August 21, 2025 • 24 mins
Mike and Wes examine some of the potential roster decisions coming up (1:43), highlight some players to watch during the preseason finale (7:26), and select their favorite moments from 2025 training camp (15:51).
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:06):
Hi, everybody. Welcome to another edition of Packers Unscripted from
Packers dot Com. I am Mike Spofford, joined by my
partner in crime, Weston hod Qotz. We're coming to you
hear from our studios at Lambeufield and Wes. There's a
joint practice with the Seattle Seahawks. There is the preseason
finale against the Seattle Seahawks left to go. And I
don't know whether to feel like, oh my gosh, the
(00:28):
end of training camp is already here, or come on,
let's go, let's get this roster selected and get on
to week one. Like I sort of feel like there's
a little bit of both going on.
Speaker 2 (00:37):
I'm letting the wine breathe a little bit here, Spofford.
I'm excited for the end of training camp. If for
only reasons, then maybe we can you know, see family
members again, be able to the old Mike Petton thing,
you know, be able to you know, see sound, smell,
you know, you know whatever, that analogy he used many
years ago. No, hey, listen, this is always a very
exciting time of the year because again we're getting close
(01:01):
and finally that you can see around the bend here
and the horizon of the regular season. This is a
very pivotal week though, and there are a lot of
jobs that are still going to be up for grabs,
some starting positions could potentially still be up for grabs
going into this game against Seattle. I've personally gotten a
big kick out of the joint practices in Green Bay.
We've seen them now pretty much every non COVID year
(01:22):
that Matt Lafleur has been the head coach. Yeah, beginning
I believe with Houston in twenty nineteen. So for the
Seahawks to come in get a flavor for their team
and how everybody intermingles should be a lot of fun.
And then on top of that, the fact that we're
finally entering this stretch here to set the fifty.
Speaker 1 (01:39):
Three well, whether it comes down to position battles, roster decisions,
guys on the bubble, whatnot. What do you have your
eye on here in the really these last two sort
of final auditions. When you talk about the joint practice
and the final preseason games.
Speaker 2 (01:56):
Who wants it and how badly do you want it?
You and I I'm sure you could run back a
bunch of unscripteds over the years where it's kind of
the same sort of mentality when you enter that last
preseason game, is which player, which individual that's kind of
on maybe the cusp for the bubble trying to make
a roster spot, makes a big play in the preseason
finale that ultimately catapults him on the roster. I can't
(02:17):
help but think of Aaron Moseby last year, who had
a phenomenal preseason finale against the Baltimore Ravens and that
kind of catapulted him not only into being able to
make the fifty three, but also, hey, this guy could
potentially be a contributor for us on special teams. Those
type of individuals, there's always.
Speaker 3 (02:34):
One or two every year.
Speaker 2 (02:35):
And I'm sure Brian good constant speak this week, but
I'm sure if he did, one of his big talking
points would be that it goes right down to the
wire here in terms of how you set your roster.
You take all the data in beginning when the off
season program began in April, to everything you get through
on Saturday afternoon.
Speaker 1 (02:50):
Yeah, and I think one of the interesting things here
with the roster decisions looming next Tuesday, it'll be is
it Tuesday at three o'clock Central oclock Central time.
Speaker 3 (03:00):
We're a worldwide show.
Speaker 1 (03:03):
Tuesday at three o'clock Central time is when the roster
decisions all need to be turned in to the league.
And what I think is interesting about how this you know,
final stretch here is is taking shape for the Packers
is you have this mixture of you know, the the
classic young guys who are on the bubble, like who
(03:23):
might be the next Aaron Mosby, I mean, will it
be you know, Julian Hicks at wide receiver. What's gonna
happen with bow Melton? Has this position change? Has he
gotten himself a spot on the fifty three? So you
have you have those kinds of things going on. But
at the same time, you have decisions to make on
a couple of veteran players that you brought in from
(03:44):
the outside and I'm talking about Isaiah Simmons and McCole
Hardman that as we've seen training camp go along, we
can see that those two guys absolutely could play a
big role on special teams for the Packers. But where
exactly do they fit in, respectively on offense and defense. Now,
in Hardman's case, there's been a lot of injuries at
wide receiver and we'll see how much that has to
(04:06):
get taken into account. In simmons case, he's actually he's
at a spot where guys are healthy, and there is
quite a bit of depth when you talk about kway Walker,
Edgrin Cooper, Isaiah McDuffie, Tyron Hopper, Christian Welch all in
that mix. So the decisions to me are gonna are
going to be very interesting because because it's it's not
(04:29):
entirely clear cut exactly. I felt from the very beginning
when the Packers signed Mkole Hardman and Isaiah Simmons, I
thought they were very interesting veteran free agent signings and
I wasn't sure are they going to have a spot
on this team? And in some ways I'm still not sure,
And I think that speaks to the strength of the Packers' roster,
(04:51):
but also the fact that those guys have done some
things in this training camp to show, hey, maybe they
can help the Packers in twenty twenty five. So there's
a there are some interesting decisions to be made with
guys like that.
Speaker 3 (05:03):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (05:03):
Hartman is such an interesting one too, because he was
like the veteran addition that the Packers made in free
agency and then They also ended up drafting two guys
in the first two days at that position, one of
whom was the first receiver the Packers have taken it
twenty three years in the first round. So the competition
is inherent at that receiver spot. But he offers a
bunch of different things, and the punt return aspect is
(05:25):
one thing. You know, obviously there's different ways that you
can utilize him with his skill set. You know, it
was tough. You know, when you go back to the
Jets game, there was has he even said it. You
don't really necessarily call it a muff punt. It was
like a misfielded punt, yeah, and it led to a
turnover and he said he can't can't have that. But
at the same time, he's been doing this for six
years and there's a maturity there that when you listen
(05:46):
to him talk and I was in that scrum that day,
he isn't pressing, you know, And I think that's such
an important mentality for a punt return to have Kishawn Nixon.
