June 3, 2025 • 28 mins
Mike and Wes review Week 1 of OTAs, including where things stand in the WR room (:21), the hunger of the veteran players (8:22), thoughts on Year 2 for RB Josh Jacobs and S Xavier McKinney (14:35), and the leadership mandate for QB Jordan Love (24:25).
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:09):
Hi, everybody. Welcome to another edition of Packers Unscripted from
Packers dot Com. I am like Spafford, joined as always
by my trusted colleague Wes Hodkowitz. We're coming to you
hear from our studios at lambeau Field, Wes to talk
a little OTA action. We were not recording shows last
week when the Packers had the first week of OTAs,
which included the first practice that we got to witness
(00:33):
during this OTA period. I'm just gonna throw this out
there as an open ended question from what you saw
at practice or the players we talked to, and we
talked to a lot of the big name players on
this team that first kind of that first big availability
of the off season. What was your biggest takeaway from
that day of access last week.
Speaker 2 (00:52):
It was a fun day. I think a couple things happened. Obviously,
we didn't have the typical first day of the off
season program where we talked to guys. This is a
time really chatting with a lot of these guys since
the last locker room session in Green Bay after the
last season back in January. Back in January, So this
answer could be give so many different responses to this,
but I think there was a reason why. When you
(01:13):
and I were divving up coverage and we were figuring
out what to write, the first story you wrote was
on the receivers. It was on Jayden Reid and one
understanding where he's at because a lot of us forget.
He did suffer an injury in that game against Philadelphia.
I was in the locker room with him afterwards. He
had the sling on his shoulder, ends up having a
partially torn labram in addition to a dislocated shoulder. Said
he was pretty much down for most of the off
(01:34):
season program in terms of that. There's other things he
was able to do, but that did lay him up
for a couple months. But he didn't require surgery. He's
good to go there. Obviously, there's been a lot of
conversation outside the building about number one receivers and two
receivers in all this, and now Matthew Golden being added
to the mix. But I thought it was really important
that Reid talked about how, first and foremost the culture
(01:55):
they have in that room, the culture that seemingly has
always been there through the different generations and different players
that have come through there, that's still very much in place,
and this definitely is an all for one mentality of
how they're approaching this thing. And then the last thing
I'll throw in there too before I passed the microphone
back to you, Christian Watson Man, you and I walk
into the practice inside the Hudson Center, and this guy
(02:18):
is not necessarily, you know, running routes and making huge
pass catches, but the fact that he was stretching with
the team and the fact that he was cleared to
a ten practice. He was out there during the Packers'
practice at Nichki Field. That's not something typically you see
a lot of guys coming off ACLS doing. And Matt
Leffuor did say afterwards they think he's ahead of schedule.
It looks like he definitely put the time into the
weight room as well. So the Packers' receiving corps if
(02:43):
all together, if all healthy, which again could end up
being more towards the midpoint of the season. I just
think there's so many different intriguing options to it, and
the fact is that group very much is still rowing
in the same direction.
Speaker 1 (02:55):
Yeah, And I think that was a strong takeaway of
mine as well as and it's why I wrote about it.
For those who didn't catch the story, it is on
Packers dot com. It was posted last week on Wednesday
evening because there was a lot of stuff going on
in the off season with regard to the receivers. What
Josh Jacobs said at the Super Bowl on Radio Row
about needing a number one, and then the Packers end
(03:17):
up spending two of their first three draft picks on
wide receivers. And then there's the story that gets out
that Jaden Reid's agent had contacted the Packers' front office
to just clarify like where he stood a couple of
things on that. For one, nobody's holding anything against Josh Jacobs,
and in fact, Jaden Reid took the comments as motivating,
(03:38):
and quite frankly, I don't think this is a receiver
group that necessarily needs any extra motivation. They know the stats,
the drop passes and all the stuff that happened last year,
so they know what's out there. And the fact that
the front office invested two of their top three draft
picks and wide receivers, it's like, all right, they're bringing
in as much talent as they can and they're going
to say, all right, who's who's going to be here,
(04:01):
who's going to step up to the plate and show
up and play and provide the production that they're looking for.
And these guys are going to be competing, you know,
through these next couple of weeks and then certainly through
training camp and everything like that. And Reid did clarify
with regard to his agent he had hired a new agent,
the contact with the Packers' front office. He clarified that
(04:22):
that was really just a matter of course in terms
of his you know, signing up with a new agent.
But the word got out as far as what happened,
it was in the context of the two new wide
receivers in the draft. As far as Reid's concerned, that
whole report was a misinterpretation of what was going on.
So just to just to clear all that up. But
I like what you said about the culture, the rowing
(04:45):
in the right direction these guys. The biggest thing that
Jayden Reid, what he wanted to focus on with all
the media questions that were coming his way, is that
he had multiple exit interviews with his coaches at in
January after the playoff lost to Philadelphia, and he was
delivered a very clear message from multiple coaches. We want
you to be the leader in the wide receiver room.
(05:07):
They knew Christian Watson's gonna be rehabbing, He's not going
to be back for a while. They're looking to Jaden
Reid to be the leader of this group, and he
is taking that assignment, so to speak, very very seriously.
And we've heard from multiple coaches about you know, Reid
is right there with Matthew Golden, you know, helping him out,
showing him some things, you know, answering questions, whatever the
(05:29):
case might be. So as competitive as all this is
and as many questions as there are about exactly maybe
what the pecking order is going to be come week
one in September, this is a wide receiver room that
has that has a lot going for it, has a
lot of good vibes, and I think it's it's coming
together the way Brian Gudukunstan vision, which is that competition
(05:51):
is never a bad thing, and they're gonna find out
who's gonna who's gonna rise up here and perform.
Speaker 2 (05:57):
It reminded me a lot of basically the same thing
that Randall said after Jordy Nelson tore his acl back
in training camp or the preseason more specifically in twenty fifteen. Now,
certainly that was much later in the process. The Packers
had to quickly adjust to not having Nelson, where I
think the entire offseason has kind of been structured around Okay, well,
at the very least, we're not going to have Christian
(06:17):
Watson for the first part of the season, maybe not
all of it. But that being said, I just feel
like this is the natural step for Jaden Reid. He's
been their leading receiver statistically the past two seasons. I
think you listen to what people said about him when
he was at Michigan State, the type of guy he is,
the way he leads, He is just a perfect Packers
person in addition to the fact that he's a really
(06:39):
talented wide out as well. So nobody I just feel
like everybody understands the game in Green Bay Tucker Craft.
Did anything really change that much with the offense last
year that they were just going to continually feed Tucker Craft. No,
Luke Musgrave got hurt, Tucker Craft got some opportunities. He
made the Mosso's opportunity, and guess what happens when you
(07:01):
make the most opportunities, You're going to get more of them.
