Training Camp 7-30-07

[packers11]

Hodge, Simpson practice; temperature nears 90

Today's training camp practice began at 2 p.m. under sunny skies. The official temperature was 89 degrees just before 2 p.m., according to the National Weather Service in Ashwaubenon.

Quarterback Brett Favre is the only player not in attendance..

Dressed in shorts and not taking part in full activities: guard Allen Barbre, running back Vernand Morency, wide receiver Donald Driver and defensive tackles Ryan Pickett and Johnny Jolly.

Back in uniform after sitting out Sunday are linebackers Abdul Hodge and Juwan Simpson.

-- Tom Pelissero, tpelisse@greenbaypressgazette.com

[packers11]

Crosby, Rayner about even on kickoffs

Rookie kicker Mason Crosby showed off his big leg this afternoon with a booming kickoff that went 78 yards, or 8 yards deep into the end zone.

On four kickoffs, Crosby averaged 71.5 yards. Incumbent kicker Dave Rayner wasn't far behind, averaging 70 yards on four kicks.

In order, Crosby's kickoffs went 69, 78, 69 and 70 yards. His hang time ranged from 4.06 seconds to 4.31 seconds.

Rayner's kickoffs, in order, went 67. 70, 74 and 69 yards. His hang time ranged from 4.22 seconds to 4.31 seconds.

[packers11]

8 yards into the endzone... holy sh!t

[CaliforniaCheez]

Hang time or distance?? That is the difference and the decision.

[packers11]

In order, Crosby's kickoffs went 69, 78, 69 and 70 yards. His hang time ranged from 4.06 seconds to 4.31 seconds.

[packers11]

Hawk's back at it, disrupting the offense
Linebacker A.J. Hawk was impressive in a red-zone blitz drill this afternoon.

On third-and-goal from the 5, quarterback Aaron Rodgers tried to hit tight end Donald Lee on a quick slant, but Hawk perfectly read the play, stepped back and knocked down the pass, almost coming up with an interception.

On third-and-goal from the 4, wide receiver James Jones caught a slant, but Hawk stopped him cold in his tracks and would have prevented a touchdown had they been doing full-tackling drills.

-- Wide receiver Carlton Brewster caught a fade pass over cornerback Patrick Dendy on third-and-goal from the 8. The TD pass came from quarterback Ingle Martin.

-- Fullback Corey White burst through the middle on first-and-goal from the 10 to score an easy TD. Rookie first-round draft pick Justin Harrell and Corey Williams were lined up as the defensive tackles on the play.

-- Cornerback Charles Woodson made a nice diving interception of a Rodgers pass in a red zone drill. Rodgers was rolling right and his pass was intented for wide receiver Robert Ferguson.

-- In a one-on-one receiver-vs.-defensive back drill, Ruvell Martin caught two long passes that would have gone for TDs. He beat cornerback Frank Walker, then safety Marquand Manuel . In the same drill, Jones ran a crisp route, came back for the ball and made a tough catch in tight coverage.

-- Pete Dougherty and Mike Vandermause, sports@greenbaypressgazette.com

[Packnut]

Manuel

No surprise Manuel is still getting beat like a dusty rug.


White has a chance to stick.

Love to hear Hawk is taking the next step. Thompson might have struck gold with him.(fingers crossed).

[the_idle_threat]

LOL @ "getting beat like a dusty rug."

[Cheesehead Craig]

So far Crosby and Raynor are in a dead heat, but to make the team, Crosby has to be better. Raynor so far has done nothing to lose his job.

[Joemailman]

Transcript of MM's press conference today. Must have been a pretty good practice. He seems more upbeat than yesterday.


(What's the update on Morency?)
Vernand's injury is a little more serious than we anticipated, so it may be a couple weeks for him.

(Will he need a scope?)
I don't think so. No. Pat McKenzie just thinks it's a little more serious than he initially thought. Just like I said, it's going to be maybe a couple weeks.