You think Kishawn Nixon has a long term memory, whether
it's at cornerback, kickoff return, or anything like that. That dude
is as soon as that whistle blows, He's onto the
next play. He could have a touchdown, could have a turnover,
he's moving on. Yeah, And that is something that you
(06:08):
have to have in this business. For Simmons, the inside
linebacker competition has been one of the more fascinating that
I've ever watched because you have Simmons there who can
do a lot of different things. You have Christian Welch
who is just the He is the tougher than a
two dollars stake that will just not go away. And
we were talking with him about that this week and
he was asked the question by one of.
Speaker 3 (06:28):
The reporters, like, do you ever feel pressure?
Speaker 2 (06:29):
And he's like, my wife asked me that occasionally, and
he's like, I really don't because since his freshman year
at Iowa, he's been a special teams guy. Played a
lot of linebacker at Iowa, but he was a special
teams guy from day one, and he's cut his teeth
and he's earned his paychecks on special teams. This is
what he offers you if you want it, he's ready
to do it for if he doesn't. As we saw
last year, he went to Denver, he went to Baltimore.
(06:51):
There's still been opportunities for him. And then I look
at Taran Hopper and I've talked about numerous times now,
but for as much spotlight as we've put on Cooper
collectively as a media corps, I mean, there's there's a
certain amount of respect I think you have to give
Hopper for playing the position but in a different way
at the mic linebacker position, but also growing immensely over
the past year. What Brian Gudikuns and his scouts make
(07:14):
heads and tails of that position will be interesting, fascinating theater.
Speaker 1 (07:18):
Yeah, I think so too.
Speaker 3 (07:19):
They're the U.
Speaker 1 (07:23):
Is there somebody? Is there somebody out there on the bubble?
And we don't like to get into the prediction business,
and that's not what we're doing here, but is there
somebody out there on the proverbial roster bubble that you
are really going to have your eye on here both
the joint practice on Thursday and in the final preseason game.
Is there somebody kind of at the top of that list.
Speaker 2 (07:44):
Not to hope this doesn't come off as a coppo
because I'll name like eight guys.
Speaker 3 (07:47):
But it's really the cornerback position.
Speaker 2 (07:49):
Yeah. Uh, you mentioned Bo, and BO is an important one,
because if he makes this roster, he's going to go
down as one of the better training camp stories you
and I have ever covered in terms of he made
that switch two and a half months ago and now
here he is competing for a roster spot at that.
But you have Kaylin King there too, the former seventh
round pick that has learned the nickel position but could
(08:09):
still play some perimeter for you. You have Michael Robinson
coming in out of two lane that I think has
put on some good film. Was on the number one
kickoff coverage unit during the practices last week, which that's
not something that rookies are just handed that he's clearly
earned that opportunity to be able to show out in
that phase. You have Kamal Hadden who was a former
sixth round pick. Oh and then, by the way, you
(08:31):
have all these safeties now too that you have to
figure out, Okay, which dbs are you keeping in this
equation you would imagine again I don't want to speculate,
but okay, even if Keishawn Nixon and Carrington Valentine player
even you know how much they play in this game
against the Seahawks, all these young corners are gonna have
a chance to show what they have to offer, and realistically,
(08:54):
outside of that top three, I think it's still anybody's race.
Speaker 1 (08:57):
Yeah, and I think it's it's good that you brought
up cornerback because when you look at you look at
that group. Michael Robinson was a seventh round draft pick
this year, Kaylan King was a seventh thrown draft pick
last year. Kamal Hadden not by the Packers, but was
a sixth round draft pick.
Speaker 3 (09:13):
Was it Kansas City?
Speaker 1 (09:14):
Yeah, So you're talking about three three guys. There probably
isn't room for all three of them on the roster.
Three guys who are all late round draft picks. You
know they've been they've been fighting this battle, yes, Corey.
And then you're talking about a veteran the Packers that
the Packers brought back who's been on the team, done
things on special teams, helped out on defense, all of
(09:36):
all of that kind of stuff as well. Hadden't to
me is very interesting because I know, because I'm on
the live blog during games, I know the fans have
kind of soured on him a little bit because he
didn't play all that well in Indianapolis in the preseason game.
I think It's important to remember that Kamal hadden't was injured.
He missed a lot of time, got thrown back in
(09:57):
there essentially in the joint practice and in the preseason
game with Indy. He's kind of trying to get his
legs back under him. He's trying to get back into
the rhythm of things, and I think it'll be very
interesting to see how he responds now that now that
he has gotten back into that rhythm, he's been in
practice on a daily basis again, as he, you know,
fights for this roster spot right to the end. I
(10:18):
think you and I have both been impressed with Kaylan
King to a certain extent. Now they've the Packers have
worked him almost exclusively as a nickel slot cornerback. And
of course it almost goes without saying, almost all of
these young cornerbacks who are fighting to make the roster
they've got, they're taking their reps on special teams as
(10:40):
well and being being evaluated in that sense. But Kaylan King,
a seventh round pick last year, spends his rookie season
on the practice squad. You can see he's definitely made
some strides this year. Has he made enough to get
that nod to get on the fifty three this year
when you have competition from a veteran like Ballantine and
and a guy like Bo Melton, who has been a
(11:02):
pleasant surprise in terms of how quickly he has taken
to the cornerback spot, and he and he might take
one of those roster spots at that position. Not that
they're specific quotas or anything, but you know what I mean. So,
and a lot of things could shift here over the
next few days too, as much as you kind of
get a feel for Okay, maybe this is where it
(11:23):
stands like right now, but with this joint practice and
with one more preseason game to go, and obviously there
can always be more injuries that get thrown into the mixes,
the decisions need to be made on Tuesday. There are
a lot of things that could change over the next
three to four days.
