The NBC Movie of the Week -Jason Chery

[pbmax]

http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/sports/101820788.html

Jason Chery begs for a chance to return a kick. ST coach says no. Chery keeps asking and finally at the end of the game the regular returner is winded so Chery gets his shot. 75 yard touchdown.

He will be returning all kicks against the Chiefs, according to Bedard.

If you are a Packer's coach or personnel guy, this is both good and bad, isn't it?

[pbmax]

JSO Blog Live Blog from Greg Bedard posting as either Greg_A_Bedard or PackersLive (trademark infringement suit pending):

Packers timed Jason Chery 4.29 and 4.32 in his workout.

I blame red, Justin, Rastak and Harv that I have not been kept up to date about the Packer's newest weapon. And no, I don't know how to Google, why do you ask?

Reports have him dropping one punt from a Jugs machine during today's practice. Mike Sherman blamed his arm pads.

[vince]

I was just about to post this story, as told by Kareem Copeland of GBPG. His is a bit more detailed...

http://blogs.greenbaypressgazette.com/blogs/gpg/insider/2010/08/30/mondays-practice-the-roundup/

How Jason Chery made the most of an opportunity…
Posted by Kareem Copeland August 30th, 2010, 3:55 pm

Crazy story evolved after practice from one of the least likely sources…

Coach Mike McCarthy announced after that receiver Jason Chery would take all of the returns (punt and kickoff) against the Chiefs in the final exhibition game Thursday. Remember, Chery joined the team on Aug. 5 when Jeff Moturi was put on injured reserve.

Chery has been near the bottom of the depth chart at receiver and in special teams phases. Last week, he enters the game late in the fourth quarter to field a punt and ends up returning it 75 yards for a score.

Chery said he had to convince special teams coach Shawn Slocum into letting him on the field. Third down came around he started working on Slocum.

“I saw one of our receivers was a little winded, and it was his turn to do the punt return,” Chery said. “I told coach that he’s a little winded. Give me a chance because I’m right behind him. Give me a chance and put me back there. He said Ok, we’re going to give him a chance. But he wasn’t sure to put me in yet because he wasn’t sure of what I could do.

“I asked another coach to pull for me and tell him to give me a chance. He finally gave me a chance. … I took it and rolled with it.”

“I was on the sideline just waiting, stretching, waiting for a chance. By the time I finally went out there, everybody was on me. The whole team was rooting for me. Telling me to catch the ball, just make sure you catch the ball. Be calm and this (and that). I’m like, it’s like college all over. … I’m back there and I’m already nervous. My adrenaline is pumping. My eyes are red because I was emotional. I was like, yea finally! About time!”

“Then I said catch the ball. Soon as I caught the ball, now, what am I going to do? I just caught the ball and made one move. Coach said just make one move and hit it. I did exactly what they told me to do. I hit it and let my abilities work for itself. … That one opportunity really sparked things. Opened their eyes, like wow. They’re saying wow, and I’m saying see, see. I was here all along, just hiding.”

That was the end of hiding for Chery, especially after McCarthy’s announcement on Monday. Chery made appearances on the practice squads for the Panthers and Steelers last year, but was relatively unknown coming to Green Bay. He didn’t garner a whole lot of attention through camp. But when he walked to his locker today, nearly every reporter in the room was waiting.

“This is another chance to show what I can do,” Chery said. “To show that last week wasn’t a fluke. … Go out there, have fun and pursue my dream.”

“It was crazy to be last to, like, No. 1 now. Right now, there’s a lot of people looking to help me and push me forward. But then again, if I don’t do good there’s another guy there ready to step up. My mindset is, I’m up. Whoever’s behind me, you’re not going to take the job.”

Chery still has a lot to overcome to wind up on the 53-man roster. But the one thing he has going for him can’t be taught – speed.

“He can run. We saw that in his workout,” McCarthy said. “We had him clocked anywhere from 4.29 to 4.32, the day he worked out for us. He has tremendous speed. There’s no question about that. He plays with it in the return game, you can see that just in his time out here on the practice field and also in the game.

“But that’s a tough situation to come into a multiple offensive scheme, come from somewhere where there’s not a whole lot of carry-over terminology-wise. So it’s been a tough transition for him from a playbook standpoint in the passing game and with our offense. But he’s going to have a big opportunity here on special teams Thursday.”

