8/23/2006
Dodgeball
The "closed" morning practice turned out to be an eight-team dodgeball tournament held in the Lambeau Field gymnasium. The team led by quarterbacks Brett Favre and Aaron Rodgers won. "Very, very competitive. I was actually worried about the quarterbacks, as many balls as they threw this morning," McCarthy said. "If we'd had a pitch count on those guys, they'd be way over." The team captains drafted players, and secondary coach Kurt Schottenheimer was Mr. Irrelevant. ... Defensive end Aaron Kampman was back after missing Monday's practice because of what McCarthy termed a "personal matter."
Related Story --
Dodgeball Precedes Week Of Serious Work
Getting his shot
Rookie Arliss Beach, who thrust himself into the picture at running back against Atlanta, is going to get a long look Monday night in Cincinnati to determine if he could be the No. 1 kickoff returner. "That's what I want to find out," special teams coach Mike Stock said. "He's going to be there." The Packers ranked 32nd last year in kickoff-return average at 18.9 yards. Beach returned 12 kickoffs for Kentucky in 2002, averaging 18.9. His only kickoff for Green Bay was 25 yards.
Cutdown Deadline
Twice next week, the Packers will be forced to make tough roster decisions with little time to contemplate their most recent exhibition game. The mandatory reduction to 65 is set for 3 p.m. Tuesday, about 17 hours after they play on "Monday Night Football" against the Cincinnati Bengals. The final cutdown to 53 must be made by 3 p.m. the next Saturday, about 21 hours after their exhibition finale against Tennessee. All but eight teams will play their final exhibition game on Thursday, Aug. 31, but the Packers can't play that soon after their Monday night game. "It's very difficult," Thompson said. "Most teams will probably be playing on Thursday and Friday of this week and they'll get to sit around over the weekend and get their rosters set. We play away on Monday night and will probably get back here 4:30, 5 o'clock in the morning and have cuts (the same day)."
Dropped Passes Cost Boerigter
JASON WILDE / madison.com
When the Green Bay Packers signed Marc Boerigter in March, they thought they were getting a reliable, effective, veteran wide receiver with very good speed, big-play ability and the ideal size for their system.
That guy never showed up, though.
Instead, Boerigter's disappointing training camp ended in his release Tuesday. It wasn't a shock given how many passes Boerigter dropped during training camp, offseason minicamps and organized team activity sessions.
"I was surprised he struggled catching the ball. For whatever reason. We were hoping he'd challenge the other guys a little more. But he put his best foot forward." -- Pro Personnel Director Reggie McKenzie
When the Packers signed the 6-foot-3, 220-pound Boerigter to a one-year, $782,780 deal (including a $90,000 signing bonus), they were hoping he'd bounce back from a 2004 torn ACL and be as productive as he was in the CFL (111 receptions for 2,023 yards and 19 touchdowns in two years) and as an NFL rookie (20 receptions for 420 yards and eight touchdowns in 2002). MORE>>
Dropping the Ball
Rookie Rodgers hasn't Caught On
By BOB McGINN
journalsentinel.com
"No, I'm not worried about that at all. If it happens, it happens. If it doesn't, it doesn't. I come to practice every day just thinking that I'm here." -- Cory Rodgers
Time grows short for Cory Rodgers, the Green Bay Packers wide receiver who is on the verge of a distinction that no rookie would ever want. A fourth-round draft choice from Texas Christian, Rodgers has done next to nothing as a receiver or returner. Despite a signing bonus of $465,120, it's possible that Rodgers could be the odd man out at the position when general manager Ted Thompson picks his 53-man roster on Sept. 2. MORE>>
(Pundit Note: Since I started Blogging about the Packers, I've noticed the Packer's main Media sources tend to write stories about the same player at the same time. My guess is the Pack Media Office trots these guys out. Just an observation.)
A Work in Progress
Colledge struggles with transition to guard
By TOM SILVERSTEIN / journalsentinel.com
The Green Bay Packers drafted guard Daryn Colledge in the second round with the thought he would be ready right away for the National Football League. They still think he'll be the real deal someday, but what they underestimated was how a lack of upper body strength and a new position would impact him.
Members of the organization say the 6-foot-4, 299-pound Colledge, who at the scouting combine in March ran the third-fastest 40-yard dash (5.05 seconds) and posted the second-highest vertical leap (32½ inches), is even more athletic than former Packer Mike Wahle when he came out of Navy in 1998 (Wahle ran a 5.2-second 40-yard dash). As the sixth offensive lineman selected in the draft, Colledge, a left tackle at Boise State, was expected to be an instant starter. But after holding the left guard position from the day he was drafted until his first NFL exhibition game against San Diego, he was demoted in favor of another rookie, fifth-round draft choice Tony Moll.
"I think he's smart and wants to be a player, but you never know. Going from tackle to guard, sometimes it's easy for guys and sometimes it's not. I would still expect him to be a good player for us." -- Ted Thompson
On Wednesday night in the team's only practice, Colledge worked for the first time as a Packer at left tackle. After the workout, coach Mike McCarthy said Colledge would work at both left guard and tackle in hopes of being able to back up both positions. MORE>>
And the Related Story --
Colledge Adds Old Position To New One
By Mike Spofford / Packers.com
Rookie offensive lineman Daryn Colledge is back at his college position again. Colledge took several snaps at left tackle on Tuesday night and will be adding backup work there to his reps at left guard, the position he has played since being drafted in the second round out of Boise State. The Packers are trying to get the young backup linemen to provide as much depth as possible, and Head Coach Mike McCarthy said he's established a similar routine for Junius Coston to work at both positions on the right side of the line.
"Instead of flipping tackles and so forth, we're going with an emphasis on left side-right side, so he'll (Colledge) train at left tackle and left guard," McCarthy said.
A four-year starter at left tackle in Boise, Colledge was the Packers' starter at left guard until last week, when he was moved down to the second unit. He has maintained since then that his goal is to return to the starting group and prove he's one of the team's five best linemen, and in the meantime he'll do whatever he's asked in the backup role.
"I'm getting kind of used to guard, so it was actually a little bit of a flashback," Colledge said. "I had to kind of get back into my steps and get used to the rhythm because it's a little bit different. But there's parts of it that were what I know and what I'm used to and I fell back into." MORE>>
Published by PackerPundit On Wednesday, August 23, 2006 at 5:55 AM.
0 Responses to “8/23/2006”
Post a Comment