The Packer Pundit

Pickett, Jolly 'rewarded'
For the first three days of training camp, Green Bay Packers defensive tackles Ryan Pickett and Johnny Jolly were punished for not passing their pre-camp conditioning test by being forced to stand on the sidelines for the opening four practices. On Tuesday, after passing the running tests the day before, the pair was "rewarded" — by being allowed to practice. Go figure. "It is kind of ironic," Pickett admitted with a chuckle. "(But) it was necessary." Indeed, the Packers' coaching staff was less than thrilled Friday when the twosome couldn't finish the required eight across-the-field-and-back gassers each player had to complete to be cleared for practice. Not only did Pickett and Jolly hurt themselves, they hurt their fellow tackles — Corey Williams, Colin Cole, Justin Harrell and Daniel Muir — who had to take extra snaps in their absence. Now, they're playing catch-up. "We're just glad to finally get them out there," defensive tackles coach Robert Nunn said after the morning practice. "That put us in a bad situation. And they know it. They put a strain on us." Jolly being out of shape was particularly troubling to Nunn because while Pickett is entrenched as a starter, Jolly looked good during minicamp and organized team activity practices and is in a tough battle for a roster spot. "It was disappointing, to say the least. Very disappointing," Nunn said. "Johnny had as good an offseason as anyone, he just didn't follow through when he left after OTAs, and he can't live on the past. In this league, you can't do that. You can't relax."

Driver in gear
Pro Bowl wide receiver Donald Driver, who failed his physical Friday because of a shoulder injury he suffered last Dec. 10 at San Francisco, was cleared to practice by team doctors and took part in the morning in-shorts session on a limited basis. He expected to be full-go for the nighttime in-pads workout at old City Stadium. "It was good — no problems at all," Driver said. "It was good to get my feet wet. That was the biggest thing. Am I worried that (the injury) may reoccur? No. I don't care. My biggest thing is, I just want to play. Standing on that sideline, you get bored. I was tired of watching." Neither head coach Mike McCarthy nor receivers coach Jimmy Robinson sounded concerned about the shoulder bothering Driver throughout the year. "He looked good. He looked fine. Donald never looks much different to me," Robinson said. "He just kind of goes out there and does his thing and looks the same."

Humphrey out, Werner in
Tight end Tory Humphrey was on crutches and wearing a black immobilizing boot as he slowly made his way through the locker-room hallway Tuesday morning. But it wasn't his broken left ankle that was hurting him — it was his heart that was aching. "The guys are trying to make sure I'm doing all right, but it hurts really bad — because I had a pretty good chance of playing this year, doing some good things,'' Humphrey said. ``I was feeling pretty good, I had the offense down, I was making plays. I had a good chance of getting some real playing time this year.'' Humphrey, who saw action in seven games last season but has never caught a regular-season NFL pass, was a serious candidate for the No. 2 tight end job before he went down about an hour into the first practice of camp on Saturday with what is likely a season-ending injury. To get through camp, the Packers signed former UW-La Crosse basketball player Joe Werner, one of several tight ends brought in for workouts earlier in the day. Werner came to the Packers' rookie orientation camp in May on a tryout basis but wasn't signed. To make room for Werner, punter David Lonie was placed on injured reserve with an ankle injury. He's likely to be released once an injury settlement is reached.

Bringing the noise
With plenty of loud venues on the regular-season schedule — usual dome suspects Minnesota and Detroit, plus outdoor decibel-raisers Kansas City, Denver and Dallas — McCarthy got a jump on dealing with the noise by bringing speakers out to Clarke Hinkle Field for the morning practice to blare crowd noise during 11-on-11 periods. "These are the things that you (usually) practice in the last week of training camp or early in the season," McCarthy said. "We're just making sure that our silent count is getting more reps than they did last year and adjusting as early as possible."


Last Year's Rookies Adjust Less,
Improve More In 2nd Camp
By Mike Spofford / Packers.com / Posted 07/31/2007
It is often said that the biggest jump an athlete will make is from his first season to his second. If that is indeed true, it bodes well for a Packers team that had as many as five rookie starters at times in 2006. But there must be more to it than that. There has to be rationale behind the cliché. And in talking to members of the 2006 draft class about the first few days of training camp this year compared to last, they all believe their projected improvement begins with a comfort level about how training camp itself works. -- More


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