I am not a doctor. I haven’t seen any scans of Packers QB Aaron Rodgers’ damaged collarbone. I don’t know Packers team physician Dr. Pat McKenzie or coach Mike McCarthy. I didn’t stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night.
In other words, I am completely unqualified to determine whether Rodgers should be allowed to play Sunday when the Packers play the Dallas Cowboys.
But being unqualified has never stopped me before, and it’s not going to stop me on this issue. I believe if Rodgers thinks he can play, he should be allowed to play. From Jason Wilde’s Friday column on the topic:
“Frankly, I think if Aaron was asked the question, he wants to play. He feels he’s ready to play,” McCarthy told reporters Friday in his usual, end-of-the-week post-practice news conference. “Based on what he’s accomplished physically and what he was able to do at practice on Wednesday and Thursday, he’s ready to go.”
So even the coach sounds confident that Rodgers could play. Unless scans show Rodgers’ collarbone to be so fragile that it might crack in half if someone pats his shoulder pads after a touchdown pass, let him play. Why hold him back?
I get that increased risk of re-injury is probably the main concern. I’ve also heard Rodgers speak eloquently about injury risks that come with playing in the NFL. He has a good understanding of the risks he and other players take every time they step on the field. I don’t think he would play if he thought the risk/reward balance of re-injuring his collarbone was totally out of whack.
I applaud the Packers organization for its long-term outlook and putting a player’s safety first when handling injuries. Obviously, you don’t want to put Rodgers out there if the risk of re-injury is off the charts. But in this instance, based on what we know and what has been said publicly, the re-injury risk has declined dramatically and the team sounds like it’s being a little too cautious.
Rodgers took snaps with the first team in practice this week and apparently feels good physically. Also from Wilde’s column:
“The hurdle that I know Aaron wanted to get over, he achieved it this week. He feels really good,” McCarthy said.
So why is he going to carry a clipboard and wear a headset on Sunday?
Rodgers just turned 30 years old. He’s seen teammates Terrance Murphy and Nick Collins have their careers ended after neck injuries. He saw Jermichael Finley suffer a neck injury this year that could end his career. He’s seen countless other teammates have entire seasons and careers cut down after one play resulted in a major injury.
Rodgers has also seen Tom Brady miss an entire season after a blow to his knee. He’s seen Peyton Manning miss a year with a neck injury and numerous other QBs miss significant time.
Even if Rodgers sits until the risk of re-injuring the collarbone is zero, it only takes one fluke play to suffer another major injury to a different part of his body and be back on the sideline. That’s life in the NFL and Rodgers realizes that. Why live in fear of re-injuring the collarbone and not play games you’re capable of playing when the risk of suffering some other type of major injury is always out there no matter when you come back?
It sounds like Rodgers is fine with taking a little extra risk because he knows he takes a risk every time he steps on the field, fully healthy collarbone or not. The Packers should feel the same way, but unfortunately, they don’t.
I get that McCarthy and company are thinking long-term on this issue, but I guarantee Rodgers is thinking long term as well and it sounds like he thinks playing is the best decision for both him, his current team and the long-term future of the Packers.
Perhaps scans show that the collarbone is worse than the Packers and Rodgers are letting on. If that’s the case, the Packers need to tell us that. Because right now, it appears that the team is living in fear of one specific injury when any number of injuries could happen whenever Rodgers returns.
This isn’t an issue of toughness. Rodgers has already proven he’s tough. This isn’t an issue of organizational ineptitude. The Packers have already proven they are one of the best organizations in the NFL. This isn’t an issue of unqualified fans (like me) ranting and raving about either Rodgers’ toughness or how the Packers handle injuries.
This is about a specific injury to the Packers best player and whether he is ready to return or not. Based on everything that has been said, it sounds like Rodgers is ready to go. For some reason, McCarthy and the Packers don’t agree.
