First trip to practice

First of all, the Packers’ new practice facility is absolutely beautiful. With the Resch Center on the north end and the grandstands on the east side of the field, my view from the south was awesome. I could have gotten into the stands had I wanted to but standing by the fence was just as good as the Packers quarterbacks and receivers worked right in front of me during the hour I was there. The field is absolutely perfect and the large scoreboard makes it game-like conditions during 11-on-11 drills. If there is a better practice field in the NFL I haven’t seen coverage of it. Like Lambeau Field, it is second to none.

I didn’t see a lot of practice but the display Aaron Rodgers put on was borderline ridiculous. In a drill where the quarterback takes a snap from center and drops back and throws to a basket along the sidelines Rodgers dropped in three in a row, longer throws each of the second two. The crowd went crazy and after the second one Rodgers gave a Tiger Woods uppercut that really pumped up the fans. I thought I heard the guy say 46 yards before Rodgers drilled his last one which was prompted another fist pump. Rodgers is going to take his place among the top quarterbacks in the NFL this year and may take the Packers’ passing game to levels not seen since the James Lofton, John Jefferson and Paul Coffman years.

Rodgers is just deadly with the deep ball, which is what made Lynn Dickey so good throwing to the aforementioned receiving combo. Rodgers would have fit in perfectly with the real Al Davis and Oakland Raiders who must always “go vertical” whether they can or not. I bet the California native Rodgers might not have minded playing their either. He could have been the new Mad Bomber. But Rodgers wound up in Green Bay and his three years of backing up Brett Favre were spent working hard knowing he was going to be the guy in due time. Now that he is that guy, he is just going to get better and better providing he doesn’t get hurt. Packers’ fans have to feel blessed to have back-to-back franchise quarterbacks this good. Simply amazing.

And after watching Rodgers, Matt Flynn and Brian Brohm looked absolutely pitiful. Not sure I even saw a spiral and nothing even close to dunking one in the net. The Packers need Mike Vick and the sooner the better. If anybody can turn Vick into a west coast offense quarterback it is Mike McCarthy. Packers’ president Mark Murphy made it sound like the Packers weren’t interested, but like general manager Ted Thompson, didn’t completely close the door. I’m not going to get into the character argument because I don’t care. I don’t want choir boys, I want game winners. The man did his time.

I’m definitely going to make the two mile trek back to practice a few more times this summer. This is sweet, and what I see on the field was even more impressive.

This entry was posted on Thursday, August 6th, 2009 at 9:56 pm and is filed under Al Davis. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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  • packer_bob

    Yes, DA, I agree, it is an oversimplification to not look at the overall picture. But there were other problems last year, other than just injuries. Cold starts in several games, too many penalties, lack of aggressive play calling on offense at times, the inability to run in too many short yardage situations, poor play in crunch time in a few games. I remember all that stuff from last year, and none of it has to do with injuries.
    Oh, and add horrible special teams to the list.

    I’m trying to look at the record of several seasons, not just one, which is why the upcoming season is make or break in my mind. We were decimated by injuries in the 4-12 season, it didn’t help Mike Sherman keep his job. It’s real simple, the proof should be in the pudding. If TT and MM are doing such a fantastic job, as some are so inclined to grant them, then I should be able to start seeing the results on the field.

  • Steve Cheez

    FYI- to anybody (like me) who is currently living in exile from God’s Country, NFL Network will be showing tape-delay broadcasts of all preseason games. Here on the Left Coast, we can see the Pack at: Sat., 08/15- 10:00 pm; Sun., Aug. 23- 1:00 pm; Fri., Aug. 28- 10:00 pm; and, Fri., Sept. 4, 8:30 pm.

  • Devil’s Advocate…

    Agree w/all that packer_bob!!!! Will add though, that a team can be like a house of cards. If a card or two becomes unstable, the whole house can all come tumbling down…….. even if the others were fine.