Speaker 2 (11:37):
People were working on me in inbox, asking hey, what
are your key or what are your locks? What do
you think about you know how this roster is all
shuffling out, and I'm like, well, locks can change real
quick based on how these preseason games go and who's
available and who's not. But yeah, I remember talking to
Kaylan last year about this inca chance asking about it
this year, even though we talked about the beginning near
the beginning of training camp. You know, I thought King
(11:59):
had a really wrong preseason last year, but it was
the special teams element that he was trying to catch
up on. And when you talked about that competition at cornerback,
these are the decisions Green Bay has to weigh. Where
you have Bo Melton and then also Valentine. Who those
two guys were your flyers last year, your number one
flyers unpunt coverage. Yeah, so again, when you get to
(12:20):
beyond the forty so to speak, and you're trying to
figure out who's going to fill out the forty eight
for game days, these are the considerations you have to
take into account.
Speaker 3 (12:28):
In addition to the.
Speaker 2 (12:29):
Fact, I mean, dude, like you and I could sit
here for two hours, we could go over every single
position quarterback, you have Sean Clifford and Taylor Eldersma, like
you have all these spots. You know, Marshall Lloyd's down
right now, which running back is gonna step up right?
Speaker 1 (12:44):
And and what is what are the decisions made on
Tuesday at a position like running back given Lloyd's injury
and how do they you know, how do they make
the maneuvers and whatnot to get things set where they
where they feel they're in the best position to move
forward into the regular season.
Speaker 2 (13:00):
Before we move on this, I was meaning to mention
this earlier and I want to say it now on
the air. There is that change with the with the
designated return option with the IR to the Packers. It
was actually available to them last year. I believe it
was Jonathan Ford that they used the option on where
you no longer have to you have up to the
option to carry up to two guys and put them
directly on IR now with the designation to return out
(13:21):
of the eight you have for the season without carrying
them over one day on thet there. Now, if you
have three or four and you want to do the
same option, then you got to wait.
Speaker 3 (13:31):
But if you only have one or two, you.
Speaker 2 (13:32):
Can put them on there when you're cutting the roster
to fifty three without having to go through that extra
because honestly, like we saw two years ago, I mean
mad or Is it got cut, but because he was
a vesting veteran, the Packers could bring him back and
then you can kind of finage.
Speaker 1 (13:44):
He wasn't exposed to waivers where somebody could just claim
him and take him. They worked out an agreement. They said, hey,
this is just a roster maneuver. We're going to cut you,
We're going to resign you the next day, you know,
et cetera. But it is important also for folks who
like to follow all this minutia with regard to the roster.
If you put either one or two guys on injured
(14:04):
reserve with the designation to return during the regular season,
they would count amongst the eight the eight total that
you're allowed to bring back from injured reserve over the
course of the season, whether you put them on at
the cut to fifty three or after you carry them
onto the fifty three, you have eight guys that you
can potentially bring back from ir during the regular season.
(14:26):
So it's it's all part of the same pool. It's
it's just the timing mechanism, and then.
Speaker 3 (14:30):
You get more if you can make the playoffs.
Speaker 1 (14:32):
So then yeah, it goes up to ten if you
make the post the.
Speaker 2 (14:34):
Line, I said an insider inbox between injured reserve and
the practice squad, it's never been more flexible with a
roster these days. In terms of who's available, there could
be guys at the Packers cut that they resigned to
the practice squad that ultimately are suiting up against Detroit
in Week one.
Speaker 3 (14:47):
You just never know.
Speaker 1 (14:48):
Yeah, you don't. Well, there are a couple other topics
I want to get to, but we do need to
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wood pellet grill. Pit Boss Grills available at minards. Welcome
back to Packer's Unscripted Wess. Officially, one practice left in
training camp as we sit here right now, which is
the joint practice against the Seahawks. So I'm just gonna
throw this out to you as an open ended question
for you, and you can take this any direction you
(15:51):
want to. What has been in your mind the best
moment or moments of training camp.
Speaker 3 (15:57):
There's a few.
Speaker 2 (15:58):
I actually not to be, you know, a victim of
recency here, but I mean the Matthew Golden touchdown was
really spectacular this past week, seeing that in practice, seeing
him develop and have the downfield option to his game.
For as much as we've talked about the intermediate option,
I think going back to and hopefully everything's cool with
the young man, but Omar Brown having all those interceptions
(16:21):
on Family Night, it has become somewhat of a cliche
that there's always a young defensive back that steps up
and makes a bunch of plays. But you know, that
young dude had the practice of a lifetime at lambeau Field.
And I hope with the lung contusion everything, I hope
for his sake from a football perspective, from a person perspective,
very nice young dude, everything works out from him in
(16:41):
that regard. But I did there was a couple of
days ago. I'm trying to remember all the specifics of it,
but when you see a team come together the way
that the Packers have come together this camp. They had
a very clean practice against the Colts. Hopefully there's another
clean one coming up here against the Seahawks. But this team,
(17:03):
and I've been talking to a few people on our
sideline about this, this group has been together for so
long now, and in some ways they almost remind me
kind of like a college football team, like a traditional
college football team, where you know, guys come in as
freshmen and now they're in their junior year, they're in
their sophomore year together, and the way that they're willing
to fight with one another, way they're willing to battle
with one another, And I just felt like this training camp,
(17:25):
it's been really long, Don't get me wrong there, Like
I've felt like it's been a month now since this
thing started. But the mon of camaraderie that they've shown
on the field, in the locker room, and just you know,
watching the way bow Melton interacts with players, watching Brandon
McManus stress up as a referee. I mean, this team
understands the expectations this year without a shadow of a doubt.
(17:48):
But at the same time, you can still see them
having fun and enjoying the process. And when you're playing
this game for six seven straight months, that's the type
of stuff you have to do to win a championship.
Speaker 1 (17:57):
Yeah, and I think I do think these these guys,
it's a group that you know, we're around them a
lot on the practice field, in the locker room. It's
a it's a group that genuinely gets along. I think
they I think they enjoy playing football with each other.