Maybe the shades are one way Packers GM Ted Thompson is trying to snap out of his slump
If Packers general manager Ted Thompson was a baseball player, he’d pull up his socks higher, hop over the foul line whenever he ran onto the field, put his hat on backwards, take four warm-up swings before each at-bat instead of three — anything to help change his luck and snap him out of this nasty slump.
Slumps are a combination of human ineptitude and a streak of poor luck. Good players eventually snap out of them, but every now and then, a long, nasty, confidence-killing slump can wreck a once promising career.
Thompson will snap out of the rut he’s currently in. It’s been a rough one, though, marked by a slew of injuries, questionable draft decisions and ill-timed contract extensions. Here’s who and what Thompson can blame for his slump
Himself Thompson did nothing to upgrade the safety and backup quarterback position this offseason, both obvious positions of need. Instead of drafting a safety or dipping into free agency, Thompson stuck with his current players and the results have been dismal. It got so bad that Thompson cut Jerron McMillian last week, a fourth-round pick a season ago.
As far as backup quarterback, I usually don’t get all wound up about that position because, in my opinion, if Rodgers goes down for an extended stretch, the Packers are screwed. Well, Rodgers went down and the Packers fell flat on their face. Where I fault Thompson here is for not recognizing just how bad B.J. Coleman and Graham Harrell were. The time to cut bait with both of them was the offseason, not training camp after all the other decent backup QBs were off the market and it was too late to draft another one.
The football Gods I know every team deals with injuries, but what the Packers go through every season is ridiculous. It’d be easy to pick at Thompson’s recent draft classes coming up short, but it’s hard because most of the players have been injured.
Thompson has drafted 36 players since 2010. Of that group, 18 have suffered significant injuries at some point during their career. That list of 18 includes guys like Bryan Bulaga, Nick Perry, Derek Sherrod, Randall Cobb, Casey Hayward, and Jerel Worthy.
I’d like to declare Bulaga and Perry good players, but can’t because they’re hurt so often. Cobb and Hayward also established track records of success, but they’ve gone down this season. Sherrod and Worthy have both been cut down with serious injuries right about the time we were going to find out if they actually could play or not.
This list could go on and on.
I suppose you could say Thompson needs to do a better job researching the medical history of his draft choices, but I don’t think that’s a very fair criticism. The injuries are the bad luck portion of his slump.
Contract extension timing Thompson opens up his wallet, clears away the cobwebs, and gives out giant contracts to Aaron Rodgers, Clay Matthews and Morgan Burnett. Rodgers gets hurt, Matthews gets hurt, returns, and is nowhere near the same player, and Burnett gets hurt, returns, and is suddenly the second worst safety in the NFL (behind M.D. Jennings).
The Rodgers and Matthews contracts are poor luck. The jury is still out on Burnett, but it looks like Thompson may have misjudged how good he is.
Imagine if B.J. Raji would have signed Thompson’s offer for $8 million per season….
Jeremy Ross Seriously, you know you’re in a slump when you cut Jeremy freaking Ross and he suddenly morphs into the second coming of Devin Hester.
Hopefully Ross coming back to haunt the Packers is the peak of Thompson’s slump and it will only get better from here. With a little better injury luck and a fresh draft class, hopefully we’ll get back to saying “In Ted we trust” instead of “Dammit Ted, what were you thinking?”
What role had lack of conditioning played in the Packers plummeting run defense?
Remember when the Packers actually had a good run defense? It seems like forever ago, but as recently as October, the Packers turned into a brick wall against the likes of Frank Gore, Reggie Bush and others.
Those days are long gone now, and there are many reasons why the Packers run defense has gone from good to abysmal: Middle linebackers A.J. Hawk and Brad Jones are slow. The safeties don’t provide much for run support even when they play up on the line. Tackling, once again, is atrocious.
The Packers defensive line is also very fat. B.J. Raji, Ryan Pickett and Johnny Jolly all weigh in at over 325 pounds, and that’s listed weight. If I had to guess, I’d guess that Jolly is at least 15 pounds heavier than his listed weight of 325.