  • Punk

    Seems simple to me. Our O scored enough to win most games albeit too many late starts and wimpy start of the second half too often. D couldn’t hold a lead late so we reduced the amount of the big guys up front and replaced with more agile LBs. Specials stunk so we are filtering thru punters and replaced the big guys with more LBs, etc. Methinks we reacted to last year’s short commings, part of which is a work in progress. Add to that the attempt to greatly cut down on injuries. They went beyond what I thought they’d do. Or do you guys think getting Haynesworth, Canty, Moss, and BF back would have solved all our problems? Yeah, thats sarcastic to those who don’t see a real attempt to improve unless MM/TT/MM do it your way.

  • packer_bob

    I agree, Punk, they have reacted to some of the problems of last year, TT’s fourth and McCarthy’s third. If they get fixed, great, but you don’t get credit for attempting to fix something. Do you tell your car mechanic that, hey no problem for not fixing it, at least you tried? Or do you expect it the problem to get solved?

    Are we going to have the same problems this year with penalties, inability to execute when it matters, not being able to run for short yardage, poor special teams, etc? I hope not, but if we do whose fault is it? It has nothing to do with them doing it my way or anybody else’s, it’s about results.

    I don’t know what kind of business some of you were or are in, but in mine you don’t 3 or 4 or 5 years to fix things. Maybe we have a big year, in which case my confidence in the current regime will be bolstered, but I don’t think there’s anything wrong with holding people accountable. Coaches and GM’s talk about accountability all the time, or do they exempt themselves from that?

  • Michael Legat

    In your business, bob, you probably have more than a three month window every year to make significant fixes if your business is down. You probably aren’t also competing with 31 identical businesses for an extremely limited pool of resources.

    I don’t think anyone’s claiming the last 4-5 years is a raging success, but it really is nowhere near as bad as you seem to think it is. Really.

  • Rocky70

    A ‘car repair’ analogy. …… What’s next?
    matt & paul show up once a week & still know everything that’s going on… Umm….How is that?

    “Cold starts…… too many penalties…. lack of aggressive play calling…. inability to run in too many short yardage situations…. poor play in crunch time…. horrible special teams “………. & on & on & on. …………. Cancel the 2009 season. GB has no chance. Mr. Optimism has spoken.

    Oh, but wait ….he has another post. — ” But I still want the Pack to win. ” — LOL

  • packer_bob

    I’ve never said it was that bad, I’d say it’s mediocre. Understand, I’ve never said anyone should be fired right now. I would be in favor of that if we can’t show at least a winning season this year though.

  • packer_bob

    Yeah, you’re right Rocky, we didn’t have a problem with any of those things last year. Did I miss something, did we really have a great year last season? Maybe I need whatever meds you’re taking so reality doesn’t matter.

  • paul

    @ Rocky,

    Because I don’t post every third entry does not mean I am not reading. You are the biggest offender of talking about others and yourself in lue of football. Now stop it and talk football.

    Excited about this upcoming year but anything less than 10-6 is not acceptable. Keep the faith folks. GO PACK!! Talk football damit.

  • Rocky70

    Per PB:
    ” But I still want the Pack to win. ”
    Epic CYA…………… sorry, it’s too obvious.

    Sorry paul, but you have yet to make a post about football & I’ve gone back 6 threads. Does “8-dollar beers & whoa Bubba ” sound familiar ?

    paul = jackson = matt = dustin = Big Cheese = Jon …. Prove me wrong .

  • Punk

    Ok, p_b, I’ll answer point by point (although I don’t think you will ever be convinced). They have reacted to not some, but all of your complaints; so why not give them a little slack. The D is totally changed – the coaching change alone assured that. Penalties? The OL will be set. Execution? Smaller playbook and more discretion allowed by Rodgers. Short? Johnson, Lee, and improvement in Finley’s blocking. Specials? Already addressed that w/ D makeup. In your game plan do the players have any responsibility or is it just the coachs and suits? Don’t bother to answer we know who you are after regardless. I’d be willing to bet your business has a 5-year plan for operations (or at least a business model if you’re going to borrow) unless its a fast food. “MAYBE we have a big year,—–confidence—–will be bolstered”,? Accountability? Thats why they have contracts with end dates. I’m glad Murph and the Board don’t agree with your parameters and aren’t using your measurements.

