Tweet
Difficult not to pull for Jennings
Packers rookie an exciting wideout
Posted: Sept. 5, 2006
Lori Nickel
Green Bay - Robert Ferguson has been known to go off once in a while. Not in a derogatory way, or a Terrell Owens way, but if he doesn't like something, he can't hide it.
Advertisement
If you can get him alone, however, you can usually get the real deal and something beyond the numb sports cliché.
So when the news broke Friday that rookie Greg Jennings had leapfrogged the sixth-year veteran for a starting job at receiver, a reporter found Ferguson in the locker room and sought his reaction. This ought to be good.
And it was, but for another reason.
"I wasn't ticked off. Nothing surprises me anymore," Ferguson said. "I had a good pre-season, so I will say I didn't expect that to happen; it did surprise me. But I couldn't be ticked; I love that kid to death. If it was somebody else. . . ."
Ferguson smiled, and shook his head. If it were somebody else, Ferguson would be fuming, wondering what the coaching staff was thinking, and this would be a great stir-up-the-pot story.
Instead, it's becoming clear that even the veteran who has been replaced is won over by Jennings.
After leading the National Football League with 328 receiving yards during the exhibition season, Jennings will line up opposite Donald Driver on Sunday at Lambeau Field against the Chicago Bears for the first game of the 2006 season. Jennings will be the first rookie receiver to start for the Packers since Sterling Sharpe in 1988.
Jennings could also be the only starting rookie receiver in the NFL in Week 1.
"I've clearly never seen a rookie that productive that fast . . ." Packers coach Mike McCarthy said. "Greg has done some very positive things and I think you need to recognize that. I think it would be foolish not to recognize that. We'll continue to try to build off that."
Wide receiver is the one position that might have caused genuine excitement and confidence from observers during training camp. Although Packers fans might still be stinging from Javon Walker's dig at his old team last week, Jennings has succeeded in making fans almost forget the void left by Walker's departure, at least for the time being.
Remember that trade? The Packers dealt Walker for the 37th pick in the draft. They parlayed that pick plus another of their own - No. 139 overall - into essentially five picks through a series of trades. As a result, the Packers got offensive lineman Daryn Colledge, cornerback Will Blackmon, defensive tackle Johnny Jolly and safety Tyrone Culver for Walker. A fifth player, third-string quarterback Ingle Martin, was also involved, indirectly, as a pickup with the trade.
With Walker gone, general manager Ted Thompson needed an elite receiver. Jennings, from Western Michigan, was taken in the second round, the 52nd pick overall and the fourth receiver in the draft.
The Packers had a higher pick they could have used on another receiver. The 52nd spot came to Green Bay in a trade with the New England Patriots. The Patriots took receiver Chad Jackson of Florida in the second round, 36th overall, with the traded pick.
But Jackson has been slowed by a hamstring injury during the exhibition season and didn't get any game experience.
The other two receivers taken before Jennings haven't set the world afire yet, either. Santonio Holmes of Ohio State, taken in the first round and 25th overall, was chosen by Pittsburgh. He had seven catches for 54 yards in the exhibition games. Sinorice Moss of Miami, taken in the second round, 44th overall, is with the New York Giants. He missed most of training camp with a thigh injury.
Jennings has been the star in Green Bay since Day 1. Now with the expectations heaped onto his 5-foot-11, 197-pound frame, the real question is how he will handle it all Sunday.
"I think he'll be ready," Ferguson said. "He's shown good things in the pre-season. We need him to be ready. We put him in that position, so we can't afford for him not to be ready. So, anything I can do, anything anyone else can do to get him ready, we need to be able to do that."
It's a tall order for a debut.
The struggling, young Packers (except at quarterback) will face a Bears defense that is sound in its fundamentals and counts on the opponent to self-destruct. There will be 70,000 fans in the stands, bigger than any crowd Jennings is used to, with the exception of a collegiate game at the University of Michigan.
"But we weren't favored by a long shot," Jennings said.
Jennings' 12 catches in the exhibition season went for 328 yards, a 27.3-yard average that was greatly enhanced by the 89-yard touchdown Friday against Tennessee. But his numbers still compare well to Driver's (11 catches, 154 yards, 14.0 average).
Ferguson (four catches, 54 yards) and Ruvell Martin (four, 39) round out the receivers unit.
"I don't think that it's necessarily a no-brainer" to start Jennings, receivers coach Jimmy Robinson said. "We just made a decision that we thought was best for our football team. That doesn't mean we feel Robert Ferguson isn't capable. We have all the confidence in the world in Robert and we haven't lost any. We just felt (Jennings) earned a starting job based on his performance."
Robinson said Jennings wasn't behind Driver or Ferguson "at all in terms of knowing this offense." Robinson felt confident that Jennings could absorb any new play installations this week, and Jennings said he would spend more hours than usual preparing for the big game.
So then, there's only one way to find out if he's ready.
"They go out and play, and it either looks like they can handle it or their play proves that they can't," Robinson said.
__________________________________
Didn't realize he led the league.[/quote]
Packers rookie an exciting wideout
Posted: Sept. 5, 2006
Lori Nickel
Green Bay - Robert Ferguson has been known to go off once in a while. Not in a derogatory way, or a Terrell Owens way, but if he doesn't like something, he can't hide it.
