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woodbuck27
08-10-2006, 09:57 AM
Hawkins looks to find his fit

Cornerback fighting with two others for backup spots

By TOM SILVERSTEIN
tsilverstein@journalsentinel.com

Posted: Aug. 9, 2006

Green Bay - The math is pretty simple: three players, two positions.

Someone is going to have to sit.

It's not too late for Mike Hawkins to be one of the two who makes the cut in the Green Bay Packers secondary, but he has some catching up to do after missing six practices and part of another with a sore right knee.

To be part of at least one of the two pass coverage units (nickel and dime) Hawkins is going to have beat out either Ahmad Carroll or Jason Horton for playing time. Essentially, the three are competing for the left cornerback position in the nickel (five defensive backs) and the left corner and left slot positions in the dime (six defensive backs).

"I don't worry about that," said Hawkins, who returned Wednesday after missing three straight practices, including the intrasquad scrimmage. "I can't control that. All I can do is keep going out there and keep playing. Whoever they decide to put in those two spots it will be the two best guys. If my ability doesn't show I'm ready to play in that spot, then they won't put me in there."

No one has ever questioned Hawkins' physical ability.

If there's a faster player on the team it's not by much. At 6-foot-1 he's ideal size for a bump-and-run corner and at 180 pounds he's getting closer to being big enough to handle the ever-increasing size of National Football League wide receivers.

But Hawkins is a novice at the corner position. The story of how he was a top recruit at Oklahoma, left after one year and didn't resurface until hooking on with an Arena League team two years later has been well-documented.

Last year, the Packers gave Hawkins a crash course on how to play the position and used him as a nickel and dime corner in a handful of games. Knee and ankle injuries limited him to 11 games - he had two pass break-ups and allowed one touchdown - and he finished the season with a specific goal of building up his body.

He put on 10 pounds during the off-season, but the knee he injured continued to bother him. It flared up again in training camp, teaching him a valuable lesson about proper maintenance during the season.

"It's not that I wasn't taking care of it," said Hawkins, a fifth-round pick last year. "It's that you have to go overboard with your stuff. You can't just think it's going to get you by. You just have to keep going over and over and over. I take care of my body. But you have to add a little intensity to it."

The coaches would love to add another big corner to a pass defense that includes 6-1 veterans Al Harris and Charles Woodson, but Hawkins has to prove he's a better player than a year ago. Because of his inexperience, he could be a two-year project. Or a three-year project. Or a four-year project.

No one knows for sure.

Right now, Carroll and Horton have an advantage over Hawkins because they can play both left corner and the slot positions. Hawkins is limited to corner and will be trying to fill the spot Woodson vacates when he moves to the slot.

When the Packers go nickel, Carroll fills in for Woodson at corner; when they go dime, Carroll moves to the other slot position and Horton plays corner.

"A lot of those young guys are still fighting for spots," defensive coordinator Bob Sanders said. "There are a couple jobs (where) we want to see who's the most consistent. We're moving guys around a little bit, just checking different guys."

It seems unlikely that Carroll will be unseated, but a lot will depend on the exhibition games. Hawkins can make up for a lot of missed time with strong game performances, starting Saturday with San Diego.

"I mean anybody can go out and be a practice player," he said. "People practice good against their own teammate, but when you have to go out and do something against somebody else, what are you going to do?"

It's a question the Packers coaching staff is asking itself about Hawkins all the time.

From the Aug. 10, 2006 editions of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

FAITH - GO PACKERS !!

red
08-10-2006, 11:15 AM
where does will blackmon fit into all this? i would think when he gets healthy we would be the #4 or #5, maybe even #3

or is he done for the season, and i just missed it

woodbuck27
08-10-2006, 11:21 AM
where does will blackmon fit into all this? i would think when he gets healthy we would be the #4 or #5, maybe even #3

or is he done for the season, and i just missed it

His broken foot will sideline him till maybe well into the Fall, red.

He'll go on the Injury List or PUP.

