• Three tweets 11.6.09

    I'll be providing at least three thoughts about the Green Bay Packers per day on Twitter. Here what I'm tweeting about:

    1. Remember when Nick Collins returned three INTs for TDs last year? Somehow I knew that could never happen again. #Packers #NFL

    2. Now that Charlie Peprah has signed on with another NFL team, I'm thinking that he would've been a better option than Matt Giordano.

    3. The #Packers need a big win this weekend to gain some momentum heading into the following week's game against the #Cowboys.

    Join the craze. Click here to follow Railbird Central or Brian Carriveau on Twitter.
  • Packers Daily Links 11.6.09

    Social Networking: Follow both Railbird Central and me on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook.

    According to Tom Pelissero of the Green Bay Press-Gazette, B.J. Raji is ready for an increased workload. That's partially based upon his solid play in the past two games. "Raji played the best game of his young career on Oct. 25 at Cleveland, where he registered two solo tackles in 14 snaps and showed his restored explosion by driving back veteran guard Hank Fraley during a goal-line stand," writes Pelissero. "He had two more solo tackles in 12 snaps Sunday against Minnesota — a performance that would have graded out better had he not drawn a 15-yard face mask penalty." The Packers didn't draft Raji for overall for nothing. It would be nice if he stepped up an made an impact down the stretch.

    With quarterback Aaron Rodgers sidelined with an injury during the first few practices this week, backup Matt Flynn has been getting an increased amount of snaps with the no. 1 offense and has reportedly looked good. "I actually thought he had a very good day today," head coach McCarthy is quoted as saying by Tom Silverstein of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. "He's throwing the ball with more velocity. It's nice to see the improvement that he's made from Year 1 to Year 2. The ability to throw with more velocity, playing with his feet, his time clock has definitely picked up. I thought he did a lot of good things today."

    For a guy that rarely misses practice, the fact that Donald Driver has missed a few this week comes as a mild concern. "Driver’s status after suffering a stinger last Sunday sounded slightly less certain," writes Jason Wilde of ESPNMilwaukee.com. "Asked if he thinks Driver will practice on Friday, McCarthy responded, 'I hope so. Donald doesn't miss practice, so we'll see where he is tomorrow.' However, McCarthy said he 'definitely would consider playing Donald without any practice.'" You have to figure Driver will be ready by Sunday. Because if he didn't play, the Packers would head into the game versus the Buccaneers with their top receivers being Greg Jennings, James Jones and then Jake Allen.

    McCarthy has been mum on tight end Jermichael Finley's availability for this weekend's game, but a more encouraging report came from one of the assistant coaches. "The Packers aren't expected to have Finley available this week, but (tight ends coach Ben) McAdoo reported that he's pretty close to being healthy again and was bouncing around during the jog-through as though he were ready to jump into the huddle for the next play," reports Silverstein.

    Speaking of tight end, the Associated Press (and I can only assume Chris Jenkins) profiles Spencer Havner. "Making the most of his increased playing time in the wake of an injury to tight end Jermichael Finley, Havner has caught three touchdowns in the Packers' past two games, tying him with Donald Driver for the team lead," according to the AP. Who would have thought at the beginning of the season that Havner would be tied for the team lead in touchdown receptions?

    With Brandon Chillar out for a couple weeks with a broken hand, it appears A.J. Hawk is going to get a majority of snaps in the nickel defense, but all the inside linebackers are getting some practice time. "According to Hawk, he, Nick Barnett and Desmond Bishop have been rotating at the two inside linebacker spots to get well-versed in all of the packages in case of injury," writes Bill Huber of Packer Report.

    Aaron Nagler of Cheesehead TV calls for more of Ahman Green in the running game. "It took one play on Sunday for Green to show what he could do to help the Packers’ offense in an area that has been nothing short of abysmal under coach Mike McCarthy," writes Nagler. "Catching a  short swing pass out of the backfield it looked like he was dead to rights. But Green slipped the tackle, turned up-field and ran for a first down. It’s a play we’ve seen Ryan Grant fail to make time and time again, but Green makes it look effortless." One play is an awfully small sample size, but one thing is for sure. Grant has failed to deliver with a much larger sample size.

    Gene Bosling of Ol' Bag of Donuts is critical of Aaron Rodgers. "There’s the other side of Rodgers, what you see on Sundays: Too many snaps where he looks 20-25 yards down field, makes a read or two there and never comes back to a checkdown," writes Bosling. "The times where he seems not to have the “internal clock” to step up and feel a pass rush like the great ones so often do. The red-zone inefficiency. The games where he doesn’t really get the offense clicking until the Packers are throwing every down in the second half."

    Monty of Total Packers finds that the Packers make the playoffs after 10,001 simulations.

    Greg C. of Packers Lounge wonders if this past Sunday's game was a "signature loss."

    Railbird endorsed video: Enjoy "Used to Get High for a Living" by the John Butler Trio. Great song...

  • Special teams player of the week vs. Vikings '09

    On Tuesday night, members of Cheesehead Nation voted for A.J. Hawk as the special teams player of the week against the Vikings. He became the seventh separate player to win the award since the season began. Hawk was singled out among these candidates and their credentials:

    • A.J. Hawk: Forced the fumble on kickoff in which the Packers were able to turn into a touchdown and get momentum back on their side early in the second half.
    • Nick Collins: Recovered Hawk's fumble immediately following a Packers field goal to open up the scoring in the second half of the game.
    • Brett Goode: Flawless snapping performance and one tackle for a punt coverage unit that held the Vikings to 7.4 yards per punt return.
    • Derrick Martin: Led the Packers in special teams tackles with two.

