Cutdown to 75 Had Some Surprises

It was cutdown day in the NFL when all 32 teams had to get down to 75 and end of the day there were a few surprising moves by the Packers.

Hometown Boy Peter Mortell Was Living The Dream Until Monday - His Grandfather Hunting With Vince Lombardi And With His Dad At Lambeau Field

First, General Manager Ted Thompson cut Green Bay native Peter Mortell. I thought Mortell had won the battle with Tim Masthay for the punting job. He seemed to be a gamer and I was ready to move on from Masthay, who has been mired in a year and a half slump. But what do I know?

Offense Wasn't Bad in First Game

The Packers opened the season with a 17-11 win over the Super Bowl contending Cleveland Browns and many will say it was a good start for many reasons.

 

I will agree in this respect. It is surely (and don't call me Shirley) better to win than lose, but there were several disturbing trends, which don't bode well for the upcoming season.

 

First, I didn't like Aaron Rodgers sitting this one out. The Packer offense was dysfunctional last year and Rodgers had a terrible season by his high standards. Everyone on the offense needs to play every game and Rodgers was the only offensive starter that wasn't injured that didn't play.

 

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.