woodbuck27
06-19-2007, 02:45 PM
http://www.packersnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070619/PKR01/706190434/1950
Posted June 19, 2007
McCarthy's Year 2 goal? A good start
By Rob Demovsky
rdemovsk@greenbaypressgazette.com
If Mike McCarthy could have one do-over from his rookie season as an NFL head coach, he'd probably go back to late August.
The Green Bay Packers had eight days between their second and third preseason games, and McCarthy put them through nearly a full week of practice, including six straight days of regular training camp workouts. The Packers subsequently were blown out, 48-17 by the Cincinnati Bengals, in what is typically the most important exhibition game because the starters see most of the playing time.
That seemed to start a downward spiral that included the Week 1 shutout loss to the Chicago Bears at home and a 1-4 start.
Hindsight told McCarthy he overworked his team during the dog days of training camp, something he admitted on Monday, a day before his team was to conclude organized team activities — the last official workouts before training camp opens on July 28.
When McCarthy revealed his 2007 training camp schedule on Monday, it reflected the one mulligan McCarthy wishes he had last season.
This summer, the Packers never will practice more than four straight days, and McCarthy has opted to give the players three Wednesdays off from practice. On Aug. 1, 8 and 15, players will report for meetings and film review sessions in the morning with players getting the afternoon and evening off. All three Wednesdays follow a two-a-day practice schedule that will be the same as last year (an 8:45 morning practice in shells and a 6:30 evening session in full pads).
"I go back to rest and recovery," McCarthy said.
"That's something I was critical of myself last year."
In all, the Packers will have three fewer training camp practices than last year but McCarthy said his players will lose only about 100 total reps.
The Packers also will finish the preseason one day earlier (on Aug. 30 at Tennessee) than last year, giving McCarthy an extra day to prepare for the regular-season opener against Philadelphia on Sept. 9.
"That's clearly the focus," McCarthy said.
"We need to start fast. That's been a problem here of late, particularly last year. We'll be fresh coming out of training camp, especially with us playing at Tennessee on that Thursday night, so no excuses."
The subtle change in the training camp schedule is just one of the differences in Year 2 under McCarthy, whose team won its final four games last season to finish 8-8. There have been small changes in the offseason strength/conditioning program and adjustments in scheme and game planning.
"I certainly think we're in better position now than we were a year ago," veteran long snapper Rob Davis said.
"I know we lost some key players and we need to replace those guys in a hurry, but I think the confidence level should be a little higher, which should equate to a faster start."
Perhaps the biggest difference, however, is simply that there's continuity on the coaching staff, meaning schemes are being tweaked instead of taught.
"We're clearly a lot further ahead than we were last year at this time," McCarthy said.
"That's very obvious when you look out there on the football field (and see) the improvement a number of our players have made since last year. Just the way we practice — our practices are better. I think that's part of where we are as a football team and how much of the offense, defense and special teams that we have in. Everything we're going to use next year is in.
"Last year, we accomplished the same thing, but I think we did a lot better job this year of eliminating things and cutting the volume down as tight as we can get it."
That has allowed the coaches to work on game-specific looks and situations during this month's OTA sessions.
"Like today, we (worked against) a 3-4 (defense); we did some Bear defense; we got two goal-line looks when last year we only did one," offensive coordinator Joe Philbin said after Monday's practice. "We're throwing a lot at these guys, so I feel good about what we've accomplished. I don't think we had that kind of time or opportunity last spring."
Same thing for the defense, which has the same coordinator in consecutive seasons for the first time since 2003.
"I think we're definitely ahead," defensive coordinator Bob Sanders said.
"We've gotten to see some things, too, which allows us to hone in on some areas where we may have been a little light in the package and maybe eliminate some stuff where we were a little heavy in the package."
Posted June 19, 2007
McCarthy's Year 2 goal? A good start
By Rob Demovsky
rdemovsk@greenbaypressgazette.com
If Mike McCarthy could have one do-over from his rookie season as an NFL head coach, he'd probably go back to late August.
The Green Bay Packers had eight days between their second and third preseason games, and McCarthy put them through nearly a full week of practice, including six straight days of regular training camp workouts. The Packers subsequently were blown out, 48-17 by the Cincinnati Bengals, in what is typically the most important exhibition game because the starters see most of the playing time.
That seemed to start a downward spiral that included the Week 1 shutout loss to the Chicago Bears at home and a 1-4 start.
Hindsight told McCarthy he overworked his team during the dog days of training camp, something he admitted on Monday, a day before his team was to conclude organized team activities — the last official workouts before training camp opens on July 28.
When McCarthy revealed his 2007 training camp schedule on Monday, it reflected the one mulligan McCarthy wishes he had last season.
This summer, the Packers never will practice more than four straight days, and McCarthy has opted to give the players three Wednesdays off from practice. On Aug. 1, 8 and 15, players will report for meetings and film review sessions in the morning with players getting the afternoon and evening off. All three Wednesdays follow a two-a-day practice schedule that will be the same as last year (an 8:45 morning practice in shells and a 6:30 evening session in full pads).
"I go back to rest and recovery," McCarthy said.
"That's something I was critical of myself last year."
In all, the Packers will have three fewer training camp practices than last year but McCarthy said his players will lose only about 100 total reps.
The Packers also will finish the preseason one day earlier (on Aug. 30 at Tennessee) than last year, giving McCarthy an extra day to prepare for the regular-season opener against Philadelphia on Sept. 9.
"That's clearly the focus," McCarthy said.
"We need to start fast. That's been a problem here of late, particularly last year. We'll be fresh coming out of training camp, especially with us playing at Tennessee on that Thursday night, so no excuses."
The subtle change in the training camp schedule is just one of the differences in Year 2 under McCarthy, whose team won its final four games last season to finish 8-8. There have been small changes in the offseason strength/conditioning program and adjustments in scheme and game planning.
"I certainly think we're in better position now than we were a year ago," veteran long snapper Rob Davis said.
"I know we lost some key players and we need to replace those guys in a hurry, but I think the confidence level should be a little higher, which should equate to a faster start."
Perhaps the biggest difference, however, is simply that there's continuity on the coaching staff, meaning schemes are being tweaked instead of taught.
"We're clearly a lot further ahead than we were last year at this time," McCarthy said.
"That's very obvious when you look out there on the football field (and see) the improvement a number of our players have made since last year. Just the way we practice — our practices are better. I think that's part of where we are as a football team and how much of the offense, defense and special teams that we have in. Everything we're going to use next year is in.
"Last year, we accomplished the same thing, but I think we did a lot better job this year of eliminating things and cutting the volume down as tight as we can get it."
That has allowed the coaches to work on game-specific looks and situations during this month's OTA sessions.
"Like today, we (worked against) a 3-4 (defense); we did some Bear defense; we got two goal-line looks when last year we only did one," offensive coordinator Joe Philbin said after Monday's practice. "We're throwing a lot at these guys, so I feel good about what we've accomplished. I don't think we had that kind of time or opportunity last spring."
Same thing for the defense, which has the same coordinator in consecutive seasons for the first time since 2003.
"I think we're definitely ahead," defensive coordinator Bob Sanders said.
"We've gotten to see some things, too, which allows us to hone in on some areas where we may have been a little light in the package and maybe eliminate some stuff where we were a little heavy in the package."