Remember back in the summer when reports came out that Raji and Pickett reported to minicamp overweight? I laughed it off because Raji and Pickett are fat guys and fat football players tend to get a little fatter during the offseason. No big deal. There was plenty of time to get back in shape before the season.
Jolly also had been out of football for three seasons and admitted that his weight climbed well above his playing weight before working to bring it back down and make the team.
Early in the season, it looked like I was right to just laugh off the reports of Raji, Pickett and Jolly being out of shape.
Led by the aforementioned three, the Packers only allowed one 100-yard rusher (Washington’s Alfred Morris in week 2) through the season’s first eight weeks. Since then, they’ve allowed a 100-yard rusher in four of the last five and have nearly allowed two players on the same team to top the century mark in the same game in consecutive weeks.
Are a few too many trips through the buffet line impacting the Packers run defense? Has the run defense slipped because Raji, Pickett and Jolly are wearing down due to poor conditioning after a strong start?
Only the Packers coaches and front office personnel can answer that question for sure. But as a fan watching the bottom fall out of this run defense, you can’t help but wonder if being out of shape in July is costing the Packers in November.
Of course, being out of shape isn’t the only possible reason for the diminished play of Raji, Pickett and Jolly.
Pickett is 34 and has been battling a knee injury. Father time is just as likely a cause for Pickett’s decline as his waistline.
Jolly was out of football for three years and is also 30 years old. Should we really be surprised that he’s wearing down?
Raji has no excuse. I have no idea what’s going on with him. He’s in a contract year and seems to think he deserves to be paid like a top-tier defensive lineman. The way he’s played over the last month, I wouldn’t give him the league minimum.
If you watch Raji, Pickett and Jolly recently, they don’t get off blocks and they display no athleticism whatsoever. Instead of being explosive and immovable, they look lethargic and plodding.
I know that the Packers ask these three to control gaps and occupy blockers instead of jetting upfield, but controlling gaps means more than just standing there and taking up space. You need energy and mobility. Just being a fat guy doesn’t cut it.
Packers fans and the rest of the NFL world were worried about running back Eddie Lacy being too fat as the 2013 season approached. Instead, we probably should have worried about the ballooning Raji, Pickett and Jolly.
Not even a mustachioed Aaron Rodgers would have saved the Packers on Thanksgiving.
Would Aaron Rodgers even be able to save this Packers team?
The former MVP can cover up a lot of blemishes, but I don’t think even he could patch up the festering wound that is 2013 Green Bay Packers.
The Packers can’t tackle, cover the middle of the field, prevent big plays, get off the field on third down, contain the run, pass block, pass, or stop Jeremy Freaking Ross on special teams.
Yeah, I know. If Rodgers turns just one of the Lions turnovers into a touchdown and a two-score lead in the first half, the entire game changes.
But even if he did that, the Packers defense was so overmatched that I don’t think it would have mattered.
I could go on and on wondering if having Rodgers would have mattered on Thanksgiving, but it’s a pointless exercise. At this point, Packers fans are better off just preparing for the NFL draft in April.
On to the stock report:
Rising
Nobody.
Steady
Sam Shields Shields had absolutely no chance stopping the slant to Calvin Johnson, but neither does anyone else when they’re lined up one-on-one against one of the best receivers of all time. When Johnson and Matthew Stafford challenged Shields down the field, the free-agent-to-be stood strong and even out-battled Johnson for an interception in the end zone.
Clay Matthews We haven’t seen him dominate a game for four quarters since returning from a broken thumb, but he’s making something happen every now and then.
Josh Sitton Kudos to Sitton for calling the Lions a bunch of names before the game. Extra kudos to Sitton for standing behind what he said after the game. I never understand why we ask athletes questions, then get mad when they either a) give an honest answer like Sitton did or b) recite some mind-numbingly boring cliche. I’ll take open and honest over boring and cliched any day.
