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An early update to this good thread from the spring... An honest question... How's Carrington doing so far?
Early riser Neal on the rise
By JASON WILDE
jwilde@espnwisconsin.com
GREEN BAY – At first, C.J. Wilson thought there might be something wrong with his roommate. Or maybe it was his fault.
Every night at their dorm on the St. Norbert College campus during the first half of Green Bay Packers training camp, Wilson would find his fellow rookie defensive end, Mike Neal, wide awake. And every morning, Wilson would find Neal ready to head over to Lambeau Field at the crack of dawn, hours before the players had to be there.
“He doesn’t sleep at all. At first, I thought it was my snoring that kept him up,” Wilson said with a laugh after practice Monday. “But he said he wasn’t my snoring. Every time I wake up in the morning, he might be looking at his playbook. Or over there doing some curls.
“He doesn’t sleep. He just waits.”
And he’s not very good at waiting, either.
“I’m always striving to take another step. Whatever I can do to help gain an extra step, I’m doing,” said Neal, a second-round pick from Purdue who attributes his fanatical work ethic to his parents, who raised him in the tough Gary, Ind., area.
“My parents just never quit. They were absolutely always finding (ways) to make our family better. I didn’t come from much. I didn’t grow up with much. But they always provided. They just taught me a lot. I’m never satisfied with where I’m at. Even if I watch film and coach was like, ‘That’s a good job’ – well, to me, it ain’t good enough. So it makes me come here on days when I don’t have to. And people are like, ‘Why are you here? Go home.’ I’m like, ‘Why go home? There ain’t nothing to do at home, so I might as well come do something.’ And if it’s going to be something to help me get better, I’m going to do that.”
That formula is working. With starting defensive end Cullen Jenkins out with a calf injury last week against Indianapolis, Neal started and played well. He figures to start again on Thursday night at Kansas City in the team’s exhibition finale.
Even when Jenkins returns for the Sept. 12 regular-season opener at Philadelphia, Neal will still have a vital role on defense. As the fourth lineman, he figures to rotate in extensively during games, in an effort to keep Jenkins, Ryan Pickett and B.J. Raji fresh. He’ll play both in the base defense (three linemen) and in the nickel package (two linemen, usually paired with Raji or Jenkins).
Asked if he is pleased with how Neal has played so far in preseason, coach Mike McCarthy couldn’t answer quickly enough Monday.
“I sure am. We are very pleased with Mike Neal,” McCarthy said. “I thought right away in the first preseason game, we were very happy with what he showed in base and I think he is getting even better in the sub packages. I think his inside pass rush has really picked up, and I really like the way Mike goes about his business.
“You are in there early in the morning and he is one of the first guys in there, eating breakfast. He brings a real blue-collar approach to work every day and you love to see that in our rookies.”
None takes it to the level of Neal, though.
“I just don’t sleep. I’m up all the time,” Neal said. “(Wilson) always goes, ‘We don’t have to be there until 10.’ Well, at 6:45, he’s like, ‘You leaving already?’ I’m like, ‘I might as well.’ I might as well be here trying to get my body ready for every practice, every game.”
In addition to his odd schedule, Neal is also known for his freakish strength, something he also inherited from his dad. Neal bench-pressed 510 pounds as a senior at Purdue, but he still isn’t as strong as his dad, Michael, a 45-year-old fire fighter in Gary who once benched 525 pounds during the World Police and Fire Games. Like father, like son.
“We call him Bam-Bam. That little strong baby on the Flintstones? Yeah, that’s him,” Jenkins said. “He’s a good kid. He’s strong as heck, real explosive. He’s one of the best D-linemen that I’ve seen come in as a rookie, ready to contribute right away. It’s pretty impressive some of the things he can do and he’s still raw and he’s still getting used to this stuff, so he’s only going to get better.”
For Neal, the challenge is to harness that strength and couple it with sound technique. That’s one way he spends those early mornings and late nights, making sure he’s using more than just his brute strength.
“He’s probably used to using his strength, but he has a lot of other tools, too,” Jenkins said. “I don’t know if he understands it yet, but he’s only going to get better. As time goes on, he’s going to start to understand the game and how to play. He’s fast, he’s explosive off the ball. Once he really understands how to tie everything together, with his quickness and his strength, he’s going to be unbelievable.”