And and I know that sounds that sounds kind of
quaint and whatnot, but I think, but I think it's
(18:18):
true with this group. And I think that I think
when you I think that happens when you have the
right mix of the young players with the veterans. And yes,
the veterans are leaders, but they're not necessarily like the overbearing,
like crack the whip type or you know, they're they're
they're always trying to they're trying to bring everybody along,
(18:40):
not necessarily make an example of somebody, you know, like
that's how that's how a locker room comes together. And
I think we've seen a little bit of that over
the past month.
Speaker 2 (18:47):
Look at the Rashid Walker thing. With Anthony Belton that
we talked about on Tuesday. Yeah, I mean Anthony Belton
had a tough first half and little moments like that
to lighten things up. Hey, have a Clementine. I mean
like that, that's what you need. And yeah, there is
a time to get shouted at and hollered at, incorrected.
But I think a lot of that sometimes can happen
in the film room. It can happen in the team
meeting room, It can happen in areas where hey, it's us,
(19:10):
it's the family, it's the collective. It doesn't have to
be out on the practice field. They're on a sideline, right.
So yeah, it was a very special training camp and
I think, you know, knock on wood, none of these
injuries they've kind of weathered are gonna end up being
long term throughout camp, and you know, this team can
be as healthy as possible going into Week one against Detroit.
(19:30):
But by and large, I felt like, especially as Matt
Lafleur has kind of gotten the wind in his sales
as a head coach and his process now going into
a seventh camp in Green Bay. Yeah, just it was
a very organized, business like sort of operation and It'll
be interesting to see how it translates, you know, once
the lights come on.
Speaker 1 (19:48):
I think two things that will stick in my memory
with regard to the twenty twenty five training camp. One
is the impression that the rookie first round draft pick
Matthew Golden made. It's been a long time since I've
seen a rookie draft pick, regardless of what round being
selected in that I've seen a rookie draft pick make
the kind of impression in a relatively short amount of
(20:11):
time that Matthew Golden has. The other that with the
other that will stick in my mind is watching Brandon
McManus dressed up as an official and just throwing, throwing,
kind of that lightheartedness into the final week of training camp,
and the day after the guys are out there practicing
in the pouring rain, McManus drills like six field goals
(20:32):
in the pouring rain out there at Nichgie Field. Then
on Tuesday, when it's not his day to kick and
it's Mark McNamee's day to kick, McManus puts on the
puts on the Zebra uniform and uh and is out
there as a side judge throwing DPI flags and the
one on ones with the receivers and dbs and uh
and uh and sort of having those little hello moments
(20:55):
with his teammates when they realize, like, oh, the guy
who's out here officiating practice is one of our teammates.
Because that was all done without, uh, without the locker
room's knowledge. Yeah, that's something I've been here a long time.
I've been I've covered. This is my twentieth training camp
with Packers dot Com and more than that, if you
go back to my newspaper days, I've never seen a
(21:15):
team do anything like that during training camp and uh,
and I thought it was I thought it was pretty good.
Speaker 2 (21:20):
Great micd up video you can watch on Packers dot Com.
I think Tyler Guyski put that together for us. Really fun,
lighthearted again just seeing how players interact with them and
pretty good reaction from Romeo Dobbs in that video too. Yes,
he realized it was McMahon McMahon and then also watched
his language when I think he realized that he was
micd Up as well. Uh. But but you know, I
will I will mention this as well. When when you
(21:42):
think about these, I think one thing Matt Lafleur has
done a tremendous job with is creating like these check
marks and these checkpoints in the training camp schedule. You know,
whether you know traditionally it was always family night. You
know every coach there's always that family night practice. But
then you know, you got joint practices now where you
head out of town for a little bit, you have
(22:03):
some camaraderie, you practice together. Packers definitely had their best
joint practice away from lambeau Field that I've seen during
the Lafleor era. I would agree with that you come back,
whether it's the mcmahonus thing. At the end of the
practice on Tuesday, they were doing various run at one
on one drills in front of the team where they
put a couple guys in the spotlight, had them show
out a little bit. I feel like those are the
(22:25):
type of things that you need because tell you what, man,
once that fifty three is set, once that preparation begins
for Detroit, it is all systems go and it is
all business.
Speaker 1 (22:34):
Yeah. Absolutely well on our next show, and we may
only be able to do one show next week after
the decisions with the fifty three are made, and we
will we'll hopefully get in get a show recorded in
order to discuss that, but that will definitely be the
topic of discussion next week, just how things are setting up,
the decisions that are made. And then as you said, yeah,
(22:57):
it's all systems go, preparation almost board for Week one
with the Lions, and as we know, two games and
five days at lambeau Field against two teams that were
in the playoffs last year. I mean, it's all going
to be here before we know it was.
Speaker 2 (23:10):
Yeah, and well, and think about it, there's so many
times where when we went back for training camp, I
was sitting out there covering the shareholders meeting last month
and I'm like, it does feel like your season just
ended right and it all flips over and the calendar resets,
and but there is something special. And I'm how long
did you hear me clamoring for the Packers to have
a Week one home opener under Matt Lafleur.
Speaker 3 (23:32):
Yeah, We're in year seven. It's finally happening.
Speaker 1 (23:33):
I just and now they're getting two home games in
five days right right out of the game for lost time.
Speaker 2 (23:38):
Yeah, exactly, But you know it's just the excitement level
hits different. I think it'll be a cool atmosphere on
Saturday night, people steam to still enjoy the preseason games
in Greenbaay. I can't speak for other places in the
continental US with NFL teams, but yeah, get through this
and then get the ball rolling.
Speaker 1 (23:55):
Yeah. Absolutely, Well with that, we'll call it a wrap
on this edition of Packers Unscripted. Be sure to follow
are coverage of the conclusion of training camp with the
final preseason game on Saturday against the Seattle Seahawks. We
will have it all for you on Packers dot com
for wes im Miike. Thank you for tuning in everybody,
and we will see you next time.
