Next Man Up Once Again

The hallmark of the 2016-17 Green Bay Packers has been next man up all season. On defense the cornerback and inside linebacker positions has been hit very hard with injuries and on offense it has been running back and wide receiver. And once again injuries have raised its ugly head with the loss of Jordy Nelson for the Cowboys game for sure and the season possibly.

The loss of Nelson could hurt more than the loss of Randall Cobb for the last 2 games of the regular season did. When Cobb went down with an ankle injury undrafted rookie free agent Geronimo Allison stepped in and did a great job with 4 catches out of 7 thrown for 66 yards against the Vikings and 4 catches out of 6 thrown for 91 yards and a TD against the Lions.

Last week against the Giants despite Nelson going down early Allison was only thrown the ball twice catching 1 for 8 yards. It didn't seem to matter that Nelson was on the sidelines last week with Davante Adams and Randall Cobb not missing a beat catching 13 of 19 passes for 241 yards and 4 TDs.

In addition tight end Jared Cook continued to be productive catching 5 of 9 passes for 48 yards and running back Ty Montgomery doing good work out of the backfield catching 3 of 4 for 41 yards.

The key to last week was the inability of the defense to plan for Nelson being out and that won't be the case this week for the Cowboys. Last year with Nelson out the entire season Adams wasn't up to the task of being the No. 1 receiver after he had begun to show signs at the end of the 2014 season as being a legitimate go-to man.

Observations After The First Week of Camp

Bill Belichick Injury Report: On Day Three tight end Mitchell Henry needed some Midol because he had to leave practice with cramps. On Day Four left outside linebacker Manoa Pikula also dropped out with an undisclosed injury. It was reported he limped off, so it could be cramps, could be tweeked, could be stubbed toe, could be......

 

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.

Mojo is Back

The Smiles and Mojo Were Back

I didn't get a chance to see the Packers win over Washington until Monday because I was covering a women's college basketball game and didn't get over to the game until the score was 32-18 in the fourth quarter.

Aaron Rodgers addressed what had happened and who am I to say anything different, “This is huge for us, it really is. I talked a lot the last couple of weeks about being able to turn it on. A lot of you probably thought that this was lip service. But we just needed a game like this to get our mojo back. We got our confidence going. I said this week, it just takes one — one performance to get us going back in the right direction and believing we can make a run.”

Offensive mojo has been lacking since Week 3 of the season and team mojo has been lacking since coming back from the Bye Week. I finally watched the entire game and it seemed to me several things were going on.

Post-Game Analysis: The Defense - Backfield in Motion

The play of the secondary has been much better than I would have guessed, but in a different way. With the loss of Tramon Williams and Davon House to free agency there is a big hole to fill on the left side at cornerback and it seems it just might have been filled, but not by the person everyone would have thought, except for me, of course.

On the Island:

The game started with Casey Hayward manning Williams' spot and Sam Shields on the right side. Neither had any stats, but did a decent job of keeping Tom Brady and Jimmy Garoppolo in check holding them to 2-of-4 with one long pass by Garoppolo for 16 on the left side.

Quinten Rollins

2015 #2 (62) draft pick Quinten Rollins took over for Hayward and undrafted free agent rookie LaDarius Gunter replaced Shields. These two have been the talk of the camp leading up to the game and Rollins has been the talk of the town afterwards.

LET THE COMPETITION BEGIN: CORNERBACKS

The Packers rookie camp is in full swing and I thought it would be a good time to examine the roster for the 2105-16 season.

 

I will start with the defense since General Manager Ted Thompson decided to use its first two picks on defensive backs after letting cornerbacks Tramon Williams and Devon House leave during free agency and special teams ace/cornerback Jarrett Bush remain unsigned.

 

Let's start with the crux of the matter the cornerback situation. Coach Joe Whitt has six-year veteran Sam Shields returning on the left side, but has to replace Williams on the right side. House was the top reserve off the bench with four-year backup Casey Hayward and two-year Demetri Goodson behind him.

 

Hayward is an interesting case. He began his career as a second round draft pick and made a big splash intercepting six passes as a rookie mainly from the slot corner spot. His sophomore season was a total loss beginning the season with a hamstring injury that never healed. Last year he was surpassed by House as the top reserve and this year he enters the final year of his rookie contract at a crossroads. He either takes over at right corner or will probably be allowed to try free agency next year.

 

Goodson was a project when he was drafted in the sixth round after playing football for only two seasons and was active for six games, including the last four, but never took a snap on the defense only playing on special teams. He had five solo tackles with two coming in the final game.

 

Tay Glover-Wright

Added to the mix is Tay Glover-Wright, a two-year guy who played on the practice squad last year and three-year veteran Micah Hyde, sort of, but Hyde's best position is in the slot, which is also Hayward's best position.

 

AND NOW FOR THE FINAL WORD AT LEAST FOR NOW

The draft isn't over until it's over and then it really isn't over until the undrafted free agents are signed and as right now (Sunday night May 3rd) we have a list of the guys signed or about to be signed.

 

Malcolm Agnew

First a break down of their positions. There were five wide receivers, four running backs, three linebackers, two guards, two defensive backs, a tight end, an offensive tackle and a nose tackle. In addition, there were seven players invited to the Rookie Camp for a tryout. Of those there was a quarterback, two offensive linemen, two defensive backs, a tight end and a defensive lineman.

 

I actually know one of the signees, running back Malcolm Agnew from Southern Illinois University. He is the son of Ray Agnew - an 11 year veteran who played defensive tackle for the Patriots, Giants and Rams - and the brother of fullback Ray Agnew III - who also played at SIU and had a tryout with the Browns and is now with the Cowboys.

John Crockett