Mike McCarthy on Sam Barrington: He's Starting to Hit His Stride

The Packers head coach commented on his linebacker taking A.J. Hawk's spot in the starting lineup.

Green Bay Packers head coach Mike McCarthy met with the media on Monday, a day after his team's 26-21 win over the New England Patriots.

The following are select comments from McCarthy's press conference:

  • On injuries to Sam Shields and Jamari Lattimore: Sam Shields had a concussion, so he'll go through the protocol. And Jamari felt a little better today than he did yesterday.
  • On the changes to the upcoming practice schedule due to playing on Monday Night Football: We're going to treat Thursday like a Wednesday. I want the player to have an extra day off his week. You look at years past, we've been playing on Thanksgiving every other year.
  • On the difficulty of playing on a Monday late in the season: Everybody goes through it. It'd definitely an honor to play on Monday Night Football. … You have to do that. It's time of the year. It's a little more challenging this time of year than other years, but I'm not concerned about it.
  • On the red-zone shortcomings: Red zone, just things that we can control. It comes down to execution. Give the New England Patriots red zone defense credit.
  • On entering the fourth quarter of the season: It's the way you want to go into the fourth quarter. It's obviously an excellent win for our football team against an excellent opponent.
  • I think it's great any time rookies, second-year, third-year players, when they can step up. … Obviously Davante (Adams) was at the forefront of that Sunday. We need everybody. … We've been doing that for 12 weeks, and we need to continue to do so.
  • On Josh Sitton: Josh is a heckuva football player. I don't think he probably gets the recognition he deserves. He's been an excellent pass protector for a number of years.
  • More on Sitton: He's physically gifted. Has outstanding instincts, has really good vision as far as dealing with adjustments. … He's fully capable of making any check in our front area.
  • On Aaron Rodgers' hand getting stepped on: That's really the conversation on the bench over there with Alex Van Pelt. The medical staff wasn't concerned.
  • On the locker room afer the game: I just think they were mesmerized with the fact they're getting an extra day off. They were speechless. … I felt both teams comepeted at a very high level. … This is a very consistent football team. … I think this is clearly our most consistent football team in my nine years here. … It's a very focused, disciplined group.
  • On the team: There's no doubt about it. I can promise you every man on offense has a high sense of urgency toward our red-zone meeting this week.
  • On Sam Barrington: I think Sam, he's starting to hit his stride. For all your young players, the game starts to slow down a little bit. … I think he's had two good weeks.
  • On getting other receivers involved: You put the plan together and you have an anticipation of how they're going to match-up. … Aaron did a great job sorting through that. That being said, we don't force the ball in.
  • On Davante Adams:  I have the benefit of being around the players all the time, but Davante has had the opportunity to improve throughout the year. … That confidence doesn't just show up in Week 12 or Week 13, it's been building for weeks.
  • On Randall Cobb in the backfield: It's just another part of our offense. There's schemes that you do out of different formations.
  • More on Cobb in the backfield: When you put together a plan, you have primary concepts and secondary concepts. It's secondary. … you never get through all your packages on your call sheet.
  • On running a lot of plays on offense: You have the ball for 70 plays, it's more opportunities for your players. It was important for Eddie to touch the ball 20 times a game and we accomplished that.
  • On the Patriots' gameplan: That's really how they play. They're going to stop the run first. That part of it as far as the box and how they react to it is the way we practiced it. … I thought our players did a very good job communicating.
  • On the Patriots' frequent three-man pass rush: It's been a while, but I'll say this, it's a very disciplined rush plan. They kept Aaron in the pocket. … Aaron was able to get the job done in the pocket most of the time.
  • On the Patriots offensive gameplan: We felt that they were going to come in here and try to run the football, which they did. … We had a few alignment issues, that created some bad situations for us and they capitalized on it. We'll learn from that.
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Comments (14)

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Bearmeat's picture

December 01, 2014 at 05:06 pm

The likes of Sam Barrington stepping up is EXACTLY what needs to happen for GB to make a serious run in the postseason.

