The Packer Pundit

Colledge To Start At Left Guard
With rookie left guard Jason Spitz missing his third straight day of practice Friday, fellow rookie Daryn Colledge will replace him in the starting lineup on Sunday. Spitz has been out this week with a bruised thigh sustained in last week's game when he was blocked on one of Chicago's interception returns. Head Coach Mike McCarthy said Spitz's availability Sunday would be a game-time decision, but that Colledge would start. For Colledge, a second-round draft pick, it will be his first NFL regular-season start, and his first start since the preseason opener at San Diego, when he struggled and was moved down to the second team.

Moving on
McCarthy said he felt the players this week struck the right balance between fixing what went wrong against Chicago but not dwelling on the ugly loss. "One thing that's jumped out to me is the urgency of correcting your mistakes, and how important it is to correct and move on and not to dwell on it and over-analyze it," he said. "I thought the tempo and the spirit of practice was good."

Playing with the enemy
The Packers released fullback Vonta Leach earlier this week, and he was picked up by the Saints, who happened to lose two fullbacks to injury in their season opener. McCarthy expects he'll be asked to share whatever information he can about the Packers' schemes, but he doesn't think it will be a big deal come Sunday. "Absolutely, he'll go visit with the defensive coordinator, everybody does it," McCarthy said. "I don't even know if there's a rule against it. It's part of the business. I never found that I won a football game because of a player that we acquired from the team before.

Morency likely will be active
Newly acquired running back Vernand Morency almost certainly will be activated for Sunday's game against the New Orleans Saints at Lambeau Field, but there's little chance the Green Bay Packers will use him at running back. Morency, the second-year pro who came to the Packers from the Houston Texans in Wednesday's trade for Samkon Gado, didn't arrive at the team's headquarters until Thursday morning, took his physical and went right to the practice field.

Gado's reaction
A day after he was traded to the Texans, Gado seems to have come to grips with his abrupt departure from Green Bay. Gado initially was unhappy about the trade. "He was shocked," Herron said. "He really didn't know what to expect. Obviously, he put a lot of into Green Bay, and it's always tough to go. He felt rejected." Herron and Gado became close friends last season, when both arrived in Green Bay. They planned to share a house on Green Bay's west side this season.

Robinson's role
Receiver Koren Robinson, signed as a free-agent on Monday, said he expects to play Sunday against the Saints despite being added to the injury report on Thursday with a sore knee. He was listed as questionable. Robinson said his right knee is sore because he hasn't been doing football drills since he was released by the Minnesota Vikings last month. Robinson had been working out in Raleigh, N.C. "It's just from me not cutting and stuff for a couple of weeks," Robinson said. "But I've been working out and keeping my wind up. No matter how much you work out, it can't simulate what you do on the practice field, so I think (I) aggravated it."







Packers' Defense Must Watch For Bush
By Mike Spofford / Packers.com
With a multi-talented running back like Reggie Bush, the New Orleans Saints are still figuring out where to line up their prized rookie to take full advantage of his remarkable speed, elusiveness and talent. The answer seems to be everywhere, and the Packers will have to keep an eye on Bush every time he strolls out of the huddle or off the sideline on Sunday at Lambeau Field. "We'll hand it off to him, we'll split him out, we'll do whatever we can to get him the ball," Saints quarterback Drew Brees said. "He'll return punts as well. Obviously he's a playmaker, and the more he can touch it the more chances there are of big plays." -- More


Speed makes Saints' rookie Bush deadly
By Rob Demovsky / greenbaypressgazette.com

"You have to understand what kind of player he is. His first two steps, his acceleration, he gets out on the edge in a hurry. Just his speed, you've got to be ready for that." -- Tyrone Culver

The Green Bay Packers coaches can stay up all night watching film, but if they want to know what they're up against Sunday when they face New Orleans Saints rookie Reggie Bush, they need only to quiz one of their own players. Rookie safety Tyrone Culver is believed to be the only player in the Packers' locker room who has lined up face-to-face with Bush, the No. 2 overall pick in April's draft. Culver played against Bush on Nov. 19, when his Fresno State Bulldogs lost to Bush's Southern California Trojans, 50-42, in one of college football's most exciting games last season. Culver, a sixth-round draft pick and a backup safety for the Packers, recorded four tackles and one sack in that game. All four of his tackles were of Bush. They came at the end of runs of 65, 35 and 7 yards and at the end of a 43-yard reception. -- More

Strong start for Green
By Jason Wilde / madison.com

"To get back out there for the first time in awhile, for what I did, I think I did pretty good. Hopefully, it's something I can just build on and get better. I just have to continue to work hard and look forward. That's how I've been looking at it all offseason, all training camp. Just keep working hard." -- Ahman Green

Ten years ago today, Ahman Green found himself on the cover of Sports Illustrated. He was a sophomore at Nebraska at the time, and the two-time defending national champions had just embarked on their quest for a third straight title with a 55-14 season-opening rout of Michigan State. -- More



Morency carries baggage
New Packers back has past run-ins with law
By BOB McGINN/ journalsentinel.com
Running back Vernand Morency can't compare to wide receiver Koren Robinson when it comes to character risk but the newest member of the Green Bay Packers does have red flags on his résumé.
Morency, obtained by the Packers on Wednesday from Houston in a trade for running back Samkon Gado, was implicated by a female student at Oklahoma State University for rape in February 2003. Nine weeks later a university police investigator filed an affidavit, the only documentation of the case. -- More

Colledge seeks redemption
Rookie will start
in place of injured Spitz
By BOB McGINN
journalsentinel.com

"I'm going in there with the anticipation that I'm the left guard for the rest of the year. Spitz has been playing the most solid but we've learned a lot from him. Who knows what this will lead to?" -- Daryn Colledge

The Green Bay Packers will find out Sunday whether rookie offensive lineman Daryn Colledge is capable of blocking any better in the regular season than he did in the exhibition season.
Attempting to regain some self-esteem and the trust of his coaches, Colledge is to start at left guard for injured Jason Spitz against the New Orleans Saints at Lambeau Field. -- More







Portis won't play against Cowboys
Roethlisberger questionable
Smith, Hartwig sit out Panthers' workout
Branch tempting Holmgren to play him
Moats could get more chances
Bush, family accepted gifts at USC


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