Hi, everybody. Welcome to another edition of Packers Unscripted from
Packers dot Com. I am Mike Spofford, joined by my
partner in crime, Weston hod Qotz. We're coming to you
hear from our studios at Lambeufield and Wes. There's a
joint practice with the Seattle Seahawks. There is the preseason
finale against the Seattle Seahawks left to go. And I
don't know whether to feel like, oh my gosh, the
(00:28):
end of training camp is already here, or come on,
let's go, let's get this roster selected and get on
to week one. Like I sort of feel like there's
a little bit of both going on.
Speaker 2 (00:37):
I'm letting the wine breathe a little bit here, Spofford.
I'm excited for the end of training camp. If for
only reasons, then maybe we can you know, see family
members again, be able to the old Mike Petton thing,
you know, be able to you know, see sound, smell,
you know, you know whatever, that analogy he used many
years ago. No, hey, listen, this is always a very
exciting time of the year because again we're getting close
(01:01):
and finally that you can see around the bend here
and the horizon of the regular season. This is a
very pivotal week though, and there are a lot of
jobs that are still going to be up for grabs,
some starting positions could potentially still be up for grabs
going into this game against Seattle. I've personally gotten a
big kick out of the joint practices in Green Bay.
We've seen them now pretty much every non COVID year
(01:22):
that Matt Lafleur has been the head coach. Yeah, beginning
I believe with Houston in twenty nineteen. So for the
Seahawks to come in get a flavor for their team
and how everybody intermingles should be a lot of fun.
And then on top of that, the fact that we're
finally entering this stretch here to set the fifty.
Speaker 1 (01:39):
Three well, whether it comes down to position battles, roster decisions,
guys on the bubble, whatnot. What do you have your
eye on here in the really these last two sort
of final auditions. When you talk about the joint practice
and the final preseason games.
Speaker 2 (01:56):
Who wants it and how badly do you want it?
You and I I'm sure you could run back a
bunch of unscripteds over the years where it's kind of
the same sort of mentality when you enter that last
preseason game, is which player, which individual that's kind of
on maybe the cusp for the bubble trying to make
a roster spot, makes a big play in the preseason
finale that ultimately catapults him on the roster. I can't
(02:17):
help but think of Aaron Moseby last year, who had
a phenomenal preseason finale against the Baltimore Ravens and that
kind of catapulted him not only into being able to
make the fifty three, but also, hey, this guy could
potentially be a contributor for us on special teams. Those
type of individuals, there's always.
Speaker 3 (02:34):
One or two every year.
Speaker 2 (02:35):
And I'm sure Brian good constant speak this week, but
I'm sure if he did, one of his big talking
points would be that it goes right down to the
wire here in terms of how you set your roster.
You take all the data in beginning when the off
season program began in April, to everything you get through
on Saturday afternoon.
Speaker 1 (02:50):
Yeah, and I think one of the interesting things here
with the roster decisions looming next Tuesday, it'll be is
it Tuesday at three o'clock Central oclock Central time.
Speaker 3 (03:00):
We're a worldwide show.
Speaker 1 (03:03):
Tuesday at three o'clock Central time is when the roster
decisions all need to be turned in to the league.
And what I think is interesting about how this you know,
final stretch here is is taking shape for the Packers
is you have this mixture of you know, the the
classic young guys who are on the bubble, like who
(03:23):
might be the next Aaron Mosby, I mean, will it
be you know, Julian Hicks at wide receiver. What's gonna
happen with bow Melton? Has this position change? Has he
gotten himself a spot on the fifty three? So you
have you have those kinds of things going on. But
at the same time, you have decisions to make on
a couple of veteran players that you brought in from
(03:44):
the outside and I'm talking about Isaiah Simmons and McCole
Hardman that as we've seen training camp go along, we
can see that those two guys absolutely could play a
big role on special teams for the Packers. But where
exactly do they fit in, respectively on offense and defense. Now,
in Hardman's case, there's been a lot of injuries at
wide receiver and we'll see how much that has to
(04:06):
get taken into account. In simmons case, he's actually he's
at a spot where guys are healthy, and there is
quite a bit of depth when you talk about kway Walker,
Edgrin Cooper, Isaiah McDuffie, Tyron Hopper, Christian Welch all in
that mix. So the decisions to me are gonna are
going to be very interesting because because it's it's not
(04:29):
entirely clear cut exactly. I felt from the very beginning
when the Packers signed Mkole Hardman and Isaiah Simmons, I
thought they were very interesting veteran free agent signings and
I wasn't sure are they going to have a spot
on this team? And in some ways I'm still not sure,
And I think that speaks to the strength of the Packers' roster,
(04:51):
but also the fact that those guys have done some
things in this training camp to show, hey, maybe they
can help the Packers in twenty twenty five. So there's
a there are some interesting decisions to be made with
guys like that.
Speaker 3 (05:03):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (05:03):
Hartman is such an interesting one too, because he was
like the veteran addition that the Packers made in free
agency and then They also ended up drafting two guys
in the first two days at that position, one of
whom was the first receiver the Packers have taken it
twenty three years in the first round. So the competition
is inherent at that receiver spot. But he offers a
bunch of different things, and the punt return aspect is
(05:25):
one thing. You know, obviously there's different ways that you
can utilize him with his skill set. You know, it
was tough. You know, when you go back to the
Jets game, there was has he even said it. You
don't really necessarily call it a muff punt. It was
like a misfielded punt, yeah, and it led to a
turnover and he said he can't can't have that. But
at the same time, he's been doing this for six
years and there's a maturity there that when you listen
(05:46):
to him talk and I was in that scrum that day,
he isn't pressing, you know, And I think that's such
an important mentality for a punt return to have Kishawn Nixon.