Advertisement
If you can get him alone, however, you can usually get the real deal and something beyond the numb sports cliché.
So when the news broke Friday that rookie Greg Jennings had leapfrogged the sixth-year veteran for a starting job at receiver, a reporter found Ferguson in the locker room and sought his reaction. This ought to be good.
And it was, but for another reason.
"I wasn't ticked off. Nothing surprises me anymore," Ferguson said. "I had a good pre-season, so I will say I didn't expect that to happen; it did surprise me. But I couldn't be ticked; I love that kid to death. If it was somebody else. . . ."
Ferguson smiled, and shook his head. If it were somebody else, Ferguson would be fuming, wondering what the coaching staff was thinking, and this would be a great stir-up-the-pot story.
Instead, it's becoming clear that even the veteran who has been replaced is won over by Jennings.
After leading the National Football League with 328 receiving yards during the exhibition season, Jennings will line up opposite Donald Driver on Sunday at Lambeau Field against the Chicago Bears for the first game of the 2006 season. Jennings will be the first rookie receiver to start for the Packers since Sterling Sharpe in 1988.
Jennings could also be the only starting rookie receiver in the NFL in Week 1.
"I've clearly never seen a rookie that productive that fast . . ." Packers coach Mike McCarthy said. "Greg has done some very positive things and I think you need to recognize that. I think it would be foolish not to recognize that. We'll continue to try to build off that."
Wide receiver is the one position that might have caused genuine excitement and confidence from observers during training camp. Although Packers fans might still be stinging from Javon Walker's dig at his old team last week, Jennings has succeeded in making fans almost forget the void left by Walker's departure, at least for the time being.
Remember that trade? The Packers dealt Walker for the 37th pick in the draft. They parlayed that pick plus another of their own - No. 139 overall - into essentially five picks through a series of trades. As a result, the Packers got offensive lineman Daryn Colledge, cornerback Will Blackmon, defensive tackle Johnny Jolly and safety Tyrone Culver for Walker. A fifth player, third-string quarterback Ingle Martin, was also involved, indirectly, as a pickup with the trade.
With Walker gone, general manager Ted Thompson needed an elite receiver. Jennings, from Western Michigan, was taken in the second round, the 52nd pick overall and the fourth receiver in the draft.
The Packers had a higher pick they could have used on another receiver. The 52nd spot came to Green Bay in a trade with the New England Patriots. The Patriots took receiver Chad Jackson of Florida in the second round, 36th overall, with the traded pick.
But Jackson has been slowed by a hamstring injury during the exhibition season and didn't get any game experience.
The other two receivers taken before Jennings haven't set the world afire yet, either. Santonio Holmes of Ohio State, taken in the first round and 25th overall, was chosen by Pittsburgh. He had seven catches for 54 yards in the exhibition games. Sinorice Moss of Miami, taken in the second round, 44th overall, is with the New York Giants. He missed most of training camp with a thigh injury.
Jennings has been the star in Green Bay since Day 1. Now with the expectations heaped onto his 5-foot-11, 197-pound frame, the real question is how he will handle it all Sunday.
"I think he'll be ready," Ferguson said. "He's shown good things in the pre-season. We need him to be ready. We put him in that position, so we can't afford for him not to be ready. So, anything I can do, anything anyone else can do to get him ready, we need to be able to do that."
It's a tall order for a debut.
The struggling, young Packers (except at quarterback) will face a Bears defense that is sound in its fundamentals and counts on the opponent to self-destruct. There will be 70,000 fans in the stands, bigger than any crowd Jennings is used to, with the exception of a collegiate game at the University of Michigan.
"But we weren't favored by a long shot," Jennings said.
Jennings' 12 catches in the exhibition season went for 328 yards, a 27.3-yard average that was greatly enhanced by the 89-yard touchdown Friday against Tennessee. But his numbers still compare well to Driver's (11 catches, 154 yards, 14.0 average).
Ferguson (four catches, 54 yards) and Ruvell Martin (four, 39) round out the receivers unit.
"I don't think that it's necessarily a no-brainer" to start Jennings, receivers coach Jimmy Robinson said. "We just made a decision that we thought was best for our football team. That doesn't mean we feel Robert Ferguson isn't capable. We have all the confidence in the world in Robert and we haven't lost any. We just felt (Jennings) earned a starting job based on his performance."
Robinson said Jennings wasn't behind Driver or Ferguson "at all in terms of knowing this offense." Robinson felt confident that Jennings could absorb any new play installations this week, and Jennings said he would spend more hours than usual preparing for the big game.
So then, there's only one way to find out if he's ready.
"They go out and play, and it either looks like they can handle it or their play proves that they can't," Robinson said.
__________________________________
After leading the National Football League with 328 receiving yards during the exhibition season , Jennings will line up opposite Donald Driver on Sunday at Lambeau Field against the Chicago Bears for the first game of the 2006 season. Jennings will be the first rookie receiver to start for the Packers since Sterling Sharpe in 1988.
Didn't realize he led the league.[/quote]
Comment