More Crap from Cleft Crusty (Cliff Christl)

[K-town]

Journal Sentinel reporter Cliff Christl, who has covered the Green Bay Packers for more than four decades, provides his views on the team.





WEDNESDAY, Oct. 18, 2006, 3:05 p.m.

Waiting on Ferguson
The Packers have listed wide receiver Robert Ferguson as out of Sunday's game against Miami with a foot injury. They also had the injury scanned today and should know soon if Ferguson will be out for an extended time.

In the meantime, coach Mike McCarthy sounded as though newly signed wide receiver Chris Francies will be active Sunday. McCarthy said Francies took his reps with the offense in Wednesday's practice.







WEDNESDAY, Oct. 18, 2006, 3:01 p.m.

Blackmon update
Cornerback Will Blackmon, one of the Packers' fourth-round draft picks, participated in team drills Wednesday and is listed as questionable for Sunday's game. But it sounds as though Blackmon, who missed all of training camp, will need some practice time before he's ready for game action.







WEDNESDAY, Oct. 18, 2006, 2:59 p.m.

More on Robinson
Coach Mike McCarthy said at his Wednesday press conference that he didn't know if the Packers would give Koren Robinson another chance next season, but that he had no regrets about signing him for the past four games.

"As far as going through this process for the first time, as far as Koren Robinson's future, I can't really comment on it," said McCarthy. "That's where we stand. We wish him well. As far as what happens to him in the future, I can't get into to."

McCarthy said the Packers' knew the risk involved when they signed Robinson and called his suspension the worst case scenario.







WEDNESDAY, Oct. 18, 2006, 2:54 p.m.

Thomas on Sanders
Zach Thomas, Miami's six-time Pro Bowl linebacker, had nothing but praise for Packers' defensive coordinator Bob Sanders. Sanders served as Thomas' position coach from 2001-'04.

"I played my best football under Bob," Thomas said during a conference call Wednesday with the Wisconsin media.

Thomas said that Sanders had the defense believing in his system and playing fast. He also credited Sanders with simplifying the game for his players.

"He put a lot of time in and a lot of guys respected that," said Thomas.

Thomas also said he had great respect for former Dolphins' and Packers' defensive coordinator Jim Bates.







WEDNESDAY, Oct. 18, 2006, 2:47 p.m.

The kick return game
The great Koren Robinson experiment -- fiasco might be the better word -- apparently has left Vernand Morency and Noah Herron as the leading candidates to return kickoffs this Sunday and maybe for the rest of the season.

Rather than invest time in a player that wasn't worth the investment maybe someone in the Packers' organization should have used that time to search for a kickoff returner. Even with Robinson, the Packers ranked 27th in the league in that category.

[FritzDontBlitz]

good ol' cliff, always takin the high road.

(that was sarcasm for those who may be scoring at home)

[Rastak]

McCarthey called Koren's suspension the worst case scenario? You gotta be kidding. That was the "for sure" scenario, the worst case called for him killing himself and other people.....geez....

[MJZiggy]

Rather than invest time in a player that wasn't worth the investment maybe someone in the Packers' organization should have used that time to search for a kickoff returner. Even with Robinson, the Packers ranked 27th in the league in that category.

Ever heard of a kid named Blackmon? You know the one that should be coming off injury this week? Isn't he supposed to do some return work? AND if we were that bad, who cares if the return guy is gone?

[MadtownPacker]

Cleft Crusty is a prestigious journalist for PackerRat.com

Cliff Christl? Never heard of him.

[pbmax]

Clearly this Christl is a Cleft Crusty wannabe. He should get an original act.

[Cleft Crusty]

Hi folks. Can't say I care for the comparisons to Cliff Cristl. Compared to me, the guy is a Packer fan and optimist. He's also a lot more healthy. In his defense however, we're not able to see the practices and the Packer coaching staff is pretty quiet about who will be returning kicks on Sunday. Given that Gado, Davenport, Ferguson, Carroll, and Robinson are all unavailable, what is the concern? The blocking has been dismal. Blackmon was a player in college, but even so, I imaging Herron will be running back a lot of kicks Sunday, following all those Joey Harrington TD passes.