  • packer_bob

    They’ve made changes, Punk. Time will tell if they are the right ones or not. I think Capers is a hell of a pick up, but I’m still concerned about our defense’s ability to improve dramatically right off the bat. We’ll see. I still don’t see how anyone could be happy with less than 9-7 this year, especially those of you that seem to think it is so painfully obvious how good we are.

  • Punk

    Wouldn’t like it, don’t expect it. But considering everything that they have done to improve the team, I’d look elsewhere to blame. (like between the hashmarks) Biggest ?s as I see it are – 1) Harrell, altogether; 2)Harris/Woodson, durability; 3)Bennett, healing; 4)Hawk, well Hawk being a #5; I’m not including Kampman, like I think you are, only because of Capers/Green and that I don’t think he will be standing up that much. I just can’t get too worked up about the punters either. Oh, are the “I told you so”s going to be flying around after that 4th game, either way. Worst senario for me would be 2-2, would already have ruined my season………….!

  • iccyfan

    “Penalties” would be an excellent topic to discuss during the slow times, as they just fricking (chaneling Elliott from Scrubs) killed us last season. I believe “penalties” were likely the difference between 6-10 and 10-6. Example: Titan game – Packers driving in 4th Q to put game out of reach (with TD) or at least to make Titans score TD to beat us. First down negated by a holding call on Colledge; takes us out of FG range and we punt. Titans drive in time remaining and kick FG to beat us. That’s just one penalty, but indicative of the entire season. The O gets criticized for not converting; the D gets criticized for folding, but that game was lost by having committed one penalty on one play. (Postscript – I know one play does not determine a game, but go with it for the sake of discussion).

    Who’s fault is it that the Packers incurred so many penalties last season? I’ll leave out my opinion and see what others think…

  • Rocky70

    ” I still don’t see how anyone could be happy with less than 9-7 this year..”

    I’d be totally po’ed if GB finished less than 9-7. I’d be mildly po’ed if they finish less than 11-5. …. I’m also starting to become concerned that nagging injuries are popping up all over the place. Especially Matthews & Harrell. (Hell, they haven’t even played a pre-season game yet)

    PB – believe me….You & I don’t always agree (rarely agree?) but I do appreciate the fact that you are one person & are just here to express yourself. …. What I cannot deal with is people who are using many IDs & troll around this site. I will always be on the look-out for the trolls with multiple IDs. …. Jon always threatens to return after being banned. He always does.

  • Rocky70

    ” Who’s fault is it that the Packers incurred so many penalties last season? ”
    The refs. …. The refs were all BF fans. It was payback… LOL.

    Youth, lack of repetition in practice, undisciplined aggressiveness.

    My personal opinion: Coaches fail to get in the players face & in a very loud & distinct manner tell that player: …”Stop the shit”.

    Same thing with Rodgers holding the ball too long & taking a sack. As soon as a coach tells him, he doesn’t do it anymore. …. Simple attention to detail. … I’d like to see more animated conversations between players & coaches on the sidelines during games this season. … Instant communication & feedback. No reason to wait until halftime anymore.

  • packer_bob

    Penalties are an overlooked killer sometimes, like special teams, and I agree with Iccy that they were a major contributor to last season’s record. I evidently don’t possess the photoraph memory of Iccy, though, as I wouldn’t be able to quote examples off the top of my head, but I remember the gist: we were terrible in penalty yards.

    I think you have to put the blame on a lack of discipline, and that falls directly under the coaches. (See there Rocky, we agree again on something!) We were either the 2nd most penalized team 2 years ago and the worst last year, or the other way around, but however you look at it it stinks! Major area to improve on, maybe all the new coaches will help although ultimately it has to be McCarthy’s reponsibility as HC.

  • Mel e Mel

    Rodgers holding the ball is going to be his M-O going forward. How many ill advised passes did the previous occupant of his job throw? Rodgers wont throw it unless its the end of the game.

  • Mel e Mel

    On a very happy note. Its August 12th and Viqueens still dont know who their starting QB is. A true Mickey Mouse organization. Tavaris Jackson is holding a edge over Sage Rosenfels. LMAO ROFL. Watch now as they pursue One the 2 QBs The Pack play vs CLev. Where are those people now who are crowning the queens.

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