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Hawkins gets back on the field
But he's not assured of a job in the defensive backfield
By Rob Demovsky
rdemovsk@greenbaypressgazette.com
Ask anyone associated with the Green Bay Packers about cornerback Mike Hawkins, and their answer invariably will be along the same lines.
"Talented young man," secondary coach Kurt Schottenheimer said.
"He's got skills, speed and quick feet," receiver Rod Gardner said.
"He's a fast, talented guy," cornerback Al Harris said.
At some point, talent isn't enough. Though this is only his second season, Hawkins is getting dangerously close to being one of those guys who never lived up to his potential.
His unusual football background scared away teams when Hawkins became eligible for the draft in 2005. He was homeless for a time as a teenager in Dallas. He played in only five college football games because he left the University of Oklahoma after his freshman season. He spent parts of two seasons in the Arena League.
None of it kept the Packers from drafting Hawkins in the fifth round (No. 167 overall) in 2005. They were intrigued by his raw ability and his 4.28-second time in the 40-yard dash.
Asked to rate Hawkins' abilities from a pure talent standpoint, Schottenheimer said: "I think he has as good a cover skills as anyone I've been around.
"He reminds me a lot of Dale Carter (whom Schottenheimer coached in Kansas City). He has such great quickness and body control and speed. He really has a feel for it."
That's exactly how Hawkins looked last year, when as a rookie he was flying around the practice field and making plays left and right. But it never carried over to the regular season. As a part-time player in the dime defense, he made only eight tackles, had no interceptions and just two passes defensed.
He also developed a knack for picking up nagging injuries. He had minor knee surgery before his rookie training camp. During the season, he missed time or had to drop out of games because of knee, ankle and groin injuries.
Hawkins appeared to get off to a flying start this summer but after the first week of training camp, he was back in the training room because of another knee problem, patellar tendinitis. He missed most of the next three weeks before he finally returned to practice on Wednesday.
He did 11-on-11 team drills for the first time on Thursday. If all goes well the rest of the week, coach Mike McCarthy said Hawkins could play in Monday's preseason game at Cincinnati.
That's virtually a must-play game for Hawkins, who went from having a chance to compete for the No. 3 cornerback spot behind starters Al Harris and Charles Woodson to possibly being out of a job. He has fallen behind Ahmad Carroll and Jason Horton, who likely will be the nickel and dime cornerbacks.
"In this camp, he started out really, really strong," Schottenheimer said. "Then he had a couple of days that weren't like his first three and then he was good for another few days.
"When he left us (in June) for about a month, he came back and started training camp really fast. I'm hoping he can come back off this and start back up real fast and see how much playing time we can get him here in the next couple of games."
Where Hawkins lines up on Monday night against the Bengals could tell a lot about his chances to make the 53-man roster. McCarthy is expected to play his starters well into the third quarter. If Hawkins can't get any time in the No. 1 dime defense, it might be a sign his days are numbered.
Hawkins appears to be well aware of his situation and isn't delusional about his chances.
"If you're established and don't have big money behind your name, you can never be secure with knowing you're here," Hawkins said. "If they want to get rid of me, it wouldn't be that hard."
However, Hawkins cautioned that the Packers haven't seen him at his best.
"Not even close," he said. "I haven't been able to get into a good rhythm yet. I've been having to adjust to a lot of things, and these little nagging injuries have kept pushing me back. I felt like this training camp was going to be my training camp, my time to show that I could be a player behind those two great corners that we have. I thought it was my time.
"When you see Mike Hawkins at his best, you'll know. The people that know me, the people that have seen me ball in high school and in college, they know. All anyone says is, 'I can't wait to see that.'"
The question is, how long will the Packers wait?
"You'd like to see how he does," Schottenheimer said when asked whether he knows what he has in Hawkins.
"You want to cross the T's and dot the I's with everything that you're doing, but he did play some last year and is a lot further along because of the offseason program. I was very encouraged by the way he started this camp. He was going to be right in the thick of things. He is talented and understands concepts and has excellent bump-and-run skills."
I would be surprised if the Packers let someone with Hawkins' natural ability go after 2 seasons. We will probably keep 5 CB's, and it's not like we have any special players after Harris, Woodson, Carroll and Horton.
