HarveyWallbangers
09-11-2007, 11:29 PM
Jarrett, that is. From the hometown newspapers anyways.
Bush looks like a different player
By JASON WILDE, Wisconsin State Journal
GREEN BAY -- When Jarrett Bush arrived in town a year ago, his coaches weren't exactly sure what to make of him.
Green Bay Packers general manager Ted Thompson had picked Bush up on waivers from the Carolina Panthers, and while the undrafted rookie free agent cornerback had impressed the Panthers' coaching staff, Bush didn't exactly make a good impression on his new employers.
"We got him the week we played Chicago, the first week of the season," special teams coordinator Mike Stock said. "And if you looked at that performance in that first week, you'd say, Jeez, is he going to stay on the team?'
"But every week from that point on, he worked hard to improve in the elements he needed to. And if you watched him play in the last four games of the (2006) season, and then you watched Sunday's performance -- he played more on defense, too -- you'd say, 'Wow, this kid has grown up big-time.' ' '
While cornerbacks coach and legendary nice-guy Lionel Washington is a little more forgiving in his initial assessment of Bush -- "It's been a process," Washington said -- he sees Bush 's improvement the same way Stock does.
"Since that (first) day, he's a kid who's worked extremely hard. And as a result, things are starting to come a little easier for him," Washington said. "He's a guy that you can tell him something and he takes it to the field with him. In that sense, Jarrett has really stepped his game up."
Never was that more evident than Sunday, when Bush was arguably the Packers' MVP in their 16-13 season-opening win over Philadelphia. While rookie kicker Mason Crosby kicked three field goals, including the winner with 2 seconds left, Bush set up that field goal by recovering a muffed punt with 59 seconds to go.
That play capped a productive day for Bush, who also forced a fumble on a first-quarter punt that led to the Packers' only touchdown and played 52 snaps on defense -- 38 as the No. 3 cornerback in the nickel and dime defenses and 14 while filling in for Al Harris after Harris suffered an elbow injury.
Harris said Bush's role is "very important, because whoever the third corner is, he's going to get a lot of balls thrown at him. If you 've got a weak link, in passing situations, they 're going to try to exploit that third corner."
While Bush wasn't perfect from scrimmage -- his worst play came early in the fourth quarter, when he gave up a 14-yard completion -- he appears to be a vast improvement over last year 's third cornerbacks, Ahmad Carroll (cut last October) and Patrick Dendy (cut at the end of camp).
"I'm real pleased with the way he played," Washington said. "You lose a guy with the experience of Al Harris, and (while) Jarrett is in his first time of really playing significant time -- last year total he might 've had 15 plays (from scrimmage) -- it didn't bother me for one second."
He's come a long ways
That's saying a lot given where Bush was last season, when he played primarily on special teams because, while more athletically gifted than Dendy, he didn't know the defense as well. To make sure that wasn't a problem this year, Bush spent virtually the entire offseason in Green Bay rather than going home to Vacaville, Calif.
"That gave me time to sit down and watch film with my coaches plus a minicamp and the OTAs (organized team activity practices) to go through the defense again and learn it from A to Z," Bush said. "Because when we came in, I learned it from, what, R on? Now that I know the base of the defense, I can play fast now. I don't have to worry about the playbook. It comes naturally. Instead of thinking, I'm just playing."
And playing well. Thompson actually liked Bush leading up to the 2006 NFL draft, but only had two sixth-round picks (which he used on defensive tackle Johnny Jolly and safety Tyrone Culver) and one seventh-rounder (defensive end Dave Tollefson, since released) to spend.
"We didn't like him enough, nor did anybody else, apparently," Thompson said. "But then we watched some tape on him in Carolina."
What they saw from the Panthers' preseason games impressed them. Although Bush had never played on a winning team -- Utah State went 3-8 his two years there, and American River (Calif.) Junior College went 0-10 his freshman year and was below .500 his sophomore season -- he competed and made plays.
A guy who competes
But because the Panthers already had three veteran corners (Chris Gamble, Ken Lucas and Reggie Howard) and used a second-round pick on Fresno State's Richard Marshall, there wasn't any room for Bush. Carolina wanted him for its practice squad, but the Packers, Dallas Cowboys and Tampa Bay Buccaneers claimed him after he was waived, and he went to the Packers by virtue of their 4-12 record in '05. Thompson said it was Bush's potential that intrigued him.
"We liked the way he looked and we liked the way he played the game," Thompson said. "I think he's one of those guys -- and we have several on our team -- that has greatly improved his whole physical makeup and his play over the offseason and all the OTAs and the minicamps. We think he's a result of a lot of that, and he's a prime example of it.
"(Cornerback) is a very difficult position to play, so it doesn't mean he's going to be flawless and he's not going to get beat from time to time. But he's played very well."
Added defensive coordinator Bob Sanders: "He's been very, very solid. He's advanced an awful, awful lot since he first came on (the roster)."
And the Packers expect those advancements to continue. While the 6-foot, 197-pound Bush adds something the Packers sometimes lack -- personality and flair, as he showed when he picked off two passes in the Aug. 18 preseason game against Seattle -- he also realizes he can't get complacent and has to be reliable to further expand his role.
"I'm just looking at it as, this business is anything goes. At Carolina, I thought I was going to make the roster and I didn't. So that hurt, when I got cut. I can't take it for granted like I did there," Bush said.
"What they're looking for is consistency. If you're up-and-down, you're not consistent, you might give up big plays, and they're not certain of what they're going to get this week. Al, you know what you get from Al every week. That's why he's a great player. That's what they want, and that's what I want to be."