Everybody understands that. That's how Romeo Dobbs came in in
twenty twenty two and made the impact that he did
right off the bat as a fourth round pick. Yeah,
as a rookie. That's why Jaden Reid was able to
be effective right out of the bat. We'll see what
they get Matthew Golden. This is a young man that's
coming in. He's a true junior this past year at Texas.
(07:21):
He's going to have time to grow. Certainly, Savion Williams
is also a guy that is going to need some
time to grow. They are still counting very much on
this veteran nucleus that they've been developing for the past
two to three seasons to come through for them. And
ultimately that I think is where you're going to see
the biggest jump. If you can get something from Golden
and Williams right off the bat, fantastic, That is awesome
for this offense. But the bottom line is Romeo Dobbs,
(07:44):
Jayden Reed, Dontavian Wicks, this group that's already been here.
If the Packers are going to make a big jump
offensively this season, it has to start with them.
Speaker 1 (07:52):
Yeah, and seeing as you mentioned seeing where Christian Watson
was at. I mean, he's I believe, less than five
months removed from ACL surgery and it's like you look
at him kind of jogging around out there, you wouldn't
think anything was ever wrong. I mean, so that's an
extremely positive sign, and you know he's he's gonna jump
through every hoop necessary what we know about Christian Watson
(08:16):
to get that medical clearance whenever that does come at
some point later this fall. If I were to point
to my biggest takeaway, and this comes from, you know
the fact that we talked to Jaden Reid and Kenny
Clark and Edrin Cooper and Josh Jacobs and Xavier McKinney
and Jordan Love. We talked to all of those guys
after this one OTA practice that we got to watch,
(08:39):
and when I kind of walked away from it and
was processing it over the next couple of days after
the word hunger is what kept popping into my mind.
And it's not to say that past teams in Green
Bay haven't been hungry, that the desire and whatnot hasn't
been there, but there is there is something about this bunch,
(09:00):
and I think it's a combination of the fact that
last season ended with three consecutive losses, including the first
round exit in the playoffs, and then you don't get
as far as you did in the postseason a year ago,
and quite frankly that you know, as opposed to taking
the forty nine ers down to the wire the previous
year and almost getting the NFC Championship game, they didn't
(09:21):
really take the Philadelphia Eagles down to the wire. They
played them into the fourth quarter, but everybody walked away
that day knowing that the Eagles were the better team
and deserved to move on. Having that be the third
straight loss to end the season, combined with the fact
of I think everything that has been swirling around out
(09:43):
there in the various media narratives, whether it's about the
wide receivers that we just discussed, or whether it's about
you know, did Jordan Love take a step back in
twenty twenty four compared to twenty twenty three, And we
can talk more about that in a minute, but I
think it's just it's arned something up in these guys
that is a little bit different than what we felt
(10:04):
at this time a year ago, when a lot of things,
you know, arrows are pointing up all kinds of excitement
and everything coming off of what was a somewhat surprising
and unexpected playoff run at the end of twenty twenty
three and how well the team was playing. There's a
hunger to these guys that they know what's out there.
They know that they didn't really live up to their
(10:27):
own expectations collectively as a team a year ago, and
I think that's really providing a motivating force for the
group as a whole. That's just the sense I got
after talking to all of these team leaders that we
talked to on the first day.
Speaker 2 (10:45):
Yeah, and it isn't even just about that, which certainly
it is. I mean, this group wants to take another step.
It's always interesting when you get the new guys into
the mix, like last year when Xavier McKinney and Josh
Jacobs both came in, and both of those guys talked
about their need and their desire to win and how
much that motivates them and how much it's stung during
(11:06):
their time at the Giants and their time with the
Raiders to not have that type of success. Then you
get somebody like Aaron Banks, the Packers k new left
guard that they signed from San Francisco, and listening to
him talk and just the kind of cerebral tone that
he spoke with when discussing how he's been as close
as you can get to winning a Super Bowl championship
without actually having that ring on your finger, and how
(11:26):
much that drives him now, how much he's been pursuing
that And certainly there's money involved with it, and you
want to take care of your family and you have
to take care of yourself. But he said when he
was finding that next spot to sign, when he was
looking at where it was going to be, he sees
a place in Green Bay that has been close as well. Now,
certainly there's only five players left from the last time
the Packers got to an NFC Championship game, but they
(11:48):
know those stories and they know what the standard has
been here for so long. That is the chase. And
last year, depending on which way you want to slice it,
they had a first round exit, which is one round
earlier than the previous year when they got to the
divisional round after they pulled off that upset of the Dallas.
Last year, they didn't get back to the divisional round,
(12:09):
but they also won two more games in the regular season.
They also didn't perform as well in the NFC North.
All these things kind of factor into this idea. I
think that has been sort of following Green Bay all
off season of this is what we've built toward this season.
It's not that they're all in, it's not that it's
everything about this year, but this is why you were
(12:29):
the youngest team in the NFL the back to back
years to get you to this point. You want to
win a super Bowl every single year, but a lot
of teams would struggle to even be competitive being as
young as Green Bay was the past two seasons. The
Packers not only did that, they made two postseason runs.
In Jordan Love's first two years as a starting quarterback.
Everybody wants to talk about Aaron Rodgers was twenty seven
(12:50):
years old when he won a Super Bowl. Brett Favre
was twenty seven years old when he won a super Bowl.
You know what Aaron Rodgers didn't do. He didn't get
to the playoffs the first two years as a starting
quarterback in the NFL. Well, Jordan Love did. Yeah, And
you you got to take your own pace and you
got to follow your own path as it comes. But
when you when you talk about hunger and desire and motivation,
I think this roster, especially with the way that last
(13:11):
season ended and losing to the eventual Super Bowl champion
in the wild card round in Philadelphia, I think those
are that's sort of that fuel that's firing into the
engine right now trying to get these guys going into
twenty twenty five.
Speaker 1 (13:23):
Yeah, and we'll talk a little bit more about Jordan
Love in a minute, But on the playoff thing, I
think I think one thing that that could be really
really important for this Packers team moving forward. When you
talk about the first two years, after two years as
a starter, Aaron Rodgers had one playoff game under his belt.
Jordan Love has three that I think can matter. If
(13:46):
the Packers are in the position that they hope to
be in, you can you you can bank Jordan Love
can bank on that that playoff experience. And even if
he's say if he's not going to be the next
Hall of Famer like Aaron Rodgers is, the next time
Jordan Love gets to the playoffs, if he gets there
again in year three, he's in a better spot than
(14:08):
Aaron Rodgers was in year three, and I think that
could pay dividends for this club. I'll take care of
some sponsor business quick. Here West Serious XMNFL Radio delivers
hard hitting analysis and up to the minute NFL news
that true football fanatics need twenty four to seven, three
sixty five. And at Cousin Subbs we have something for
everyone like our Wisconsin cheese Kurts, mac and cheese, golden fries,
(14:29):
and creamy shakes, all paired with your favorite sub or
sub in a bowl. Cousin Subbs fifty plus years of better.
