he's a reliable return man.


They need to have Chery catch the ball and hand it to Shields running at full speed from behind. If we have a Long Snapper why can't we have a Designated Catcher?

And thanks for the update, Red. Very informative. The description of the Special teams practice makes it seem as if the pressure is on to not suck so much. I don't know how the authors of such a successful offense can produce such Keystone Coppy special teams.fixed

Nice catch. :wink:

[red]

they spent some time working on kickoffs, covering and returns, 11 on 11. after every return subs were brought in and others had to leave. this 10 or 15 minutes was by far the biggest cluster fuck i have ever seen. the guys have no clue where they are suppose to be and where they are suppose to go. this was madness. slocum is a complete disaster. m3 was just standing back watching and he eventually snapped and screamed a few f-bombs at quinn porter. why porter got chewed out well i just couldn't figure that out, neither could anyone else including porter.

Apparently Porter was supposed to be on the 2nd team KOR unit, but didn't know it. This may play in to what you described above.

RobDemovsky: Rough start to ST period for Porter. He was supposed to be on the # 2 kickoff team but didn't go out on field and then dropped a kickoff [via Twitter]
2:48

MikeVandermause: Quinn Porter can't handle kickoff return. Shawn Slocum not happy about that. [via Twitter]
2:48

kareemcopeland: Porter called out twice, once for not being in the right spot, then for dropping a kickoff during coverage period. [via Twitter]
2:49

RobDemovsky: Let's just say that McCarthy wasn't too happy with Porter. [via Twitter]
2:51

PeteDougherty: Quinn Porter mishandles to KORs in a row for show team, gets yanked [via Twitter]
2:51



that confuses me even more

porter was back deep to return the first kick, returned it. then everyone switched up an
d porter when back to return the next one (he was the only return man at the time to return anything). at that time slocum started to mumble something that nobody could understand (he was miked up). porter then took off up the field and removed his red bonnet, meaning he was switching to the kicking team. this left nobody back deep to return the kick. thats when M3 (and not slocum) snapped and went off on him dropping two f-bombs and telling him to pull his head out of his ass. porter turned around confused and proceeded to drop three straight kicks.

Porter was looking straight into a very bright sun on those returns, i wouldn't doubt for a second he was losing the ball right before it got to him

[Fritz]

Thanks, Red. This is great stuff - better than any newspaper.

I am however sorry to hear that the ST looked so unorganized. I'm troubled that C-Wood felt the need to discuss ST (unless he was asking about where they were going for dinner or something) with teh coaches. It sounds like it looks bad, really bad.

Lord help us. Or Slocum, at least.

Finally, it sounds like the bloom is off the rose for Shields and Porter. Who will step up next to be the surprise All Pro in camp?

[billy_oliver880]

they spent some time working on kickoffs, covering and returns, 11 on 11. after every return subs were brought in and others had to leave. this 10 or 15 minutes was by far the biggest cluster fuck i have ever seen. the guys have no clue where they are suppose to be and where they are suppose to go. this was madness. slocum is a complete disaster. m3 was just standing back watching and he eventually snapped and screamed a few f-bombs at quinn porter. why porter got chewed out well i just couldn't figure that out, neither could anyone else including porter.

after what i saw today i have a bad feeling that special teams will be our downfall this year. i was just shocked by what i saw



I watched practice a couple weeks back as well and special teams stood out to me too. Complete chaos...guys running in and out. I don't know how you can learn if you spend more time running on and off the field.

[Merlin]

The Special Teams unfortunately have been an issue long before Thompson's arrival. We haven't had consistency at the punting position or the kicking position for as long back as I can remember, let alone good coverage teams. Here and there we have had return guys that could do the job but no one that could stay healthy long enough.

Even if Crosby stinks again, we should be fine in the regular season. We will again have a new, young punter and that is always scary - but nothing new to the Packers. We don't keep anyone at that position long enough to develop them. So with us having mediocre to poor special teams, we can still be successful. The difference is that in order to get to the Super Bowl, you need better than average Special Teams and that may be the roadblock we run into no matter how successful the regular season is. When the Packers went to the Super Bowl, we had good offense, defense, and exceptional special teams. Over the years since, we haven't had all 3 together.

Now, that doesn't mean we can't get there with crappy special teams, it just means that we have to be exceptional in other areas to make up for the poor field position situations our offense and defense will be in. I think we can keep up with anyone offensively as long as Rodgers isn't on his back, but the defense needs to seriously step it up if the special teams do not improve.

[get louder at lambeau]

Thanks for the update, red.

I wouldn't be overly concerned about the special teams just yet, since they don't even have the roster set and 27 of those guys are gonna be cut pretty soon. But that is true for all the teams. The Packers look pathetic compared to them. I think there is a problem with coaching - and Red's report seems to confirm this.

That might well be the case. I'm just not ready to jump to that conclusion quite yet. I read somewhere that the Packers have been keeping the standout STers like Bishop, Bush, probably Havner, etc. on offense and defense more while they sort out who else can play ST. Like I said, 27 of those guys won't even make the team, so I'll give it a week or two right now before I call for Slocum's head.

