PaCkFan_n_MD
08-14-2006, 11:35 PM
By TOM SILVERSTEIN
tsilverstein@journalsentinel.com
Posted: Aug. 14, 2006
Green Bay - If all goes right, Green Bay Packers running back Ahman Green will make his season debut in a Monday night exhibition game against the Cincinnati Bengals Aug. 28
After taking part in his first full-team workout, Green said the plan was to continue to increase his workload and see if he was physically ready to play in the third exhibition game. Up until Monday, Green, who is recovering from a ruptured right thigh tendon, was taking part only in individual drills.
"Right now our goal is to see how I feel Monday night at Cincinnati," Green said. "If that doesn't work, we'll wait until (the regular-season opener against) Chicago. Right now we're hitting all our goals and that makes me happy. It's been one day at a time."
Though he probably could have taken part in contact at an earlier date, the training staff is taking things slowly with Green to make sure there are no complications. Green said he had happily complied with the wishes of the trainers and doctors because he sees no need to take unnecessary chances.
The Packers practiced in shorts and helmets in the afternoon, but today Green is expected to take part in the fully padded night practice. It will be just another step in a long path to recovery for the starting running back.
"It's easy to look good when you're just in helmets," said Green, who was activated from the physically unable to perform list Aug. 7. "This was the first day for me taking a full practice and now we'll just continue to take more small steps with contact and getting ready for the regular season.
"I will see the progress when I start getting tackled and start going through more contact in practice. Today was a good day. My goal is just to go forward and have no setbacks."
Both coach Mike McCarthy and offensive coordinator Jeff Jagodzinski thought Green looked good carrying the football and were encouraged about his progress.
"I think he looks great," McCarthy said. "I think the level of practice goes up when you put a player of his magnitude in there. We're going to practice him once a day this week and assess how he does and look at next week probably doing a little more."
In addition to Green working in full-team drills, linebacker Brady Poppinga was back in action and hoping to get a shot at playing in the Cincinnati game. Poppinga, who is coming back from a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his knee, said he was more than ready to play in a game and would like to suit up this weekend against Atlanta.
But he said he doubted the doctors would allow him to do it and was hoping to get in the next week. Like Green, he is expected to practice in full pads today.
Sidelined no more: It sure seemed like a coincidence that safety Marquand Manuel's long-awaited debut just happened to occur two days after the Packers lost safety Marviel Underwood for the season with two torn knee ligaments.
Manuel was activated from the physically unable to perform list after missing 19 practices and an exhibition game with a pulled calf muscle and immediately practiced with the starting unit.
"That had nothing to do with the injury (to Underwood)," McCarthy said. "Truth be known, he might have been able to go last week. This is all off of his rehab. That takes priority when a player comes back."
Signed as a free agent from the Seattle Seahawks because of his knowledge of the game and leadership ability, Manuel didn't have much trouble assimilating himself on defense. During much of his time out of the lineup he would stand on the sideline and instruct players on what they were doing wrong and what to expect from the offense.
"We call him 'Coach,' " cornerback Al Harris said.
Manuel looked to be a step slow on a couple of balls in the middle and showed some frustration with not having his timing down. It's obvious he's going to have to work himself back into football shape in the coming weeks.
"Hopefully, I can do a little more every day," Manuel said. "I feel all right. A lot of things I still need to work on, my angles on top and different things you normally get done in training camp."
Manuel worked with Nick Collins on the first-team unit and Tyrone Culver and Tra Boger worked with the No. 2s. Culver and Boger split turns filling in for Manuel when he left early to put ice on his calf.
Right is right: After a week or so of playing left tackle, Junius Coston was back on the right side in practice, working as the right tackle with the No. 2 unit.
Coston never showed he could handle the difficult left tackle position and after getting knocked around against the Chargers, the coaches decided to move him back to the other side. He was originally a candidate for the right guard job but it appears he'll be working at right tackle for a while.
"I hesitate to say he's finished (at left tackle) in the state we're in," offensive line coach Joe Philbin said. "I don't know I could unequivocally say that. I'd like to say we'd like to keep him on the right side. He might be a little more comfortable there."
Fight game: The offensive line might have taken its lumps Saturday but it was trying to deliver them Monday.
In three separate incidents during one-on-one pass rushing drills, offensive linemen squared off with their teammates on the defensive line.
Defensive tackle Ryan Pickett and tackle Josh Bourke got face-to-face before teammates broke things up, then near the end of the drill Bourke and end Dave Tollefson skirmished after Bourke pushed Tollefson down.
On the next play, defensive end Jason Hunter threw tackle Todd Williams to the ground and Williams came up fighting mad. The two pushed and shoved and it took a considerable number of players to separate them.
Bruised but not broken: Running back Samkon Gado tried to persuade the training staff to let him run but, worried that he would aggravate a groin pull he suffered Saturday against the Chargers, they said no.
Gado said he felt much better than after the game and wanted to see if he could run, but he was limited to stretching and riding the bike.
"I just wanted to jog; they won't even let me do that," he said. "If I felt good jogging, (I would) push it as far as I could. But the rule of thumb is they wait 48 hours before they do anything and it hasn't been 48 hours yet. But if I feel this good before 48 hours, then I feel very optimistic about getting back on the field real soon."
Eye of the beholder: Asked if he found any positives in the 17-3 loss to San Diego, McCarthy said a few.