Mason Crosby No offense to Crosby, but I’m sick of seeing him in the rising or steady categories. When a kicker or punter ends up in one of these categories, it means there aren’t many offensive or defensive players playing well.
Eddie Lacy He didn’t have any room against the Lions, but it sure was fun to watch him knock over Vikings defenders. Lacy has been the least of the Packers problems during this awful stretch.
Falling
The rest of the Packers roster, coaching staff and front office.
T.J. Lang has been one of the few rising players for the Green Bay Packers recently.
My two jobs, a newborn baby and extended visits to family hours away from where we live has made it very difficult to write about the Packers this season. The way the Packers are playing also makes it difficult to write about the Packers.
I don’t have time to do the in-depth and comprehensive posts that I’d like to do, so I do what I can in the free hour I can manage to find here or there. As I type, my kid has been up screaming for the last 2 hours. Why is he screaming? Who knows.
All I know is that my wife is feeding him to see if that gets him to calm down and I got a few minutes to bang out a stock report, so let’s get to it:
Rising
Jordy Nelson When in doubt, just launch a pass somewhere in the vicinity of Jordy Nelson. Nelson is quietly having one of the best seasons of his career. I wish some of his toughness could be transferred to the defense.
T.J. Lang Teams have been stacking the box against the Packers with Aaron Rodgers injured, but the interior of the offensive line has held up well. Lang showed his versatility two weeks ago by taking over at center and had another solid game against New York even though the Packers couldn’t gain much traction running the ball.
Steady
Jarret Boykin Can Boykin replace James Jones in 2014? That question doesn’t sound nearly as ridiculous as it did at the beginning of the season.
Josh Sitton See the write-up about Lang above. The same applies to Sitton.
Mike Daniels Daniels is the only defensive lineman who has provided some consistency in getting after the quarterback. If Datone Jones continues showing signs of life, it’s a step forward in transforming the d-line from a bunch of space eaters to a more dynamic and diverse unit.
Falling
Marshall Newhouse Why. Is. Marshall. Newhouse. Still. On. This. Team?
B.J. Raji Who made the worse decision: Raji turning down $8 million per year from the Packers or the kid who founded SnapChat turning down $3 billion in cash from Facebook? Raji is not worth $8 million per season. He’s way too inconsistent and he’s stuck in one of his disappearing spells again.
The Packers season If the Packers can’t beat the lowly Vikings on Sunday, I’ll be crying alongside my kid late at night.
Vikings WR Greg Jennings returns to Green Bay to play the Packers on Sunday.
Remember back when former Packers WR Greg Jennings was questioning the leadership of quarterback Aaron Rodgers and generally acting like an ass after signing a fat new deal with the Minnesota Vikings?
A lot of Packers fans circled Nov. 24 on their calendars. That was the day Jennings and the Vikings were coming to Lambeau Field and the first opportunity Packers fans would have to let the boos reign down on the former Packers standout.
Now that Nov. 24 is almost here, does anyone even remember Greg Jennings and that his return to Lambeau is almost upon us?
I’m going to the game Sunday, and I completely forgot that it’s Jennings’ return until I randomly thought of it earlier this evening. At this point, Jennings isn’t relevant enough to warrant booing.
A lot has happened to the Packers since Jennings contracted diarrhea of the mouth. Half the team — including Rodgers — is injured and the season is close to falling off a cliff. Packers fans just want their team to win a game and probably care less about booing Jennings.
Jennings also hasn’t done anything in Minnesota. He looks like just another past his prime WR who was given a giant contract and won’t come anywhere close to fulfilling the investment.
I’d rather save my energy for cheering the Packers than boo Jennings.
Oh, I’m sure Jennings will hear it when he trots out on Sunday, but the catcalls won’t be nearly as loud as what they would have been had the Packers hosted the Vikings in week one.
Greg Jennings: Standout wide receiver and Super Bowl champion in Green Bay. Mr. Irrelevant in Minnesota.
Packers safety MD Jennings isn’t doing much to help Dom Capers’ defense snap out of its two-week funk.