[hoosier]

I wouldn't worry now about the perceived disorganization on ST for the reasons mentioned by others. The three big litmus tests for whether or not the Packers have gotten their ST problems under control will be (a) penalties, (b) whether they can identify--and keep--a decent punter and (c) ditto for punt returner. They seem to have two decent punters on the roster right now, but the return position is another matter entirely. Right now there is nothing to suggest that they can count on Blackmon to stay healthy for an entire season, and behind him there are a bunch of mediocre and/or unreliable candidates. Slocum said on Monday that "we'll keep working and identifying what needs to be done. We'll have a solid return game. We just need to clean up the entire operation." But if they still don't know where their returner is going to come from with just three weeks till the regular season then I don't have much confidence in their ability to "clean up the entire operation"! This is the one area where TT and McCarthy have simply failed to put together a solid cast of players and assistant coaches.

[Fritz]

"We just need to clean up the entire operation."

Holy smokes.

Translation:

"It's a cluster f*ck out there. We're three weeks into camp and nobody knows what the hell they're doing. Including me."

[billy_oliver880]

Thanks for the update, red.

I wouldn't be overly concerned about the special teams just yet, since they don't even have the roster set and 27 of those guys are gonna be cut pretty soon. But that is true for all the teams. The Packers look pathetic compared to them. I think there is a problem with coaching - and Red's report seems to confirm this.

That might well be the case. I'm just not ready to jump to that conclusion quite yet. I read somewhere that the Packers have been keeping the standout STers like Bishop, Bush, probably Havner, etc. on offense and defense more while they sort out who else can play ST. Like I said, 27 of those guys won't even make the team, so I'll give it a week or two right now before I call for Slocum's head.

I got really worried when watching against the browns and seeing the returner dealing with 5-6 guys ready to tackle him...then they switch to a replay of the gunner getting stonewalled by two blockers. That is fine that he is blocked but why is no one else getting blocked?

[get louder at lambeau]

Hey red-


MikeVandermause (twitter) Jason Chery serving as backup return man behind Blackmon. #Packers

[Scott Campbell]

Thanks, Red. This is great stuff - better than any newspaper.

I am however sorry to hear that the ST looked so unorganized. I'm troubled that C-Wood felt the need to discuss ST (unless he was asking about where they were going for dinner or something) with teh coaches. It sounds like it looks bad, really bad.

Lord help us. Or Slocum, at least.

Finally, it sounds like the bloom is off the rose for Shields and Porter. Who will step up next to be the surprise All Pro in camp?


I wouldn't be too quick to dismiss Shields. His eye popping plays at camp have been at CB, and I expect he could be a talented ST gunner.

[red]

Hey red-


MikeVandermause (twitter) Jason Chery serving as backup return man behind Blackmon. #Packers

nice, the kid just looked like a natural catching the ball

here's some info on him. this is from his scouting report last year


Strengths
Speed and work ethic. Outstanding special teams skills returning and covering kicks. Has good hands and had over 60 catches his SR year even though he does not play in a passing offense. Tough to bring down and gets good YAC. Has the ability to slither away from tacklers. Accelerates quickly. Strong for his size. Self made player who has great desire to become better. Can get up and compete for the jump ball.

he's a WR which might make it tough for him to make the team

[get louder at lambeau]

Hey red-


MikeVandermause (twitter) Jason Chery serving as backup return man behind Blackmon. #Packers

nice, the kid just looked like a natural catching the ball

here's some info on him. this is from his scouting report last year


Strengths
Speed and work ethic. Outstanding special teams skills returning and covering kicks. Has good hands and had over 60 catches his SR year even though he does not play in a passing offense. Tough to bring down and gets good YAC. Has the ability to slither away from tacklers. Accelerates quickly. Strong for his size. Self made player who has great desire to become better. Can get up and compete for the jump ball.

he's a WR which might make it tough for him to make the team

Tough to make the roster at WR for sure, but the #5 spot is still there for the taking. If he can be a good returner he'd certainly have a shot.

[swede]

Hey red-


MikeVandermause (twitter) Jason Chery serving as backup return man behind Blackmon. #Packers

nice, the kid just looked like a natural catching the ball

here's some info on him. this is from his scouting report last year


Strengths
Speed and work ethic. Outstanding special teams skills returning and covering kicks. Has good hands and had over 60 catches his SR year even though he does not play in a passing offense. Tough to bring down and gets good YAC. Has the ability to slither away from tacklers. Accelerates quickly. Strong for his size. Self made player who has great desire to become better. Can get up and compete for the jump ball.

he's a WR which might make it tough for him to make the team

Tough to make the roster at WR for sure, but the #5 spot is still there for the taking. If he can be a good returner he'd certainly have a shot.

+1

Swain won't keep a solid returner from making the team, and the current crop of TE's add depth to our receiving corps, or corpse as our President likes to say.

[Fritz]

Hey red-


MikeVandermause (twitter) Jason Chery serving as backup return man behind Blackmon. #Packers

nice, the kid just looked like a natural catching the ball

here's some info on him. this is from his scouting report last year


Strengths
Speed and work ethic. Outstanding special teams skills returning and covering kicks. Has good hands and had over 60 catches his SR year even though he does not play in a passing offense. Tough to bring down and gets good YAC. Has the ability to slither away from tacklers. Accelerates quickly. Strong for his size. Self made player who has great desire to become better. Can get up and compete for the jump ball.

he's a WR which might make it tough for him to make the team

Then let's call him a tight end, then keep four of those.

Seriously, would you rather have Crabtree (is that his name? The tight end?) who can block well but isn't much of a receiving tight end, or a guy who can field punts and kickoffs cleanly and get upfield?