All right, Josh Jacobs and Xavier McKinney. We talked to
both of those players after practice last week, and I'll
let you go whatever direction you want to go with this,
but I will just say this. Anybody who thought that
(14:52):
Josh Jacobs was gonna rest on his laurels with a
thirteen hundred yard, fifteen touchdown season or whatever he ended
up with, and that Xavier McKinney was going to rest
on his first team All Pro honors and just collect
paychecks the rest of his time with that big contract
in Green Bay, that is not how those two guys
(15:14):
are wired. And they made that pretty clear. Whether it's
McKinney talking about, Hey, his ultimate long term goal. Individually speaking,
he wants to put on a gold jacket and can
like he's going to be striving to be that type
of player. And Josh Jacobs, for all of his success
and how much he was the straw that stirred the
(15:36):
drink of the Packers offense for quite a while a
good chunk of the season last year, the first thing
he's talking about is he feels like he left a
lot out there. You know that he didn't really maximize
on everything he could have done. As much of a
workhorse as he was, you can't have You can't have
better guys than that in terms of their mentality, in
(15:59):
terms of their being the leaders in that locker room.
When you're talking leaders aside from the quarterback natural leader
in that position.
Speaker 2 (16:07):
It's crazy, man. When you think about the fact that
we covered Aaron Jones as long as we did, and
Aaron moves on and goes to Minnesota in that same offseason,
then we get Josh Jacobs. I mean, just how impressive
these guys have been in terms of locker room character guys.
In terms of obviously the type of performers there. We're
talking about Pro Bowl running backs here, but I mean,
they're just cut from the same cloth. And it was
interesting too. Jacobs is so articulate and he's so thoughtful
(16:31):
in how he answers things, much like McKinney. But I'm
pulling off the number eight thing over here. Listen. He
had such an in depth, thoughtful answer. I felt when
people talk about, oh, well, the receiver thing, he wanted
a number one receiver. He wanted this in that Josh Jacobs,
so much of what he discusses is based on that
sense of urgency that he understands the position he plays.
(16:52):
He understands tomorrow is never a given and if he
wants to win a championship, if he wants to take
that next step and make a deep playoff run, he
has to do it today. He can't. Maybe you can
do it tomorrow, maybe you can do it the day
after that. But the only thing can be sure of
is right now, this moment. And I felt like the
reason why no one took offense to it, or whatever
people wanted to blow it out to be, was the
fact that this is a guy that won talked at
(17:14):
the end of last season about wanting to get more
guys here, wanting to get you know, proved players that
you can come to Green Bay and win here and
find a future here and make money here. Advertise it
to free agents that way, advertise it to incoming draft
picks that way. And certainly I think he's the guy
carrying the flag right now for the Packers in terms
of we are going to do something special here and
(17:37):
he wants to be a part of it. And also
that never undying chip on his shoulder that comes along
with this. You know, there's a lot of questions that
were asked to him about you know, Derrick Henry and
Saquon Barklay and all this publicity a lot of these
other backs have gotten. Maybe there hasn't been that type
of narrative with Jacobs for everything accomplished, and honestly, he
doesn't care. The only thing that matters to him him
(18:00):
is can he win a Super Bowl here? In what
can he do, to your point to maximize the opportunities
he's been given? He said, that comes down to breaking
an extra tackle that might have taken a twenty yard
gain into a sixty yard game. That maybe is making
a guy miss. And meanwhile, on the opposite side of
the room, you had a guy like Aaron Banks talking
who's blocked for Christian McCaffrey the last four years, talking
(18:21):
about the offensive lines role in making Jacob's job easier.
The Packers have never been bigger on paper in this
offensive line. That's what it could potentially be with this
starting five. You look at where Josh Jacobs is as
a running back. This is a combination that Green Bay
has not had during my time covering the team. They
are a power running offense that has a pretty good
(18:44):
quarterback behind it as well. Yep, so, yeah, Jacobs is
twenty seven years old. The guy hopes to play another
eight years. I'm sure of it. But the fact is
he knows you never are always in a position to
be competitive and be aiming for championships. He saw what
that was like at the Raiders. When maybe you go
into a season you're not thinking you're going to win
a Super Bowl, it would be a surprise if you
(19:06):
make that type of run. That isn't the case in
Green Bay.
Speaker 1 (19:09):
Yeah, and you wrote a story about Jacobs which is
on the website posted last week for those who want
to check it out. And on Monday morning, a story
that I wrote on Xavier McKinney and the defense. You know,
McKinney has all kinds of high hopes for this what
is essentially the year two for him in Green Bay,
the year two for Jeff Haffley as defensive coordinator, the
(19:32):
year two for Edgrin Cooper as a potential centerpiece and
playmaker in this defense. But you know when you actually listen,
when you listen to the things that Xavier McKinney talks about,
and yes, he's got the high hopes and the high
aspirations both individually and collectively, but in the same breath,
he's also always talking about how much work it's going
(19:53):
to take to get there. Like for him, he's like, hey,
my job right now, we still got you know, a
lot of young guys in the secondary, and you know
my job is to is to get them up to speed.
Make sure you know everybody's still staying on the same
page that we can all, you know, continue to make
this progress together. Like he's you know, he's taking that upon,
he's taking that upon himself as a leader. And I
(20:15):
had asked him specifically about Edgern Cooper when he thought
was ahead for Cooper in year two, and one of
the first things he says was, we collectively as a defense,
the veterans on defense have to keep pushing him because
they can see what's potentially out there for Edgern Cooper.
And as much as the coaches are going to do
that pushing, the veteran players are going to push the
guys where they see the talent. And that's the kind
(20:37):
of work that Xavier McKinney wants to do for the group,
as well as the work he feels he needs to
put in individually in order to potentially earn another All
Pro selection or whatever that might be. He talked about,
you know, his intensity can't change. He sees a guy,
a free agent like Nate Hobbs come in playing cornerback,
you know, in the same secondary and the only thing
(20:59):
we've heard from people about Nate Hobbs is really two
words intensity and energy and what that guy brings to
the practice field. And Xavier McKinney sees that and he's like,
you know, I can't let somebody else on this team
have more intensity and more energy than I do. I mean,
you know, So it's it's these veteran guys trying to
trying to push each other, and obviously it's it's the
(21:21):
off season. We are a long long way from week one,
but I think collectively, the message, the message that I
felt that what I walked away from talking to all
the all the team leaders, is that is that these guys'
minds are in the right place. They know that they
can do something, but there is not a single one
of them that takes anything for granted, let alone even
(21:43):
just getting back to the playoffs again. They know they
just slipped in as the seventh seed last year. They
almost didn't make it, you know, And and so they
know how precarious this can be over the long haul
to give yourself that opportunity at the end, They're taking
it one step at a time. They're going to put
in their work in the offseason, they're going to take
their break, They're going to come back for training camp
(22:04):
fired up and ready to go.
