motife
09-04-2007, 05:09 PM
http://www.madison.com/wsj/home/sports/index.php?ntid=216515&ntpid=1
Packers: Jolly delivers at defensive tackle
By JASON WILDE 608-252-6176
jwilde@madison.com
GREEN BAY — As he stood on the sideline the first few days of training camp, drenched in sweat and frustration, Johnny Jolly knew it was only temporary. And so did the Green Bay Packers' coaching staff.
For while no one outside the organization had a clue of what was in store for the second-year defensive tackle, the Packers did.
Where everyone else saw the 2006 sixth-round pick for what he was — a relatively unknown player who flunked his pre-camp conditioning test and was facing long odds at a deep position — defensive tackles coach Robert Nunn and defensive coordinator Bob Sanders saw a potential difference-maker in the middle of the line.
And Jolly knew it was only a matter of time before everyone else found out what the Packers knew.
"I was disappointed, but I knew once I got back into pads everything would be all right," Jolly said. "The run test, I cramped up. I didn't expect it to happen, but it happened.
"I would call it a minor setback for a major comeback."
Big impression
Major comeback is right. Jolly is likely to start alongside Ryan Pickett at defensive tackle in Sunday's regular-season opener against the Philadelphia Eagles at Lambeau Field.
"(Jolly) just continued to get better," Sanders said. "He had a good offseason, and he had a very good camp."
Jolly wasn't the only one, of course. The Packers saw fit to keep an astonishing six defensive tackles on their 53-man roster — Pickett, Jolly, Corey Williams, Colin Cole, undrafted rookie Daniel Muir and first-round pick Justin Harrell — and the coaches plan on rotating the top four in and out of the starting lineup week-to-week, based on matchups.
"In my opinion, honest to goodness, we've got four starters inside," Nunn said. "And so we're going to mix that up (based on) game-plan, where each game we'll get matchups to where we want them. We're fortunate there."
Still, it was Jolly that made the most remarkable impression. And Nunn believes Jolly would have made a similar mark last year in camp if not for an ankle injury from his senior season at Texas A&M.
The ankle bothered him throughout the pre-draft process — he ran a disappointing 5.45-second 40-yard dash at the scouting combine — and was at least part of the reason Jolly fell to the 183rd overall pick, despite being a three-year starter for the Aggies. Scouts also questioned his effort and smarts.
"We watched the guy on tape, and this guy showed up in the big games they played in. We couldn't believe he was still there as late as he was," Nunn said. "He came (into camp) last year and had the ankle, (but) he kept flashing things. We knew it was coming. We just had to get him healthy. We were fortunate enough that we didn't have to lean on him that much until he got healthy. At the end of the year, he started showing up."
Jolly was inactive for the first five regular-season games last year, then saw limited time against Miami and Arizona in October. He was deactivated for the next five games, but played in the final four — all of which the Packers won — and finished with two tackles and one pass defended in the season finale at Chicago.
Nunn said Jolly improved his lower-body strength during offseason training and headed home to Houston after the June organized team activity practices in excellent shape.
Father figure
Once home, though, he was faced with a difficult family situation following the death of 34-year-old Keisha Beekam, who was raised by Jolly's mother and was like an older sister to him.
Beekam was murdered in a robbery attempt in Shreveport, La., a month earlier, and the 24-year-old Jolly had already been serving as a father figure to Beekam's 8-year-old twin boys, in addition to Beekam's older son, a senior in high school, and daughter, also a high-schooler.
"She has two sons who are (essentially) my nephews, so I take care of those guys like they're my sons. They call me 'Dad,"' Jolly said. "That's my heart. I love those two guys. They've been through a lot. I just want to be there for them."
Jolly wanted to bring the boys to Green Bay for the season, but he decided uprooting them from their school in Houston wouldn't be best. For now, the boys are staying with Jolly's mother but they might move to Green Bay for next school year.
"I'd love to have them up here," he said. "I just don't want to put them through transferring schools and all that right now."
Jolly said Beekam's death was "a downer, but it was also a motivator," and that he knows he has to succeed in the NFL in order to provide for her children.
"Eventually, I'm going to be the one taking care of her sons, and I know she wants me to raise them right and take care of them now that she's gone," Jolly said. "I just talk to the Lord and ask him to help me push through the situation, help them push through it, and let me go out there and do the best I can do. I know I'm going to do my best and he'll take care of it.''
