Tweet
Packers' Pickett shows up for workouts
CHRIS JENKINS
Associated Press
GREEN BAY, Wis. - He's a couple of weeks behind and a few pounds overweight, but one of the Green Bay Packers' top offseason acquisitions is back in town and wants to make a good impression.
After missing the first nine days of organized team activity workouts this month, defensive tackle Ryan Pickett practiced with the team on Thursday.
Although he wasn't willing to go into detail about "the ordeal" he said kept him away from workouts, Pickett said he wished he could have been working out with the team instead of dealing with whatever it was he was dealing with.
"I feel like I let my team down by not being here," Pickett said. "I had issues I had to deal with. I just wish I could have been here with them, to go through what they've been going through. It hurt me that I couldn't be here."
Pickett, who signed a four-year, $14 million deal with approximately $5 million in bonuses in March, certainly isn't the only Packers player who can't claim perfect offseason attendance.
Projected starting cornerbacks Charles Woodson - the team's biggest free agent acquisition - and Al Harris still haven't shown up for voluntary workouts, and other high-profile players have attended sporadically.
But Pickett said he wanted to be here to show leadership.
"I mean it," Pickett said. "I take it on myself. I want to be a leader and stuff like that. A leader don't miss this many days, so I'm kind of hard on myself. But at the same time I had stuff I had to deal with."
Pickett thanked his new coaches for being understanding and supportive - including head coach Mike McCarthy, who has made a point of emphasizing offseason attendance and bristled at questions about absent players, but apparently still welcomed Pickett back "just like I never left" on Thursday morning.
"I talked to him a few times," Pickett said of McCarthy. "He's called me to let me know he's supporting me and things like that. He is very supportive and to have a supportive coach like that is awesome."
McCarthy was not scheduled to talk to the media on Thursday, but said on Tuesday that he expected Pickett to show up. McCarthy said he didn't expect Harris - who is believed to be unhappy with his contract, although McCarthy has downplayed such talk - to show up this month, and that Woodson's participation was "up in the air." Workouts conclude next week.
Player absences haven't seemed to cause much of a stir among the majority of players who are here, and Pickett's new teammates apparently haven't held his absence against him.
"They were welcoming me back, and I thank God for that because they could have been kind of mad," Pickett said. "But all the players welcomed me back with smiles, hugs. So it felt pretty good."
Pickett said he didn't feel like he was behind in terms of learning the team's defensive scheme but wished he could have been around to show his loyalty to his new teammates.
"I think it's more important to show your teammates that you're a guy they can rely on, especially being new like I am," Pickett said. "A lot of these guys don't know me. You want to let them know that you're going to be there throughout the year, thick and thin. It's more of a bonding thing."
Pickett's conditioning still isn't where his coaches want it to be. He said coaches want him to play at 325, meaning he has about 10 pounds to lose.
But even with the extra weight, Pickett said he didn't feel particularly rusty on Thursday.
"I got in there," Pickett said. "As a matter of fact, coach threw me in there for extra reps to check my wind and I think I held up pretty good."
Defensive coordinator Bob Sanders said it was hard to judge Pickett's conditioning after one practice, but said it was evident he had been studying the scheme while he was away.
"He had no problem mentally," Sanders said.
Once Pickett gets into shape, Sanders expects him to contribute in several ways.
"He's a guy that can anchor, but he shows athleticism in the pass rush as well," Sanders said.
As for picking the Packers after five seasons in St. Louis, Pickett said he doesn't feel any regrets.
"Right away, I knew I wanted to come here," Pickett said. "I met some of the players, and coaches, and I like the vision, and where this team is headed. We won't be 4-12 again. I'm confident about that."
Comment