(Was the injury from a collision?)
He really didn't know when he did it in practice. There were two plays back to back. The one where he had the hard cut to the left, he kind of fell a little bit there, and there was a play I think it was actually prior to that where he was in a situation where his legs got crossed up on the pass protection that he was blocking on. I think it happened on one of those two plays. He's not really sure when it happened.

(Can you be more specific than saying it's a knee injury?)
I'll tell you what, he has a knee injury, and if he wants to be specific about his injury, you're more than welcome to ask him. I don't think it's my place to put the specifics. That's his place. If Vernand wants to share the details of his injury, he can go for it.

(Will this give you more looks at guys like Pope and White?)
I think P.J. has had a nice camp. I think White is a young man that's obviously very physical, and these are the type of days that he really shows up, short-yardage and goal-line. I've been impressed with what he's done the last two practices. And I think Brandon just continues to get better as he gets more comfortable with the footwork and the schemes that we're doing. we're getting plenty of work. Noah has been very solid. I think he looks great compared to where he was at last year too. So I think Noah Herron is a guy we don't talk a whole lot about that's having a very good camp.

(Did you make any changes in practice because of the heat?)
I cut out about six to eight reps of goal line there at the end because of our defensive tackle situation. Other than that, we went through the full practice.

(Was Wynn having problems with the heat or his illness?)
He's dehydrated from the stomach virus that he's had. He's working through that.

(How many defensive tackles dropped out?)
Just the one, but we were down to three.

(What happened with Muir?)
Ankle. It was his ankle. It's been kind of bothering him. He hit it again today.

(How would you assess the offensive team red zone periods?)
I thought we struggled for the first one. The seven-on-seven, you can spin that any way you want, because seven-on-seven red zone, frankly I think it's to the defense's advantage down there when you are going seven-on-seven. I didn't think we were very crisp, very exact. We got a couple new wrinkles in there, that's understandable, but some of the things we've done in the past we need to do a better job of.

(What kind of relationship do you have with Terrence Murphy and how is he coming along?)
I think Terrence has done a very good job. I haven't had the opportunity to spend a lot of individual time with him, but I think he's a bright-eyed young man. I think he has a bright future in coaching, very willing to learn. He's always early for the meetings and things like that, asks a lot of questions. I'm glad he's here. Like I told him when he had his medical situation back as a player that he'd always have an opportunity to come back here. He's welcome, he's a Packer, and we're trying to help him as best we can in his new profession.

(What did you see from P.J. Pope last season?)
I think he has very good in-line running strength. He has toughness. I think you saw that right away. I recall when we brought him over from Chicago in one of our blitz pickup drills. I think he's a tough player. He's another young player you see getting more comfortable with what we're doing. I like his running style. He doesn't waste steps, he doesn't pitter-patter in the hole, and that obviously fits what we're trying to do with the one-cut scheme. So I like P.J. Pope.

(How much is Wynn hurting himself?)
Anybody that's not practicing is not helping themselves. I think we all know that. He has an illness that he's trying to overcome and he needs to get back as fast as he can.

(How's Brandon Jackson picking up the system?)
I think he's doing well. He's getting a lot of reps, which is only going to help him. He's a gifted young man physically. He has the power and the quickness. He has a lot of pop in his body, and you can just see when he's comfortable he's able to take off. He's feeling his way on some things and he's only going to get better.

(How did Aaron Rodgers look today?)
OK. I thought he pushed the ball a few times. He was a little aggressive with his decisions. But I think Aaron as a whole is throwing the ball very well. He's throwing the ball where he wants to throw it. The timing with Aaron and all the young receivers, and Brett will go through the same thing when he gets back, we're going to be a little off. That's why we have training camp. We need to just keep repping that, and we'll only get better.

(He looks like he's not afraid to take off and run. Does he trust that leg?)
Oh, I think so. He's very confident. He's in the best shape he's been since I've worked with him. He's had a really good offseason. Aaron, like I've said over and over again, he's a lot more athletic than you saw in my opinion in college. He can make all the throws, he can do all the movement things. He's got a bright future.

(What happened with Barbre?)
Barbre has a hamstring. He actually hurt it the first or second practice. It's been bothering him, so we held him today.

