The Packer Pundit

Like the Bears
Shortly after Detroit lost to Chicago in humbling fashion last week, Lions coach Rod Marinelli declared: "That team is where I'm going with this one. They played hard and they played tough." It was a bold comment given that Chicago is the overwhelming NFC North favorite and Detroit hasn't had a winning season since 2000. But while there are some obvious differences, the Packers are expecting a physical matchup with the Lions' defense on Sunday. "What Chicago does is base everything off of their best player, who is (Brian) Urlacher," Packers tackle Mark Tauscher said. "Detroit has a great defensive line, and for that you need a dominant three technique (Shaun Rodgers). They have that to get that started."

Sunday afternoon Driver
Packers receiver Donald Driver has 15 receptions in two games and is the second-leading receiver in the NFL in yards (249). Only former Packers Ken Payne (17 in 1975) and Robert Brooks (16 in 1995) have had more in the first two games, while Dorsey Levens also had 15 in 1998. How Lions' cornerbacks Frenando Bryant and Dre' Bly will attempt to stop Driver is anyone's guess. "I don't know," said Driver. "I am not sure what they're going to do."

Injury update
Green Bay
Tackle Junius Coston, cornerback Will Blackmon and guard Jason Spitz missed practice again on Thursday. Coston attempted to test his injured knee Wednesday by dressing and participating in drills, but he dropped out and missed practice. Coston is listed as doubtful for the game at Detroit and the other two are questionable. Coston said he wasn't ready for a full return this week and hoped to be ready next week. Cornerback Al Harris practiced again with his injured shoulder and tight end David Martin returned after missing Wednesday with an injured knee.
Detroit
Right tackles Barry Stokes and Rex Tucker both missed practice again Thursday and remain questionable for Sunday. Left guard Ross Verba practiced with an injured hamstring and remains listed as questionable. The Lions removed defensive end Cory Redding and defensive tackle Shaun Rogers from their report today. Cornerback Fernando Bryant missed practice for personal reasons.






Seventh Annual Packers Golf Invitational
Enjoys Great Day At Blackwolf Run
By Aaron Popkey / Packers.com
Nick Barnett and his teammates discussed yards this past Tuesday, but not the kind found on a football field. Distance to the green was the topic of conversation as the Packers traded their football cleats for golf cleats at the seventh annual Green Bay Packers Golf Invitational, held this year at Blackwolf Run’s Meadow Valleys Course in Kohler, Wis. Barnett and a host of other players, including Ahman Green, Mark Tauscher, Aaron Rodgers, Chad Clifton, Nick Collins and Koren Robinson, joined a number of foursomes for the 18-hole scramble event. A portion of the proceeds will benefit the foundations of Barnett, Green and Tauscher. -- More


Dime defense shortchanged
Packers keep Hawk on field
By Rob Reischel
Special to Packer Plus

"If that's how it stays, I feel comfortable in coverage, I was always walking out of the box at Ohio State. If the tight end's outside the receiver, then I'll go out that wide. That's fine. I have no problems with that at all. It's whatever the coaches want." -- A. J. Hawk

Tyrone Culver, Jarrett Bush and Charlie Peprah are all rookies who were lightly regarded in last April's draft. The trio of defensive backs are young, raw and inexperienced. And for the most part, they're all playing the role of spectators. Even though Green Bay has just eight healthy defensive backs on its roster, the Packers seem terrified to play any of the rookies unless they have to. Through two games, that's meant almost all the action Culver, Bush and Peprah have seen has come on special teams. And it's also meant the Packers have played just a few snaps with their dime defense. -- More


Packers Preparing For Martz's
Up-Tempo Offense
By Mike Spofford / Packers.com

"Obviously you have to look at the head, and that's Mike Martz. There will be a lot of film study this week. He'll give you a lot of shifts, a lot of different things to look at. There's not a lot of tendencies, as far as he's not going to run a certain play seven times in a row like some coaches. He likes to trick you, things like that. We'll have to be on our toes." -- Aaron Kampman

Just because the Lions have scored only 13 points in their first two games combined doesn't mean the Packers think their defensive task will be any easier this week. Those 13 points don't accurately describe what Detroit's offense will bring into Sunday's game. For one, it should be noted the Lions opened the season against the defending NFC champion Seattle Seahawks, who held them to two field goals, and then played reigning NFC North winner Chicago, who allowed just one touchdown a week after blanking the Packers. -- More


Packers' next huge hurdle? Morale
Next nine games will be challenge
By Rob Reischel
Special to Packer Plus

"It's a hard period, because human nature when you're down is just to give up," Packers defensive end Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila said. "You say, 'It's over, it's done.' I don't know why human nature's that way. It's a lot easier to quit. It's harder to just keep the faith. But the Bible says, 'A righteous man falls seven times, but he gets back up.' And what makes him righteous is not that he fell down, it's that he got back up. If I get back up, I can fight again. We have to keep fighting."

Pass defense.
A shoddy running game.
Special teams.

Green Bay Packers coach Mike McCarthy is fully aware he needs to improve these areas of his dreadful 0-2 team. Now comes perhaps the trickiest one: morale. Following Green Bay's 34-27 home loss to New Orleans Sunday, the question now surrounding the Packers is how low will they go? And the players admit they'll have to fight harder than ever to ensure the season doesn't slip into oblivion in the immediate future. -- More


Bennett tells Green to get a grip
Coach emphasizes protecting ball
By Lori Nickel /journalsentinel.com
Green Bay running backs coach Edgar Bennett has known Ahman Green a long time, so Bennett feels like he can push Green pretty hard this week to cut down on the fumbles. So far Green has two fumbles, one lost, and Bennett said the proactive way to prevent another is to harp on the importance of ball security.