Speaker 2 (22:05):
And this is where I've always come back to. Certainly,
was great the Packers' top five defense last year, first
time they've done that in what fifteen years? Yeah, something
around that, and the fact that their run defense was
as good as it's been in fifteen years. But it
was not just like, Okay, well they rolled the ball
out there, and that's what happened. No, they had a
lot of playmakers. You had guys like Xavier McKinney that
are making a difference that are seen as the best
(22:26):
at their position in the National Football League. Watching Nate
Hobbs in practice, the one that we've watched at the
time in which we're taping this, seeing him play the
star position, that nickel position in the sub package, and
he had multiple pass breakups on slants intended for Tucker
Craft and Luke Musgrave, and you start to understand the
method to the madness and why Green Bay gos and
(22:48):
signs a player like that, because one, it's a long
season and you got to have guys who can play
multiple positions. But you also see what the Packers saw
on film with Hobbs, and obviously the emphasis there to
feature or can you know Keishaw Nixon potentially as a
boundary cornerback, a perimeter cornerback. That's another factor in this
as we wait for, you know, some resolution here with
(23:08):
Jyry Alexander situation. But more than anything, Mike, what my
biggest takeaway was when I was after we got done
with all the availability and the fact that edgern Cooper
was one of these star players that the Packers' pr
staff made available. This is a guy that has been
in this uniform for barely a year. And in my
head I was hearing Mike Smith, even though he was
(23:30):
an outside linebackers coach here in Green Bay, but when
he was talking about Rashaun Gary and how Gary, you know,
the way that he performed, the way that he prepared,
the way that he worked at it. This is a
guy that just is not going to fail. And I
get a very similar feel with edgern Cooper. If he
can stay healthy, this guy is legitimate. This guy is
a problem for opposing offenses. And when you're talking about
(23:54):
making that next step defensively, yeah, maybe the Packers can
do better than a top five defense, but it also
so can this be a unit that can be feared
when it's on the field, And I think with number
fifty six out there it can be. And I don't
know if there's been a guy in the defensive front
since Clay Matthews prime that has kind of given me
that feel. Drin Cooper gives me that type of motivation. Yeah,
(24:18):
and I'm very excited to see where he goes from here.
Speaker 1 (24:20):
I am too, I mean the Yeah, the excitement is
in that regard is kind of off the charts. I
want to wrap up with one last thought, because we
started the show talking about a little bit about that
leadership mandate that's been placed on Jaden Reid with regard
to the receivers, there's a leadership mandate that's been placed
on Jordan Love as well as the quarterback of this team.
(24:41):
And obviously he's you know, when you play quarterback and
that's who you are, you're naturally a leader. But we
heard at the end of last season Matt Lafleur say
he wants Jordan Love to be more vocal, to speak
up more in meetings and on the practice field sets.
He sets the example that every leader should set in
terms of just his approach, his demeanor, I mean his
(25:03):
as we've talked about many times, his uh, his steadiness
and and sort of unflappableness of lack of a better word,
is something I think that serves this team really well.
That being said, Love is being pushed to to be
to be a little bit more vocal, to take charge
(25:24):
in maybe some different ways, and from everything we heard
from him, he's totally embracing that he's not he's not
shying away and just saying, you know, I'm just going
to be you know who I'm going to be. He's saying, yes,
it's it needs to be genuine and he needs he
needs to step forward a little bit. He's he's not
going to fake it, but he is embracing the idea
(25:45):
of kind of taking another step as a as a leader.
And uh and this team, this team has a lot
of leaders on it, but those who are not the leaders,
I think this whole team is ready to follow.
Speaker 2 (25:57):
El Elton Jenkins presently is not here. Right. That means
that Jordan Love is the longest tenured player on the
offensive side of the ball currently with the Green Bay
Packers in Green Bay for OTAs, that's something. It's something.
I mean, if you count the defensive side the ball,
with JayR not being here presently, he's the third longest
tenured player on either side of the ball. Yeah, that
counts for something. That has to count for something. This
(26:18):
isn't a standard business where it's like, Okay, well you've
been around for six years or three years as a starter,
you know you probably get still get your feet wet.
You aren't necessarily in that manager, No, dude, this is NFL.
It's like dog years. This guy's been here for like
forty two years now. I mean, like that's the way
this business runs. And he is the face of the franchise.
And there was reason why, Like I did an insider
(26:40):
inbox column where I'd lead with him on doing that
because everybody it was so funny to me. Everybody was
kind of picking on his pitch at the Brewer game
and everything like that on Memorial Day. But it's like,
that's the franchise right there doing that. That's Jordan Love
going around and doing these things, doing all this charity
work this offseason. You're watching the maturation and evolution of
a guy that this generation of Packers' football is going
(27:02):
to be based around. It's going to be centered on
and having that voice in the locker room is important
and at the same time, as Jordan also warns, you
don't want to be someone you're not, but you can
still be yourself while also giving more your viewpoints in
your opinions, not just on your position, not just on
the offensive line, not just no the entire operation. The
(27:23):
Packers want that type of feedback. Matt Lafleur wants that
type of feedback. He wants a guy that's going to
rally those troops in the good, the bad, the in between.
Jordan Love can be that individual. And I think that's
the exciting thing because the way Jordan leads is with authenticity.
He's very genuine in the way he acts and the
way he handles people, the way he conducts himself on
a daily basis, and just seeing him mature and just
(27:46):
see him come more into his own skin now it
going on twenty seven, it just shows you. I mean,
this is the Packers made the right call in twenty twenty.
It was a difficult call at the time, but they
found their guy. Now hopefully can stay healthy and obviously,
you know, and find improvements in some of his own
areas of his game, but as far as a locker
room leader, it's all right there for him. It's just
(28:08):
kind of realizing that you're like, you're that really impressive dog,
right and it's just realizing what your bart can do.
And I think I think Jordan's in that process right now.
Speaker 1 (28:18):
I like that, and I'm gonna call it on that
comment right there. We will call it a rap. On
this edition of Packers Unscripted, we have another open Ota
access to practice this week, so on our next show
in a couple of days, we will talk about what
else we learn and what else we see. Keep you
updated on everything going on here with the Packers for WES,
(28:39):
I am Mike. Thank you for tuning in. Everybody, We
will see you next time.
