Sunday practice report

[packers11]

Cowboys week: Sunday practice report
By Greg A. Bedard
Sunday, Nov 25 2007, 12:36 PM

Green Bay - Busy, busy day inside the Hutson Center, and the Packers aren't even playing on this Sunday.

Let's get to it:

Safety Marviel Underwood is back. Cut in training camp this year after trying to come back from ACL surgery, Underwood was back on the field. While it's not known whether he was signed to the practice squad or active roster, it appeared that he's on the active roster because he got reps with the starting special teams units here and there. Underwood's signing may be an indication that Aaron Rouse's knee injury is worse than has been let on. A likely move to get Underwood on the roster would be for the Packers to place Colin Cole (broken arm) on injured reserve;

The Packers also signed former Rutgers cornerback Joe Porter to the practice squad. He was on the field and practicing, Porter was undrafted and signed with New Orleans. The only practice squad player not at practice was OG Chris Patrick. He hadn't practiced in about a week because of a concussion, but said last week he was close to returning;

Rouse attended the beginning of practice and then left. He didn't even attempt to run;

CB Charles Woodson (toe) was not at practice. RT Mark Tauscher (ankle) watched some of practice and then left for treatment. Junius Coston and Tony Moll took turns at RT;

DE Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila (right ankle and knee) did not attend practice. Neither did Cole and DT Johnny Jolly;
The Packers seemed to get a boost from the return of S Nick Collins, TE Bubba Franks and CB Will Blackmon. All three went through the entire practice. Franks was a little more active, but Collins went through agility drills with no problem. Blackmon returned a few punts before slowing down.

Collins worked at times with the first-team defense.
That's it for now. Gotta run to the locker room. Will be back with updates.

[FritzDontBlitz]

Good news. Having Bubba and Nick back is a very good thing. I wouldn't be so quick to rule Rouse out, Bedard has a tendency to jump to conclusions. Cole has a broken forearm and I could see him going to IR to clear a spot for Underwood. Even if Collins and Rouse are both able to play, they can use the extra depth at safety.

I like having Underwood back.

[b bulldog]

Lee is a gifted TE but Bubba excels at run blocking

[RashanGary]

Lee, Bubba and Martin give us three big redzone targets too.

[Guiness]

Underwood being back in interesting indeed. A lot of people were high on him, maybe we'll finally see something.

Good to see Coston practicing as well. Hopefully Tauscher will be back, and he'll go in at Guard. It was always said College was a more natural tackle than guard, I wonder why he isn't getting reps at RT?

Will 'The Tease' Blackmon is around. Hard to get excited about that.

[The Leaper]

Good to see Coston practicing as well. Hopefully Tauscher will be back, and he'll go in at Guard. It was always said College was a more natural tackle than guard, I wonder why he isn't getting reps at RT?

I thought Colledge did OK last game. No point moving a guy who is probably one of your top 2 guards.

[KYPack]

Good to see Coston practicing as well. Hopefully Tauscher will be back, and he'll go in at Guard. It was always said College was a more natural tackle than guard, I wonder why he isn't getting reps at RT?

I thought Colledge did OK last game. No point moving a guy who is probably one of your top 2 guards.

Colledge is a LT. & yer right, no sense moving a bunch of guys around.

Thanks for posting this stuff.

I'm dying trying to figure out who is really hurt and who ain't.

When you get the "he was walking around and didn't seem to be in pain" announcements, that tends to actually be bad news.

[FritzDontBlitz]

Good to see Coston practicing as well. Hopefully Tauscher will be back, and he'll go in at Guard. It was always said College was a more natural tackle than guard, I wonder why he isn't getting reps at RT?

I thought Colledge did OK last game. No point moving a guy who is probably one of your top 2 guards.

If Colledge is one of the top two guards in Green Bay, we need to draft more guards.

[Carolina_Packer]

Good to see Coston practicing as well. Hopefully Tauscher will be back, and he'll go in at Guard. It was always said College was a more natural tackle than guard, I wonder why he isn't getting reps at RT?

I thought Colledge did OK last game. No point moving a guy who is probably one of your top 2 guards.

If Colledge is one of the top two guards in Green Bay, we need to draft more guards.

Do you think with time, more patience he can improve, or do they need to go in a different direction?

[Deputy Nutz]

I think Colledge has been playing at a higher level since McCarthy took him and Spitz behind the woodshed a couple of weeks ago after their horrible performance against Kansas City. Right now the offensive line is working well together and I see no reason to replace Colledge or Spitz at this point.

I used to think that Colledge was a natural left tackle, but I just don't know, he needs to be better in space and when playing left tackle all you have is space.




Glad to see Underwood back, it had to be tough for McCarthy and Thompson to cut him because his knee wasn't full strength and he wasn't 100%. Regardless if he plays in the secondary, he will give the Packers a boost to the special teams.



Injuries suck, I really hope KGB is healthy enough to give the Packers some much needed pass rush on third downs. His speed is a killer coming off the edge, and the Cowboys have a big but slow offensive line. I really like what I see out of Rouse, I hope either he or Collins is healthy enough to play. If Woodson can't go, then having both Rouse and Collins will strengthen our secondary because Collins can play in the slot, either as the nickel or dime back, while Rouse plays safety.

[Carolina_Packer]

The encouraging thing is that MM and staff seem to have all the players engaged, like, "hey, you're not just taking up space on the roster, we expect you to step up and perform when called upon". That's the sign of a well-coached team. If KGB is down, look for someone like Jason Hunter to step up. That guy can rush the passer, and was kept instead of Larry Birdine.

He's made the roster the last two years and won the I-AA title with Appalachian State in 2005 scoring the winning TD, on a fumble return. He's a player; just young.

[the_idle_threat]

I used to think that Colledge was a natural left tackle, but I just don't know, he needs to be better in space and when playing left tackle all you have is space.