If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!

News coming out of camp regarding the offensive line is not very positive. According to the Green Bay Press Gazette Sitton will likely miss a month with his injury. This is not a positive in my opinion. The Packers were about to finally developing some chemistry amoungst the offensive line and now we have to start over again with a new line. With Wells possibly being out as well the Packers could be in some serious trouble.

If Wells stays out it appears that Spitz will play center while Colledge and Moll play the guard spots. Now I want to know why in the world is Moll starting over Barbre. What does the coaching staff have against Barbre. In my opinion he has looked pretty good and the coaches were raving about him heading into training camp. Since training camp has begun they have pretty much given him absolutely no shot at winning the starting spot. First there was Colledge. Then there was Sitton. Now there is Moll. I seriously want to know what Barbre did to not even deserve a chance at the starting spot. He must have insulted one of the coaches since that is the only thing that explains what is happening. The coaches have kept saying that Barbre is still in competition for one of the starting jobs but I will believe it when I see it. I am not saying that Barbre should for sure be the starter but I have no idea why he isn’t even given a chance.

With the mess at offensive line I hope we can sort it out quickly and get Sitton and Wells back soon. Wells appears pretty likely to be able to start the opener which is a good thing since then we can at least start the sam offensive line we had last season (Spitz and Colledge). If Wells misses extended time we are in a lot of trouble this season.

Hopefully we can sort this offensive line mess out soon or we will be crushed in Minnesota since I don’t think it is a good idea to have a huge mess in the middle of your offensive line when the opponent has the best DT tandem in the league. We better sort this situation out soon or we could be in for a very long season.

So are you worried about the offensive line situation or do you think we will be fine this season?

The game could have gone a little better but Packer fans should be really happy that last night was not a repeat of last week. The Packers offense rebounded nicely and I hope they can continue to play that well into the season. The Packers defense is another story and I think there were a couple things that lead to their poor performance. Since I am in a good mood after last night’s game I have decided to start with the positives from the game.

Positives

Aaron Rodgers had a great game in my opinion. There is no way you can possibly complain about 18/22 for 193 yards. Tack on a passing and running TD as well. Rodgers rebounded from last week. He might have only had one of two mistakes in the whole game and the rest of the game was flawless. If we see more games like this than against the 49ers I think Rodgers will have a very successful season this year. As long as the line give Rodgers time I think he will quickly develop and overcome these mistakes that he has made so far this preseason.

The wide receivers redeemed themselves tonight. There was only one noticeable drop in my opinion (James Jones) and other than that the receivers did their job. This week they were finally able to get open so Rodgers had somewhere to throw the ball. I think McCarthy really needs to think about using a lot of the short passes this season since Aaron Rodgers and the receivers played much better with the short passes than the intermediate to long passes of last week. Finally it was nice to see Greg Jennings back since he really opened up the passing game in my opinion.

Kregg Lumpkin might have earned himself a spot on the roster with his play in yesterday’s game. While his stats might not show a great game I think he showed the potential to be a good RB in the league. While I personally don’t think he is currently worthy of a roster spot on the team I think the Packers are going to have to keep him on the roster since there is no way he makes it to the practice squad. This is one of those times that I wish the NFL had a developmental league like the MLB. While I wouldn’t guarentee that he makes the roster, I will say that he improved his chance last night.

The offensive line did a very good job pass blocking in today’s game. While it has been said that the Broncos defensive line is pretty weak, that doesn’t really matter to me. It doesn’t matter since the offensive line did their job in the game. They could have been challenged more but they weren’t. If there defensive line was better we don’t know what would have happened. We could have given up many more sacks or we could have continued to block well. There is really no reason to debate what would have happened since we will never get to see what would have happened.

Jason Hunter had a great game at defensive end. I have been a critic of Jason Hunter for a while now and for good reason. He never seemed to get any pressure on the QB. He didn’t have a problem with that last night. He had several good pressures on the QB (would have had more if the Broncos offensive lineman didn’t hold several plays in a row) and even caused the Tracy White interception that won the game. Hopefully next week the Packers can give him some time against the Titan starting offensive line since I want to see what he can do against better competition. If Hunter continues to play like he did last night he could be a future pass rusher in this league. I think last night’s performance at least guarenteed him a spot on the roster especially since he has always been a great special teamer.

Desmond Bishop had a very good game in my opinion. This battle between Bishop and Hodge for the final linebacking spot is getting really heated. Both are playing great and there is a very slim chance that we can keep both of them. One of them will probably have to go. Someone is likely to either be able to sign a very good LB or make a final roster trade to acquire one of these linebackers with a lot of talent that we just don’t have room for.