Hi, everybody. Welcome to another edition of Packers Unscripted from
Packers dot Com. I am like Spafford, joined as always
by my trusted colleague Wes Hodkowitz. We're coming to you
hear from our studios at lambeau Field, Wes to talk
a little OTA action. We were not recording shows last
week when the Packers had the first week of OTAs,
which included the first practice that we got to witness
(00:33):
during this OTA period. I'm just gonna throw this out
there as an open ended question from what you saw
at practice or the players we talked to, and we
talked to a lot of the big name players on
this team that first kind of that first big availability
of the off season. What was your biggest takeaway from
that day of access last week.
Speaker 2 (00:52):
It was a fun day. I think a couple things happened. Obviously,
we didn't have the typical first day of the off
season program where we talked to guys. This is a
time really chatting with a lot of these guys since
the last locker room session in Green Bay after the
last season back in January. Back in January, So this
answer could be give so many different responses to this,
but I think there was a reason why. When you
(01:13):
and I were divving up coverage and we were figuring
out what to write, the first story you wrote was
on the receivers. It was on Jayden Reid and one
understanding where he's at because a lot of us forget.
He did suffer an injury in that game against Philadelphia.
I was in the locker room with him afterwards. He
had the sling on his shoulder, ends up having a
partially torn labram in addition to a dislocated shoulder. Said
he was pretty much down for most of the off
(01:34):
season program in terms of that. There's other things he
was able to do, but that did lay him up
for a couple months. But he didn't require surgery. He's
good to go there. Obviously, there's been a lot of
conversation outside the building about number one receivers and two
receivers in all this, and now Matthew Golden being added
to the mix. But I thought it was really important
that Reid talked about how, first and foremost the culture
(01:55):
they have in that room, the culture that seemingly has
always been there through the different generations and different players
that have come through there, that's still very much in place,
and this definitely is an all for one mentality of
how they're approaching this thing. And then the last thing
I'll throw in there too before I passed the microphone
back to you, Christian Watson Man, you and I walk
into the practice inside the Hudson Center, and this guy
(02:18):
is not necessarily, you know, running routes and making huge
pass catches, but the fact that he was stretching with
the team and the fact that he was cleared to
a ten practice. He was out there during the Packers'
practice at Nichki Field. That's not something typically you see
a lot of guys coming off ACLS doing. And Matt
Leffuor did say afterwards they think he's ahead of schedule.
It looks like he definitely put the time into the
weight room as well. So the Packers' receiving corps if
(02:43):
all together, if all healthy, which again could end up
being more towards the midpoint of the season. I just
think there's so many different intriguing options to it, and
the fact is that group very much is still rowing
in the same direction.
Speaker 1 (02:55):
Yeah, And I think that was a strong takeaway of
mine as well as and it's why I wrote about it.
For those who didn't catch the story, it is on
Packers dot com. It was posted last week on Wednesday
evening because there was a lot of stuff going on
in the off season with regard to the receivers. What
Josh Jacobs said at the Super Bowl on Radio Row
about needing a number one, and then the Packers end
(03:17):
up spending two of their first three draft picks on
wide receivers. And then there's the story that gets out
that Jaden Reid's agent had contacted the Packers' front office
to just clarify like where he stood a couple of
things on that. For one, nobody's holding anything against Josh Jacobs,
and in fact, Jaden Reid took the comments as motivating,
(03:38):
and quite frankly, I don't think this is a receiver
group that necessarily needs any extra motivation. They know the stats,
the drop passes and all the stuff that happened last year,
so they know what's out there. And the fact that
the front office invested two of their top three draft
picks and wide receivers, it's like, all right, they're bringing
in as much talent as they can and they're going
to say, all right, who's who's going to be here,
(04:01):
who's going to step up to the plate and show
up and play and provide the production that they're looking for.
And these guys are going to be competing, you know,
through these next couple of weeks and then certainly through
training camp and everything like that. And Reid did clarify
with regard to his agent he had hired a new agent,
the contact with the Packers' front office. He clarified that
(04:22):
that was really just a matter of course in terms
of his you know, signing up with a new agent.
But the word got out as far as what happened,
it was in the context of the two new wide
receivers in the draft. As far as Reid's concerned, that
whole report was a misinterpretation of what was going on.
So just to just to clear all that up. But
I like what you said about the culture, the rowing
(04:45):
in the right direction these guys. The biggest thing that
Jayden Reid, what he wanted to focus on with all
the media questions that were coming his way, is that
he had multiple exit interviews with his coaches at in
January after the playoff lost to Philadelphia, and he was
delivered a very clear message from multiple coaches. We want
you to be the leader in the wide receiver room.
(05:07):
They knew Christian Watson's gonna be rehabbing, He's not going
to be back for a while. They're looking to Jaden
Reid to be the leader of this group, and he
is taking that assignment, so to speak, very very seriously.
And we've heard from multiple coaches about you know, Reid
is right there with Matthew Golden, you know, helping him out,
showing him some things, you know, answering questions, whatever the
(05:29):
case might be. So as competitive as all this is
and as many questions as there are about exactly maybe
what the pecking order is going to be come week
one in September, this is a wide receiver room that
has that has a lot going for it, has a
lot of good vibes, and I think it's it's coming
together the way Brian Gudukunstan vision, which is that competition
(05:51):
is never a bad thing, and they're gonna find out
who's gonna who's gonna rise up here and perform.
Speaker 2 (05:57):
It reminded me a lot of basically the same thing
that Randall said after Jordy Nelson tore his acl back
in training camp or the preseason more specifically in twenty fifteen. Now,
certainly that was much later in the process. The Packers
had to quickly adjust to not having Nelson, where I
think the entire offseason has kind of been structured around Okay, well,
at the very least, we're not going to have Christian
(06:17):
Watson for the first part of the season, maybe not
all of it. But that being said, I just feel
like this is the natural step for Jaden Reid. He's
been their leading receiver statistically the past two seasons. I
think you listen to what people said about him when
he was at Michigan State, the type of guy he is,
the way he leads, He is just a perfect Packers
person in addition to the fact that he's a really
(06:39):
talented wide out as well. So nobody I just feel
like everybody understands the game in Green Bay Tucker Craft.
Did anything really change that much with the offense last
year that they were just going to continually feed Tucker Craft. No,
Luke Musgrave got hurt, Tucker Craft got some opportunities. He
made the Mosso's opportunity, and guess what happens when you
(07:01):
make the most opportunities, You're going to get more of them.
Everybody understands that. That's how Romeo Dobbs came in in
twenty twenty two and made the impact that he did
right off the bat as a fourth round pick. Yeah,
as a rookie. That's why Jaden Reid was able to
be effective right out of the bat. We'll see what
they get Matthew Golden. This is a young man that's
coming in. He's a true junior this past year at Texas.
