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Packers DB Charles Woodson is close to returning.

It appears that Charles Woodson is close to returning to the Packers. That’s great news.

So, what are the Packers going to do with him?

As soon as Clay Matthews got hurt, you saw an immediate decline in the pass rush. There hasn’t been a major dropoff in pass coverage with Woodson injured. In fact, we’ve seen a few young players step up and emerge with Woodson out.

Getting Woodson back will be helpful, but it also will raise some questions about how the secondary will look. Here are a few of those questions:  Read more... (640 words + 1 image, estimated 2:34 mins reading time)

• Will Casey Hayward’s playing time get cut? It’s hard to put this kid on the bench. He covers well in the slot and makes plays on the ball when he’s in the area. Watching Woodson trying to cover a good slot receiver these days is not very fun. Woodson might be a better tackler than Hayward, but not by much.
• Will Davon House’s playing time get cut? House plays with an attitude. He’s far from perfect, but he attacks whoever he’s trying to cover on the outside. Plus he’s big. Woodson can’t play on the outside any more so I don’t see him cutting into House’s opportunities. Maybe if Woodson plays inside, Hayward would get kicked to the outside, but that doesn’t seem realistic, either.
• What about Sam Shields? Oh yeah, Shields. Remember him? He’s close to returning, too. He might cut into House’s playing time some, but I don’t think Shields’ return will impact Woodson much.

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M.D. Jennings and Golden Tate

No fancy intro to this post. I’m getting straight to the anger and I invite Packers fans to do the same in the comments section.

What pissed you off about last night’s Packers loss to the Seahawks? I’m not looking for one or two things. I’m looking for a laundry list. Let it fly, people.

Here we go:  Read more... (873 words + 1 image, estimated 3:30 mins reading time)

• I’m pissed at the NFL. My favorite sport is turning into a reality TV show. Joke refs. Labor disputes. Tebowmania. Programming overkill. Putting clown analysts on the air instead of insightful commentators. Joke refs (did I mention that already?). A commissioner that now has less credibility than Bud Selig. Greedy and whiny owners and players. Pete Carroll. Imposter officials (have I mentioned that yet?). That’s pretty much all the elements of a reality TV show that appeals to the lowest common denominator of society instead of positioning itself for long-term sustainability and success by actually caring about its product.

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“Touchback,” signals one. “Touchdown,” signals the other. Apparently.

There’s nothing funny about it. The NFL’s replacement officials have officially cost a team a win that they rightfully earned.

“It was awful. That’s all I’m going to say about it.”

Aaron Rodgers was dumbfounded following the Packers’ 14-12 loss to the Seattle Seahawks on Monday night football. While the Packers quarterback and head coach were able to keep their composure at the postgame press conference, fellow NFL players and fans of the sport reacted differently.

Sports Illustrated’s Peter King called the game “one of the great disgraces in NFL history.”

The play in question was, of course, the last play of the game. As Seattle faced a fourth-and-ten on the Packers’ 24 yard-line, Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson kept the play alive with his legs and fired the ball towards the endzone.

Seahawks wide receiver Golden Tate pushed Packers cornerback Sam Shields to the ground, but the ball hit safety M.D. Jennings right between the numbers. Jennings cradled the ball to his chest, while Tate tried to wrestle the ball from him.

But nonetheless, two officials walked over towards Jennings and Tate, who are wrestling for possession of the ball. One official waves his arms, suggesting the pass was intercepted and the game was over. The other official, who ignored Tate’s “Shields shove,” rushes to the scrum and signals “Touchdown.”

The play was reviewed, and the call stood as called. Touchdown.  Read more... (974 words + 2 images, estimated 3:54 mins reading time)

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Packers rookie S Jerron McMillian

There’s no way around it–the Packers’ defense dominated the Chicago Bears on Thursday night.

Tramon Williams caught as many Jay Cutler passes (two) as Brandon Marshall,  the Packers nearly doubled the Bears in total yards, and Clay Matthews had his arms wrapped around Cutler as if he were a certain cast member on Laguna Beach. If not for an ugly miscommunication between Aaron Rodgers and James Jones, the Bears may not have scored more than three points all night.

Just four days prior, Alex Smith and the San Francisco 49ers sliced through Green Bay’s defense for 30 points, spoiling the Packers’ season opener at Lambeau Field. Predictably so, much of Packer Nation reached for the “Panic” button.

