The Packer Pundit

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Here's what the other Packers
NOT named Favre have been doing this week

Franks Leaving Last Year In The Past
By Mike Spofford / Packers.com
Posted 05/19/2007
Bubba Franks will be the first to admit he didn't perform at his usual level in 2006. But the eighth-year veteran will be the last to say that he's on the downside of his career. In visiting with reporters during minicamp this weekend, Franks said he's "on a mission" to be the tight end Packers fans enjoyed watching his first six years in the NFL. The former first-round draft pick didn't make any bold predictions, like he's heading back to the Pro Bowl or going to catch so many touchdowns, but that's not Franks' style. A straightforward, no-nonsense guy, he simply stated that he's putting last year behind him and doing nothing but looking forward. "It was just one of those years," said Franks, whose 25 catches for 232 yards and no touchdowns last season were career-lows for a full slate of games played. "You go six years of being as good as you can, and hey, it's just a bump in the road, something that happened. You get it out of your system and you keep moving." -- More



Franks sees the errors of his ways
By Jason Wilde / madison.com
GREEN BAY -- Bubba Franks blames himself. Sure, the Green Bay Packers' veteran tight end couldn't control a few things that happened to him last season - how often he was used as essentially an extra offensive lineman to help in pass protection, or how the new coaching staff took more of a liking to David Martin's skill set - but Franks admits it was his fault for not rolling with the changes better. "It didn't matter (what the coaches did). It was the way I took it," Franks said during a break in the team's mandatory full-squad minicamp Saturday. "Regardless of what they throw at you, it's the way you take it." Which is why Franks is apparently taking perhaps the biggest non-Brett Favre news of this camp - that he's no longer the Packers' starting tight end after holding the job since being taken in the first round of the 2000 draft - as a challenge rather than an affront. -- More



Ferguson comes to the crossroads
Oft-injured receiver battling for a job
By Lori Nickel / journalsentinel.com
Posted: May 19, 2007
Green Bay - Robert Ferguson is beyond frustrated. He knows a lot of people have low expectations of him. He suspects that memories of brilliant catches are the only threads holding him to his NFL career in Green Bay. And he's sure his body simply cannot fail him again. Despite all that, Ferguson was relatively upbeat Saturday in the locker room considering he has finished the last three seasons on the sidelines with an injury. While it certainly works out to Ferguson's advantage that the Green Bay Packers do not have the services of Randy Moss or Koren Robinson, the six-year veteran signed through the 2008 season is unquestionably at a major crossroads. Once again, he is not on the Don Hutson practice field for much other than light drill work during the Packers minicamp, which began Friday and concludes today, because everyone is being cautious about his recovery from a serious foot injury last season. "This is definitely a pivotal point in my career," Ferguson said. "I'd be näive not to say that. Everything that's happened the last three or four years with those drafted wideouts, it points toward somebody getting replaced. Who that is, you know, I feel like it's me. I feel like my back is against the wall. And I feel great. I haven't played a full year in three years so I'm as fresh as ever. I feel like a free-agent rookie coming in here, just eager to learn, ready to get on the field." -- More



A future filled with Rodgers
By Tom Oates / madison.com
GREEN BAY - Football players seldom admit to hearing rumors about themselves, but Aaron Rodgers couldn't escape it when a popular NFL-oriented Web site reported that the Green Bay Packers wanted to trade him to the Oakland Raiders for Randy Moss. "I was definitely aware of that because all my friends were calling me and asking me if I was going to be a Raider," Rodgers said at this weekend's Packers minicamp. Much to his delight, Rodgers didn't get traded to the Raiders. Or anywhere else, for that matter. In fact, the third-year quarterback and former first-round draft pick from California not only remains with the Packers but apparently has solidified his position as the eventual successor to 37-year-old Brett Favre. If you don't believe that, think about all that has happened during an eye-opening offseason for Rodgers. First, the rumors about the trade to Oakland lingered for two months, though Rodgers said Packers general manager Ted Thompson told him early on, "We're not going to deal you." That statement turned out to be true. Second, the Packers had an unexpected chance to land Notre Dame quarterback Brady Quinn with their first-round draft pick when Quinn took a Rodgers-like tumble on draft day, but Thompson passed on the opportunity. Finally, Thompson continued to build the team for the long term by drafting a defensive tackle instead of an offensive playmaker with his No. 1 pick, an indication that he feels no urgency to win now, while Favre is still around. It is unlikely Thompson would adhere to that approach if he didn't think the Packers could win when Rodgers eventually replaces Favre. -- More



Facing a new challenge
Williams will vie with top pick
By ROB REISCHEL / Special to the Journal Sentinel
Posted: May 19, 2007
Green Bay - Corey Williams felt as if he had his coming-out party in 2006. That's why Williams admits he's surprised the Green Bay Packers went looking for a party crasher. Williams, a fourth-year defensive tackle, was second on the Packers with seven sacks a year ago. He also was respectable against the run and emerged as one of Green Bay's bright, young talents.To the astonishment of many, though - including Williams - the Packers chose defensive tackle Justin Harrell in the first round of the draft last month. "At first, I was like, 'Oh, they took a D-tackle. Whoa!' " Williams said. "But it didn't change my mind or my feelings or make me feel different to anybody in the organization. It just let me know I have to step my game up. I've just got to come out here and continue to do what Corey can do." A year ago, the 6-foot-4, 325-pound Williams showed what he could do. An on-and-off starter the first half of the year, Williams exploded with three sacks in just 18 snaps at Buffalo in Week 8. The athletic Williams then started the final eight games and made a nice partner for beefy nose tackle Ryan Pickett. Harrell recently said he has every intention of starting when the season begins, and if that were to occur, Williams would likely be the odd man out. Williams was told of Harrell's comments and welcomed the challenge. "That's a motivator to me," said Williams, a sixth-round draft choice from Arkansas State in 2004. "He's a young guy, and I like his attitude. That's the kind of attitude you should have. I respect him for having that attitude, but it's going to be a battle. And I don't plan on losing that battle." -- More