(Did you have any interaction with Bill Walsh and do you have any thoughts on his passing?)
I do not know Coach Walsh personally. I'm sorry to hear of his passing. But I've been able to work with a number of people who have worked with him and worked for him. He's had a tremendous impact on the game of football. I think what he accomplished speaks for itself. He's touched so many people's lives both personally and professionally, and being a big proponent of the West Coast offense, there's so much I've been able to gain just from the foundation that he's laid before everybody, particularly in the coaching profession and in the game of football.

(Will tomorrow night's practice at City Stadium be a distraction or a nice change-up?)
Oh no, I'm all for City Stadium. I'm really embarrassed to say I wasn't aware of the history my first time through here in '99 as an assistant coach. Actually I was made first aware of it, Cliff Christl wrote an article last year at this time, and thought it would be very interesting. Ted and I talked about it last year, and the timing just wasn't right. I'm all for this. I think it's great for the community, I think it's great for our players, and I definitely think it's the right thing. I think Allen, our groundskeeper, has done a great job with the field over there, and I think it will be a great environment to work in tomorrow night.

(With Jones you mentioned there are things to work on that we won't pick up on. What are those?)
Well, I think you're going to see that as a whole for the young guys. Just the timing. There's things you have to do over and over again as far as the feel of the quarterback, the route, the situation, just the little things in route running. He's thinking right now, you can see when he breaks the huddle, he's thinking about the formation, he's thinking about the play. Where he's going to get to the next level, he's just going to be thinking about the technique and the route that he's going to beat the guy over him with. That's just a natural progression for a young receiver.

(Is there any similarity to Jennings last year the way he jumped out?)
Greg I thought just kept getting better and better as the training camp went on. We're hoping to see the same thing with James. I think you could compare them, I think that would be accurate, yes.

(How is Jennings doing now? Is he back?)
I think so. He's got that spring that he had prior to the injury, so I think he looks excellent.

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(Is Rouse progressing as you expected?)
I thought he made a very nice play on the interception. You can see his athletic ability, especially for his size. So yeah, I think he's doing very well so far.

(Will you start mixing him in with the 1's now and then?)
That whole defensive backfield, we have in my opinion a logjam there. We really don't have enough reps to get all those guys ready and sort that out. Actually last night, Ted and I stood behind the team drills and specifically watched the defensive secondary. So I'm really excited about that whole group, particularly Aaron also, because I think we've got a lot of good young players that have really made a lot of gains, the guys that were here, and the guys that we've added. We're going to make some tough cuts there.

(With Morency out, will White play more halfback?)
Corey is a guy that we want to see if he can do both, just for our scheme and what we ask the fullback to do. I wanted to see him in the goal-line and the short-yardage and things like that. He's deserved the extra reps, what he's done with the opportunity he's had.

(How big an advantage is it to have your offensive line set at the start of training camp?)
It's a lot better than we were at this time last year, so I would say that's a positive. That's a group that's going to continue to get better. The cohesiveness in that group is probably the most important because it all starts up there. I agree with your statement, it's very important.

(How was the pass protection in the blitz period?)
Well, the blitz period, we had gone a little more scat and some six-man protection, so naturally you're going to have some hot situations. Actually I think our defensive line has done very good with their stunt games. They've hit us with a couple of T-T's and T-E's last night and again today. I think our defensive line is playing very well. But the protection as a whole, that's why we're practicing. What happens is you get caught in the installations. In the uniqueness of our defense, we really don't play another defense ... we play Denver this year that will be similar ... but we don't play a lot of defenses schematically that do the things that they do in combination. Everybody does certain bits and pieces of it. When you sit here and look at your installations, I can pretty much tell you when it's probably not going to be a great day schematically for the offense. And we're going to have a number of those, but that's no excuse. We need to overcome them, because football is still football. But I think they've done a very good job so far.

(When will Pickett ready to go?)
I'm hopeful we can get him ready tomorrow and he can practice the next day, or Thursday.

(How about Jolly?)
Hopefully he'll go tomorrow.