By JASON WILDE
jwilde@espnwisconsin.com
GREEN BAY – At first, C.J. Wilson thought there might be something wrong with his roommate. Or maybe it was his fault.
Every night at their dorm on the St. Norbert College campus during the first half of Green Bay Packers training camp, Wilson would find his fellow rookie defensive end, Mike Neal, wide awake. And every morning, Wilson would find Neal ready to head over to Lambeau Field at the crack of dawn, hours before the players had to be there.
“He doesn’t sleep at all. At first, I thought it was my snoring that kept him up,” Wilson said with a laugh after practice Monday. “But he said he wasn’t my snoring. Every time I wake up in the morning, he might be looking at his playbook. Or over there doing some curls.
“He doesn’t sleep. He just waits.”
And he’s not very good at waiting, either.
“I’m always striving to take another step. Whatever I can do to help gain an extra step, I’m doing,” said Neal, a second-round pick from Purdue who attributes his fanatical work ethic to his parents, who raised him in the tough Gary, Ind., area.
“My parents just never quit. They were absolutely always finding (ways) to make our family better. I didn’t come from much. I didn’t grow up with much. But they always provided. They just taught me a lot. I’m never satisfied with where I’m at. Even if I watch film and coach was like, ‘That’s a good job’ – well, to me, it ain’t good enough. So it makes me come here on days when I don’t have to. And people are like, ‘Why are you here? Go home.’ I’m like, ‘Why go home? There ain’t nothing to do at home, so I might as well come do something.’ And if it’s going to be something to help me get better, I’m going to do that.”
That formula is working. With starting defensive end Cullen Jenkins out with a calf injury last week against Indianapolis, Neal started and played well. He figures to start again on Thursday night at Kansas City in the team’s exhibition finale.
Even when Jenkins returns for the Sept. 12 regular-season opener at Philadelphia, Neal will still have a vital role on defense. As the fourth lineman, he figures to rotate in extensively during games, in an effort to keep Jenkins, Ryan Pickett and B.J. Raji fresh. He’ll play both in the base defense (three linemen) and in the nickel package (two linemen, usually paired with Raji or Jenkins).
Asked if he is pleased with how Neal has played so far in preseason, coach Mike McCarthy couldn’t answer quickly enough Monday.
“I sure am. We are very pleased with Mike Neal,” McCarthy said. “I thought right away in the first preseason game, we were very happy with what he showed in base and I think he is getting even better in the sub packages. I think his inside pass rush has really picked up, and I really like the way Mike goes about his business.
“You are in there early in the morning and he is one of the first guys in there, eating breakfast. He brings a real blue-collar approach to work every day and you love to see that in our rookies.”
None takes it to the level of Neal, though.
“I just don’t sleep. I’m up all the time,” Neal said. “(Wilson) always goes, ‘We don’t have to be there until 10.’ Well, at 6:45, he’s like, ‘You leaving already?’ I’m like, ‘I might as well.’ I might as well be here trying to get my body ready for every practice, every game.”
In addition to his odd schedule, Neal is also known for his freakish strength, something he also inherited from his dad. Neal bench-pressed 510 pounds as a senior at Purdue, but he still isn’t as strong as his dad, Michael, a 45-year-old fire fighter in Gary who once benched 525 pounds during the World Police and Fire Games. Like father, like son.
“We call him Bam-Bam. That little strong baby on the Flintstones? Yeah, that’s him,” Jenkins said. “He’s a good kid. He’s strong as heck, real explosive. He’s one of the best D-linemen that I’ve seen come in as a rookie, ready to contribute right away. It’s pretty impressive some of the things he can do and he’s still raw and he’s still getting used to this stuff, so he’s only going to get better.”
For Neal, the challenge is to harness that strength and couple it with sound technique. That’s one way he spends those early mornings and late nights, making sure he’s using more than just his brute strength.
“He’s probably used to using his strength, but he has a lot of other tools, too,” Jenkins said. “I don’t know if he understands it yet, but he’s only going to get better. As time goes on, he’s going to start to understand the game and how to play. He’s fast, he’s explosive off the ball. Once he really understands how to tie everything together, with his quickness and his strength, he’s going to be unbelievable.”
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