Packers Midweekly News: Week Five
Welcome to the Packers Midweekly News! This article details everything Packers, but halfway through the week! This is the Week Five edition of the Packers Midweekly News.
Packers Midweekly News Headlines of the Week
Packers Battle Back to Win in Overtime in Week Four
The Packers won in overtime against the New England Patriots this past weekend. After an ugly first half where the team entered the locker room down 10-7, the Packers fought back to tie it up 24-24 at the end of regulation. The team battled their way downfield to set up a Mason Crosby field goal to win the game.
For postgame takeaways, go here.
The Packers Travel to London to Play the New York Giants
Traveling Cheeseheads
The Packers pack their bags and fly to London today to play the New York Giants this Sunday. This will be the first time the Packers as a team has traveled to London. They are playing at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, which has the worlds first dividing, retractable field pitch.
Expect to see thousands of green and yellow-garbed international Green Bay Packers fans on Sunday. Rodgers said it best on the Pat McAfee show: “nobody wants to give up a home game against the Green Bay Packers, you know our fans travel well, we’re gonna show up at the stadium that place is going to be packed…you know the packers fans are going to show up.”
Player excitement
The players have expressed their excitement about traveling to London to play football. Aaron Rodgers said, “We are all excited, I said I want to get over early just to experience a little bit of that culture, be able to get out, see some sights, interact with fans, go to a pub…overall everyone is super excited to get over there…playing at a great stadium…I’ve been wanting to do this for years”
Randall Cobb says, “being able to expand our game a little bit and show it to the world and show some of the talents we possess I think is good for the game.” Aaron Jones is most excited about “the environment, the experience of playing over there..to share our game with the fans over there to see their atmosphere and see the energy they bring.”
Rashan Gary is looking forward to “playing football outside the country and getting my mother get out of the country and seeing something new.” Kenny Clark shares that he has “never been out of the country… this is my first time you know, going out of the country, so I’m excited about that…but for the most part, it’s a business trip.”
Business as usual
Coach Matt LaFleur stresses the importance of discipline when preparing for the London game: “bottom line is you (have to) be disciplined in whatever it is you’re (going) do and show up and try to be the best version of you on game day.” LaFleur has experience traveling to London to coach football with the 2017 Rams and the 2018 Titans. He says, “guys have to be super disciplined and make sure they are taking care of themselves.”
Adrian Amos Concussion
Packers star safety Adrian Amos remains in the concussion protocol. Amos suffered a concussion Sunday when he was kicked in the helmet while making a tackle. He immediately entered the concussion protocol and was ruled out of the rest of the game. Amos was also ruled out of practice on Wednesday. Second-string safety and star special teamer Ruby Ford will fill in for Amos if he is unable to play in London. After what happened to Tua last Thursday, it would make sense if teams and the league are a little more strict with the concussion protocol moving forward.
UPDATE: Amos logged limited practices on Thursday and Friday and is listed as questionable on the injury report. It seems that he is trending in the right direction.
Packers’ Midweekly News Player of the Week – Rashan Gary
Linebacker Rashan Gary was the Packers’ week five player of the game. He recorded two sacks, one tackle for loss, and tallied two QB hits. Rashan Gary is one of the league’s hottest pass rushers in 2022. Coach LaFleur says, “the one thing you know you’re going to get every time he lines up out there you know he’s going to go 100 miles per hour.” He’s also getting better at the run game. LaFleur says he has been “pretty solid…all in all he’s a pretty complete player.”
Practice Notes
Discipline, preparation, and secrecy define the Packers’ practice regimen this week. “the team that handles the trip the best is going to put themselves in the best position to win the game,” LaFleur says, “and disciple in a big part of that.” He goes on to say, “the whole point is when you go over there, at least with a preparation schedule, try to stay as consistent as you would a normal week.”
The team flies out today to London. A big obstacle the team must overcome is the adjusted sleep schedule. LaFleur hinted that there is a strategy on when they should and should not sleep in preparation, but remained tight-lipped on what exactly that strategy is. Rodgers was a little more opWen about it, saying “going to stay up as late as you can Friday…and then hopefully it starts to fall into place.”
Interviews with LaFleur
Postgame
- “It’s never easy winning in this league, certainly there a lot of things we need to do better….bottom line is we found a way.”
- “As soon as you think you have a game won before the game is even played…a lot of times that bites you in the butt”
- When asked if they can continue winning in the manner they won on Sunday: “Each week has its own challenges…a lot of good things….a lot of things to clean up…when you the turnover battle…you’re putting yourself back against the 8 ball.”
