8/31/2006
Practice held outside and open to public
The Packers were scheduled to conduct a closed practice Wednesday afternoon on Clarke Hinkle Field, but the team instead practiced on Ray Nitschke Field, which is accessible to the public. The practice started at 2:30 p.m., so fans have at least one more chance to see the team practice this year. Last Saturday’s practice was billed as the final session open to the public. It is believed the Packers switched plans to give Clarke Hinkle Field a chance to heal. Some parts of the field were severely worn down after a month of training camp practices. Tarp has been placed around Hinkle Field, so any practices held there are closed to the public. Nitschke Field, however, has no tarp on the fence, so it is open for public viewing.
Favre not sure whether
He’ll play against Titans
Brett Favre would like to play in the preseason finale Friday against Tennessee at Lambeau Field, but he said coach Mike McCarthy hasn’t told him whether he will. Typically, the starters don’t play much in the last preseason game, and McCarthy had said previously that he would consider sitting Favre against the Titans. “I hope I play a little bit,” Favre said on Wednesday. “We talked a little bit about it yesterday. I would prefer to play, but I told him (to do) whatever he wants to do. He said we’d talk about it. If I do play, it probably wouldn’t be too much.”
Jenkins likely has earned a roster spot
Cullen Jenkins might not be a starter this season but he probably secured his place as the team's top inside pass rusher with his performance Monday night against the Cincinnati Bengals. There weren't many bright spots at Paul Brown Stadium, and even Jenkins had his problems playing the run, but the third-year lineman consistently applied pressure on the quarterback, putting the Bengals' Carson Palmer and Anthony Wright on the ground once each in the first half. In one series late in the second quarter, Jenkins forced Wright into an incompletion with his hit and then two plays later sprinted to the flat to catch running back Ken Watson from behind, limiting him to a 2-yard pass reception. Those are the kinds of plays the coaches want to see more often from Jenkins, who at 6 feet 3 inches and 290 pounds is the smallest of the defensive tackles in the regular rotation.
Return engagements
For now, cornerback Charles Woodson is still the Packers' punt returner, according to special teams coach Mike Stock. But after rookie receiver Greg Jennings returned a punt 27 yards on his only return, it wouldn't be surprising to see him take over the job. Stock said the plan was still to go with Woodson, who was supposed to get some opportunities but didn't because the defense couldn't stop the Bengals in the first half. "It doesn't change anything at this point in time," Stock said.
Nevertheless, Jennings was impressive. "That's why we put him out there to finally give him a chance because it's been a third game now," Stock said. "We didn't want to fool around the first two games. We've tried to get 21 (Woodson) a return, but they didn't punt the ball until late, so it was hard."
Tackle talk
Thompson pretty much refused to criticize anyone on the team for the lousy performance against the Bengals. He declined to talk about individual performances at his news conference to announce the team's first round of cuts. But when asked about the team's poor tackling, he said: "As a group we didn't tackle very well. I thought we were especially poor tacklers on third-down situations. We fell off some tackles. Late in the game it kind of got out of control, especially after the little suspension of play. "I thought we still played hard, but we were bouncing off ball carriers. Give them credit. They were running the ball pretty hard, but we have to tackle better than that." Thompson didn't dismiss the idea that the team might have been tired from a long week of practices leading up to the Monday night game.
Mister Rodgers' time
Backup quarterback Aaron Rodgers will play a lot in Friday's preseason finale against Tennessee, and he'll do it without the mustache he sported Monday night. McCarthy said Rodgers will play the "majority of the game," taking over after Brett Favre plays the first series. Rodgers said he expects to play deep into the third quarter at a minimum. As for the mustache, which friends told him made him look like an out-of-work adult film actor, Rodgers said he did it as a gag for the "Monday Night Football" broadcast. "I got 20 texts, about 10 (voice mail) messages," said a smiling Rodgers, who had a full beard for most of camp. "Image is everything in our business. "Actually, the real reason I shaved (the beard into) the mustache was I wanted to do a tribute to all the great people in history that had mustaches. Guys like Tom Selleck and Chuck Norris and Jesus and Ron Burgundy. Guys like that."
Henderson hopeful
Fullback William Henderson says he's a quick healer but isn't sure he'll be ready for the Sept. 10 regular-season opener against Chicago. "I've been fortunate with the genetics. I'm not going to lie. And I've got a passion in me to not sit by the wayside," Henderson said. "So, we'll see how it goes. I'm not saying I'm over the hump yet, but I'm doing better, and I hope to be out there."
Extra Points
**The team's charter plane was almost diverted to Minneapolis and then Milwaukee because of fog early Tuesday morning. But the fog cleared and the team arrived in Green Bay around 2:10 a.m., Thompson said.
**McCarthy said there were communication problems on defense that led to a number of the third-down conversions by Cincinnati.
