woodbuck27
08-07-2006, 12:14 AM
Holes poked in secondary
It allows two touchdowns, five long completions
By TOM SILVERSTEIN
tsilverstein@journalsentinel.com
Posted: Aug. 5, 2006
Green Bay - If the 62,701 people who attended the Green Bay Packers’ intrasquad scrimmage at Lambeau Field on Saturday came hoping to see how the team’s biggest off-season acquisitions might impact the defense, they left less than enlightened.
Safety Marquand Manuel remains on the physically unable to perform list, cornerback Charles Woodson sat out because of a hip injury, rookie linebacker A.J. Hawk didn't make a significant play all night, nose tackle Ryan Pickett had just one tackle and rookie linebacker Abdul Hodge showed the explosiveness for which he is known but tempered excitement with a couple of negative plays.
All in all, it was not a particularly good day for the defense, which one would expect to be ahead of an offense learning a new system. The defensive scheme is the same from a year ago, and some of the problems that plagued it last year flashed throughout the 53 live tackling plays in which the No. 1's and 2's took part in.
"Tonight was for the young guys," linebacker Nick Barnett said. "Myself and Al (Harris) and some of the other vets got about 15 reps. It was good to get a little competition going with Hodge and A.J. and the young corners. They took the majority of the snaps."
Things could have been worse. Starting safety Nick Collins was knocked out of the scrimmage early when he slipped on the concrete behind the east sideline and landed hard on his back. Collins was defending a play in the corner of the end zone and couldn't stop his momentum before hitting the small patch of concrete adjacent to the stands.
His legs came out from under him and he fell hard on his back.
"I'm good," Collins said. "You better stay away from that concrete. I was trying to stop and as I was stopping I lost my balance. It could have been worse, but I was fortunate it wasn't."
It was mostly a tough day for the secondary, which allowed completions of 64, 48, 30, 27 and 20 yards and two touchdowns. There were penalties, a few blown assignments and generally shoddy play in some instances.
But then again, it was cornerbacks like Therrian Fontenot and Jerron Wishom giving up some of the biggest plays. Ahmad Carroll was exposed, too, failing to break up a 48-yard completion to Donald Driver and allowing a 5-yard touchdown pass to Marc Boerigter. In his favor, he broke up a third-down pass and had good coverage on several other passes.
"It's a learning experience," said Woodson, who indicated he was held out for precautionary reasons and would return to practice Monday. "They got a good amount of playing time. A lot of those guys have tired legs. But it was definitely a good experience for them to go out there in a game-like atmosphere. What it does is let you know how much work needs to be done."
Hawk was not much of a factor and appeared to be at fault when tight end Donald Lee wound up wide open on a fourth-and-7 play from the offense's 39. Hawk lined up at weak-side linebacker with both the first and second units and played some in the nickel (five defensive backs). However, he did not play in the dime, giving way to Barnett and Hodge.
"I felt pretty good, but there were things I could have done better," Hawk said.
At the same time the defense struggled in the passing game, there were two key plays made during the 2-minute drill period in which the No. 1 offense got one shot to score against the No. 1 defense, and the No. 2 offense the same against the No. 2 defense. They were the kind of plays that win ball games and would have been more noticeable had the quarterbacks been eligible for tackling.
With the offense needing a touchdown to score, end Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila beat tackle Junius Coston and knocked the ball out of quarterback Brett Favre's hands on a second-down play that started at the defense's 23. Even if Favre had recovered, he would have lost 10 yards and faced a third and 19 at the 33 with less than a minute to go.
As it was, the sack didn't count and the offense converted a third and 9 and finished the drive with Samkon Gado's 10-yard run for a touchdown.
"It probably would have been different," Gbaja-Biamila said of the final result. "I thought I got in there."
On the second team's 2-minute drive, the defense blitzed and defensive tackle Kenderick Allen had a straight shot on quarterback Aaron Rodgers on a second-and-3 play at the defense's 44. It would have been a sure sack, but he had to pull up and allow Rodgers to throw the ball away.
Nevertheless, the defense finished off in an equally satisfying way. Safety Marviel Underwood picked off Rodgers on a deep throw down the middle to Ruvell Martin that ended the drive.
The rest of the scrimmage wasn't nearly as stellar for the defense, which gave up three touchdowns in eight competitive series with the first and second teams. Penalties and a horse-collar penalty on Hodge wiped out a terrific play on the linebacker's part to tackle Gado short of a first down on a swing pass to the sideline.
Still, Hodge had a team-high nine tackles and looked impressive chasing down ball-carriers.
On the same drive as Hodge's penalty, rookie receiver Greg Jennings beat Fontenot on a slant for a 27-yard catch and run, and Lee caught a 16-yard pass on third and 9 at the defense's 23. The drive was finished off by Gado's 10-yard run in which Hodge got walled off and several defensive linemen were put on the ground.
As a whole, cornerback play was not good. Even Harris nearly had an Excedrin moment when receiver Chris Francies beat him on a deep slant but dropped the ball. Wishom had his troubles as well, giving up a 4-yard touchdown pass to Driver on a hard slant route and a 60-yard catch-and-run to rookie Cory Rodgers on another hard slant. Fontenot had two penalties and gave up a 27-yard completion to Jennings.
The best aspect of the defense came in the running game. The offense average just 3.1 yards per carry and only had one run of more than 10 yards in 30 attempts.