Will Blackmon made the roster last night in my opinion. Not from his defensive play (even though that wasn’t terrible) but from his returning. Blackmon probably won the punt returning job after last night’s performance and has finally given the Packers a returning threat which we haven’t had for a very long time.

Negatives

These injuries are starting to get ridiculous. How our luck is going as far as injuries are concerned I wouldn’t be shocked if our whole roster is hurt by the end of the season. If the injuries weren’t bad enough we had five injuries in yesterday’s game. It appears that James Jones’, Nick Collins’, and Charles Woodson’s appear to be nothing and they won’t miss the opener against the Vikings. Atari Bigby’s injury is a little more serious since there is a chance that he might not be able to play the opener. Finally Sitton’s was probably the worst he hurt his knee and had to have his leg wrapped. He will have more tests today but the one positive is that he didn’t need to use crutches to walk. At this point I think we need to wait to see what the test reveal.

We really need help on the defensive line. Injuries are decimating the defensive line. In particular we can’t keep a good defensive tackle from getting hurt. I think most of the problems from last night can actually be attributed to the defensive tackle position. First the defensive tackles did nothing to help in the run game. They couldn’t hold their spot and they couldn’t get any push. The defesnvie tackles also hurt the passing game since our defensive ends got some pressure from the sides but it went to waste since we could get absolutley no pressure up the middle. The Packers really need to either add a defensive tackle or hope that Pickett and/or Harrell get back soon. I think Packer fans saw last night why Pickett is so valuable to this team.

Our offensive line is really letting the running backs down. All night the offensive line struggled at opening holes for the running game. The offensive line needs to start opening holes for the running game or we will be in some trouble this season since we will have to focus on the pass and defenses will do the same. This week the offensive line improved their pass blocking. Hopefully this week they will improve their run blocking.

The Packers really need to add a veteran QB. Brian Brohm and Matt Flynn are just not ready to start. If we don’t add a veteran and Rodgers gets hurt we might as well throw the season away since at this point Brohm and Flynn would never be able to win a game. I think Thompson was pretty stupid not adding a veteran earlier. I don’t know how he expected two rookies to be able to fill in if Rodgers got hurt. I am not giving up on either QB since I think either or both could have a pretty good future as long as they are given some time to develop.

Other Thoughts

Jon Ryan had a really good game punting but I wouldn’t put too much stock into it since the game was in Denver after all. Denver’s high altitude has always helped kickers and punters in the past with the distance on their kicks. At least Ryan didn’t shank a punt in this game.

Mason Crosby finally missed a field goal. I guess it was about time that he would miss one since he has been pretty much perfect this whole training camp. The snap and hold were also not great which could have lead to the missed field goal.

The running back battle is as muddled as it has ever been. At this point I can’t really tell you who win will either the one or two open spots on the roster. Each running back brings their own strengths and weaknesses and the decision will come down to what the coaching staff wants most out of the third running back.

Danny Lansanah might have earned himself a spot on the practice squad with his play last night. He is definently a raw player at this point in his career but he showed potential (exactly what you want out of a practice squad player). Lansanah needs to learn from his stupid roughing the passer penalty though since every player should know better than that.

I hope Joey Haynos makes the roster over Tory Humphrey. While Tory Humphrey makes some good plays we balances those with some terrible plays. Add in the fact that he can’t stay healthy and you should know why I want to finally cut him loose. The reason I like Joey Haynos is because of his measureables. You don’t find many 6′8″ TEs in the league. Just think how that height advantage could be used in the end zone with jump balls. Joey Haynos also has good hands and showed last night that he can block as well.

Jarrett Bush really needs to develop some consistency. Last week he played terrible and this week he played pretty good. If Bush wants to have any chance of making the roster (he is the CB looking in at this point in time) he needs to have another solid game against the Titans and show that he has some consistency between games.

I am excited about Pat Lee’s future. While I don’t think he will have much impact this season (fourth CB at best) I think he could be a very good player in the future. Pat Lee has shown a knack for the football. He also seems to be getting better every single week that he plays. He is a little raw but I think with some development he could be a very good CB.

Sometime this week there will be a roster cutdown to 75 players. When I find the exact date I will write a post about who I think is on the bubble. When the cuts are released I will also write a post about whether I thought they were the right choices or not.

So what did you think about last night’s game? What went well and what went wrong in your opinion? Are you more optimistic about the season after last night’s game?

For a full report on tonight’s practice I recommend that you check out the Green Bay Press Gazette. I do have a few things I do want to point out though.