(Donald Driver?)
Donald tested last night and I have not gotten his medical report for today. Hopefully he can go tomorrow too.

(Do you see Bubba's role in red zone and goal line expanding?)
The way we use our tight ends, we really don't design it to say hey, we're going to do this, it's a one-player position. Bubba's opportunities need to increase. I think that position in itself, we need to increase the opportunities. Because for us to sit here and say we need to get more production out of them, we need to start first increasing their opportunities. I think we need to increase Bubba's opportunities and the whole group.

[Rastak]

(What kind of relationship do you have with Terrence Murphy and how is he coming along?)
I think Terrence has done a very good job. I haven't had the opportunity to spend a lot of individual time with him, but I think he's a bright-eyed young man. I think he has a bright future in coaching, very willing to learn. He's always early for the meetings and things like that, asks a lot of questions. I'm glad he's here. Like I told him when he had his medical situation back as a player that he'd always have an opportunity to come back here. He's welcome, he's a Packer, and we're trying to help him as best we can in his new profession.

That's pretty cool.

[The Leaper]

So far Crosby and Raynor are in a dead heat, but to make the team, Crosby has to be better. Raynor so far has done nothing to lose his job.

Kickoffs won't determine who makes the team. Raynor did fine in that last year...and Crosby is just as good.

Crosby was signed because of his ability to make field goals under pressure...an area where Raynor struggled last season. Putting the ball between the uprights will determine who wins.

Because Crosby is a draft pick with inexperience, Raynor is the one who has to beat Crosby IMO. If it comes down to a coin toss, you'll keep the rookie who has greater potential to improve going forward over the guy with a couple years in the league under his belt who SHOULD be improved to some extent already.

[wist43]

Transcript of MM's press conference today. Must have been a pretty good practice. He seems more upbeat than yesterday.

(How was the pass protection in the blitz period?)
Well, the blitz period, we had gone a little more scat and some six-man protection, so naturally you're going to have some hot situations. Actually I think our defensive line has done very good with their stunt games. They've hit us with a couple of T-T's and T-E's last night and again today. I think our defensive line is playing very well. But the protection as a whole, that's why we're practicing. What happens is you get caught in the installations. In the uniqueness of our defense, we really don't play another defense ... we play Denver this year that will be similar ... but we don't play a lot of defenses schematically that do the things that they do in combination. Everybody does certain bits and pieces of it. When you sit here and look at your installations, I can pretty much tell you when it's probably not going to be a great day schematically for the offense. And we're going to have a number of those, but that's no excuse. We need to overcome them, because football is still football. But I think they've done a very good job so far.

Sounds like a rationalization... they couldn't block 4 with 7 last year. This blurb makes it sound like they've picked up right where they left off. This has to be a major concern.

Typical PR crap. Yes, they got their asses handed to 'em... "but I think they've done a very good job so far."

[Cheesehead Craig]

So far Crosby and Raynor are in a dead heat, but to make the team, Crosby has to be better. Raynor so far has done nothing to lose his job.

Kickoffs won't determine who makes the team. Raynor did fine in that last year...and Crosby is just as good.

Crosby was signed because of his ability to make field goals under pressure...an area where Raynor struggled last season. Putting the ball between the uprights will determine who wins.

Because Crosby is a draft pick with inexperience, Raynor is the one who has to beat Crosby IMO. If it comes down to a coin toss, you'll keep the rookie who has greater potential to improve going forward over the guy with a couple years in the league under his belt who SHOULD be improved to some extent already.

Raynor has made more FGs than Crosby in practice from what I've read.

It's not like Raynor is a 8-9 yr vet, he's only in his 3rd season and one year he simply was a kickoff specialist. Last season pretty much was his rookie year from a FG kicking perspective. Give the kid a chance to grow.

Crosby has not shown that he has such superior ability to Raynor to warrant cutting Raynor. This may change, but right now he hasn't.

[BallHawk]

That whole defensive backfield, we have in my opinion a logjam there.

It's not a logjam that's brimming with oodles of talent, though. I'd describe it as a logjam of rotten timber.