[red]

hey, i was the one that was all about chery a few weeks ago after seeing him at practice. first guy out for practice, 45 minutes early. and he spent that whole time on the jugs machine.

and like i said, the kid looked natural catching punts. then in practice he didn't return any of the live action stuff

it was fun watching him practice with the jugs machine. he would catch one, then he would hold on to that ball while the next one came. if he caught the second ball he would also hold onto that one. he would tuck the extra balls under his right arm or cradle them or just hold on to them, where ever he could find a spot. i watched him catch and hold onto 5 balls in his right arm before missing one. once he missed one he would throw them all back and start over.

what was amazing was that he didn't juggle the catches at all while he literally had one arm full

compare that to shields who was also working with the jugs machine at the same time who couldn't catch one single ball clean with both free hands

the guy sounds like a very explosive player when given the chance, but it seems in his 2 years in the nfl he hasn't really been given one.

heres a snippet from a game review of his in college

Jason Chery had 335 all-purpose yards and five touchdowns – in the first half. Chery had just seven touches in the first half, two kickoff returns for 131 yards, three receptions for 123 yards and two runs for 81 yards. He scored on a 97-yard kickoff return, an 81-yard run and caught scoring passes of 17, 49 and 57 yards.

Tyrell Fenroy, who finished with 92 yards rushing, became the all-time leader in

i like the kid, and i was very excited to see him get a chance the other night. IMO he would be our 2nd best return man and a nice addition in case blackmon goes down again. but can we afford to keep 2 return specialists?

[Brandon494]

I say keep him over Swain. Do we really need a 5th WR since we have Finley? We all know Blackmon will get injuried some time in the season and Swain is not looking any better staying healthy. Atleast Cherry gives us a much needed KR/PR, what exactly is Swain so great at?

[red]

i've got to wonder who the brainiac is that left a explosive return man rot while throwing out very ho-hum type return men like jordy and quinn porter. those guys will catch the ball, but they're just going to bowl there way stright forward until they are brought down. while guys like chery and blackmon will try and make something out of nothing.

it surprises me we even brought him in if it wasn't to be a returner. he's not going to make the team as a WR, we already have way to many of those.

so is it slocum or M3 that continued to not give this kid a shot when its clear he has the ability and he was begging for a chance?

[red]

I say keep him over Swain. Do we really need a 5th WR since we have Finley? We all know Blackmon will get injuried some time in the season and Swain is not looking any better staying healthy. Atleast Cherry gives us a much needed KR/PR, what exactly is Swain so great at?

even when swain has been healthy we really haven't seen him do anything that would make me think we have to keep him

[Brandon494]

Chery said he pleaded with special teams coach Shawn Slocum to let him return a kick. But Slocum resisted

[red]

slocom once again trying his best to look completely incompetent

[get louder at lambeau]

Chery has his chance on Thursday. If he plays well as a returner, I think he makes the team. Otherwise, why are they even giving him a chance? If he drops a kick or punt, he's a Practice Squader.

[pbmax]

hey, i was the one that was all about chery a few weeks ago after seeing him at practice. first guy out for practice, 45 minutes early. and he spent that whole time on the jugs machine.

and like i said, the kid looked natural catching punts. then in practice he didn't return any of the live action stuff

it was fun watching him practice with the jugs machine. he would catch one, then he would hold on to that ball while the next one came. if he caught the second ball he would also hold onto that one. he would tuck the extra balls under his right arm or cradle them or just hold on to them, where ever he could find a spot. i watched him catch and hold onto 5 balls in his right arm before missing one. once he missed one he would throw them all back and start over.

what was amazing was that he didn't juggle the catches at all while he literally had one arm full

compare that to shields who was also working with the jugs machine at the same time who couldn't catch one single ball clean with both free hands

the guy sounds like a very explosive player when given the chance, but it seems in his 2 years in the nfl he hasn't really been given one.

heres a snippet from a game review of his in college

Jason Chery had 335 all-purpose yards and five touchdowns – in the first half. Chery had just seven touches in the first half, two kickoff returns for 131 yards, three receptions for 123 yards and two runs for 81 yards. He scored on a 97-yard kickoff return, an 81-yard run and caught scoring passes of 17, 49 and 57 yards.

Tyrell Fenroy, who finished with 92 yards rushing, became the all-time leader in

i like the kid, and i was very excited to see him get a chance the other night. IMO he would be our 2nd best return man and a nice addition in case blackmon goes down again. but can we afford to keep 2 return specialists?

I was just kidding. I was completely in the dark about his speed. But I am curious, did he ever spend any significant time trying out for returner? Bedard said no.

[The Leaper]

Slocum is such a putz.

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Slocum is such a putz.

You would think someone (player personnel guy or an intern) would wander by and say "What about the third fastest guy on your team that is catching balls from the JUGS gun? Shouldn't we try him?"

[mission]

Slocum is such a putz.

You would think someone (player personnel guy or an intern) would wander by and say "What about the third fastest guy on your team that is catching balls from the JUGS gun? Shouldn't we try him?"

who's the second?

[red]

Slocum is such a putz.

You would think someone (player personnel guy or an intern) would wander by and say "What about the third fastest guy on your team that is catching balls from the JUGS gun? Shouldn't we try him?"

who's the second?

collins i think

shields is first, then nick, then chery. all sub 4.3 guys

edit. nope i'm wrong. nick is a slow ass, he ran a 4.34