"I thought they battled," he said. "I thought there were situational things, but we were inconsistent. We need to string plays together, take away the big plays from the defensive side of it, and obviously the sacks and things like that that are so disruptive on an offensive drive. A few individuals played well."
tsilverstein@journalsentinel.com
Posted: Aug. 14, 2006
Green Bay - If all goes right, Green Bay Packers running back Ahman Green will make his season debut in a Monday night exhibition game against the Cincinnati Bengals Aug. 28
After taking part in his first full-team workout, Green said the plan was to continue to increase his workload and see if he was physically ready to play in the third exhibition game. Up until Monday, Green, who is recovering from a ruptured right thigh tendon, was taking part only in individual drills.
"Right now our goal is to see how I feel Monday night at Cincinnati," Green said. "If that doesn't work, we'll wait until (the regular-season opener against) Chicago. Right now we're hitting all our goals and that makes me happy. It's been one day at a time."
Though he probably could have taken part in contact at an earlier date, the training staff is taking things slowly with Green to make sure there are no complications. Green said he had happily complied with the wishes of the trainers and doctors because he sees no need to take unnecessary chances.
The Packers practiced in shorts and helmets in the afternoon, but today Green is expected to take part in the fully padded night practice. It will be just another step in a long path to recovery for the starting running back.
"It's easy to look good when you're just in helmets," said Green, who was activated from the physically unable to perform list Aug. 7. "This was the first day for me taking a full practice and now we'll just continue to take more small steps with contact and getting ready for the regular season.
"I will see the progress when I start getting tackled and start going through more contact in practice. Today was a good day. My goal is just to go forward and have no setbacks."
Both coach Mike McCarthy and offensive coordinator Jeff Jagodzinski thought Green looked good carrying the football and were encouraged about his progress.
"I think he looks great," McCarthy said. "I think the level of practice goes up when you put a player of his magnitude in there. We're going to practice him once a day this week and assess how he does and look at next week probably doing a little more."
In addition to Green working in full-team drills, linebacker Brady Poppinga was back in action and hoping to get a shot at playing in the Cincinnati game. Poppinga, who is coming back from a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his knee, said he was more than ready to play in a game and would like to suit up this weekend against Atlanta.
But he said he doubted the doctors would allow him to do it and was hoping to get in the next week. Like Green, he is expected to practice in full pads today.
Sidelined no more: It sure seemed like a coincidence that safety Marquand Manuel's long-awaited debut just happened to occur two days after the Packers lost safety Marviel Underwood for the season with two torn knee ligaments.
Manuel was activated from the physically unable to perform list after missing 19 practices and an exhibition game with a pulled calf muscle and immediately practiced with the starting unit.
"That had nothing to do with the injury (to Underwood)," McCarthy said. "Truth be known, he might have been able to go last week. This is all off of his rehab. That takes priority when a player comes back."
Signed as a free agent from the Seattle Seahawks because of his knowledge of the game and leadership ability, Manuel didn't have much trouble assimilating himself on defense. During much of his time out of the lineup he would stand on the sideline and instruct players on what they were doing wrong and what to expect from the offense.
"We call him 'Coach,' " cornerback Al Harris said.
Manuel looked to be a step slow on a couple of balls in the middle and showed some frustration with not having his timing down. It's obvious he's going to have to work himself back into football shape in the coming weeks.
"Hopefully, I can do a little more every day," Manuel said. "I feel all right. A lot of things I still need to work on, my angles on top and different things you normally get done in training camp."
Manuel worked with Nick Collins on the first-team unit and Tyrone Culver and Tra Boger worked with the No. 2s. Culver and Boger split turns filling in for Manuel when he left early to put ice on his calf.
Right is right: After a week or so of playing left tackle, Junius Coston was back on the right side in practice, working as the right tackle with the No. 2 unit.
Coston never showed he could handle the difficult left tackle position and after getting knocked around against the Chargers, the coaches decided to move him back to the other side. He was originally a candidate for the right guard job but it appears he'll be working at right tackle for a while.
"I hesitate to say he's finished (at left tackle) in the state we're in," offensive line coach Joe Philbin said. "I don't know I could unequivocally say that. I'd like to say we'd like to keep him on the right side. He might be a little more comfortable there."
Fight game: The offensive line might have taken its lumps Saturday but it was trying to deliver them Monday.
In three separate incidents during one-on-one pass rushing drills, offensive linemen squared off with their teammates on the defensive line.
Defensive tackle Ryan Pickett and tackle Josh Bourke got face-to-face before teammates broke things up, then near the end of the drill Bourke and end Dave Tollefson skirmished after Bourke pushed Tollefson down.
On the next play, defensive end Jason Hunter threw tackle Todd Williams to the ground and Williams came up fighting mad. The two pushed and shoved and it took a considerable number of players to separate them.
Bruised but not broken: Running back Samkon Gado tried to persuade the training staff to let him run but, worried that he would aggravate a groin pull he suffered Saturday against the Chargers, they said no.
Gado said he felt much better than after the game and wanted to see if he could run, but he was limited to stretching and riding the bike.
"I just wanted to jog; they won't even let me do that," he said. "If I felt good jogging, (I would) push it as far as I could. But the rule of thumb is they wait 48 hours before they do anything and it hasn't been 48 hours yet. But if I feel this good before 48 hours, then I feel very optimistic about getting back on the field real soon."
Eye of the beholder: Asked if he found any positives in the 17-3 loss to San Diego, McCarthy said a few.
"I thought they battled," he said. "I thought there were situational things, but we were inconsistent. We need to string plays together, take away the big plays from the defensive side of it, and obviously the sacks and things like that that are so disruptive on an offensive drive. A few individuals played well."