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Green Bay Packers wide receiver Diondre Borel runs the ball against the San Diego Chargers during the first half of an NFL preseason football game Thursday. (AP Photo/Lenny Ignelzi)

Diondre Borel had an opportunity to separate himself from the competition in the race for the sixth wide receiver spot on the Packers’ roster Thursday night.

Did he do it? Well, not really. But he also didn’t take a major step backwards. Like the whole battle-for-the-sixth-receiver-spot storyline has been thus far, Borel was just kind of meh against the Chargers. Not terrible, but far from great.

Things didn’t start well for Borel. He got drilled by San Diego’s Demorrio Williams on a first quarter kickoff and fumbled. Coughing the ball up is the surest way to find yourself in Mike McCarthy’s doghouse and off the team, so Borel put himself in a deep hole right off the bat.

Borel returned three more kicks/punts on Thursday, including a 34-yard return late in the first half where he flashed some of the speed and burst that make him an intriguing prospect.

Borel finished with three catches for 13 yards and was targeted five times by Graham Harrell. Those numbers are nothing to brag about, but he didn’t have any drops and he definitely didn’t look overmatched.

Like he showed on the 34-yard return, Borel looked quick after he caught the ball — as quick as someone can look when they’re immediately being swarmed by defenders, anyway.  Read more... (490 words + 1 image, estimated 1:58 mins reading time)

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Josh Sitton is part of a talented Packers offensive line.

It’s time for Packers training camp. Soon, your Sundays will be filled with Packers football instead of whatever other boring thing you do on Sunday’s without football.

Before camp officially kicks off, here’s how I grade the Packers position group by position group. We’ll start with the offense this morning and check out the defense later today.

How different will these grades look after camp? Who knows, but for now, this is where the team stands in my eyes.

Quarterback: A+
There’s not much more to say about Aaron Rodgers, the reigning MVP, that hasn’t already been said. Even if he regresses a little, Rodgers is still an ’A’ quarterback. I suppose I could dock the Packers a little for having backups with no experience, but I’m not. I’m sick of that debate. Backup QBs with “experience” are usually just bad QBs. I’ll take my chances with a young guy that can still be developed.

Link: Ron Jaworski ranked Rodgers the No. 1 QB in the NFL during a top-to-bottom review of NFL QBs on ESPN. Check out a summary of Jaworski’s thoughts on Rodgers in Kevin Seifert’s ESPN NFC North blog.  Read more... (746 words + 1 image, estimated 2:59 mins reading time)

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Here’s a post that is sure to spark some heated debate. We’ve had quite a few comments lately about the infamous James Jones and his comparison to the esteemed Donald Driver. Most of this has stemmed from two points of contention: (1) the Green Bay Packers’ decision to keep Driver despite his declining performance, and (2) the reputation of Jones in regard to dropped passes.

So, as I am wont to do, I took some time to research each of these player’s performances in 2011. I discovered some interesting things along the way, but let me first present to you some of the raw statistics (thanks to PFF):

   Read more... (1028 words + 1 image, estimated 4:07 mins reading time)

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Most of the offseason chatter about Packers starters getting benched has centered on A.J. Hawk being replaced by D.J. Smith. That very well might happen, but what about other starters that could find themselves on the bench once the season starts?

Erik Walden
According to Pro Football Focus (PFF), Walden totaled just three sacks, 14 QB hits and 22 QB hurries in 15 starts. From week 12 through the playoff loss, Walden had zero sacks, four hits and six hurries (he also got arrested). His (-20.5) overall rating by PFF was the worst among 3-4 OLBs by almost 10 points.

Packers fans don’t need fancy stats and analytics to know that Walden was bad. If he was simply average, and provided at least a little pressure on the QB down the stretch, who knows how last season might have ended? Rookie Nick Perry likely will take over here.

Jarius Wynn/C.J. Wilson
These two combined to start six games, so it’s a stretch to call them starters. Howard Green also started five times, so we’ll consider Wynn/Wilson/Green a sort of three-headed monster that started most games somewhere on the defensive line. With Green gone, there’s only two heads of the monster left, and I’m not sure that either head will start this season.

Wilson seems like a good athlete, which gives me some hope that he could eventually turn into a serviceable player. A permanent starter? The jury is out.  Read more... (568 words + 1 image, estimated 2:16 mins reading time)

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James Jones is looking for more respect.

They say you can never have enough talent. When you’ve acquired all that talent, the question becomes how do you get the most productivity and value out of said talent.

The Green Bay Packers have no shortage of talent on the offensive side of the ball, especially when it comes to pass catchers. The record-breaking group is back intact after the team re-signed Jermichael Finley and restructured Donald Driver’s contract.

While the talent is unquestionable, there are only so many balls to go around during the course of each game, even in the Packers’ high octane offense. This can lead to frustration which appears to be the case for James Jones.

“I still don’t get no respect around here, though,” Jones said. “That’s why, in all my interviews, I’m just going to start saying ‘Respect.’ Get me some shirts made.”

Part of the lack of respect may have been brought on by Jones himself as he spent most of 2010 dealing with drops. Many fans have had a hard time forgiving Jones, despite his drops having been overcome by the team and his turning the corner in 2011.

Playing with the likes of Greg Jennings, Jordy Nelson, Jermichael Finley, Donald Driver, Randall Cobb and more, Jones doesn’t have the opportunity to separate himself like he would elsewhere. Jones had a quiet, but very good statistical season last year. His catches in 2011 were down to 38 from the 50 he caught in 2010, but his yard per reception was all the way up to 16.7 yards in 2011, an increase of 3.1 yards from his 13.6 yards per reception in 2010. He also scored  more touchdowns in 2011 (seven) than he did in 2010 (five).  Read more... (649 words + 1 image, estimated 2:36 mins reading time)

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I’ll bet he thought nobody would see this. Packers’ hulking offensive lineman Josh Sitton shows he has “Moves Like Jagger.” Hilarious…

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Jersey Al Bracco is the founder and editor of AllGreenBayPackers.com, and the co-founder of Packers Talk Radio Network. He can be heard as one of the Co-Hosts on Cheesehead Radio and is the Green Bay Packers Draft Analyst for Drafttek.com.

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Mike McCarthy

After flirting with a perfect regular season and entering the playoffs as the NFC’s top seed, not many expected the Packers to drop out of the playoffs in the manner that they did.

Coming into the playoff matchup with the New York Giants, it felt as if the Packers were locked in towards winning the second of back-to-back titles and it was just a matter of playing out the games.

The crashing down caused significant heartache, disappointment, and regret of a missed opportunity. For many, those feelings have not subsided yet. After reading Albert Breer’s article for NFL.com, we can add head coach Mike McCarthy to that list of people.

In speaking with Breer, McCarthy admitted he wasn’t over the playoff loss and that “it’ll always bother [him].” McCarthy continued, “That’s the thing that kicks me around at night: Did I do the right thing the Giants week? Is there something I could’ve done differently with our team? That’s what you learn from.”

While McCarthy admitted the playoff loss still bothers him, Aaron Rodgers said he was able to move past that game. Graham Harrell begs to defer.

“He starts to get worked up,” Harrell told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. “He starts mumbling under his breath whenever he sees stuff about how close we were. At times, he says, ‘God, we played so bad.’ It just eats at him.”  Read more... (584 words + 1 image, estimated 2:20 mins reading time)

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