Bush looks like a different player
By JASON WILDE, Wisconsin State Journal
GREEN BAY -- When Jarrett Bush arrived in town a year ago, his coaches weren't exactly sure what to make of him.
Green Bay Packers general manager Ted Thompson had picked Bush up on waivers from the Carolina Panthers, and while the undrafted rookie free agent cornerback had impressed the Panthers' coaching staff, Bush didn't exactly make a good impression on his new employers.
"We got him the week we played Chicago, the first week of the season," special teams coordinator Mike Stock said. "And if you looked at that performance in that first week, you'd say, Jeez, is he going to stay on the team?'
"But every week from that point on, he worked hard to improve in the elements he needed to. And if you watched him play in the last four games of the (2006) season, and then you watched Sunday's performance -- he played more on defense, too -- you'd say, 'Wow, this kid has grown up big-time.' ' '
While cornerbacks coach and legendary nice-guy Lionel Washington is a little more forgiving in his initial assessment of Bush -- "It's been a process," Washington said -- he sees Bush 's improvement the same way Stock does.
"Since that (first) day, he's a kid who's worked extremely hard. And as a result, things are starting to come a little easier for him," Washington said. "He's a guy that you can tell him something and he takes it to the field with him. In that sense, Jarrett has really stepped his game up."
Never was that more evident than Sunday, when Bush was arguably the Packers' MVP in their 16-13 season-opening win over Philadelphia. While rookie kicker Mason Crosby kicked three field goals, including the winner with 2 seconds left, Bush set up that field goal by recovering a muffed punt with 59 seconds to go.
That play capped a productive day for Bush, who also forced a fumble on a first-quarter punt that led to the Packers' only touchdown and played 52 snaps on defense -- 38 as the No. 3 cornerback in the nickel and dime defenses and 14 while filling in for Al Harris after Harris suffered an elbow injury.
Harris said Bush's role is "very important, because whoever the third corner is, he's going to get a lot of balls thrown at him. If you 've got a weak link, in passing situations, they 're going to try to exploit that third corner."
While Bush wasn't perfect from scrimmage -- his worst play came early in the fourth quarter, when he gave up a 14-yard completion -- he appears to be a vast improvement over last year 's third cornerbacks, Ahmad Carroll (cut last October) and Patrick Dendy (cut at the end of camp).
"I'm real pleased with the way he played," Washington said. "You lose a guy with the experience of Al Harris, and (while) Jarrett is in his first time of really playing significant time -- last year total he might 've had 15 plays (from scrimmage) -- it didn't bother me for one second."
He's come a long ways
That's saying a lot given where Bush was last season, when he played primarily on special teams because, while more athletically gifted than Dendy, he didn't know the defense as well. To make sure that wasn't a problem this year, Bush spent virtually the entire offseason in Green Bay rather than going home to Vacaville, Calif.
"That gave me time to sit down and watch film with my coaches plus a minicamp and the OTAs (organized team activity practices) to go through the defense again and learn it from A to Z," Bush said. "Because when we came in, I learned it from, what, R on? Now that I know the base of the defense, I can play fast now. I don't have to worry about the playbook. It comes naturally. Instead of thinking, I'm just playing."
And playing well. Thompson actually liked Bush leading up to the 2006 NFL draft, but only had two sixth-round picks (which he used on defensive tackle Johnny Jolly and safety Tyrone Culver) and one seventh-rounder (defensive end Dave Tollefson, since released) to spend.
"We didn't like him enough, nor did anybody else, apparently," Thompson said. "But then we watched some tape on him in Carolina."
What they saw from the Panthers' preseason games impressed them. Although Bush had never played on a winning team -- Utah State went 3-8 his two years there, and American River (Calif.) Junior College went 0-10 his freshman year and was below .500 his sophomore season -- he competed and made plays.
A guy who competes
But because the Panthers already had three veteran corners (Chris Gamble, Ken Lucas and Reggie Howard) and used a second-round pick on Fresno State's Richard Marshall, there wasn't any room for Bush. Carolina wanted him for its practice squad, but the Packers, Dallas Cowboys and Tampa Bay Buccaneers claimed him after he was waived, and he went to the Packers by virtue of their 4-12 record in '05. Thompson said it was Bush's potential that intrigued him.
"We liked the way he looked and we liked the way he played the game," Thompson said. "I think he's one of those guys -- and we have several on our team -- that has greatly improved his whole physical makeup and his play over the offseason and all the OTAs and the minicamps. We think he's a result of a lot of that, and he's a prime example of it.
"(Cornerback) is a very difficult position to play, so it doesn't mean he's going to be flawless and he's not going to get beat from time to time. But he's played very well."
Added defensive coordinator Bob Sanders: "He's been very, very solid. He's advanced an awful, awful lot since he first came on (the roster)."
And the Packers expect those advancements to continue. While the 6-foot, 197-pound Bush adds something the Packers sometimes lack -- personality and flair, as he showed when he picked off two passes in the Aug. 18 preseason game against Seattle -- he also realizes he can't get complacent and has to be reliable to further expand his role.
"I'm just looking at it as, this business is anything goes. At Carolina, I thought I was going to make the roster and I didn't. So that hurt, when I got cut. I can't take it for granted like I did there," Bush said.
"What they're looking for is consistency. If you're up-and-down, you're not consistent, you might give up big plays, and they're not certain of what they're going to get this week. Al, you know what you get from Al every week. That's why he's a great player. That's what they want, and that's what I want to be."