You think Kishawn Nixon has a long term memory, whether
it's at cornerback, kickoff return, or anything like that. That dude
is as soon as that whistle blows, He's onto the
next play. He could have a touchdown, could have a turnover,
he's moving on. Yeah, And that is something that you
(06:08):
have to have in this business. For Simmons, the inside
linebacker competition has been one of the more fascinating that
I've ever watched because you have Simmons there who can
do a lot of different things. You have Christian Welch
who is just the He is the tougher than a
two dollars stake that will just not go away. And
we were talking with him about that this week and
he was asked the question by one of.
Speaker 3 (06:28):
The reporters, like, do you ever feel pressure?
Speaker 2 (06:29):
And he's like, my wife asked me that occasionally, and
he's like, I really don't because since his freshman year
at Iowa, he's been a special teams guy. Played a
lot of linebacker at Iowa, but he was a special
teams guy from day one, and he's cut his teeth
and he's earned his paychecks on special teams. This is
what he offers you if you want it, he's ready
to do it for if he doesn't. As we saw
last year, he went to Denver, he went to Baltimore.
(06:51):
There's still been opportunities for him. And then I look
at Taran Hopper and I've talked about numerous times now,
but for as much spotlight as we've put on Cooper
collectively as a media corps, I mean, there's there's a
certain amount of respect I think you have to give
Hopper for playing the position but in a different way
at the mic linebacker position, but also growing immensely over
the past year. What Brian Gudikuns and his scouts make
(07:14):
heads and tails of that position will be interesting, fascinating theater.
Speaker 1 (07:18):
Yeah, I think so too.
Speaker 3 (07:19):
They're the U.
Speaker 1 (07:23):
Is there somebody? Is there somebody out there on the bubble?
And we don't like to get into the prediction business,
and that's not what we're doing here, but is there
somebody out there on the proverbial roster bubble that you
are really going to have your eye on here both
the joint practice on Thursday and in the final preseason game.
Is there somebody kind of at the top of that list.
Speaker 2 (07:44):
Not to hope this doesn't come off as a coppo
because I'll name like eight guys.
Speaker 3 (07:47):
But it's really the cornerback position.
Speaker 2 (07:49):
Yeah. Uh, you mentioned Bo, and BO is an important one,
because if he makes this roster, he's going to go
down as one of the better training camp stories you
and I have ever covered in terms of he made
that switch two and a half months ago and now
here he is competing for a roster spot at that.
But you have Kaylin King there too, the former seventh
round pick that has learned the nickel position but could
(08:09):
still play some perimeter for you. You have Michael Robinson
coming in out of two lane that I think has
put on some good film. Was on the number one
kickoff coverage unit during the practices last week, which that's
not something that rookies are just handed that he's clearly
earned that opportunity to be able to show out in
that phase. You have Kamal Hadden who was a former
sixth round pick. Oh and then, by the way, you
(08:31):
have all these safeties now too that you have to
figure out, Okay, which dbs are you keeping in this
equation you would imagine again I don't want to speculate,
but okay, even if Keishawn Nixon and Carrington Valentine player
even you know how much they play in this game
against the Seahawks, all these young corners are gonna have
a chance to show what they have to offer, and realistically,
(08:54):
outside of that top three, I think it's still anybody's race.
Speaker 1 (08:57):
Yeah, and I think it's it's good that you brought
up cornerback because when you look at you look at
that group. Michael Robinson was a seventh round draft pick
this year, Kaylan King was a seventh thrown draft pick
last year. Kamal Hadden not by the Packers, but was
a sixth round draft pick.
Speaker 3 (09:13):
Was it Kansas City?
Speaker 1 (09:14):
Yeah, So you're talking about three three guys. There probably
isn't room for all three of them on the roster.
Three guys who are all late round draft picks. You
know they've been they've been fighting this battle, yes, Corey.
And then you're talking about a veteran the Packers that
the Packers brought back who's been on the team, done
things on special teams, helped out on defense, all of
(09:36):
all of that kind of stuff as well. Hadden't to
me is very interesting because I know, because I'm on
the live blog during games, I know the fans have
kind of soured on him a little bit because he
didn't play all that well in Indianapolis in the preseason game.
I think It's important to remember that Kamal hadden't was injured.
He missed a lot of time, got thrown back in
(09:57):
there essentially in the joint practice and in the preseason
game with Indy. He's kind of trying to get his
legs back under him. He's trying to get back into
the rhythm of things, and I think it'll be very
interesting to see how he responds now that now that
he has gotten back into that rhythm, he's been in
practice on a daily basis again, as he, you know,
fights for this roster spot right to the end. I
(10:18):
think you and I have both been impressed with Kaylan
King to a certain extent. Now they've the Packers have
worked him almost exclusively as a nickel slot cornerback. And
of course it almost goes without saying, almost all of
these young cornerbacks who are fighting to make the roster
they've got, they're taking their reps on special teams as
(10:40):
well and being being evaluated in that sense. But Kaylan King,
a seventh round pick last year, spends his rookie season
on the practice squad. You can see he's definitely made
some strides this year. Has he made enough to get
that nod to get on the fifty three this year
when you have competition from a veteran like Ballantine and
and a guy like Bo Melton, who has been a
(11:02):
pleasant surprise in terms of how quickly he has taken
to the cornerback spot, and he and he might take
one of those roster spots at that position. Not that
they're specific quotas or anything, but you know what I mean. So,
and a lot of things could shift here over the
next few days too, as much as you kind of
get a feel for Okay, maybe this is where it
(11:23):
stands like right now, but with this joint practice and
with one more preseason game to go, and obviously there
can always be more injuries that get thrown into the mixes,
the decisions need to be made on Tuesday. There are
a lot of things that could change over the next
three to four days.
