Jermichael Decorean Finley, PhD, Chemistry, University of Texas - Green Bay

[Patler]

In and of itself, this and many of his other comments are fairly innocuous. It's when you put them all together, year after year, and watch his performances and failings, and even some of his mannerisms that it gets tiring.

During that interview he said a lot of different things, including:

“When I catch a ball in the first half, I mean the first quarter, the first few plays, and I don’t touch the ball until half, I get out of my groove, man,” Finley said. “It’s natural. You need to get your playmakers involved early, you know what I mean, to keep impacting the game.”

Time after time, he seems to be looking for an external reason for his lackluster play, rather than looking at himself. It seems that in his mind, everything would be good, if they would just throw to him more.

All that really needs to happen is that he needs to be where he is expected to be, he needs to catch the ball consistently, and he needs to truly be a playmaker by making more of the difficult catches, etc. Those are all things within his own control. When he starts doing those things, the ball will come his way more often, I suspect.

[sharpe1027]

In and of itself, this and many of his other comments are fairly innocuous. It's when you put them all together, year after year, and watch his performances and failings, and even some of his mannerisms that it gets tiring.

During that interview he said a lot of different things, including:


Time after time, he seems to be looking for an external reason for his lackluster play, rather than looking at himself. It seems that in his mind, everything would be good, if they would just throw to him more.

All that really needs to happen is that he needs to be where he is expected to be, he needs to catch the ball consistently, and he needs to truly be a playmaker by making more of the difficult catches, etc. Those are all things within his own control. When he starts doing those things, the ball will come his way more often, I suspect.

It's kind of funny because there are less total pass plays when drives keep getting killed by dropped passes.

[Patler]

It's kind of funny because there are less total pass plays when drives keep getting killed by dropped passes.

Good point, but I doubt that has entered his thinking.

[mraynrand]

Good point, but I doubt that has entered his thinking.

He is busy trying to rationalize hybrid orbitals. Is that Chloride, Chlorine, or Chlorate? Cut him some slack.

[Bretsky]

He is busy trying to rationalize hybrid orbitals. Is that Chloride, Chlorine, or Chlorate? Cut him some slack.

Dear Jermichael

SUAP= Shut Up And Play

[George Cumby]

He is busy trying to rationalize hybrid orbitals. Is that Chloride, Chlorine, or Chlorate? Cut him some slack.

repped

[MadtownPacker]

I don't see the big deal but maybe because its Finley and I'm use to it by now.

This MFer and his 40 acres and a mule attitude are some bulllssshhhittt! Ship his ass off and give ANYONE else a chance because the talk of finley changing defenses is crap. He is single covered (and not even that tight most of the time) when he drops what seems like every pass that comes close to him. Is he worried about getting hit/hurt and a defender in striking distance panics him? His QB needs to get his back? Does he want Rodgers to fucking hand it off to him? ARod should do that and then tell finley "run with the ball instead of your fucking mouth". Fuck this fool, he isn't special by any means IMO.

[George Cumby]

This MFer and his 40 acres and a mule attitude are some bulllssshhhittt! Ship his ass off and give ANYONE else a chance because the talk of finley changing defenses is crap. He is single covered (and not even that tight most of the time) when he drops what seems like every pass that comes close to him. Is he worried about getting hit/hurt and a defender in striking distance panics him? His QB needs to get his back? Does he want Rodgers to fucking hand it off to him? ARod should do that and then tell finley "run with the ball instead of your fucking mouth". Fuck this fool, he isn't special by any means IMO.

What the Angry Mexican said.

[Pugger]

This MFer and his 40 acres and a mule attitude are some bulllssshhhittt! Ship his ass off and give ANYONE else a chance because the talk of finley changing defenses is crap. He is single covered (and not even that tight most of the time) when he drops what seems like every pass that comes close to him. Is he worried about getting hit/hurt and a defender in striking distance panics him? His QB needs to get his back? Does he want Rodgers to fucking hand it off to him? ARod should do that and then tell finley "run with the ball instead of your fucking mouth". Fuck this fool, he isn't special by any means IMO.

Until Quarless returns we don't have another TE on this roster that can stretch the field like Finley does. I agree, JF has to catch the damn ball. But don't worry, we'll have that dynamite combo of Crabtree and Taylor out there tomorrow night dropping passes against the Texans' defense instead.

[LegandofthePack15]

I still have faith in J-Mike. Folks seem to forget that back in '09 Finley could catch a bullet blindfolded. Took a bullet for the Packers in '10 trying to recover Lee's motherfucking fumble. Lost his mojo while on the IR. But like Austin Powers, Finley will eventually recover his mojo. When? Pretty soon. I hope.