(07:21):
He's going to have time to grow. Certainly, Savion Williams
is also a guy that is going to need some
time to grow. They are still counting very much on
this veteran nucleus that they've been developing for the past
two to three seasons to come through for them. And
ultimately that I think is where you're going to see
the biggest jump. If you can get something from Golden
and Williams right off the bat, fantastic, That is awesome
for this offense. But the bottom line is Romeo Dobbs,
(07:44):
Jayden Reed, Dontavian Wicks, this group that's already been here.
If the Packers are going to make a big jump
offensively this season, it has to start with them.
Speaker 1 (07:52):
Yeah, and seeing as you mentioned seeing where Christian Watson
was at. I mean, he's I believe, less than five
months removed from ACL surgery and it's like you look
at him kind of jogging around out there, you wouldn't
think anything was ever wrong. I mean, so that's an
extremely positive sign, and you know he's he's gonna jump
through every hoop necessary what we know about Christian Watson
(08:16):
to get that medical clearance whenever that does come at
some point later this fall. If I were to point
to my biggest takeaway, and this comes from, you know
the fact that we talked to Jaden Reid and Kenny
Clark and Edrin Cooper and Josh Jacobs and Xavier McKinney
and Jordan Love. We talked to all of those guys
after this one OTA practice that we got to watch,
(08:39):
and when I kind of walked away from it and
was processing it over the next couple of days after
the word hunger is what kept popping into my mind.
And it's not to say that past teams in Green
Bay haven't been hungry, that the desire and whatnot hasn't
been there, but there is there is something about this bunch,
(09:00):
and I think it's a combination of the fact that
last season ended with three consecutive losses, including the first
round exit in the playoffs, and then you don't get
as far as you did in the postseason a year ago,
and quite frankly that you know, as opposed to taking
the forty nine ers down to the wire the previous
year and almost getting the NFC Championship game, they didn't
(09:21):
really take the Philadelphia Eagles down to the wire. They
played them into the fourth quarter, but everybody walked away
that day knowing that the Eagles were the better team
and deserved to move on. Having that be the third
straight loss to end the season, combined with the fact
of I think everything that has been swirling around out
(09:43):
there in the various media narratives, whether it's about the
wide receivers that we just discussed, or whether it's about
you know, did Jordan Love take a step back in
twenty twenty four compared to twenty twenty three, And we
can talk more about that in a minute, but I
think it's just it's arned something up in these guys
that is a little bit different than what we felt
(10:04):
at this time a year ago, when a lot of things,
you know, arrows are pointing up all kinds of excitement
and everything coming off of what was a somewhat surprising
and unexpected playoff run at the end of twenty twenty
three and how well the team was playing. There's a
hunger to these guys that they know what's out there.
They know that they didn't really live up to their
(10:27):
own expectations collectively as a team a year ago, and
I think that's really providing a motivating force for the
group as a whole. That's just the sense I got
after talking to all of these team leaders that we
talked to on the first day.
Speaker 2 (10:45):
Yeah, and it isn't even just about that, which certainly
it is. I mean, this group wants to take another step.
It's always interesting when you get the new guys into
the mix, like last year when Xavier McKinney and Josh
Jacobs both came in, and both of those guys talked
about their need and their desire to win and how
much that motivates them and how much it's stung during
(11:06):
their time at the Giants and their time with the
Raiders to not have that type of success. Then you
get somebody like Aaron Banks, the Packers k new left
guard that they signed from San Francisco, and listening to
him talk and just the kind of cerebral tone that
he spoke with when discussing how he's been as close
as you can get to winning a Super Bowl championship
without actually having that ring on your finger, and how
(11:26):
much that drives him now, how much he's been pursuing
that And certainly there's money involved with it, and you
want to take care of your family and you have
to take care of yourself. But he said when he
was finding that next spot to sign, when he was
looking at where it was going to be, he sees
a place in Green Bay that has been close as well. Now,
certainly there's only five players left from the last time
the Packers got to an NFC Championship game, but they
(11:48):
know those stories and they know what the standard has
been here for so long. That is the chase. And
last year, depending on which way you want to slice it,
they had a first round exit, which is one round
earlier than the previous year when they got to the
divisional round after they pulled off that upset of the Dallas.
Last year, they didn't get back to the divisional round,
(12:09):
but they also won two more games in the regular season.
They also didn't perform as well in the NFC North.
All these things kind of factor into this idea. I
think that has been sort of following Green Bay all
off season of this is what we've built toward this season.
It's not that they're all in, it's not that it's
everything about this year, but this is why you were
(12:29):
the youngest team in the NFL the back to back
years to get you to this point. You want to
win a super Bowl every single year, but a lot
of teams would struggle to even be competitive being as
young as Green Bay was the past two seasons. The
Packers not only did that, they made two postseason runs.
In Jordan Love's first two years as a starting quarterback.
Everybody wants to talk about Aaron Rodgers was twenty seven
(12:50):
years old when he won a Super Bowl. Brett Favre
was twenty seven years old when he won a super Bowl.
You know what Aaron Rodgers didn't do. He didn't get
to the playoffs the first two years as a starting
quarterback in the NFL. Well, Jordan Love did. Yeah, And
you you got to take your own pace and you
got to follow your own path as it comes. But
when you when you talk about hunger and desire and motivation,
I think this roster, especially with the way that last
(13:11):
season ended and losing to the eventual Super Bowl champion
in the wild card round in Philadelphia, I think those
are that's sort of that fuel that's firing into the
engine right now trying to get these guys going into
twenty twenty five.
Speaker 1 (13:23):
Yeah, and we'll talk a little bit more about Jordan
Love in a minute, But on the playoff thing, I
think I think one thing that that could be really
really important for this Packers team moving forward. When you
talk about the first two years, after two years as
a starter, Aaron Rodgers had one playoff game under his belt.
Jordan Love has three that I think can matter. If
(13:46):
the Packers are in the position that they hope to
be in, you can you you can bank Jordan Love
can bank on that that playoff experience. And even if
he's say if he's not going to be the next
Hall of Famer like Aaron Rodgers is, the next time
Jordan Love gets to the playoffs, if he gets there
again in year three, he's in a better spot than
(14:08):
Aaron Rodgers was in year three, and I think that
could pay dividends for this club. I'll take care of
some sponsor business quick. Here West Serious XMNFL Radio delivers
hard hitting analysis and up to the minute NFL news
that true football fanatics need twenty four to seven, three
sixty five. And at Cousin Subbs we have something for
everyone like our Wisconsin cheese Kurts, mac and cheese, golden fries,
(14:29):
and creamy shakes, all paired with your favorite sub or
sub in a bowl. Cousin Subbs fifty plus years of better.