Speaker 2 (11:37):
People were working on me in inbox, asking hey, what
are your key or what are your locks? What do
you think about you know how this roster is all
shuffling out, and I'm like, well, locks can change real
quick based on how these preseason games go and who's
available and who's not. But yeah, I remember talking to
Kaylan last year about this inca chance asking about it
this year, even though we talked about the beginning near
the beginning of training camp. You know, I thought King
(11:59):
had a really wrong preseason last year, but it was
the special teams element that he was trying to catch
up on. And when you talked about that competition at cornerback,
these are the decisions Green Bay has to weigh. Where
you have Bo Melton and then also Valentine. Who those
two guys were your flyers last year, your number one
flyers unpunt coverage. Yeah, so again, when you get to
(12:20):
beyond the forty so to speak, and you're trying to
figure out who's going to fill out the forty eight
for game days, these are the considerations you have to
take into account.
Speaker 3 (12:28):
In addition to the.
Speaker 2 (12:29):
Fact, I mean, dude, like you and I could sit
here for two hours, we could go over every single
position quarterback, you have Sean Clifford and Taylor Eldersma, like
you have all these spots. You know, Marshall Lloyd's down
right now, which running back is gonna step up right?
Speaker 1 (12:44):
And and what is what are the decisions made on
Tuesday at a position like running back given Lloyd's injury
and how do they you know, how do they make
the maneuvers and whatnot to get things set where they
where they feel they're in the best position to move
forward into the regular season.
Speaker 2 (13:00):
Before we move on this, I was meaning to mention
this earlier and I want to say it now on
the air. There is that change with the with the
designated return option with the IR to the Packers. It
was actually available to them last year. I believe it
was Jonathan Ford that they used the option on where
you no longer have to you have up to the
option to carry up to two guys and put them
directly on IR now with the designation to return out
(13:21):
of the eight you have for the season without carrying
them over one day on thet there. Now, if you
have three or four and you want to do the
same option, then you got to wait.
Speaker 3 (13:31):
But if you only have one or two, you.
Speaker 2 (13:32):
Can put them on there when you're cutting the roster
to fifty three without having to go through that extra
because honestly, like we saw two years ago, I mean
mad or Is it got cut, but because he was
a vesting veteran, the Packers could bring him back and
then you can kind of finage.
Speaker 1 (13:44):
He wasn't exposed to waivers where somebody could just claim
him and take him. They worked out an agreement. They said, hey,
this is just a roster maneuver. We're going to cut you,
We're going to resign you the next day, you know,
et cetera. But it is important also for folks who
like to follow all this minutia with regard to the roster.
If you put either one or two guys on injured
(14:04):
reserve with the designation to return during the regular season,
they would count amongst the eight the eight total that
you're allowed to bring back from injured reserve over the
course of the season, whether you put them on at
the cut to fifty three or after you carry them
onto the fifty three, you have eight guys that you
can potentially bring back from ir during the regular season.
(14:26):
So it's it's all part of the same pool. It's
it's just the timing mechanism, and then.
Speaker 3 (14:30):
You get more if you can make the playoffs.
Speaker 1 (14:32):
So then yeah, it goes up to ten if you
make the post the.
Speaker 2 (14:34):
Line, I said an insider inbox between injured reserve and
the practice squad, it's never been more flexible with a
roster these days. In terms of who's available, there could
be guys at the Packers cut that they resigned to
the practice squad that ultimately are suiting up against Detroit
in Week one.
Speaker 3 (14:47):
You just never know.
Speaker 1 (14:48):
Yeah, you don't. Well, there are a couple other topics
I want to get to, but we do need to
pay some bills around here, So right now we will
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(15:31):
wood pellet grill. Pit Boss Grills available at minards. Welcome
back to Packer's Unscripted Wess. Officially, one practice left in
training camp as we sit here right now, which is
the joint practice against the Seahawks. So I'm just gonna
throw this out to you as an open ended question
for you, and you can take this any direction you
(15:51):
want to. What has been in your mind the best
moment or moments of training camp.
Speaker 3 (15:57):
There's a few.
Speaker 2 (15:58):
I actually not to be, you know, a victim of
recency here, but I mean the Matthew Golden touchdown was
really spectacular this past week, seeing that in practice, seeing
him develop and have the downfield option to his game.
For as much as we've talked about the intermediate option,
I think going back to and hopefully everything's cool with
the young man, but Omar Brown having all those interceptions
(16:21):
on Family Night, it has become somewhat of a cliche
that there's always a young defensive back that steps up
and makes a bunch of plays. But you know, that
young dude had the practice of a lifetime at lambeau Field.
And I hope with the lung contusion everything, I hope
for his sake from a football perspective, from a person perspective,
very nice young dude, everything works out from him in
(16:41):
that regard. But I did there was a couple of
days ago. I'm trying to remember all the specifics of it,
but when you see a team come together the way
that the Packers have come together this camp. They had
a very clean practice against the Colts. Hopefully there's another
clean one coming up here against the Seahawks. But this team,
(17:03):
and I've been talking to a few people on our
sideline about this, this group has been together for so
long now, and in some ways they almost remind me
kind of like a college football team, like a traditional
college football team, where you know, guys come in as
freshmen and now they're in their junior year, they're in
their sophomore year together, and the way that they're willing
to fight with one another, way they're willing to battle
with one another, And I just felt like this training camp,
(17:25):
it's been really long, Don't get me wrong there, Like
I've felt like it's been a month now since this
thing started. But the mon of camaraderie that they've shown
on the field, in the locker room, and just you know,
watching the way bow Melton interacts with players, watching Brandon
McManus stress up as a referee. I mean, this team
understands the expectations this year without a shadow of a doubt.
(17:48):
But at the same time, you can still see them
having fun and enjoying the process. And when you're playing
this game for six seven straight months, that's the type
of stuff you have to do to win a championship.
Speaker 1 (17:57):
Yeah, and I think I do think these these guys,
it's a group that you know, we're around them a
lot on the practice field, in the locker room. It's
a it's a group that genuinely gets along. I think
they I think they enjoy playing football with each other.
