On Day Five Pikula is the only player not participating in the Saturday morning practice. Intrepid hospital reporter Michael Cohen reported and I'm guessing he didn't clear this with General Manager Ted Thompson and Head Coach Mike McCarthy that when he left the practice field Thursday he was grabbing his right hamstring. When practice resumes we'll see if Cohen still has his press pass or will be tweeting from outside the fence as a spectator for breaking Belichick Protocol.
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| #73 JC Tretter May Get His Chance With the Injury to Corey Linsley |
Deja Vu All Over Again: We found out finally that center Corey Linsley has a hamstring injury he suffered two and a half months ago. Be prepared to have JC Tretter as center this year because we've seen this movie and it doesn't end well.
Former Packer rookie phenom cornerback Casey Hayward was coming off a great rookie season leading the Packers with six interceptions, but suffered a hamstring injury during his off-season workouts and ended up playing in just three games and he never regained form.
Linsley also had a great rookie season and missed three games last year with an ankle injury. Now an off-season workout hamstring injury that is still lingering is Hayward all over again.
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| Jason Spriggs Has Been Impressive |
Offensive Line Report: No. 2 pick Jason Spriggs has shown great athleticism and was 4-0 Day Four and 4-0 Day Five in the most important one-on-one pass rush drills Mike McCarthy is so fond of. He is the backup to David Bakhtiari at left tackle.
Saturday (Day 5) he beat Ambulance Chaser Nick Perry, No. 3 pick outside linebacker Kyler Fackrell and future Hall of Famer defensive left end Reggie Gilbert. However on Day Two he was schooled by Old Man River Julius Peppers when he actually was one-on-one in a live offensive drill.
With the first string offensive line set (left to right: Bakhtiari, Josh Sitton, Linsley, T. J. Lang, Brian Bulaga) if healthy and that's a big if the second string line seems to be (again left to right) Spriggs, Lane Taylor, J.C. Tretter, Josh Walker, Kyle Murphy. Day Five saw Spriggs, Don Barclay, Guard Matt Rotterdam and Barclay at center, Walker and Murphy.
A word about Barclay. Two years ago he was an excellent fill in for Bulaga at right tackle before suffering a very serious knee injury. Last year he was The Perfect Storm at right tackle and The Towering Inferno at left tackle. Normally it takes a year before a player is back to himself after a serious knee injury, but it seems the powers that be have Barclay moving inside where he can do less harm.
Sorry to see that because I like Barclay. He is still listed as third string right tackle, but in Jack Benny Thompson's world Aaron Rodgers is listed as a backup offensive lineman right behind Old Man River.
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| Ladarius Gunter Making His Case |
Defensive Line Report: No. 1 pick Silent Kenny Clark was 5-0 in his individual one-on-one drills taking to task Tretter twice. Is that good or bad for both?
Letroy Guion, who is back at nose tackle after being moved outside last year when B.J. Raji (May He Rest in Hiatus) returned from his torn arm muscle, blew up (a lot of military phrases being used by the press corps today) Walker to sack Brett Hundley.
Speaking of Old Man River he was seen as an inside pass rusher next to Screamer Mike Daniels. With the return of Clay Matthews to outside pass rusher and the lack of defensive line depth another Hallmark of Jack Benny Thompson is moving people out of their comfort zone.
I may be wrong, but when it comes to football players I subscribe to the philosophy of "IF It Ain't Broke, Don't Fix it." Old Man River has had two good years at the end of the career with the Packers with seven and 10.5 sacks. Moving him inside as a down lineman can't be good, if you ask me.
Defensive Backs Report: Day Five saw Sam Shields and LaDarius Gunter playing outside with Quinten Rollins and Micah Hyde inside in the slot. Damarious Randall was coming off the bench on the outside. Earlier Randall was seeing a fair amount in the slot with Rollins on the outside.
Tight End Report: Ritchie Rodgers steals a pass from Rollins for a 17-yard first down. On Day Two Justin Perillo, who is running at No. 2 with prize Free Agent Catch Jared Cook out still recovering from foot surgery, made a great catch from Hundley.
However, with future Packer Hall of Fame tight end Jermichael Finley (who was a great blocker - NOT) watching the other half of being a Packer tight end was woefully lacking. Perry, having his normal great camp before the ax falls (and it always does) wiped out Perillo and dumped Jenny Craig Eddie Lacy for a four-yard loss.
Another Future Packer Hall of Fame Free Agent Acquisition until he gets cut Lerentee McCray then took to task Stud Tight End Mitchell Henry to tackle Future Hall of Fame running back John Crockett for a loss.
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| New Coach Luke Getsy Was Hired to Get the Wide Receivers on the Same Page with Aaron Rodgers |
Wide Receiver Report or What Page Are You On?: It seems Jeff Janis, Davante Adams and Reggie Cobb are the starters at the moment with Jordy Nelson out for the remainder of camp.
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| Jared Abbrederis Had a Good Week |
However, Favorite Son Jared Abbrederis seems to be on the same page with Aaron Rodgers on a seam route on Day Five, while Dennis the Menace Janis, who is seems to be reading ebooks exclusively, wasn't on any page with Rodgers on Day Two miss-reading coverage on a back-shoulder pass and two others.
Day Five Janis finally catches a pass, but he pulls a Golden Tate to do so. OBYW the throw wasn't from Rodgers, but from another Future Hall of Famer until he's cut Marquise Williams.
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| Camp Arms - Joe Callahan, Brent Hundley and Marquis Williams |
With Rodgers back in the rotation Janis drops a pass and gets the critical clap of death from Mister Rodgers. The next pass he drops a sure TD, so Rodgers goes to Abbrederis who hangs on for a diving TD. Abbrederis then goes nuts stealing a pass from our pass defending extraordinaire inside linebacker Joe Thomas for another TD.
Kickers Report: While Mason Crosby has been perfect this week as the lone kicker Tim Masthay has to battle Peter Morell and to be honest it's been more of love fest than a battle.
Last year Cody Mandrell was brought in to test Masthay, but he was cut after a week and Masthay went on to have his second inconsistent season in a row. This year the camp leg is Green Bay native Peter Mortell and I predict they will cut him next week. Masthay has been more consistent so far while Mortell would hit two great punts followed by two shankers.
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| Peter Mortell Is Blowing His Chance to Replace Tim Masthay |
The job is there for the taking with Masthay mired in a year and a half slump. However until Jack Benny Thompson takes Masthay's struggles seriously and brings in a bona fided punter to actually compete for the punting job the Packers will suffer.
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| Jack Benny Thompson Fiddles While Green Bay Burns |
Finally Family Night came off without a hitch on Day Six. No rain, the weather was nice and Aaron Rodgers put on a show, especially how accurate he is when his receivers are on the same page. In this clip his receiver was right where he was supposed to be and Rodgers put the ball right where it needed to be from 40 yards out. Enjoy.
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