- Are you kicking yourself over the challenge? “Yeah I’m not too proud of that moment, that was an emotional decision, and I think its a great learning lesson, that you can never make those emotional decisions in the heat of battle, you know better…emotional decision, almost like throwing a hail Mary…definitely the worst decision of the day by me.”
- Do you support Aaron taking downfield shots even if they don’t work out most of the time? “You have to show you’re willing to do that…so absolutely 100%.”
- Did Bailey Zappe entering the game change the game plan? “Not a whole lot, defense looked at a lot of preseason film, got to give him a ton of credit, played with great poised, did a pretty good job for what he was asked to do.”
- Did anybody notice the clock expiring on the Parker touchdown? “I did not, I was unaware of it in the moment.”
Monday, Oct 3rd
- Have you had a guy as automatic as Cobb? “When (Cobb’s) number is called, you can count on him to do it exactly the way it’s supposed to be done…super reliable, super consistent.”
- why not hail Mary end of 4th? Was it discussed? “Yes, everything is discussed…(the) penalty in that situation definitely hurt us.”
Wednesday, Oct 5th
- On Barkley: “Explosive…can make you miss…there is nothing this guy can’t do…rare combination of size and speed.”
- Do you feel like Aaron jones is underappreciated? “Our guys hold him in high regard, he first class all the way, contributed big time to our success, his performance on a daily basis, how he practices, how leads by example, how when he does talks, he’s got things that are very meaningful, how he supports his teammates… he’s a very special player and a very special person.”
- On Lazard: “He’s making the most of his opportunities…he’s a guy that battles and competes at every phase…had a touchdown against Giants last game…can do it all, blocks relentlessly…sets tone does an outstanding job, so smart…can tell you exactly what’s going on on the other side, and will have suggestions.”
THOUGHTS OF RODGERS
Rodgers on the Pat McAfee Show
On Belichick: “bill is such a legend…incredible success…being ahead of the curve with his defensive styles and innovations…fantastic coach…he’s a phenomenal coach…I have so much respect for Bill.”
On the Patriots win: Rodgers said, “we are not losing this game…two big plays that happened in-game: first was that 3rd and 10…sometimes all it takes is one play like that (to get the offensive momentum going) second: 3rd -6 down 24-17 Randall ran great route…got us going.”
On Cobb: “I feel like he needs more playing time…big kudos…found how to get his body back…earned the opportunities he’s gotten…to be able to translate the way that I play and the expectation to the young guys when I’m not in that room…his ability to be that voice in that room…to be able to explain the little intricacies of plays is priceless I promise you.”
On Doubs: “he’s learning…good on the deep ball…best thing is…. ability to recall things that happened from practice and in a snap execute them in a game.”
On Watson: “special speed…incredible stride length…he has that different type of speed…we’ll find ways to use him.”
On Odell: “always hoping there’s a time where you can figure things out and play together…I like Odell a lot…most important thing is getting healthy… I’m sure his pick of competitive playoff teams who are looking at stud like that to add to their roster.”
Locker Room Interview
On breaking down a play:
there’s a progression to it…there’s different types of plays, there’s plays where you pick a side… there’s plays where there’s peer progression with an option on the back side based on the coverage you start there first and adjust the order of the progressions…most of the time you go through progressions…playing percentages where the ball should go.. getting a good pre-snap read.. and adjusting anything you see on the fly…
On Cobb: “The older you get the guys that can stick around find little ways to get advantages on the physical side, that paired with a little more stability with offseason home…looks like 2016 Randall…he needs more opportunities, he deserves more opportunities.”
On Doubs and Watson: “there’s going to be a lot of benefits to reaped from those guys…but it’s about development for them….it’s about their mental approached…every young player should lean on older guys and get some advice…its important to pass on that knowledge.”
On London time change: “I got a couple of techniques that I like to use to kinda get on a time schedule, I’ll keep those to myself, those are competitive advantages.”
On O-line: ” I just want the best five…we had some more consistency…interior 3 has been solid…I like the five we have right now.”
INJURY REPORT
DNP – S Adrian Amos (concussion)
LP – CB Jaire Alexander (groin), OT David Bakhtiari (knee), S Tariq Carpenter (abdomen), G Elgton Jenkins (knee), WR Allen Lazard (ankle), C Josh Myers (foot), DT Devonte Wyatt (quad)