And and I know that sounds that sounds kind of
quaint and whatnot, but I think, but I think it's
(18:18):
true with this group. And I think that I think
when you I think that happens when you have the
right mix of the young players with the veterans. And yes,
the veterans are leaders, but they're not necessarily like the overbearing,
like crack the whip type or you know, they're they're
they're always trying to they're trying to bring everybody along,
(18:40):
not necessarily make an example of somebody, you know, like
that's how that's how a locker room comes together. And
I think we've seen a little bit of that over
the past month.
Speaker 2 (18:47):
Look at the Rashid Walker thing. With Anthony Belton that
we talked about on Tuesday. Yeah, I mean Anthony Belton
had a tough first half and little moments like that
to lighten things up. Hey, have a Clementine. I mean
like that, that's what you need. And yeah, there is
a time to get shouted at and hollered at, incorrected.
But I think a lot of that sometimes can happen
in the film room. It can happen in the team
meeting room, It can happen in areas where hey, it's us,
(19:10):
it's the family, it's the collective. It doesn't have to
be out on the practice field. They're on a sideline, right.
So yeah, it was a very special training camp and
I think, you know, knock on wood, none of these
injuries they've kind of weathered are gonna end up being
long term throughout camp, and you know, this team can
be as healthy as possible going into Week one against Detroit.
(19:30):
But by and large, I felt like, especially as Matt
Lafleur has kind of gotten the wind in his sales
as a head coach and his process now going into
a seventh camp in Green Bay. Yeah, just it was
a very organized, business like sort of operation and It'll
be interesting to see how it translates, you know, once
the lights come on.
Speaker 1 (19:48):
I think two things that will stick in my memory
with regard to the twenty twenty five training camp. One
is the impression that the rookie first round draft pick
Matthew Golden made. It's been a long time since I've
seen a rookie draft pick, regardless of what round being
selected in that I've seen a rookie draft pick make
the kind of impression in a relatively short amount of
(20:11):
time that Matthew Golden has. The other that with the
other that will stick in my mind is watching Brandon
McManus dressed up as an official and just throwing, throwing,
kind of that lightheartedness into the final week of training camp,
and the day after the guys are out there practicing
in the pouring rain, McManus drills like six field goals
(20:32):
in the pouring rain out there at Nichgie Field. Then
on Tuesday, when it's not his day to kick and
it's Mark McNamee's day to kick, McManus puts on the
puts on the Zebra uniform and uh and is out
there as a side judge throwing DPI flags and the
one on ones with the receivers and dbs and uh
and uh and sort of having those little hello moments
(20:55):
with his teammates when they realize, like, oh, the guy
who's out here officiating practice is one of our teammates.
Because that was all done without, uh, without the locker
room's knowledge. Yeah, that's something I've been here a long time.
I've been I've covered. This is my twentieth training camp
with Packers dot Com and more than that, if you
go back to my newspaper days, I've never seen a
(21:15):
team do anything like that during training camp and uh,
and I thought it was I thought it was pretty good.
Speaker 2 (21:20):
Great micd up video you can watch on Packers dot Com.
I think Tyler Guyski put that together for us. Really fun,
lighthearted again just seeing how players interact with them and
pretty good reaction from Romeo Dobbs in that video too. Yes,
he realized it was McMahon McMahon and then also watched
his language when I think he realized that he was
micd Up as well. Uh. But but you know, I
will I will mention this as well. When when you
(21:42):
think about these, I think one thing Matt Lafleur has
done a tremendous job with is creating like these check
marks and these checkpoints in the training camp schedule. You know,
whether you know traditionally it was always family night. You
know every coach there's always that family night practice. But
then you know, you got joint practices now where you
head out of town for a little bit, you have
(22:03):
some camaraderie, you practice together. Packers definitely had their best
joint practice away from lambeau Field that I've seen during
the Lafleor era. I would agree with that you come back,
whether it's the mcmahonus thing. At the end of the
practice on Tuesday, they were doing various run at one
on one drills in front of the team where they
put a couple guys in the spotlight, had them show
out a little bit. I feel like those are the
(22:25):
type of things that you need because tell you what, man,
once that fifty three is set, once that preparation begins
for Detroit, it is all systems go and it is
all business.
Speaker 1 (22:34):
Yeah. Absolutely well on our next show, and we may
only be able to do one show next week after
the decisions with the fifty three are made, and we
will we'll hopefully get in get a show recorded in
order to discuss that, but that will definitely be the
topic of discussion next week, just how things are setting up,
the decisions that are made. And then as you said, yeah,
(22:57):
it's all systems go, preparation almost board for Week one
with the Lions, and as we know, two games and
five days at lambeau Field against two teams that were
in the playoffs last year. I mean, it's all going
to be here before we know it was.
Speaker 2 (23:10):
Yeah, and well, and think about it, there's so many
times where when we went back for training camp, I
was sitting out there covering the shareholders meeting last month
and I'm like, it does feel like your season just
ended right and it all flips over and the calendar resets,
and but there is something special. And I'm how long
did you hear me clamoring for the Packers to have
a Week one home opener under Matt Lafleur.
Speaker 3 (23:32):
Yeah, We're in year seven. It's finally happening.
Speaker 1 (23:33):
I just and now they're getting two home games in
five days right right out of the game for lost time.
Speaker 2 (23:38):
Yeah, exactly, But you know it's just the excitement level
hits different. I think it'll be a cool atmosphere on
Saturday night, people steam to still enjoy the preseason games
in Greenbaay. I can't speak for other places in the
continental US with NFL teams, but yeah, get through this
and then get the ball rolling.
Speaker 1 (23:55):
Yeah. Absolutely, Well with that, we'll call it a wrap
on this edition of Packers Unscripted. Be sure to follow
are coverage of the conclusion of training camp with the
final preseason game on Saturday against the Seattle Seahawks. We
will have it all for you on Packers dot com
for wes im Miike. Thank you for tuning in everybody,
and we will see you next time.
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