But the Packers’ performance on Thursday night couldn’t possibly have been more different. The Packers held the Bears’ talented offense to just 10 points and 168 total yards, while intercepting four of Cutler’s passes and sacking him seven times. Suddenly, the Packers defense doesn’t look all that bad.

Matthews (3.5 sacks) and Williams (two INT) will surely continue to receive the bulk of the credit for Thursday night’s surprisingly dominant display of defense, and rightfully so, but it took a total team effort for the Packers to embarrass the Bears the way they did.

And while there were a handful of “unsung heroes” in Week Two, safety Jerron McMillian may top the list.  Read more... (712 words + 1 image, estimated 2:51 mins reading time)

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Packers S M.D. Jennings is one of the new characters in the Packers secondary.

We’ve all sat through a terrible movie before. I’m not talking about a movie where it’s so bad, it’s good. I’m talking about a movie that is just plain bad, even painful.

Watching the Green Bay Packers allow almost 5,000 passing yards last season was like watching a bad movie, for a whopping 17 weeks.

If a director makes a terrible movies, he’ll probably try and make some serious changes so his next movie isn’t as bad. Maybe he’ll bring on actors with more experience or a production staff that has a several good movies under their resume.

Not if the director is Ted Thompson.

The Packers GM looked at his flop of a defense and said, “I’m going to get some guys that have even less experience and are more unproven than they players we had last season.”

Nowhere is that more evident than in the secondary.

Who are these guys?

The Packers first regular season game is only a few days away, but we have little idea what the secondary will look like. We know Tramon Williams will be at corner and Charles Woodson will be at safety in base and slot corner in sub packages. We also know Morgan Burnett will be at safety.

But that’s about all we know. We don’t know who the No. 2 corner will be in base and we have little clue what the sub packages will look like.  Read more... (1569 words + 1 image, estimated 6:17 mins reading time)

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The rookies on the Green Bay Packers roster have yet to complete a half-season in 2011, but the bye week in Week 8 gave us an opportunity to gauge how the Packers’ first-year players look through seven games.

Snap-counts and statistics are courtesy of Pro Football Focus. 

T Derek Sherrod (R1)

The Packers wanted him to take hold of the left guard position coming into training camp, but that experiment died in a hurry when Sherrod couldn’t handle the switch. He’s a right or left tackle from this point on. The only major action Sherrod has seen this season came against the Falcons in Week 5. After Chad Clifton went down with a hamstring injury, Sherrod filled in at right tackle as Marshall Newhouse slid over to the left side. Of the 51 snaps he played, 36 came on passing plays, and Sherrod allowed just two quarterback pressures and no sacks or hits. That kind of snap distribution shows the confidence that the Packers have in their rookie at right tackle in pass protection. Sherrod also came in on seven snaps (five run, two pass) against the Broncos in Week 4.

WR/KR Randall Cobb (R2)  Read more... (1468 words + 1 image, estimated 5:52 mins reading time)

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Green Bay Packers coach Mike McCarthy informed reporters Friday that safety Morgan Burnett suffered a broken hand in practice on Thursday, but he’s still expected to play Sunday against the St. Louis Rams. Despite missing Friday’s practice, Burnett is listed as probable and could play with a club around the broken hand. Undrafted rookie M.D. Jennings took Burnett’s snaps in practice today.

McCarthy also said that RT Bryan Bulaga (knee) is “prepared to play” and the “team feels good about his availability for Sunday.” If Bulaga does start against the Rams after missing two straight weeks, he’ll likely play at right tackle with Marshall Newhouse staying on the left side. Newhouse shifted to left tackle against the Falcons after Chad Clifton hurt his hamstring, and played well.

Clifton (hamstring) and DE Mike Neal (knee) are both out, but neither was close or practiced. G Josh Sitton was limited with an ankle injury but is listed as probable. G/C Evan Dietrich-Smith (foot) is questionable after being limited in both Thursday and Friday practices.

WR Greg Jennings (groin) was a full go on Friday after limited participation on Thursday. He’s probable for Sunday and almost certainly will play. Both Clay Matthews (quad) and Charles Woodson (foot/ankle) returned to practice after missing Wednesday and Thursday.

LB Frank Zombo (shoulder) was a full participant all week and plans to play Sunday. Zombo has missed the entire 2011 regular season after breaking his scapula against the Cardinals in the preseason.  Read more... (313 words + 1 image, estimated 1:15 mins reading time)

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