The Packer Pundit

Mini Camp Mini News

Starting RB job stirs six-pack
By Jason Wilde / madison.com
GREEN BAY - The way Mike McCarthy sees it, the Green Bay Packers' lack of experience and proven depth at running back isn't a problem. "I'm not concerned, I've just got work to do," McCarthy said Sunday afternoon after the final practice of the team's three-day rookie orientation camp. "That's the way I view it. It's my responsibility to get them ready to play, and that's our focus." That work will begin in earnest when the team reconvenes for its three-day, full-squad mandatory minicamp May 18. That's when the six-pack of possible starters - holdovers Vernand Morency, Noah Herron, P.J. Pope and Arliss Beach and rookie draft picks Brandon Jackson and DeShawn Wynn - should all be on the field together, kicking off a competition that will continue through the organized team activity workouts in June and training camp, which starts in late July. "Obviously, everybody will be watching. But I think that it'll sort itself out," said McCarthy, whose team lost four-time Pro Bowl halfback Ahman Green, who signed a four-year, $23 million free agent deal ($6.5 million in guaranteed money and about $8 million in 2007 pay) with the Houston Texans in March. "No one in that group has been 'The Guy' before at this level. And you never know until you put those guys in that position. I think it's going to be a very competitive group." -- More




Change of direction gets back on track
By TOM SILVERSTEIN / journalsentinel.com
Posted: May 7, 2007
Green Bay - DeShawn Wynn knows what they say about him, and for the most part he doesn't dispute it. The only thing he really denies is that cell phone incident, which has become University of Florida legend and a badge of dishonor he would prefer not to wear. But the stuff about him being lazy, not always giving his all, being an underachiever, Wynn, the Green Bay Packers' seventh-round running back, can't really say it isn't true. He fully admits he wasn't the player he should have been at Florida and has been humbled by being taken 228th overall in the draft. "I don't have a problem with working hard," Wynn said after suffering a calf injury that sidelined him for the final two days of the Packers' rookie orientation camp that ended Sunday. "But early in my career I had some problems where I went out there lackadaisical. "As this season came, I had no problems working because we were trying to win a championship. My whole mind-frame was this season will depend on me if I want to go to the next level. The knock on me was I wasn't a hard worker and that's from earlier in my career." -- More



Rookie Harris ignores his critics
By Tom Pelissero / greenbaypressgazette.com
Posted: May 8, 2007
Clark Harris has seen the scouting reports itemizing his weaknesses. That he's a soft, disinterested blocker. That he needs space to be an effective receiver. That he doesn't play with power, isn't a great competitor, doesn't like to be hit. Harris respectfully disagrees with them all, of course, but there's only one criticism he can't understand — that he's "fake tough." "I don't even know what that means," said Harris, goateed and tattooed at 6-foot-5 and 256 pounds, during a break in the Green Bay Packers' rookie orientation camp last weekend. "I've heard comments where … I act tougher than I am, but I don't know what that's supposed to mean, either." Some publications projected Harris — another talented pass-catcher from the Rutgers program that produced Philadelphia standout L.J. Smith — as a late first-day selection in last month's NFL draft. Instead, he became the last of a dozen tight ends selected when the Packers took him with their final pick, No. 243 overall. Concerns about his speed (he ran the 40-yard dash in 4.83 seconds at the scouting combine), blocking ability and, yes, toughness might have contributed to the fall. Harris' numbers peaked in 2004, when as a sophomore he hauled in 53 passes for 725 yards and five touchdowns. As the Scarlet Knights improved the past two years, they threw less and Harris blocked more, but he left among the school's career leaders in receptions (143), receiving yards (2,015) and touchdown catches (11). He joins a Packers team that needs weapons in the passing game and has only a starter in apparent decline (Bubba Franks) and three relatively unproven backups (Zac Alcorn, Tory Humphrey and Donald Lee) at tight end after No. 2 David Martin bolted in free agency. -- More