Weekly Packers News from Twitter and other Sources by Al Bracco and Holly Phelps. (As heard on Cheesehead Radio. 8/12/10 )
Packers News – 8/5/10 – 8/12/10
Al: Packers coach Mike McCarthy was pretty vocal this week in giving out both praise and criticism. He talked up AJ Hawk for his scrimmage performance and for having an excellent camp in general. At the same time, he was unusually candid about Jarius Wynn, saying Wynn has just been OK and needs to step it up. Not surprisingly, Wynn was seen winning a lot of his one-on-one matchups during the next practice. And thanks to Greg Bedard, you can watch it after the show on jsonline.com, including Wynn’s pancake of Chris Campbell.
{Holly:I guess he got the message.}
Holly: And speaking of motivational factors, Donald Driver has a lot more to play for these days, as in another two years on his contract. The Packers extended Driver’s deal through the 2012 season, prompting Driver to say he wants to prove the Packers right and then retire as a Green Bay Packer.
{Al: That will certainly be a bitter sweet day when Donald hangs up the cleats.}
Al: But what won’t be bitter sweet is when the Packers line up this Saturday for their first preseason game against the Cleveland Browns. Having rolled over the Browns in the first preseason game last year, the Packers will be hoping for more of the same. With most first team players getting about a quarter of work at most, the spotlight for this game figures to be on special teams play. Has all the extra work they’ve supposedly put in had the desired effect? We’ll get our first real look on Saturday.
{Holly: Looking forward to that Al. And here’s something else to look forward to …}
Holly: …This Saturday’s game will be the 61st Annual Packers Midwest Shrine game. As they do every year, the Packers will contribute a significant portion of the night’s gate to the Shriners Hospitals for Children. The Shriners hospitals provide free medical care to needy children with birth defects or who are suffering from serious injuries. It’s a great cause and a great thing that the Packers organization does.
{Al: That’s just one of many things that makes you proud to be a Packers fan.}
AL: Another thing to be happy about is the commitment from most Packer players to the excellent off-season program that Mike McCarthy runs. Most importantly, the young players have all taken full advantage of every moment of coaching and workout time available to them. From what I’ve seen so far, it seems that this year’s group of rookies are further along in understanding the system than last year’s rookies were.It’s no coincidence their dedication to the program has paid off.
{Holly: insert something about working hard….}
Holly: Hard work is no stranger to Packers tight end Tom Crabtree. The relatively unknown tight end has been drawing rave reviews from Packers coaches and teammates. He has built a quick reputation as a tenacious blocker, something none of the other Packers tight ends can lay claim to. Tight ends coach Bob McAdoo joked, “He loves to block. Where he was born, the playgrounds must of had blocking sleds instead of swing sets.” And Clay Matthews chimed in, “”The guy’s a little muscle head. He’s from some little town in Ohio in which I’m sure they lift trucks and logs.” Looks like Crabtree is going to make the Packers decisions at tight end a difficult one.
{Indeed Holly… And now, Cheesehead Radio brings you “News from the Packers Twitterverse…”
News from the Packers Twitterverse:
AL: Greg Bedard of the the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, put out this tweet while discussing his colleague Bob McGinn’s article on Packers backup QB Matt Flynn:
A Scout once said to me about Matt Flynn: “I’m not so sure that in 2 or 3 years he wouldn’t be every bit as good as Tony Romo.” The ever-humble Bedard followed up his own tweet with this: “Let’s just say I disagree with that line of thinking on Flynn. But then again, what team do I scout for?”
Holly: For a guy who is swamped daily with USC taunts, Clay Matthews showed a good sense of humor on twitter this last week. One tweeter asked Matthews how much of a pay cut he had to take going from USC to Green Bay. Matthews quickly replied, “I’m making roughly the same!”
{Al: Speaking of Packers linebackers with long blond hair,,,}
AL: AJ Hawk had a very active game during the Packers Family Night Scrimmage. After Hawk uncharacteristically had made a series of nice plays and tackles for losses,, Greg Bedard remarked. “Where is AJ Hawk and what have you done with him?”
Yes folks, that was the Tweet of the Week…
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Jersey Al Bracco is the founder and editor of AllGreenBayPackers.com, and the co-founder of Packers Talk Radio Network. He can be heard as one of the Co-Hosts on Cheesehead Radio and is the Green Bay Packers Draft Analyst for Drafttek.com.
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Speaking of muscular Crabtree, if you look at the “training camp newspaper” it has headshots of the entire team. One thing that jumped out at me was that Tom Crabtree is the only player on the team whose neck (at its base) is wider than his head! Unless he screws up in the preseason games, I feel certain he’ll be on the roster (theoretically, he should be a great blocker in the return game), and I think by next year he may be the number 2 TE. It’s amazing how many great-looking free agents the Packers have discovered in recent years! Go TT and staff!
Crabtree could be the reason one of the other tight ends (Lee? Havner?) get traded.
Oh yeah. Bedard once said that Romo was a better QB than Rodgers…
Dumbass.
Well, depends when he said it. if he said it when Rodgers was still Favre’s backup, then he was right.If he said it last year, then he was wrong.