Packers: Jolly delivers at defensive tackle
By JASON WILDE 608-252-6176
jwilde@madison.com
GREEN BAY — As he stood on the sideline the first few days of training camp, drenched in sweat and frustration, Johnny Jolly knew it was only temporary. And so did the Green Bay Packers' coaching staff.
For while no one outside the organization had a clue of what was in store for the second-year defensive tackle, the Packers did.
Where everyone else saw the 2006 sixth-round pick for what he was — a relatively unknown player who flunked his pre-camp conditioning test and was facing long odds at a deep position — defensive tackles coach Robert Nunn and defensive coordinator Bob Sanders saw a potential difference-maker in the middle of the line.
And Jolly knew it was only a matter of time before everyone else found out what the Packers knew.
"I was disappointed, but I knew once I got back into pads everything would be all right," Jolly said. "The run test, I cramped up. I didn't expect it to happen, but it happened.
"I would call it a minor setback for a major comeback."
Big impression
Major comeback is right. Jolly is likely to start alongside Ryan Pickett at defensive tackle in Sunday's regular-season opener against the Philadelphia Eagles at Lambeau Field.
"(Jolly) just continued to get better," Sanders said. "He had a good offseason, and he had a very good camp."
Jolly wasn't the only one, of course. The Packers saw fit to keep an astonishing six defensive tackles on their 53-man roster — Pickett, Jolly, Corey Williams, Colin Cole, undrafted rookie Daniel Muir and first-round pick Justin Harrell — and the coaches plan on rotating the top four in and out of the starting lineup week-to-week, based on matchups.
"In my opinion, honest to goodness, we've got four starters inside," Nunn said. "And so we're going to mix that up (based on) game-plan, where each game we'll get matchups to where we want them. We're fortunate there."
Still, it was Jolly that made the most remarkable impression. And Nunn believes Jolly would have made a similar mark last year in camp if not for an ankle injury from his senior season at Texas A&M.
The ankle bothered him throughout the pre-draft process — he ran a disappointing 5.45-second 40-yard dash at the scouting combine — and was at least part of the reason Jolly fell to the 183rd overall pick, despite being a three-year starter for the Aggies. Scouts also questioned his effort and smarts.
"We watched the guy on tape, and this guy showed up in the big games they played in. We couldn't believe he was still there as late as he was," Nunn said. "He came (into camp) last year and had the ankle, (but) he kept flashing things. We knew it was coming. We just had to get him healthy. We were fortunate enough that we didn't have to lean on him that much until he got healthy. At the end of the year, he started showing up."
Jolly was inactive for the first five regular-season games last year, then saw limited time against Miami and Arizona in October. He was deactivated for the next five games, but played in the final four — all of which the Packers won — and finished with two tackles and one pass defended in the season finale at Chicago.
Nunn said Jolly improved his lower-body strength during offseason training and headed home to Houston after the June organized team activity practices in excellent shape.
Father figure
Once home, though, he was faced with a difficult family situation following the death of 34-year-old Keisha Beekam, who was raised by Jolly's mother and was like an older sister to him.
Beekam was murdered in a robbery attempt in Shreveport, La., a month earlier, and the 24-year-old Jolly had already been serving as a father figure to Beekam's 8-year-old twin boys, in addition to Beekam's older son, a senior in high school, and daughter, also a high-schooler.
"She has two sons who are (essentially) my nephews, so I take care of those guys like they're my sons. They call me 'Dad,"' Jolly said. "That's my heart. I love those two guys. They've been through a lot. I just want to be there for them."
Jolly wanted to bring the boys to Green Bay for the season, but he decided uprooting them from their school in Houston wouldn't be best. For now, the boys are staying with Jolly's mother but they might move to Green Bay for next school year.
"I'd love to have them up here," he said. "I just don't want to put them through transferring schools and all that right now."
Jolly said Beekam's death was "a downer, but it was also a motivator," and that he knows he has to succeed in the NFL in order to provide for her children.
"Eventually, I'm going to be the one taking care of her sons, and I know she wants me to raise them right and take care of them now that she's gone," Jolly said. "I just talk to the Lord and ask him to help me push through the situation, help them push through it, and let me go out there and do the best I can do. I know I'm going to do my best and he'll take care of it.''