"We work on it every day and it's emphasized every day," Bennett said. "That is a big part of what we do. You always try to go out and win the give-away, take-away. We play a big part in that, we focus on that every day with a number of different drills, as well as just constant reminders."

Green looked generally off in every way last week in the loss to New Orleans. He ran poorly and dropped passes he normally makes. But his fumble in the fourth quarter against the Saints was a killer. -- More


Special homecoming
By Jason Wilde / madison.com
If only Dave Rayner could sneak away from the Green Bay Packers' suburban Detroit hotel Saturday night and take in the Michigan State-Notre Dame game in nearby East Lansing. Then, it'd be the perfect weekend for the Packers kicker. "I'm a little distraught I can't go," Rayner, who will be able to watch most of the game on TV since coach Mike McCarthy only has a 10-minute team meeting the night before games. "But I will definitely be watching on TV."
-- More






Something more:
Kampman no longer
just a nice guy
who works hard
By Lori Nickel
journalsentinel.com
A sports banquet gave him the "Nice Guy" Award in 2004. The Sporting News named him one of their NFL "Good Guys" in 2005. At the end of last season, USA Today named him to their "All-Joe" team. Maybe one day Green Bay Packers defensive end Aaron Kampman will be able to put Pro Bowl on top of that résumé so everyone can stop giving him consolation prizes and instead give him a little credit. Not that getting our approval matters much to Kampman. "No," he laughs. "It doesn't change how I do things." But the truth is, Kampman wasn't invited to the NFL combine when he was playing college ball at Iowa, he wasn't asked to the Senior Bowl, and he flew under the radar for so long in tiny Green Bay that he's lived with the overachiever label for most of his five-year career.
-- More


Kampman sacks stereotype
By Jason Wilde / madison.com

"I think (desire) is the key. Whatever it takes to get to the quarterback, that's what you've got to do. That's the mentality you've got to have. Obviously there's a lot of fundamentals and scheme and technique and things, but in the end, that's a very big component to it all." -- Aaron Kampman

You see it all the time. A player signs a megabucks contract in the offseason, and what happens? Either he a) gets complacent, stops working hard and bottoms out, or b) is so determined to justify his windfall that he presses, struggles and fails to live up to the deal. -- More






Trading Favre just doesn't add up
By Tom Silverstein / NFL Beat
It's not out of the realm of possibility that the Green Bay Packers will receive an offer for quarterback Brett Favre before the NFL trading deadline Oct. 17, but if you examine the most recent trades involving high-profile players you understand why it's unlikely.

Consider: Daunte Culpepper from Minnesota to Miami; John Abraham from the New York Jets to Atlanta; Randy Moss from Minnesota to Oakland; Terrell Owens from San Francisco to Philadelphia through Baltimore; Clinton Portis to Washington; and Champ Bailey to Denver. Trades like that simply don't get done during the season and there's a big reason. In the off-season, teams have more maneuverability and thus can take on a big cap hit until they get the player to renegotiate his contract. In the above cases, the teams had or made room to take on the player and then redo the contract almost immediately, thereby softening the salary cap blow and making the deal possible. If the Packers even thought about trading Favre, they'd have to find someone able to handle the pro-rated portion of his $7 million base salary under their cap right now. It isn't so much paying the money that is the issue, but rather can a team fit his enormous salary into a $102 million cap limit that has been filled by those currently on the roster. -- More







Article on the Top 10 heisman Canidates

Heisman Watch: Week 3
Rich Cirminiello / CollegeFootballNews.com
Notre Dame's Brady Quinn was the clear-cut favorite for the award before the season began, but after just three games and one very public implosion against Michigan on Saturday, he's a contender only because old habits are often hard to break. While Quinn is reeling, others, such as Steve Slaton, Chris Leak, John David Booty and Drew Stanton are gaining momentum thanks to big games last week and a once golden roadblock that's not nearly as daunting as it was 72 hours ago. -- More







Smith returns to practice with Panthers
Porter cited after dogs killed neighbor's horse
Goodell, Upshaw meet on large slate of issues
President Bush plays catch with Simms
Portis ready to return for Redskins
Steelers concerned with Palmer, running game



Meet Pam
Eagles Cheerleader

Years As An Eagle Cheerleader: 2

College: Montclair State

Major/Degree: Early Childhood Education, Elementary Education and Special Education

Career/Profession: Special Education Teacher
What's your sign? Gemini
If I Had A Superpower, it would be ... to transport myself from one place to another with a snap of my finger.

My dream vacation would be ... island hopping through the Tahitian Islands.

How does a guy get your attention? Great smile and a sense of confidence

Favorite Eagle: David Akers, because his job depends on the ability to work best under pressure

Reality Show You'd Want To Be On: The Amazing Race, because you get to travel the world with someone you love

If I'm on a deserted island, I'd have to take ... my husband.

What I love about Eagles fans is ... their passion for their team no matter how the season is going.

Favorite Cereal: Fruit Loops

I've Never Been Able To Say No To ... strawberries and whipped cream.