Favre Sees Multiple Ways
For Offense To Progress
By Mike Spofford / Packers.com / Posted 08-30-2006
Quarterback Brett Favre is well aware the Green Bay Packers' offense in 2006 is a work in progress, and he sees three key ways that progress will take place. In his third and final preseason news conference Wednesday, Favre said some of the mistakes the offense is making are correctible after watching the film of Monday night's loss at Cincinnati. But he also said some of the offensive progress will come from players getting a better feel for the system, and from Favre himself developing a rapport with other receivers similar to what he has with Donald Driver. "We've got a lot of work to do, there's no question about that," Favre said. "We've got a long ways to go and a short time to do it." MORE>>
Favre sounds off on team, media negativity
By Jason Wilde / madison.com / Posted 8-31-2006
It's not easy being Brett Favre these days. Just ask him. Well, on second thought, don't. The Green Bay Packers quarterback knows it's possible his team will suffer through another rough year in 2006, and he'd rather not be reminded of it. "I'm well aware," he said Wednesday.
Back on July 31, Favre said this year's team is the most talented but also the most inexperienced he's been on. On Wednesday, when a reporter suggested during Favre's news conference that the potential and talent he sees might not bear fruit until next year - and that based on the team's performance in Monday night's 48-17 loss at Cincinnati, he could be in for a difficult season - it led to a somewhat contentious exchange. MORE>>
Fighting for some respect
Driver's driven to get credit he deserves
By Rob Reischel / Special to Packer Plus / Posted 8-30-2006
Green Bay's top wide receiver is irked at those who overlook his impressive productivity and consistency. Driver's annoyed when he doesn't hear his name mentioned with some of football's top receivers. But what really gets Driver riled up is when he hears talk that he's not a true No. 1 wide receiver.
"It bugs me all the time," said Driver, a seventh-round draft pick in 1999. "It bugs me every day that people don't give me credit. But it's been like that since I became a starter in 2002. No one still gave me the credit. It was always, 'He's done, he's done, he's done, he's done.' It just kept going down the line that I was done. So yeah, that bugs me. Who wouldn't? My whole thing is getting treated as being a No. 1 guy and being a top receiver in the National Football League. Maybe when I'm done somebody will give me that credit. I don't know who it's going to be, but I will get that credit one day. I may not get it now, but I'll get it one day." MORE>>
The light turns red for Green
He passes test, but still won't face Titans
By Tom Silverstein / journalsentinel.com / Posted 8-29-2006
If Ahman Green didn't get everything he needed out of the Green Bay Packers' third exhibition game Monday night, he'll have to go into the regular-season opener against Chicago on Sept. 10 as is. After playing 19 snaps in the Packers' 48-17 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals, Green told reporters that the plan was for him to sit out the exhibition finale Friday against the Tennessee Titans at Lambeau Field. His return from a torn thigh tendon was mapped out long ago and the plan was to have him play in just one exhibition game. Green will practice this week but with just four days between the Bengals and Titans games, the coaches and medical staff aren't going to risk pushing him beyond his limits. "That's just our game plan." Green said. MORE>>
KGB nears White's record for sacks
But winning's No. 1 to end
By Rob Reischel / Special to Packer Plus / Posted 8-30-2006
One trick pony. Too small. Overpaid. A liability in the run game. Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila has heard them all during his six years in Green Bay and many certainly hold true. By the time the 2006 season ends, though, the diminutive defensive end might hear another one: all-time Packers' sacks leader. Gbaja-Biamila enters the season with 58 career sacks, just 10½ shy of Reggie White for the team's all-time lead. Considering Gbaja-Biamila has eclipsed that number in three previous seasons, he stands an outstanding chance to move past White this year. MORE>>
Plenty saw Packers at their worst
By Bob Wolfley / jsonline.com / Posted 8-29-06
The Green Bay Packers' worst performance had the largest local television audience of the exhibition season. The Cincinnati Bengals' 48-17 victory over the Packers was telecast on ESPN to a national audience.Locally, the game could be seen on either ESPN or on WISN-TV (Channel 12). When National Football League games are on cable TV, the telecast must be made available to an over-the-air station in the markets of the competing teams. The combined rating for the Packers-Bengals game on ESPN and Channel 12 was 29.2, or 257,076 households. On Channel 12, the rating was 21.5, or 189,286 households, and on ESPN it was 7.7, or 67,790 households. The highest-rated quarter-hour came near the beginning of the game, 7:45 to 8 p.m., which had a 34.3 rating, or 301,096 households. The last quarter-hour, 10:30-10:45 p.m. had a 17.2 rating, or 151,428 households. The measurement does not include the half-hour the game was delayed because of weather. The local ratings for the two other exhibition games were much lower than for this one. MORE>>
Published by PackerPundit On Thursday, August 31, 2006 at 6:34 AM.
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