With Barrinton's weight and speed (compared to Hawk) now getting him in the right places and CM3 inside, the run D is still not a strength of this team (and it never will be sans a Ngata-type NT), but it's not longer a deadly concern like it was earlier in the year. This is no longer truly a 30th ranked Run D in the present - even though they've allowed enough yards over the course of the year that the stats won't show a good run D. Who cares?

Very exciting.

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TKWorldWide's picture

December 01, 2014 at 09:25 pm

+1 on the Ngata thing. I'll be very interested to see what TT does with Raji contractually this offseason.

But in the meantime GB will play with what they have. Awesome to see 58 contributing. Shocked to see 50's role reduced. (Not because his performance; more just out of GB's stubbornness/loyalty.)

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NickPerry's picture

December 03, 2014 at 05:31 am

Hawks pass coverage has always been an issue, but I've watched him get blocked backwards 5 yards or more several times, sometimes landing on his behind. Pretty tough to tackle anyone from your butt 7 yards from the LOS. He continues to lose weight each year in an effort to be quicker or faster. Now he's slow AND easy to knock on his butt.

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Amanofthenorth's picture

December 01, 2014 at 05:10 pm

I don't remember an inside linebacker that knocked people backwards for the Packers for a long long time. But for that matter seeing Barrington knock running backs sideways multiple times was just as rare and I'll take it!

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Amanofthenorth's picture

December 01, 2014 at 05:25 pm

Deleted

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HankScorpio's picture

December 01, 2014 at 07:59 pm

I hope the extra day helps get Shields past the concussion. Atlanta is expected to have Roddy White back. It would be nice to counter with the full Packer group.

Lotta season left. They can't afford to let up on anything now. They need to put NE in the rear view and focus on Atlanta. It's at home, and the Packers have been awesome in Lambeau this year.

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TKWorldWide's picture

December 01, 2014 at 09:29 pm

I also wish 37 a speedy recovery.

Additionally, I am AMAZED how soon NFL'ers are able to return from a concussion. I know people (mere mortals, of course) who take weeks, even months, to recover.

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LASVEGAS-TOM's picture

December 03, 2014 at 12:16 pm

I would caution everyone, not to get too over confident with GB at home this week. I happen to think GB will Cover. Usually that's not a good sign. The last time Atlanta played at GB we were favored by 3, & just snuck out with a victory by 2. The game is up to 12 - 12 1/2. That bodes well for GB. I don't think this is a Trap Game, but it's the Biggest One left on the schedule. GB needs to stay focused. This is a almost a SB for Atlanta. It's definitely a must win for them.

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Jamie24's picture

December 02, 2014 at 04:07 am

Barrington's very important because it would allow for us to cut both Hawk and Jones in the offseason to free up some money and at least give Russ Ball and Ted more maneuverability with Cobb, Peppers, and Raji.

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HankScorpio's picture

December 02, 2014 at 06:08 am

Peppers cap number will take a big jump but his play in 2014 easily justifies the bigger number, IMO. Personally, I don't think they should mess with his deal.

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NickPerry's picture

December 03, 2014 at 05:38 am

Just looked it up Hank, it takes a $8.5 jump! Bye Tramon, A.J. and Brad. Hope someone doesn't offer House a boatload of $$$ in FA.

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Thegreatreynoldo's picture

December 03, 2014 at 06:03 am

Both TT and Peppers had to know that Peppers 2nd year base salary of $12 million meant that Peppers either had to play at an elite level or he would be cut or the contract would be renegotiated. I expect TT to negotiate a lower salary for next year, or cut him, and I assume that Peppers expected it too.

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HankScorpio's picture

December 03, 2014 at 06:36 am

The cap is expected to take a significant jump next year. Peppers deal will be doable. I would rather take the big number than push $$ forward.

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JimTaylor31's picture

December 02, 2014 at 07:11 am

Barrington looks like he plays downhill. Attacking rather than backing away from the LOS. Hawk plays uphill and seems like he's wearing cement shoes. I'm not sure what Barrington's ceiling is but given the alternative we will hopefully get to find out.

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