Read here for an article quoting Teddy Bruschi who criticizes the Packers for not having had organized team activities. If he truly means “activities”, then he’s just off the mark. The players have gotten together for multiple activities including the Donald Driver softball game, golf outings, etc. And they will have the ring ceremony next week. Maybe they haven’t had organized team “workouts”, but I’m not too concerned about that. While I am hoping that their individual workouts are gradually increasing in intensity to prepare them for the possible season, I have no problem with the players on this team taking this time to heal and to enjoy life a bit. They worked their tails off from last June to February of this year. They deserve to enjoy this time.
Of course, Bruschi also conveniently left out mention of the lockout. This year is different than any year he played and this team has a very different character from the ones he played on. Yes, players should be keeping themselves fit and preparing for the possibility that the sides come to an agreement. But this Packer team doesn’t need quite the bonding time that all the other non-Super-Bow winning teams may need. The main reason why I have been relatively quiet posting this offseason is because there is just not much happening because of the lockout. I think this is an example of guys like Bruschi and the folks at PFT just running out of things to say. So they try to create something out of nothing.
I say have another beer Donald.
packergeeks 
June 10, 2011 at 12:57 am |
Not sure I agree. The Packers’ first preseason game is (scheduled to be) ~9 weeks from now, and the opening regular season game 4 weeks later… assuming things don’t get delayed, how long do you wait to start getting ready to defend?
D∈T
June 10, 2011 at 6:30 am |
I think we won’t have to worry for the most part about our guys working out, staying in shape and doing their own things, with their own trainers.
I read something about Jennings saying he’s working out so hard, training so hard that its actually tougher than what it would be like if he was with the team. Thats good news.
The thing we are missing out is getting the chemistry together and everyone working with each other with timing etc. I don’t know how easily that can be off, or how easily that can be achieved again, but I imagine if they don’t start getting together soon, it’s not going to be perfect from the start.
The other thing to note is we seem to start slow each year. Especially on offence. I think a lot was due to the way McCarthy was calling plays and coaching last year. And as Andy repeatedly stated, he’s changed since that Lions game. Hopefully that carries through to this season, because if we start slow with a full off season, It might be pretty ugly come game one this year.
Either way its great having a group of guys who show their passion for football, and a team that has been together for a long time. But I just wish the football thing was getting started and lets get ready for an awesome 2011 season.
June 10, 2011 at 8:35 am |
@Travis — maybe it will be OK for the more experienced guys. But one thing that may be a problem is with rookies. Last year, so many played key roles in the season (Frank Zombo, James Starks, Sam Shields, Andrew Quarless, Tim Masthay, Tom Crabtree, Brian Bulaga).
Even B.J Raji and Clay Matthews were only in their second year (which seems weird to think about; Mattews already plays like he’s already a seasoned veteran).
Maybe it won’t be a big deal; TT & MM do seem to have a talent for getting the most out of what they have (and developing raw talent out of young players). I just hope they have a chance to do it in 2011.
D∈T
June 10, 2011 at 11:42 am |
I have a hard time seeing a huge benefit in getting 40 guys together in an un-structured un-coached environment. 7 on 7 non-contact drills are going to do nothing for the defense and have a limited benefit for the offense. There is probably some benefit for the rookies to learn terminology and the Packer way but it’s not like the players are going to be coaching each other up that much or installing a portion of the playbook. Factor in the Packers played into February and have a fairly veteran team at this point and I see limited value for the Packers.
I also think their is some risk of getting together in a unstructured environment.. Chucking the football around for 4 hours and then 40-50 rich young men in the same location with nothing else to do…naw…nothing could go wrong in that kind of setting!
June 10, 2011 at 1:15 pm |
Here’s some more Packer news:
June 10, 2011 at 1:18 pm |
I’m with DaveK on this and would only add that the player-organized workouts seem mostly like a PR stunt, something to show the fans that the players really just want to play and that the owners are to blame for the work stoppage. I think they have been effective from that perspective, but I am not concerned that a veteran team like the Pack will be hurt by not having them.
June 13, 2011 at 11:41 am |
can someone answer this: who exactly would be the authority figure to ‘punish’ a team if they decided to have contact and distribute playbooks. i guess i’m not saying go so far as to have training camp, but what would happen if mccarthy just said “come pick up your playbook at my house while i’m out buying cheese curds” ? would the owners say green bay has to forfeit a game?
i think this is especially interesting/specific to green bay – with their unique ownership structure.
June 13, 2011 at 11:51 am |
Good points all. Joshy – great question. Another reader brought up the issue of how the packers have a unique angle on all this with their ownership structure. I don’t know who would punish (probably the NFL?) or what the punishment would be for something like this. I’d think any disciplinary action would immediately become part of the already complex/messed up talks though.
June 13, 2011 at 5:53 pm |
My dad thinks that Brett Farve (year with Jets and 1st year with Vikings) showed the owners that players don’t need training camp all that much. He was surprised to hear that over 8,000 people came to watch the Packers play softball. Living in Atlanta, now, he said that they couldn’t get 8 people to come watch the Falcons play softball!