All right, Josh Jacobs and Xavier McKinney. We talked to
both of those players after practice last week, and I'll
let you go whatever direction you want to go with this,
but I will just say this. Anybody who thought that
(14:52):
Josh Jacobs was gonna rest on his laurels with a
thirteen hundred yard, fifteen touchdown season or whatever he ended
up with, and that Xavier McKinney was going to rest
on his first team All Pro honors and just collect
paychecks the rest of his time with that big contract
in Green Bay, that is not how those two guys
(15:14):
are wired. And they made that pretty clear. Whether it's
McKinney talking about, Hey, his ultimate long term goal. Individually speaking,
he wants to put on a gold jacket and can
like he's going to be striving to be that type
of player. And Josh Jacobs, for all of his success
and how much he was the straw that stirred the
(15:36):
drink of the Packers offense for quite a while a
good chunk of the season last year, the first thing
he's talking about is he feels like he left a
lot out there. You know that he didn't really maximize
on everything he could have done. As much of a
workhorse as he was, you can't have You can't have
better guys than that in terms of their mentality, in
(15:59):
terms of their being the leaders in that locker room.
When you're talking leaders aside from the quarterback natural leader
in that position.
Speaker 2 (16:07):
It's crazy, man. When you think about the fact that
we covered Aaron Jones as long as we did, and
Aaron moves on and goes to Minnesota in that same offseason,
then we get Josh Jacobs. I mean, just how impressive
these guys have been in terms of locker room character guys.
In terms of obviously the type of performers there. We're
talking about Pro Bowl running backs here, but I mean,
they're just cut from the same cloth. And it was
interesting too. Jacobs is so articulate and he's so thoughtful
(16:31):
in how he answers things, much like McKinney. But I'm
pulling off the number eight thing over here. Listen. He
had such an in depth, thoughtful answer. I felt when
people talk about, oh, well, the receiver thing, he wanted
a number one receiver. He wanted this in that Josh Jacobs,
so much of what he discusses is based on that
sense of urgency that he understands the position he plays.
(16:52):
He understands tomorrow is never a given and if he
wants to win a championship, if he wants to take
that next step and make a deep playoff run, he
has to do it today. He can't. Maybe you can
do it tomorrow, maybe you can do it the day
after that. But the only thing can be sure of
is right now, this moment. And I felt like the
reason why no one took offense to it, or whatever
people wanted to blow it out to be, was the
fact that this is a guy that won talked at
(17:14):
the end of last season about wanting to get more
guys here, wanting to get you know, proved players that
you can come to Green Bay and win here and
find a future here and make money here. Advertise it
to free agents that way, advertise it to incoming draft
picks that way. And certainly I think he's the guy
carrying the flag right now for the Packers in terms
of we are going to do something special here and
(17:37):
he wants to be a part of it. And also
that never undying chip on his shoulder that comes along
with this. You know, there's a lot of questions that
were asked to him about you know, Derrick Henry and
Saquon Barklay and all this publicity a lot of these
other backs have gotten. Maybe there hasn't been that type
of narrative with Jacobs for everything accomplished, and honestly, he
doesn't care. The only thing that matters to him him
(18:00):
is can he win a Super Bowl here? In what
can he do, to your point to maximize the opportunities
he's been given? He said, that comes down to breaking
an extra tackle that might have taken a twenty yard
gain into a sixty yard game. That maybe is making
a guy miss. And meanwhile, on the opposite side of
the room, you had a guy like Aaron Banks talking
who's blocked for Christian McCaffrey the last four years, talking
(18:21):
about the offensive lines role in making Jacob's job easier.
The Packers have never been bigger on paper in this
offensive line. That's what it could potentially be with this
starting five. You look at where Josh Jacobs is as
a running back. This is a combination that Green Bay
has not had during my time covering the team. They
are a power running offense that has a pretty good
(18:44):
quarterback behind it as well. Yep, so, yeah, Jacobs is
twenty seven years old. The guy hopes to play another
eight years. I'm sure of it. But the fact is
he knows you never are always in a position to
be competitive and be aiming for championships. He saw what
that was like at the Raiders. When maybe you go
into a season you're not thinking you're going to win
a Super Bowl, it would be a surprise if you
(19:06):
make that type of run. That isn't the case in
Green Bay.
Speaker 1 (19:09):
Yeah, and you wrote a story about Jacobs which is
on the website posted last week for those who want
to check it out. And on Monday morning, a story
that I wrote on Xavier McKinney and the defense. You know,
McKinney has all kinds of high hopes for this what
is essentially the year two for him in Green Bay,
the year two for Jeff Haffley as defensive coordinator, the
(19:32):
year two for Edgrin Cooper as a potential centerpiece and
playmaker in this defense. But you know when you actually listen,
when you listen to the things that Xavier McKinney talks about,
and yes, he's got the high hopes and the high
aspirations both individually and collectively, but in the same breath,
he's also always talking about how much work it's going
(19:53):
to take to get there. Like for him, he's like, hey,
my job right now, we still got you know, a
lot of young guys in the secondary, and you know
my job is to is to get them up to speed.
Make sure you know everybody's still staying on the same
page that we can all, you know, continue to make
this progress together. Like he's you know, he's taking that upon,
he's taking that upon himself as a leader. And I
(20:15):
had asked him specifically about Edgern Cooper when he thought
was ahead for Cooper in year two, and one of
the first things he says was, we collectively as a defense,
the veterans on defense have to keep pushing him because
they can see what's potentially out there for Edgern Cooper.
And as much as the coaches are going to do
that pushing, the veteran players are going to push the
guys where they see the talent. And that's the kind
(20:37):
of work that Xavier McKinney wants to do for the group,
as well as the work he feels he needs to
put in individually in order to potentially earn another All
Pro selection or whatever that might be. He talked about,
you know, his intensity can't change. He sees a guy,
a free agent like Nate Hobbs come in playing cornerback,
you know, in the same secondary and the only thing
(20:59):
we've heard from people about Nate Hobbs is really two
words intensity and energy and what that guy brings to
the practice field. And Xavier McKinney sees that and he's like,
you know, I can't let somebody else on this team
have more intensity and more energy than I do. I mean,
you know, So it's it's these veteran guys trying to
trying to push each other, and obviously it's it's the
(21:21):
off season. We are a long long way from week one,
but I think collectively, the message, the message that I
felt that what I walked away from talking to all
the all the team leaders, is that is that these guys'
minds are in the right place. They know that they
can do something, but there is not a single one
of them that takes anything for granted, let alone even
(21:43):
just getting back to the playoffs again. They know they
just slipped in as the seventh seed last year. They
almost didn't make it, you know, And and so they
know how precarious this can be over the long haul
to give yourself that opportunity at the end, They're taking
it one step at a time. They're going to put
in their work in the offseason, they're going to take
their break, They're going to come back for training camp
(22:04):
fired up and ready to go.