But he's not assured of a job in the defensive backfield
By Rob Demovsky
rdemovsk@greenbaypressgazette.com
Ask anyone associated with the Green Bay Packers about cornerback Mike Hawkins, and their answer invariably will be along the same lines.
"Talented young man," secondary coach Kurt Schottenheimer said.
"He's got skills, speed and quick feet," receiver Rod Gardner said.
"He's a fast, talented guy," cornerback Al Harris said.
At some point, talent isn't enough. Though this is only his second season, Hawkins is getting dangerously close to being one of those guys who never lived up to his potential.
His unusual football background scared away teams when Hawkins became eligible for the draft in 2005. He was homeless for a time as a teenager in Dallas. He played in only five college football games because he left the University of Oklahoma after his freshman season. He spent parts of two seasons in the Arena League.
None of it kept the Packers from drafting Hawkins in the fifth round (No. 167 overall) in 2005. They were intrigued by his raw ability and his 4.28-second time in the 40-yard dash.
Asked to rate Hawkins' abilities from a pure talent standpoint, Schottenheimer said: "I think he has as good a cover skills as anyone I've been around.
"He reminds me a lot of Dale Carter (whom Schottenheimer coached in Kansas City). He has such great quickness and body control and speed. He really has a feel for it."
That's exactly how Hawkins looked last year, when as a rookie he was flying around the practice field and making plays left and right. But it never carried over to the regular season. As a part-time player in the dime defense, he made only eight tackles, had no interceptions and just two passes defensed.
He also developed a knack for picking up nagging injuries. He had minor knee surgery before his rookie training camp. During the season, he missed time or had to drop out of games because of knee, ankle and groin injuries.
Hawkins appeared to get off to a flying start this summer but after the first week of training camp, he was back in the training room because of another knee problem, patellar tendinitis. He missed most of the next three weeks before he finally returned to practice on Wednesday.
He did 11-on-11 team drills for the first time on Thursday. If all goes well the rest of the week, coach Mike McCarthy said Hawkins could play in Monday's preseason game at Cincinnati.
That's virtually a must-play game for Hawkins, who went from having a chance to compete for the No. 3 cornerback spot behind starters Al Harris and Charles Woodson to possibly being out of a job. He has fallen behind Ahmad Carroll and Jason Horton, who likely will be the nickel and dime cornerbacks.
"In this camp, he started out really, really strong," Schottenheimer said. "Then he had a couple of days that weren't like his first three and then he was good for another few days.
"When he left us (in June) for about a month, he came back and started training camp really fast. I'm hoping he can come back off this and start back up real fast and see how much playing time we can get him here in the next couple of games."
Where Hawkins lines up on Monday night against the Bengals could tell a lot about his chances to make the 53-man roster. McCarthy is expected to play his starters well into the third quarter. If Hawkins can't get any time in the No. 1 dime defense, it might be a sign his days are numbered.
Hawkins appears to be well aware of his situation and isn't delusional about his chances.
"If you're established and don't have big money behind your name, you can never be secure with knowing you're here," Hawkins said. "If they want to get rid of me, it wouldn't be that hard."
However, Hawkins cautioned that the Packers haven't seen him at his best.
"Not even close," he said. "I haven't been able to get into a good rhythm yet. I've been having to adjust to a lot of things, and these little nagging injuries have kept pushing me back. I felt like this training camp was going to be my training camp, my time to show that I could be a player behind those two great corners that we have. I thought it was my time.
"When you see Mike Hawkins at his best, you'll know. The people that know me, the people that have seen me ball in high school and in college, they know. All anyone says is, 'I can't wait to see that.'"
The question is, how long will the Packers wait?
"You'd like to see how he does," Schottenheimer said when asked whether he knows what he has in Hawkins.
"You want to cross the T's and dot the I's with everything that you're doing, but he did play some last year and is a lot further along because of the offseason program. I was very encouraged by the way he started this camp. He was going to be right in the thick of things. He is talented and understands concepts and has excellent bump-and-run skills."
I would be surprised if the Packers let someone with Hawkins' natural ability go after 2 seasons. We will probably keep 5 CB's, and it's not like we have any special players after Harris, Woodson, Carroll and Horton.
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