I feel the Packers will be okay with a late return from the lockout. They played into February and most of the players feel really healed from their injuries. I like that the players are working out and they should return to Green Bay in good shape. The teams with either a new coaching staff or new QB will be the ones hurting this season.
June 25, 2011 at 6:22 pm |
Here is a question.. So it sounds like the labor agreement will include a salary cap with a certain amount teams must spend. How will this affect Green Bay, especially this year.
I don’t know what our salary situation is for this year. How much room will we have. We still got a couple signings to do, and Free Agency hasn’t started. But in the past we usually had tons of cap room every year. And seeing as Ted hasn’t done things all that differently than he has in the past, I’d assume there is a lot of cap room this year.
This means, we’ll need to spend, to meet the minimum spending requirement. Also cap is likely to be higher than past years (when it existed), so we are going to need to spend money regardless.
So what do we do?
A lot of talk surrounds Cullen Jenkins and what will happen with him. Majority feel he’s going to be gone, because the contract he’ll likely sign is way more than Ted would be willing to pay. And there seems to also be a lot of interest around the league regarding Cullen wants the Free Agent doors open. The Bears of all teams sound like one of the front runners.
So if we got to spend money, is it worth giving him that big contract. Jenkins has been vital for Green Bay in recent years, but everyone knows his durability can certainly be questioned. He is 30 years old, which means he should have 2-3 good seasons left, but the contract is going to see a lot of dollar signs.
Judging from Ted’s history, he’s not going to splurge on Jenkins, regardless of the fact he needs to spend more money. I think Green Bay can get by without him, and there is always the possibility of exploring other options on our D line that Green Bay may look into.
It’s rare for Green Bay to make much if any moves in Free Agency. But, it doesn’t mean we overlook the possibility. Most notably, the Packers brought in Woodson years ago as a free agent, and it certainly paid off. It’s not to say free agency is the way, or not the way to go. It just comes down to discipline in a sense and making the logical move. Most players who enter free agency usually are looking at signing a very big deal, but teams that live by free agency have a lot of their money in very few players leaving them with just too many holes to get them to the end.
Having to spend money certainly opens the door for a move or two in free agency this year. I wouldn’t even be surprised to see it happen. But if we once again don’t really play our cards in free agency, what other options do we have at spending the money we are going to need to. Especially if we give Jenkins a handshake for his time and bid him farewell.
James Jones is a big thought in my mind. Maybe since we need to spend more money he will be back. A lot of talk with him as well as to whether he will stay in Green Bay, and I think his chances increase heavily with the new CBA rules once in place. I don’t think Jones would demand too big of a contract, and he does have potential. He just needs to keep working and try to be more of a consistent player. And with his age, and the help he’d bring at WR, it may be good for Green Bay.
We are loaded at wide receiver, with Jordy emerging and Jennings playing at an elite level. Bring in Cobb through the draft to add the Percy Harvin/Deshaun Jackson dynamic to our game is big. As well as Finley who can pretty much be considered a WR on most teams. But couldn’t we still use Jones? Those 5 WR sets, 4 WR sets would cause nightmares. Just too many good weapons all around. If you want a scary offense, I think this move does it. It also gives depth if any of them goes down.
Even with signing Jordy, we may still need to spend. What now? Well there are 4 players in mind that are going to need big contracts. Rodgers (not necessarily this year), Clay, Finley and Jennings. Rodgers and Jennings have already been re-signed. But if we could get a contract on Rodgers to keep him in Green Bay for good.. it should be looked at.
I also don’t see Clay slowing down anytime soon. Lets lock him up. I, along with thousands of fans would be very sad to see this guy go. He has an amazing character, and he is such an impressive, athletic player. He’s great for the team, and he needs to be here for years to come.
And Finley. I think while he may be questioned with his character and some of things he has said in the past, he’s a really good person too. Not somebody whose really going to get in trouble, and not cause problems on this team. The minor stuff he does would be Christmas for other teams with players giving them headache after headache. And you can’t question his talent and skill. Maybe if we can get a deal with Finley for a long term that isn’t too ridiculously expensive, it’d be a smart move. Once his deal is up, his price tag will be very high. But I think he likes it in Green Bay, and hopefully Ted sees a lot of value in him. I think something can be worked out, and if we can keep him for at least a few more years down the road, this offense is going to be great to watch.
All we can really envision is the NFL will become very hectic (hopefully soon) once this lockout ends. And Green Bay will be a part of it with a lot of decisions to be made. It will be great to see what the team decides to do, and hopefully some of our big players are able to scribble some ink down on a long term contract. Time will tell, but it should be interesting nonetheless.
And in terms of Free Agency, what are peoples thoughts on who we may look to go get. Is there anybody, any position we need. Or is there a player that we could reasonably get that would just be perfect over here in Green Bay.