From the Aug. 6, 2006 editions of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
GO PACKERS !
It allows two touchdowns, five long completions
By TOM SILVERSTEIN
tsilverstein@journalsentinel.com
Posted: Aug. 5, 2006
Green Bay - If the 62,701 people who attended the Green Bay Packers’ intrasquad scrimmage at Lambeau Field on Saturday came hoping to see how the team’s biggest off-season acquisitions might impact the defense, they left less than enlightened.
Safety Marquand Manuel remains on the physically unable to perform list, cornerback Charles Woodson sat out because of a hip injury, rookie linebacker A.J. Hawk didn't make a significant play all night, nose tackle Ryan Pickett had just one tackle and rookie linebacker Abdul Hodge showed the explosiveness for which he is known but tempered excitement with a couple of negative plays.
All in all, it was not a particularly good day for the defense, which one would expect to be ahead of an offense learning a new system. The defensive scheme is the same from a year ago, and some of the problems that plagued it last year flashed throughout the 53 live tackling plays in which the No. 1's and 2's took part in.
"Tonight was for the young guys," linebacker Nick Barnett said. "Myself and Al (Harris) and some of the other vets got about 15 reps. It was good to get a little competition going with Hodge and A.J. and the young corners. They took the majority of the snaps."
Things could have been worse. Starting safety Nick Collins was knocked out of the scrimmage early when he slipped on the concrete behind the east sideline and landed hard on his back. Collins was defending a play in the corner of the end zone and couldn't stop his momentum before hitting the small patch of concrete adjacent to the stands.
His legs came out from under him and he fell hard on his back.
"I'm good," Collins said. "You better stay away from that concrete. I was trying to stop and as I was stopping I lost my balance. It could have been worse, but I was fortunate it wasn't."
It was mostly a tough day for the secondary, which allowed completions of 64, 48, 30, 27 and 20 yards and two touchdowns. There were penalties, a few blown assignments and generally shoddy play in some instances.
But then again, it was cornerbacks like Therrian Fontenot and Jerron Wishom giving up some of the biggest plays. Ahmad Carroll was exposed, too, failing to break up a 48-yard completion to Donald Driver and allowing a 5-yard touchdown pass to Marc Boerigter. In his favor, he broke up a third-down pass and had good coverage on several other passes.
"It's a learning experience," said Woodson, who indicated he was held out for precautionary reasons and would return to practice Monday. "They got a good amount of playing time. A lot of those guys have tired legs. But it was definitely a good experience for them to go out there in a game-like atmosphere. What it does is let you know how much work needs to be done."
Hawk was not much of a factor and appeared to be at fault when tight end Donald Lee wound up wide open on a fourth-and-7 play from the offense's 39. Hawk lined up at weak-side linebacker with both the first and second units and played some in the nickel (five defensive backs). However, he did not play in the dime, giving way to Barnett and Hodge.
"I felt pretty good, but there were things I could have done better," Hawk said.
At the same time the defense struggled in the passing game, there were two key plays made during the 2-minute drill period in which the No. 1 offense got one shot to score against the No. 1 defense, and the No. 2 offense the same against the No. 2 defense. They were the kind of plays that win ball games and would have been more noticeable had the quarterbacks been eligible for tackling.
With the offense needing a touchdown to score, end Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila beat tackle Junius Coston and knocked the ball out of quarterback Brett Favre's hands on a second-down play that started at the defense's 23. Even if Favre had recovered, he would have lost 10 yards and faced a third and 19 at the 33 with less than a minute to go.
As it was, the sack didn't count and the offense converted a third and 9 and finished the drive with Samkon Gado's 10-yard run for a touchdown.
"It probably would have been different," Gbaja-Biamila said of the final result. "I thought I got in there."
On the second team's 2-minute drive, the defense blitzed and defensive tackle Kenderick Allen had a straight shot on quarterback Aaron Rodgers on a second-and-3 play at the defense's 44. It would have been a sure sack, but he had to pull up and allow Rodgers to throw the ball away.
Nevertheless, the defense finished off in an equally satisfying way. Safety Marviel Underwood picked off Rodgers on a deep throw down the middle to Ruvell Martin that ended the drive.
The rest of the scrimmage wasn't nearly as stellar for the defense, which gave up three touchdowns in eight competitive series with the first and second teams. Penalties and a horse-collar penalty on Hodge wiped out a terrific play on the linebacker's part to tackle Gado short of a first down on a swing pass to the sideline.
Still, Hodge had a team-high nine tackles and looked impressive chasing down ball-carriers.
On the same drive as Hodge's penalty, rookie receiver Greg Jennings beat Fontenot on a slant for a 27-yard catch and run, and Lee caught a 16-yard pass on third and 9 at the defense's 23. The drive was finished off by Gado's 10-yard run in which Hodge got walled off and several defensive linemen were put on the ground.
As a whole, cornerback play was not good. Even Harris nearly had an Excedrin moment when receiver Chris Francies beat him on a deep slant but dropped the ball. Wishom had his troubles as well, giving up a 4-yard touchdown pass to Driver on a hard slant route and a 60-yard catch-and-run to rookie Cory Rodgers on another hard slant. Fontenot had two penalties and gave up a 27-yard completion to Jennings.
The best aspect of the defense came in the running game. The offense average just 3.1 yards per carry and only had one run of more than 10 yards in 30 attempts.
From the Aug. 6, 2006 editions of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
GO PACKERS !