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I'll be doing actual play-by-play call from training camp today, another unprecedented move by Cheesehead Nation. Come to either SportsBubbler or Cheesehead TV for practice around 2:00 p.m. CST today and listen in. It will be a blogcast, a broadcast side-by-side with a live blog to follow along. Hope you can make it for B.J. Raji's debut on the practice field.
The Packers have a real issue on their hands with Desmond Bishop and Brandon Chillar as the second string inside linebackers, when both of them might deserve to be the starters. "It’s up to coach Mike McCarthy and new defensive coordinator Dom Capers
to figure out how it will pay off for Bishop and Chillar, and they, of
course, see this as the proverbial 'good problem to have,'" writes Jason Wilde of the Wisconsin State Journal. "Nonetheless,
the fact remains Chillar and Bishop could force them to face some
difficult decisions in terms of playing time with two high-profile
incumbent starters." It would be a tough decision to bench first rounders A.J. Hawk and Nick Barnett, but it might have to come down to that. Tom Silverstein in today's edition of Sporting News Today suggested that Bishop might see some playing time at outside linebacker.
Any chance of Brian Brohm becoming the second string quarterback is becoming remote. "On Saturday night, Matt Flynn appeared to widen his grip on the
No. 2 job with a sharp showing in the second quarter against Cleveland
compared to a mediocre one by Brohm in the second half," writes Bob McGinn of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. McGinn has a decent notebook section in which he also takes a look at some of the punters the Packers may be looking at in other NFL training camps.
The battle at center will continue for at least another week. "(Offensive coordinator Joe) Philbin wants to see how both (Jason) Spitz and (Scott) Wells operate against multiple
defensive tackles, something he didn’t see against the Browns," reports Rob Demovsky of the Green Bay Press-Gazette. "Cleveland runs a 3-4 defense, which means the center was largely one on
one against the nose tackle." Good point made by Demovsky. It's impossible to make a definitive decision after only a single preseason game against a defense that only runs a 3-4. The next opponent, the Buffalo Bills, run a 4-3.
Tyrell Sutton is in a race for a roster spot seemingly out of nowhere after Saturday's game. "If the Packers go with Brandon Jackson as their No. 2 back again, that
would leave one more spot for Sutton to fight for along with DeShawn
Wynn and Kregg Lumpkin," writes Demovsky. "Wynn was off to a strong start in camp until a
knee injury briefly sidelined him. Lumpkin, who made the team last
season as an undrafted free agent, also played well on Saturday,
rushing for 48 yards on eight carries (a 6.0-yard average)." I don't necessarily agree that he's fighting for only one spot. It's possible the Packers keep four halfbacks. Although unlikely, it's not unprecedented.
James Knell of Green Bay Packers commentary analyzes the pass blocking on Aaron Rodgers' long touchdown pass to Donald Driver. "The RE almost goes over Barbe's right shoulder, but Rodgers steps up in
the pocket and Barbe's foot work allows him to reestablish himself
between the QB and the rusher," writes Knell. "A TV announcer singled out Clifton's
block, and that block did really take the LE out of the play, but the
RT had the single match up and stood up well against a strong charge." Nice job pointing out a perhaps overlooked job by Barbre. While Clifton got the credit from the announcers, credit should go to Barbre in his fight for the starting right tackle job.
Donald's Designated Driver of All Kinds of Time touches on a topic we debated last week about how much the Packers were going to show in their new 3-4 defensive scheme. Would they show multiple blitzes or not? McCarthy and Capers generally did. "It's football," writes D.D. Driver. "They actually air some of these football games on live
television for the whole world to see. There aren't that many secrets.
I can see wanting to keep an occasional gadget play secret, but aside
from that you need to be good at the things you need to be good at."
Chris Lempesis of Ol' Bag of Donuts points out the nice job by wide receiver James Jones on Saturday night. "Three catches for 43 yards, with some nifty moves along the way," writes Lempesis. "If
Jones can stay healthy, he will be the No. 3 wide receiver as he is
dominating Jordy Nelson in the battle for that spot." Thus far through training camp, it's not a stretch to say Jones is looking like the '07 version of himself, and that's a good thing.
Good job by C.D. Angeli exposing a flaw on the Cleveland Browns running an end around for 29 yards on Saturday. "It left the left side of the field open for Cribbs to rush the ball 29
yards for a big play that put the Browns in Packer territory," describes Angeli. "Poppinga
took the bait of the tackle he was rushing against, took the inside
route to the quarterback, and was promptly sealed away from the rusher.
Collins came up full-blast to fill in, and had to quickly turn around
and go into catch-up mode." As Angeli says, the defensive coordinators need to spend a lot of time fixing this or other teams are going to exploit it too. This might be something we keep tabs on in practice today.
Al Bracco of Packers Lounge wants to see Al Harris out of the starting lineup on his wish list. "Al Harris moves to nickel back: Let me make this
perfectly clear, I have nothing against Al Harris," writes Bracco. "This is really more
about Tramon Williams than it is about Al Harris. While Al Harris may
have lost a step and isn’t the greatest tackler, he is still in the
top 20% of cornerbacks around the league. If the Packers break camp
with Harris at the nickel, that means Williams had a GREAT camp and the
coaches feel he is ready for NFL success." I love you, Al, but are you crazy? Did you see Al Harris come back after his spleen injury last year?
Bart Winkler of the Bucky Channel is drinking the Kool-Aid. "I firmly do believe that the Packers are going to win the Super Bowl
this year," writes Winkler. "Is that crazy? Maybe a little bit, and the fact that I am a
Packers fan does in fact make this a homer pick. But the fact of the
matter is I just feel that with Rodgers, our offense, the new defense,
McCarthy, the offensive line gelling together, etc..., that this team
is going to win the Super Bowl. If not, so be it. But I really do
believe it's going to happen."
"The Packers also seem to be gravitating towards using the two tight end set more often this season," writes Monty at Total Packers.
The national media is concerned with how the new 3-4 scheme is producing.
And worthy of mention, Usain Bolt just set a new world record in the 100-meter dash at 9.58 seconds, which in un-freaking-believable. I think he took .12 seconds off the previous record, which is an unheard of amount. Anyone think he could play football?
Railbird endorsed video: Steve Kimock Crazy Engine just announced a fall tour. In that honor here's Kimock playing "Movin' & Groovin'"...