[Bretsky]

Cleff,

Will Herrons 5.2 speed allow him to make it to the 15yd line before he gets trampled on the kickoff ?

How can you think Harrington will light GB up when he has a career 68 passer rating. Are you still a Matt Millen Apologist ?

[b bulldog]

What in the world was MM saying when he stated that his plan for carrying 4 TE's and 2 FB's was because he felt KRob would be suspended and that these players would have the team in a position to better deal with the suspension?? Wouldn't carrying 3 TE's and one FB have been a better choice??

[b bulldog]

I love Will Henderson as much as anyone and my wife does probably more than most but do you think he could block my grandmother from getting her SS check?

[Cleft Crusty]

Cleff,

Will Herrons 5.2 speed allow him to make it to the 15yd line before he gets trampled on the kickoff ?

How can you think Harrington will light GB up when he has a career 68 passer rating. Are you still a Matt Millen Apologist ?

No one need apologize for Millen. He's had a good run as GM so far. He's been a bit snakebitten, with injuries to his WR draft picks, and Harrington not playing up to his ability. But Millen really struck gold in the draft this year and with the new head coach. THe future is bright in Detroit with a talented guy like Millen at the helm. Remember when Millen said "Antonio Freeman doesn't even know how good he's going to be yet," as a color commentator back in '95. Remember when Dick Stockton said "you may be right" See? Millen could recognize talent. That makes Millen and Stockton qualified to be NFL GMs.

[Cleft Crusty]

What in the world was MM saying when he stated that his plan for carrying 4 TE's and 2 FB's was because he felt KRob would be suspended and that these players would have the team in a position to better deal with the suspension?? Wouldn't carrying 3 TE's and one FB have been a better choice??

You've got a good point here. Why carry so many TEs if you don't use them. Lee has been on the field very infrequently. Still, the one play in the Rams game illustrates the dangers of sending 4 or more WRs into the pattern with a marginal O-line. Little was single-blocked and got to Favre in 1.5 seconds. If Martin had stayed in to block, Favre might have had more time to find a WR open. On the other hand, if Tauscher just hold the block for 1.8 seconds, Favre would have easily completed a TD pass to Martin. It's a game of inches and the Packers are measuring success in millimeters and the Bears in meters.

[Cleft Crusty]

I love Will Henderson as much as anyone and my wife does probably more than most but do you think he could block my grandmother from getting her SS check?

Interesting that you mention SS checks. The first time I was put in a hospital it was when a 72 year old lady with a walking stick clobbered me over the skull when I was trying to steal her SS check. For some reason, my grandmother never really liked me.

[FritzDontBlitz]

Cleff,

Will Herrons 5.2 speed allow him to make it to the 15yd line before he gets trampled on the kickoff ?

oh shit that is too damn funny

[FavreChild]

I don't think our return unit is advanced enough to worry about field position. With Morency and Herron - it's more like "don't fumble, don't fumble, PLEASE, for the love of god, DON'T fumble!"

It's to the point where I'm pleased if the simple step of retaining possession is achieved on the kick return.

[Fritz]

Why is it that suddenly everybody's writing about Davenpoop and Carroll like they were the next coming of Billy "White Shoes" Johnson? Davenpoop couldn't stay on the field and Carroll was a very average returner. Don't make them into something they weren't.

Besides, it's not like TT hasn't been trying. He drafted Blackmon and Cory Rodgers and traded for Morency, who has some history returning kicks.

And he'll solve it next year when he drafts Michigan's Steve Breaston in the fourth or fifth round.

[Bretsky]

Carroll stunk; he's the mirror at CB of Robert Fersuson at WR.

What people can criticize TT for is not realizing this earlier and choosing to sit on his arse during the offseason instead of signing some players to fill all the voids.

[Zool]

If Carroll ends up covering Ferguson in a game in the future, will the universe collapse into itself. The sheer amount of suck in a concentrated area cant be good.

[Partial]

If Carroll ends up covering Ferguson in a game in the future, will the universe collapse into itself. The sheer amount of suck in a concentrated area cant be good.