    The Cheesehead Nation special teams players of the week:

    Week 1 - Brett Swain

    Week 2 - Tramon Williams

    Week 3 - Johnny Jolly

    Week 4 - Korey Hall

    Week 5 - Mason Crosby

    Week 6 - Spencer Havner

    Week 7 - A.J. Hawk

  • Three tweets 11.5.09

     I'll be providing at least three thoughts about the Green Bay Packers per day on Twitter. Here what I'm tweeting about:

    1. Aaron Rodgers has won several games now and even came from behind, but fans are still waiting for that big one they weren't supposed to win.

    2. For anyone who missed Packer Transplants, the #Packers are 13 in the NFL in gross punting but 31st in net. Coverage is to blame.

    3. I wouldn't have pegged Ahman Green as a kick returner at the peak of his career, let alone the backside coming off an injury.

    Join the craze. Click here to follow Railbird Central or Brian Carriveau on Twitter.
  • Packers Daily Links 11.5.09

    Social Networking: Follow both Railbird Central and me on Twitter or become a fan on Facebook.

    A couple days after the loss to the Minnesota Vikings both defensive linemen Johnny Jolly and Cullen Jenkins were singing a different tune. Both players had made highly controversial comments to the press immediately following the game and tried to make up for it on Wednesday.

    After committing a bone head penalty against the Vikings that led to an eventual touchdown, Jolly showed no remorse on Sunday. “I shouldn’t have let my emotions take over on that play,” Johnny Jolly is quoted as saying by Mike Vandermause of the Green Bay Press-Gazette. “Nick (Barnett) made a great play on third down. We could have been off the field. That gave them an opportunity to get three more snaps prior to the touchdown they scored. Next time it won’t happen like that. That was my fault. I take all the blame for it.”

    Jenkins, on the other hand, said he felt "handcuffed" by the defensive scheme after the game. "If I had an issue, I should have went straight to them and talked with them about it and not handle it the way I handled it," Jenkins told Greg Bedard of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. "So that's something I need to take responsibility for and handle better, especially being one of the older guys on this team. I should be setting a better example." For both players, Wednesday was a step in the right direction.

    Over on the offensive side of the football, it appears as if the team is ready to make a change at the tackle position. "Considering Chad Clifton and Mark Tauscher were the primary tackles in practice Wednesday, it would almost seem a given that both would be in the starting lineup when the Green Bay Packers play at Tampa Bay Sunday," writes Tom Silverstein of the Journal Sentinel. Personally, I'm ready to go with the young guys, but apparently the head coach of the Packers disagrees with me.

    Considering the way the offensive line has performed combined with injuries to both of Aaron Rodgers' feet and his mobility, and there's concern that the quarterback may have a hard time staying upright on Sunday. "Thankfully, there's this little thing called adrenaline that kicked in last week," Rodgers told Lori Nickel of the Journal Sentinel. "So I'm hoping that kicks in early and won't be an issue. It's not that bad. And I think by Sunday, it's really going to be a nonissue." If the Packers are able to get an early lead, it's possible that Packers fans may see Matt Flynn the earliest he's ever been in a regular season game.

    More bad news came on the injury front concerning Jason Spitz on Wednesday. “Just kind of not making progress,” coach Mike McCarthy was quoted as saying by Rob Demovsky of the Press-Gazette. “Hopefully we can continue with his treatment and rehab and hopefully make some progress. I know he is frustrated. I know Dr. McKenzie is a little concerned. I say it every time we ask the question about Jason Spitz, it is a low-back injury so there is that uncertainty there. But hopefully he’ll start to make some more progress here.” The Packers can't continue to wait for Spitz indefinitely. Either he gets better in a week or two or they'll probably have to place him on IR.

    "Jeremy Kapinos won’t be getting cut this week, but the Packers punter was put on notice by coach Mike McCarthy on Wednesday that he must improve," writes Jason Wilde of ESPNMilwaukee.com. Hang time has been one of Kapinos' biggest issues. The coverage units need that extra second to get downfield to get in position to make a tackle.

    Waldo of Where's Lambeau? finds that Clay Matthews might be playing the best among all rookie defensive line/3-4 OLB types in the entire NFL.

    Chris Lempesis of Ol' Bag of Donuts is upset that the Packers let rookie left tackle Jamon Meredith get away.

    Green Bay Packer Nation says all is not lost.

    Railbird endorsed video: Enjoy "Sympathy for the Devil" by Yukon Kornelius with members of the Dave Matthews Band, Guster and Barenaked Ladies...

     

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About This Blog

This is the place for those of you who can't get enough Green Bay Packers news! Updates will be provided frequently from the view of a "railbird." We go to the practices and scan the local media so you don't have to.

Milwaukee Magazine says, "Insightful and newsy, Brian Carriveau’s work could be mistaken for beat reporting instead of blogging. His coverage of the team’s practices is virtually unprecedented."

For comments, questions and media inquiries, please e-mail carriveau@uwalumni.com

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