[Smidgeon]

Until Quarless returns we don't have another TE on this roster that can stretch the field like Finley does. I agree, JF has to catch the damn ball. But don't worry, we'll have that dynamite combo of Crabtree and Taylor out there tomorrow night dropping passes against the Texans' defense instead.

I find it easy to root for Quarless for some reason. Even when he was being maligned, I was still in his corner. But even though he tested more athletically than Finley (combine numbers), he never seemed to play more athletically and seemed to be more of an inline blocker despite being a highly touted receiver in college. Who knows? Maybe that means he'll be the most complete TE the Packers have had in years, someone who can block and stretch the field. I hope that he comes back strong. I'm still rooting for him.

[Smidgeon]

I still have faith in J-Mike. Folks seem to forget that back in '09 Finley could catch a bullet blindfolded. Took a bullet for the Packers in '10 trying to recover Lee's motherfucking fumble. Lost his mojo while on the IR. But like Austin Powers, Finley will eventually recover his mojo. When? Pretty soon. I hope.

I don't know why, but he definitely didn't come back from that injury. Maybe he's physically back, but something's off mentally then. Because he's not the same player he was before even though he's young enough to make a full recovery. The guy is still only 25 years old or something.

[mraynrand]

I still have faith in J-Mike. Folks seem to forget that back in '09 Finley could catch a bullet blindfolded. Took a bullet for the Packers in '10 trying to recover Lee's motherfucking fumble. Lost his mojo while on the IR. But like Austin Powers, Finley will eventually recover his mojo. When? Pretty soon. I hope.

Preach it! I'm still on board the Finley bandwagon! He will return! Keep up the faith!!!

[Patler]

I'm not sure who the real Jermichael Finley is, the one who caught everything in late 2009 and early 2010, or the one who has lapses catching the ball. I did a summary of his history in a thread last year, the highlights were these:

- He had lapses in college, to the extent that many scouting reports before the draft raised his ability to catch the ball consistently as a concern. Interestingly, all seemed to agree that, unlike for some receivers, it had nothing to do with his ability to catch the ball, because he had good hands and clearly was able to make all the catches. He caught the ball easily and fluidly most of the time. The problem seemed to be lack of attention to detail, lack of focus.

- He had some drops he shouldn't have had as a rookie, and coaches wondered why because he normally caught the ball so naturally.

- He committed himself to improving after his rookie year, and seemed to make a huge turnaround, to the extent that in late 2009, training camp of 2010 and early season 2010 he literally caught everything. At one point late in camp, they mentioned that Finley had not one single play that could be considered a drop. In early 2010 Rodgers and the offense focused on Finley, and he made easy and difficult catches with ease. He seemed like a maturing player who had learned how to be a professional. Even his attitude and comments changed in the off season following his rookie year, and that seemed to carry forward to the off season before 2010.

- Everything seemed to change again after his injury, he reverted back to what we saw and heard from him as a rookie. A comment here, a comment there, the Super Bowl picture flap. Then TC 2011 rolled around, and his catching of the ball again became suspect. It carried into the season, and has seemed to get progressively worse. Comments from him continue.


It is a building pile that may make it difficult if not impossible for him to re-emerge as a star in GB. I think he has an image of himself that his performance on the field no longer matches. It appears that he expects things will change without recognizing that he has to change them. He needs a reawakening, much like he seemed to have after his rookie season.

I suspect he will never be in GB what we expected from that season or so of games that started during 2009 and continued until his injury in 2010. However, I will not be at all surprised if he leaves GB and becomes that player after a fresh start somewhere else. He is still young enough to do it. Situations arise where it is best for the team and the player if they go there separate ways. The Packers and Finley might be getting to that point.

Best case scenario for everyone involved - Quarless comes back and looks healthy, and both he and Williams show promise as capable receivers, even if not with the same potential as Finley. In the off season, Finley is traded for a mid-round draft pick to a team with a decent QB and a need for a TE.

[pbmax]

The only guess I can hazard, if its strictly a football related issue, is that he has started to worry about the future again. Having to focus on the here and now issues of being reliable and catching everything and being a teammate to be counted on worked in 09 and 10. But the injury may have refocused him on the short term nature of his career and concerns about his contract. He could even view the injury as proof that what is good for the team is not necessarily good for the individual.

Its neither illogical nor unreasonable to be concerned. Except that as currently manifested, he is costing his future dearly.