James Jones!

[MichiganPackerFan]

...Jennings seems to run hot and cold. One time he fights hard for the ball, and another it seems like, "Oh well..., I'll catch the next one."

Followed by the obligatory complaint to the officials.

[Patler]

For some fans, it seems that whatever positive thing Jones does is diminished, and his failures are magnified.
My point is simple, the drop was bad; but, the TD catch was a nice play by Jones on a semi-broken play and a very low throw. The TD catch was a very crucial play, putting them up by two scores.

And for some fans it is the opposite...

I disagree, at least on my own behalf. I am more than willing to recognize how bad the drop was. I'm not trying to diminish how poorly he performed on that play. It was about as perfect as a pass can be, and it came to him from a clear, unobstructed window through the defense. On the other hand, I think he deserves credit for making a good play on the TD. That was not an easy catch. He got open, came back and dropped down with his elbows together so his arms could shield the ball from the ground and prevent the ball from squirting through. It would have been easy to reach with his hands and trap it against the ground. But he came back nicely and gave himself vertical space to make the play above the turf. That should not be treated as a "no big deal" catch anymore than the drop should be ignored.

That's what makes Jones so frustrating. He does make plays, and seems to have a knack for getting open on go routes along the sideline. But he fails too often on routine stuff. He fumbles too often. His good can be quite good, his bad can be quite bad. In the mean time, he is still a more productive #3 than the others the Packers have had in the recent past, at least.

I doubt that he will be back next year. Hopefully, there will be a new face who comes on like Jennings did. Driver gets to be an "iffy" player as he gets older, Nelson doesn't seem to have a super high ceiling either. Swain is a jouneyman #4/#5 and not much more. There is a need there to find more talent.

[sharpe1027]

Jones seems to only run cold as far as effort (although productivity is still often hot). Even the touchdown catch you were referring to earlier as being an example of a good catch by JJ was a catch that should have been made. It wasn't a gimmie, but I think it is counted as a drop if he doesn't haul it in. It also didn't require any more effort than JJ stopping in the endzone turning around and then bending down to catch the ball.

[sharpe1027]

I disagree, at least on my own behalf.

Sorry, it was not meant as a personal jab, but I can see how it reads that way.

[Patler]

Jones seems to only run cold as far as effort (although productivity is still often hot). Even the touchdown catch you were referring to earlier as being an example of a good catch by JJ was a catch that should have been made. It wasn't a gimmie, but I think it is counted as a drop if he doesn't haul it in. It also didn't require any more effort than JJ stopping in the endzone turning around and then bending down to catch the ball.

He has had his problem this year for sure, but I remember the play last year along the sidelines when he fought a DB and the ball down the sideline, took a big hit, but still came up with the ball. Generally, he seems to show good effort with the ball after catching it, but looks less than dynamic going after it, I agree.

[mraynrand]

Nelson's effort on the one long throw to him on Sunday was very weak. He is the biggest receiver the Packers have, and rather than fight above and through the defender to get at the ball, he sort of waived an arm at it and looked pleadingly at the official.

Jennings seems to run hot and cold.

I agree on the long ball to Nelson. I think Jones is up and down too. Jennings not quite as much. But these guys have to stop going Katy Perry on Rodgers if they want to beat ATL.

[PA Pack Fan]

I love that band.

[pbmax]

Just looked it up. The Jets were fined $125,000. They said this:

The NFL has been all over the map on this. I don't believe there was a fine for the Vikings, for instance, when Favre publicly declared that he hurt his arm while pulling off/putting on a T-shirt the Saturday before the game.

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2009/09/17/childress-says-he-wont-fudge-injury-report-for-favre/

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2010/11/14/report-favre-played-with-undisclosed-shoulder-injury/

And the Jets issue was at first ignored, until Favre (who started talking about it in the offseason) kept talking about it after he came back with the Vikes and managed to reveal that the Vikings not only knew his shoulder was bothering him, but that they tested it and found the cause. This makes it different than Roethlisberger's rib injury before the Super Bowl, where an X-ray hadn't revealed the cause of the pain.

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2009/09/16/league-explains-favre-injury-report-fine/

And there was the issue that apparently the league inquired about Favre during the 2008 season and was told, no, he has no injury we need to report. So the fine was also an exercise in punishing the team for a coverup.

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2009/09/21/last-word-on-jets-injury-report-fine/

And true to recent form, he also threw the Packers under the bus while trying to explain that it was no big deal.

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2009/09/23/favre-calls-injury-report-fine-very-unfair-opens-packers-to-possible-scrutiny/

However, Laurence Maroney had a shoulder injury that went unreported and the Patriots avoided fines.

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2009/05/17/pats-hid-maroneys-broken-shoulder/

This despite having football teams sign an compliance agreement with all League Rules, including the injury report. Its an odd situation that you need to have a signature for people to feel sufficiently obligated to follow the rules.

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2009/05/17/injury-report-shenanigans-raise-eyebrows-due-to-patriot-compliance/

[pbmax]

Does anyone have the sense that most of Jones' problems are with throws/routes where the ball in headed in the same direction he is? If he is turned around and facing the throw (the TD catch) he seems to do fine. But over the shoulder or in front of him seem to give him fits unlike Jennings or Driver.

[GrnBay007]

Howz the boy 007?

Healthy Swingin the bat and pumpin the iron. thx for asking freak.

[vince]

Does anyone have the sense that most of Jones' problems are with throws/routes where the ball in headed in the same direction he is? If he is turned around and facing the throw (the TD catch) he seems to do fine. But over the shoulder or in front of him seem to give him fits unlike Jennings or Driver.

Yes.

[MichiganPackerFan]

http://gnb.scout.com/2/1039046.html?refid=400

The first section of this is a good back and forth between Jennings and Jones from this week. A really quick and fun read.

[mraynrand]

“Before he answers that, I’m going to tell you that his thumb is beat down,” Jennings said, “but that is no excuse because all our fingers are beat up.”


Uh, oh! More unreported injuries! I sense multiple fines coming from the NFL...

[MichiganPackerFan]

“Before he answers that, I’m going to tell you that his thumb is beat down,” Jennings said, “but that is no excuse because all our fingers are beat up.”


Uh, oh! More unreported injuries! I sense multiple fines coming from the NFL...

I cant imagine WR's with banged up fingers falls into that category. Maybe a QB with a thumb, but just like Offensive Lineman with banged up fingers (to them it would be an insult to put them on the list for a finger) you might as well put every wr and ol in the league on the list for that.

[Fritz]

Heer's a quote from Greg Jennings about visiting Jordy Nelson's farm in Kansas last offseason. It cracked me up:

"We had a blast acting the fool. We did farming things. We got to see how they artificially inseminate cows. We actually did it. You've got to stick your hand in there. It was nice and warm."

I'm thinking that during cold weather games, maybe Jordy could have a cow shipped up to Green Bay and set that thing on the sidelines for the receivers to warm up their hands. Maybe it'd make the receivers' hands stickier, too, and then Jones wouldn't drop so many.