Speaker 2 (22:05):
And this is where I've always come back to. Certainly,
was great the Packers' top five defense last year, first
time they've done that in what fifteen years? Yeah, something
around that, and the fact that their run defense was
as good as it's been in fifteen years. But it
was not just like, Okay, well they rolled the ball
out there, and that's what happened. No, they had a
lot of playmakers. You had guys like Xavier McKinney that
are making a difference that are seen as the best
(22:26):
at their position in the National Football League. Watching Nate
Hobbs in practice, the one that we've watched at the
time in which we're taping this, seeing him play the
star position, that nickel position in the sub package, and
he had multiple pass breakups on slants intended for Tucker
Craft and Luke Musgrave, and you start to understand the
method to the madness and why Green Bay gos and
(22:48):
signs a player like that, because one, it's a long
season and you got to have guys who can play
multiple positions. But you also see what the Packers saw
on film with Hobbs, and obviously the emphasis there to
feature or can you know Keishaw Nixon potentially as a
boundary cornerback, a perimeter cornerback. That's another factor in this
as we wait for, you know, some resolution here with
(23:08):
Jyry Alexander situation. But more than anything, Mike, what my
biggest takeaway was when I was after we got done
with all the availability and the fact that edgern Cooper
was one of these star players that the Packers' pr
staff made available. This is a guy that has been
in this uniform for barely a year. And in my
head I was hearing Mike Smith, even though he was
(23:30):
an outside linebackers coach here in Green Bay, but when
he was talking about Rashaun Gary and how Gary, you know,
the way that he performed, the way that he prepared,
the way that he worked at it. This is a
guy that just is not going to fail. And I
get a very similar feel with edgern Cooper. If he
can stay healthy, this guy is legitimate. This guy is
a problem for opposing offenses. And when you're talking about
(23:54):
making that next step defensively, yeah, maybe the Packers can
do better than a top five defense, but it also
so can this be a unit that can be feared
when it's on the field, And I think with number
fifty six out there it can be. And I don't
know if there's been a guy in the defensive front
since Clay Matthews prime that has kind of given me
that feel. Drin Cooper gives me that type of motivation. Yeah,
(24:18):
and I'm very excited to see where he goes from here.
Speaker 1 (24:20):
I am too, I mean the Yeah, the excitement is
in that regard is kind of off the charts. I
want to wrap up with one last thought, because we
started the show talking about a little bit about that
leadership mandate that's been placed on Jaden Reid with regard
to the receivers, there's a leadership mandate that's been placed
on Jordan Love as well as the quarterback of this team.
(24:41):
And obviously he's you know, when you play quarterback and
that's who you are, you're naturally a leader. But we
heard at the end of last season Matt Lafleur say
he wants Jordan Love to be more vocal, to speak
up more in meetings and on the practice field sets.
He sets the example that every leader should set in
terms of just his approach, his demeanor, I mean his
(25:03):
as we've talked about many times, his uh, his steadiness
and and sort of unflappableness of lack of a better word,
is something I think that serves this team really well.
That being said, Love is being pushed to to be
to be a little bit more vocal, to take charge
(25:24):
in maybe some different ways, and from everything we heard
from him, he's totally embracing that he's not he's not
shying away and just saying, you know, I'm just going
to be you know who I'm going to be. He's saying, yes,
it's it needs to be genuine and he needs he
needs to step forward a little bit. He's he's not
going to fake it, but he is embracing the idea
(25:45):
of kind of taking another step as a as a leader.
And uh and this team, this team has a lot
of leaders on it, but those who are not the leaders,
I think this whole team is ready to follow.
Speaker 2 (25:57):
El Elton Jenkins presently is not here. Right. That means
that Jordan Love is the longest tenured player on the
offensive side of the ball currently with the Green Bay
Packers in Green Bay for OTAs, that's something. It's something.
I mean, if you count the defensive side the ball,
with JayR not being here presently, he's the third longest
tenured player on either side of the ball. Yeah, that
counts for something. That has to count for something. This
(26:18):
isn't a standard business where it's like, Okay, well you've
been around for six years or three years as a starter,
you know you probably get still get your feet wet.
You aren't necessarily in that manager, No, dude, this is NFL.
It's like dog years. This guy's been here for like
forty two years now. I mean, like that's the way
this business runs. And he is the face of the franchise.
And there was reason why, Like I did an insider
(26:40):
inbox column where I'd lead with him on doing that
because everybody it was so funny to me. Everybody was
kind of picking on his pitch at the Brewer game
and everything like that on Memorial Day. But it's like,
that's the franchise right there doing that. That's Jordan Love
going around and doing these things, doing all this charity
work this offseason. You're watching the maturation and evolution of
a guy that this generation of Packers' football is going
(27:02):
to be based around. It's going to be centered on
and having that voice in the locker room is important
and at the same time, as Jordan also warns, you
don't want to be someone you're not, but you can
still be yourself while also giving more your viewpoints in
your opinions, not just on your position, not just on
the offensive line, not just no the entire operation. The
(27:23):
Packers want that type of feedback. Matt Lafleur wants that
type of feedback. He wants a guy that's going to
rally those troops in the good, the bad, the in between.
Jordan Love can be that individual. And I think that's
the exciting thing because the way Jordan leads is with authenticity.
He's very genuine in the way he acts and the
way he handles people, the way he conducts himself on
a daily basis, and just seeing him mature and just
(27:46):
see him come more into his own skin now it
going on twenty seven, it just shows you. I mean,
this is the Packers made the right call in twenty twenty.
It was a difficult call at the time, but they
found their guy. Now hopefully can stay healthy and obviously,
you know, and find improvements in some of his own
areas of his game, but as far as a locker
room leader, it's all right there for him. It's just
(28:08):
kind of realizing that you're like, you're that really impressive dog,
right and it's just realizing what your bart can do.
And I think I think Jordan's in that process right now.
Speaker 1 (28:18):
I like that, and I'm gonna call it on that
comment right there. We will call it a rap. On
this edition of Packers Unscripted, we have another open Ota
access to practice this week, so on our next show
in a couple of days, we will talk about what
else we learn and what else we see. Keep you
updated on everything going on here with the Packers for WES,
(28:39):
I am Mike. Thank you for tuning in. Everybody, We
will see you next time.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
The Joe Rogan Experience
The official podcast of comedian Joe Rogan.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Special Summer Offer: Exclusively on Apple Podcasts, try our Dateline Premium subscription completely free for one month! With Dateline Premium, you get every episode ad-free plus exclusive bonus content.