I’m fine with Mike McCarthy and Ted Thompson not firing Packers defensive coordinator Dom Capers after yet another defensive meltdown against the Eagles.
Would canning Capers and replacing him with a defensive position coach really make the defense tackle better or the safeties cover more ground and pick off a pass here or there? I don’t know. Maybe.
What I don’t get is the people who argue that firing Capers would be a “knee-jerk” reaction. The Packers defense has been average at best for the better part of three seasons now. In the last two weeks, when Capers and the defense had an opportunity to truly step up and cover for a banged-up offense, they failed. Miserably.
We’ve seen a steady pattern of issues from the Packers defense over the last three seasons:
Poor tackling
Confusion in the secondary
Minimal pass rush from the defensive line
Relying heavily on turnovers
Playoff meltdowns
That’s plenty of reason for dismissal.
I suppose you could say firing any coach midseason is a knee-jerk reaction in an of itself. But I don’t necessarily agree with that.
When it comes to Capers, the failures are consistent and prevalent enough that his dismissal would not be considered “knee jerk.” Again, I’m not saying it would be the right decision, but it would not be knee jerk.
Anyway, hopefully Capers figures it out and we can add him to the rising category once again.
On to the stock report:
Rising
T.J. Lang All season, Lang has been clearing a patch for Eddie Lacy on the inside. When injuries struck the offensive line Sunday and claimed C Evan Dietrich-Smith, Lang stepped up and played center for the first time in his career. He never screwed up a snap and did an adequate job blocking. Bravo, Mr. Lang.
Jarrett Boykin Lost amidst all the injury chaos is the emergence of Boykin. After looking totally lost against Baltimore trying to fill in for the injured Randall Cobb and James Jones, Boykin has come to life and turned into a confident and reliable receiver for the Packers rotating stable of quarterbacks.
Clay Matthews’ club This thing is awesome. It’s bigger than me. If the Packers defense doesn’t turn things around, though, Matthews might take his club and start swinging it at his own teammates in an effort to wake some of them up.
Steady
Jordy Nelson He’s quietly remained one of the most reliable WRs in the league, even with Aaron Rodgers out. Oh, and he caught that pass in the end zone on Sunday that would’ve made it 27-20. I don’t care what sort of discombobulated explanation Mike Carey gave saying it wasn’t.
Eddie Lacy The numbers were down for Lacy against the Eagles, but he did about as well as could be expected given how the entire stadium knew the early game-plan was to hand him the ball. Then he started losing offensive linemen and yards became even tougher to come by.
Falling
Marshall Newhouse Why is he still on the team? I get that now the offensive line is also banged up, but you can find a lineman as good as Newhouse on the street. Plus, Derek Sherrod is healthy now. Let’s throw him into the deep end of the pool and see what he can do.
M.D. Jennings The safety position was supposed to be stabilized after Morgan Burnett came back, but it’s taken another turn for the worse. Nick Foles closed his eyes and tossed up a number of dying quails on Sunday and not one of them ended up in the hands of a Packers safety. Oh, how I miss the days of Nick Collins, LeRoy Butler and Darren Sharper. And why is Chris Banjo not getting more snaps than Jennings?
Casey Hayward How many times can one man injure the same hamstring during the course of an NFL season? Hayward is going on three times and left Sunday’s game early…again. I think it’s time to shut Hayward and see if he can rebound in 2014.
Will someone in the Packers organization get the pink slip on Monday?
Yes, the Packers are all beat up. Yes, the injury situation keeps going from bad to worse to seriously, WTF? Yes, the Packers are down to their third-string quarterback.
But not all of the issues dragging the Packers down during this ugly two-game home losing streak can be blamed on the quarterback or injuries.
Packers coach Mike McCarthy seemed to acknowledge this after Sunday’s loss to the Eagles and vowed to take action to address “reoccurring issues” plaguing the Packers on Monday.