• As far as injuries are concerned it is good to see that Jennings and KGB are back to full practice scedules. Grant also seems to finally be getting some practice (it sounds like he didn’t do everything) and it is about time since he needs practice in order to be ready for the season. I am starting to get a little worried about AJ Hawk though since it sounds like Hawk will miss Friday’s game as well. The Packers really need to get him back as was shown in Saturday’s game. Finally Aaron Rodgers had his knee wrapped but the injury doesn’t seem serious at all.
• Evan Moore’s chance at making the Packers roster is essentially over. This is too bad since I was pulling for him to make the roster. Evan Moore’s injury in Saturday’s game will put him out several weeks which means that he will miss the rest of training camp. At this point Evan Moore will either be cut, put on IR, or hopefully make the practice squad.
• Aaron Kampman seems to be able to do everything. Today in practice he actually intercepted a pass. Aaron Kampman is easily one of the best defenders in the league in my opinion.
• Obviously the Packers coaching staff really didn’t learn a whole lot from the 49er game. For some reason Jarrett Bush is still the number 4 CB. After Saturday’s absolutley terrible performance he doesn’t lose his position. If I were the Packers coaching staff I would have dropped him at least one to two spots on the depth chart. I guess the Packers coaches didn’t watch the same game that I did. Another point that proves this is that the Packers did absolutely nothing to change up the offensive line. I do give them credit with finally sticking with an offensive line setup but I think they chose the wrong lineup. I would have moved Spitz back to his normal guard spot and put Barbre in the other spot. I guess the Packers are going to go based on potential rather than actual performance though.

With Favre still on the Packers roster very little has come out of training camp this morning. There are two things worth noting though.

First supposedly Rodgers had a really good performance despite one INT. This is encouraging especially since the coaching staff pumped in crowd noise in order to see how the QBs can handle the pressure. I think Rodgers will be fine this season. While he might not be a Pro Bowler this season I think he will have a successful season. He is obviously going to make mistakes this season but what first year QB hasn’t. Brett made plenty of mistakes himself as well. Thankfully it also seems that some of the Rodgers haters have already left at least for now. I guess we will have to wait till the night practice to see if they are gone for good (I so hope they are).

The other notable story actually came after practice. Supposedly Josh Sitton has impressed the coaches so much that he is actually getting a shot at the starting G spot. No matter how you look at this it is a good thing. Either Josh Sitton is one of those rare late round gems that start right away or we have good depth at the guard spot. I have a feeling that Sitton could become a Tauscher (a 7th rounder that did a good job starting in his first season). Some people will say that this is because Colledge and Barbre must be playing bad and that is why Sitton is getting a chance. I highly doubt that even though I have no proof to back that up. I think that the Packers are finally developing a good offensive line and I am shocked to say that i think the O-Line will actually be good to very good this season (it has been a long time since I have been able to say that).

Here is JS Online’s take on the practice.

There was one practice today. The Green Bay Press Gazette has a post explaining what happened during the practice. Here are my thoughts on what they are reported:

• James Jones’ fumbling problems returned today during practice. I wouldn’t put too much stock in it though since I don’t think it is anything to worry about. He struggled with fumbles early last season but he worked through them in the second half of the season. I don’t think the problems have returned (or at least I hope they haven’t).
• Aaron Rouse impressed everyone once again. Wherever a play is made he seems to be in the vicinity. He actually recovered the James Jones fumble (it was caused by Blackmon).
• It’s not surprising that Will Blackmon is one of the kick returners but what does surprise me is that Jordy Nelson is the other returner. I guess he must have shown something returning since I personally wouldn’t have picked him as one of the returners.
• Once again there was a fight on the field. While I don’t think people have to worry yet since I think the fight was caused by the heat, if the fights continue everyday I think the Packers could be in trouble.
• Josh Sitton was supposedly impressive again today. I doubt Sitton will do enough to win a starting job but he is showing why he deserves to make the team. It’s always great to see when later round picks take advantage of their opportunities to impress the coaches.

Just to remind everyone I will be heading to Green Bay tommorrow to attend the Family Night Scrimmage. Since I am not a season ticketholder (I really wish I were though) I have always like the Family Night Scrimmage. I am even happier this season since I actually got first row seats this year so if you watch the scrimmage from home be sure to look for me. Tommorrow I will have an article about what you should look for in the scrimmage. I also might be able to provide a link on where to actually see the scrimmage on the internet for those of you who don’t live in the Green Bay area (I am not positive about this since it was breifly talked about on the TCR (a Green Bay show that highlights what happened on training camp every day). Check back tommorrow for both things and everyone can rejoice that Packer football has finally returned after such a long break that seemed to last forever.