BallHawk
08-10-2006, 11:24 AM
I think Blackmon will go on the PUP list and Horton will get the #4 and Hawkins will get the #5. I like Horton, that kids had a lot of shit to go through.

woodbuck27
08-10-2006, 11:26 AM
red:

Posted: Sun Aug 06, 2006 10:47 pm

Rookie cornerback not nearly recovered
Blackmon sidelined by broken bone in foot

By BOB McGINN
bmcginn@journalsentinel.com
Posted: Aug. 6, 2006

Green Bay - It's beginning to look as if rookie cornerback Will Blackmon won't be ready to play until at least mid-season if he plays at all for the Green Bay Packers this season.

Blackmon, a fourth-round draft choice from Boston College, has been out since suffering a break of the fifth metatarsal bone in his right foot during a routine play on May 21, the last day of the second minicamp.

Surgery was performed shortly thereafter and a screw was inserted to promote healing. Still, Blackmon hasn't even been able to start running yet.

"You're just worried about it because of where the injury is," coach Mike McCarthy said. "I don't want that kid to have a setback. We're going to be smart there."

Blackmon said doctors had told him the injury has healed faster than expected but there was no timetable for his return.

"It'll probably be another six weeks because I want to be 100% when I get back," Blackmon said. "We're going to take as much time as it takes. I'm just being patient."

The Packers placed Blackmon on the physically unable to perform list at the start of training camp. If the foot isn't ready by the regular season, he would have to remain in that category until at least Oct. 17.

Between Oct. 17 and Nov. 7, the Packers could start having Blackmon practice for a 21-day period. After the 21 days, they either would have to activate him, cut him or place him on injured reserve.

"I don't necessarily assume that's the way it's going to be," general manager Ted Thompson said. "It kind of depends how quickly he responds. Everything's going well so far, though."

It could turn out to be a blessing in disguise because Blackmon, who had played wide receiver until the spring of 2005, was regarded as something of a project at cornerback. Plus, the Packers appear satisfied with Ahmad Carroll, Jason Horton and Mike Hawkins as their backup cornerbacks.

red
08-10-2006, 11:38 AM
so if will does come back around midseason, that would just bumb one of the guys to the practice squad or right off the team anyways. i would think that horton or hawkins are only looking at that spot for maybe half the season anyways. unless we keep 5 cb's (harris, woodson, carroll, blackmon, (hawkins or horton)

woodbuck27
08-10-2006, 11:41 AM
so if will does come back around midseason, that would just bumb one of the guys to the practice squad or right off the team anyways. i would think that horton or hawkins are only looking at that spot for maybe half the season anyways. unless we keep 5 cb's (harris, woodson, carroll, blackmon, (hawkins or horton)

I think that Horton is hard up against it (again) and Hawkins has to get healthy and develop, on all that potential.

FAITH - PACKERS !!

MadtownPacker
08-10-2006, 01:10 PM
So this guy thinks Hawkins is gonna beat out Carroll??

He should be wondering if Carroll is gonna be out Harris.

red
08-10-2006, 02:56 PM
So this guy thinks Hawkins is gonna beat out Carroll??

He should be wondering if Carroll is gonna be out Harris.

i think carroll should be worried about not making the team at all after the first 2 seasons he's had

will he keep playing the way he has in camp once the real games start, or will he turn back into grabby mcgoo?

MadtownPacker
08-10-2006, 06:48 PM
Nah Red, you got it twisted. Carroll was the one playing hard all the way until week 17 last season. The throws where going to Harris' side because he had either gave up on the season or lost whatever bit of speed he had left. Looked like a combo of both. Carroll was shutting his side down.

Bretsky
08-10-2006, 07:09 PM
where does will blackmon fit into all this? i would think when he gets healthy we would be the #4 or #5, maybe even #3

or is he done for the season, and i just missed it

I REALLY THINK BLACKMOND IS GETTING HID ON IR THIS YEAR IMO