That phrase — “reoccurring issues” — caused Twitter to light up on Sunday night. What could McCarthy possibly mean by “reoccurring issues,” and how will they be addressed on Monday?
Firings? Benchings? More angry press conferences? All of the above? None of the above?
You can CAST YOUR VOTE below…
I have a few theories:
Dom Capers gets fired Capers’ defense helped the Packers win a Super Bowl in 2010 and…that’s about it. The defense has been the weak link on this team for much of Capers five-plus years calling the shots. The problems seem to be the same every season: Bad tackling, lack of toughness and confusion in the secondary. Has McCarthy had enough?
I don’t see the Packers making a drastic move like this during the season, but you never know. I wouldn’t be opposed to it — firing a coordinator during the season worked for the Ravens last season — but would an internal replacement like Darren Perry or Winston Moss really be an upgrade? Maybe…
M.D. Jennings cut He was benched on Sunday and hasn’t improved much during his time in Green Bay. Jeremy Ross got the boot after several major screw ups. It wouldn’t surprise me if Jennings is next.
Marshall Newhouse cut What’s the point of keeping Newhouse around at this point? It’s like he’s afraid of contact. The Packers could get equal or better production from a street free agent.
Tramon Williams cut Nah, not happening. Especially if Casey Hayward is hurt again.
Tramon Williams benched This I could see happening. But what does getting benched mean in this secondary? They’re in dime and nickel a lot. I doubt a benching would result in Tramon never seeing the field again.
Absolutely nothing McCarthy was just sick of talking about missed tackles, missed blocks, poor secondary play and all the injuries and decided to use the phrase “reoccurring issues” because that’s what popped in his head. He has no idea that his words caused Twitter to explode in Green Bay because McCarthy doesn’t use “the Tweeter.”
It hurts just looking at this photo. Avert your eyes. Packers QB Aaron Rodgers is injured.
OhmygodOhmygodOhmygodOhmygod. Packers QB Aaron Rodgers is hurt.
Now what?
Can Seneca Wallace keep the Packers alive until (if?) Rodgers returns?
Should the Packers call Favre?
Should the Packers call Flynn?
Where’s Graham Harrell when you need him?
What the hell happened to the defense on Monday?
Did the Rodgers injury somehow cause the Packers to forget how to tackle and pass protect?
What is a Shea McClellin and why did it do that to our quarterback?
The Bears still suck. Ok, that made me feel a little bit better.
Oh damn, I just remembered that Rodgers is hurt. OhmygodOhmygodOhmygodOhmygod.
Now I’m starting to panic. How can I snap out of this?
Maybe writing the Packers stock report will help. Let’s see.
On to the stock report:
Rising
Eddie Lacy I totally forgot how awesome it is when your favorite football team has a running back that just trucks people over. Getting excited about long pass plays is awesome and everything, but there’s something about the feeling you get when a stud running back starts plowing over defenders and ripping off large chunks of yards. It makes you want to tear off your shirt and start posing like Hulk Hogan. Ok, maybe it’s just me who wants to do that every time Lacy runs someone over…
B.J. Raji It’s been a solid run for Raji the last three games. He sniffed out a couple of screen passes against the Bears and has done an excellent job of making plays at the point of attack. Big, nimble and smart. That’s been Raji over this recent stretch of games.
Brett Favre Wait a minute. What’s he doing on this report?
Steady
James Starks Did Starks install a turbo button on his back when he was out? Seriously, I don’t remember him being nearly this fast. He’s firing through holes like he’s been shot out of a high-caliber rifle from a deer hunter perched high up in a tree in the woods of Mondovi, Wis.
Tim Mashthay Punts from Masthay kept pinning the Bears deep on Monday night. Too bad the Packers defense didn’t follow through and force a turnover or make a stand late in the game.
Falling
Dom Capers What the hell was that, Dom? I try to avoid putting coaches on the falling list because I find people who constantly yell about playcalling to be nauseating, but the defensive calls on Monday night were atrocious. Josh McCown is a backup quarterback. Blitz him, Dom. Rough him up. Put some heat on him. Don’t treat him like he’s the second-coming of Tom Brady.
Casey Hayward It’s been a lost season so far for Hayward. He’s missed most of training camp and the first six games. He also missed a tackle late in the game on Monday that gave the Bears an opportunity to pick up the first down on fourth-and-1 and break the Packers hopes of pulling out a win.
Seneca Wallace I knew it would be bad. Did I think it would be that bad? Yeah. Yeah, I did think it would be that bad.
Micah Hyde’s punt return for a TD elevates the Packers rookie into this week’s rising category.
The Packers closed down the Metrodome in style Sunday night, bowling over the Vikings and filling the cavernous white bubble with the sweet sounds of Go Pack Go!
Hearing Go Pack Go echoing throughout the Metrodome as the Packers beat the Vikings is one of the best sounds in all of sports. I won’t miss the Dome, but I will miss the times when the Packers play well enough to allow Cheeseheads to take the place over.
Now that the Packers have dispensed of the Vikings and Christian Ponder, it’s on to the Bears and Jay Cutler Josh McCown. Instead of extending this intro any further, prepare for Bears week by watching this educational and informative video:
On to the stock report:
Rising
Micah Hyde On his Tuesday afternoon radio show, Aaron Rodgers wondered how Hyde fell to the fifth round in the draft. The rookie is a solid all-around player — a decent tackler, decent cover guy, decent slot blitzer, and now he has a punt return TD under his belt. In a secondary filled with young talent, Hyde is fitting right in.
Mike Daniels The type of relentless pass rush and the ability to finish a sack once he gets in the backfield is just what the Packers needed this season. Many thought it would come from rookie Datone Jones, but it’s actually coming from Daniels. Daniels added two more sacks on Sunday. Christian Ponder is not a good quarterback, but he is elusive and not easy to bring down. Daniels got him twice.
T.J. Lang What’s left to say about the interior of the Packers offensive line? Lang has been battling some bruising defensive tackles all season and keeps on winning those battles much more often than he loses. Lang might be a bit undersized, but he’s athletic and excels on combo blocks when he’s asked to get to the second level.
Steady
Jordy Nelson It’s like Nelson and Rodgers had a devious plan on Sunday night against the Vikings:
Rodgers: “Hey Jordy, instead of getting wide open tonight, just glue yourself to the nearest defender so I can show off by whizzing a pass right by the guy’s ear hole and into your hands.”
Nelson: “Whatever you say, boss. As long as the ball doesn’t get lodged in someone’s ear hole, I’ll catch it.”
Eddie Lacy Lacy has been the definition of a steady running back so far. He’s not going to wow you with his moves or break off long runs on a regular basis, but if you need someone to help you consistently move the chains, Lacy is the guy. It’s also refreshing to see a Packers running back deliver a few blows instead of just taking them. He doesn’t shed many tacklers, but when Lacy gets tackled, he’s usually the aggressor and drives the tackler(s) backwards.
Falling
Tramon Williams With two more pass interference penalties on Sunday, Williams has been flagged in three straight games and in four of the last five. That’s unacceptable, regardless of how well Williams has been playing otherwise. I’m not part of the crowd that is screaming for Williams to be benched, but he needs to cut out the penalties and play better.
Greg Jennings Calvin Johnson had 329 receiving yards on Sunday. Greg Jennings has 336 receiving yards for the entire season. Jennings only has 101 more receiving yards than Jarrett Boykin. I’ll never say Jennings made a bad decision to sign with Minnesota — you gotta make as much money as you can when your window is open in the NFL — but…well…ok…I don’t care how much they’re paying him, Jennings made a bad decision to sign with Minnesota.
I am not a doctor. I haven’t seen any scans of Packers QB Aaron Rodgers’ damaged collarbone. I don’t know Packers team physician Dr. Pat McKenzie or coach Mike McCarthy. I didn’t stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night.
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