Packers Daily Links: Hawk Apologizes for Obscene Gesture

Linebacker A.J. Hawk apologized after television caught him giving teammates the middle finger. That and more in today's Daily Links...

Linebacker A.J. Hawk apologized yesterday for an obscene gesture made during the Packers' 24-3 victory over the St. Louis Rams. "After Hawk sacked St. Louis quarterback Sam Bradford in the second quarter of the Packers’ 24-3 win Sunday, Hawk pointed to the Packers’ sideline and gave the finger, which was caught by the Fox network’s broadcast of the game," writes the Green Bay Press-Gazette. Hawk called it a running joke with his teammates.

More on A.J. Hawk can be found at the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, JSOnline, Fox Sports Wisconsin, ESPNWisconsin.com and from the Associated Press.

Another one of the negative stories coming out of a Packers victory was the concussion sustained by cornerback Sam Shields. Following a leaping interception in the endzone, Shields tried to return the ball instead of taking a touchback and got blindsided by a Rams receiver. "Shields went to the locker room with what the team called a head injury," writes Bill Huber of Packer Report. "He was not available to reporters after the game and was 'still being evaluated' – likely for a concussion -- coach Mike McCarthy said after the game."

More on Sam Shields comes from the Journal Sentinel and Fox Sports Wisconsin.

On the positive side, the Packers tied a historical mark in yesterday's win. "By defeating the St. Louis Rams, 24-3, Sunday at Lambeau Field, the Packers extended their streak to 12 games, counting playoffs," writes Bob McGinn of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. "It ties the club mark set in 1961-'62." That's a winning streak of Lombardi proportions.

Speaking of streaks, kicker Mason Crosby has one of his own. "Crosby finally got to kick a field goal at Lambeau Field, and when his 32-yarder went through the uprights with 6:53 left in the first quarter, the Green Bay Packers fifth-year kicker tied the franchise record with his 17th consecutive successful regular-season field-goal attempt," writes Jason Wilde of ESPNMilwaukee.com. That ties him with Chris Jacke back in 1993.

The Packers got a decent pass against the Rams. "(Clay) Matthews, fellow linebacker A.J. Hawk and cornerback Charles Woodson all registered sacks for the Packers, who also were credited with five quarterback hits on Bradford," writes Jason Wilde. "After the game, Bradford rode past reporters outside the Packers’ locker room en route to get x-rays." Matthews got attention for dusting off his arms after his sack, a nod to only registering one in the first five games of the year.

More on Clay Matthews comes from the Press-Gazette.

It wasn't all roses for the Packers defense, however. "The Rams weren’t exactly 'The Greatest Show on Turf' and came into the game ranked No. 31 in total offense and No. 32 in points per game," writes Kareem Copeland of the Press-Gazette. "Their big offensive free agent acquisition, receiver Mike Sims-Walker, was benched because of a lack of productivity. And second-year quarterback Sam Bradford still passed for 321 yards as the Rams used their version of the hurry-up offense. They put up 424 yards, but just three points."

More on the "bend but don't break" defense comes from Packer Report (subscription required), JSOnline, Packers official website and the Press-Gazette.

Perhaps surprisingly, head coach Mike McCarthy is already talking about going 7-0 next week. “We’re seven days from being 7-0. That’s our message,” McCarthy is quoted as saying by Vic Ketchman of the Packers official website.

More on being the only undefeated team in the NFL comes from Fox Sports, JSOnline and Packer Report.

Safety Morgan Burnett had an up and down day playing with a club cast.

The run game didn't deliver a knockout blow, according to Ty Dunne of the Journal Sentinel.

The receivers had a couple unfortunate drops.

Aaron Rodgers ran a bootleg to his left that resulted in a touchdown to James Jones.

The return of former Packer Al Harris to Lambeau Field didn't go well for the Rams, according to the Associated Press and ESPNMilwaukee.com.

Injured safety Nick Collins watched the game from the sidelines yesterday.

Additional coverage from the Press-Gazette includes rants and raves, analysis, a column and player interviews.

Additional coverage from the Journal Sentinel includes a scoring summary, play of the game, notes and a Tramon Williams interview.

Game reports are filed at ESPNMilwaukee.com and Fox Sports Wisconsin.

The food drive put on by the Packers Women's Association collected a record amount.

Video: The new security procedures are covered by Fox 11 in Green Bay...

Brian Carriveau is the editor of the Maple Street Press Packers Annual. To contact Brian, email [email protected].

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Comments (6)

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MarkinMadison's picture

October 17, 2011 at 08:39 am

"Seven days away from 7-0." Nicely done.

It felt like Rodgers was forcing throws in the second half. Shades of BLF. Maybe it was just zone coverage converging, but there was one play where Jennings had three guys tightly on him by the time the ball arrived. I'm guessing that A.R. gets a "minus" grade this week.

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Evan's picture

October 17, 2011 at 08:48 am

I agree. Vanilla or not, he definitely seemed a little out on sync in the 2nd half. Maybe just bored?

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Norman's picture

October 17, 2011 at 12:13 pm

Yeah, that 117 passer rating ought to get him a "minus", especially considering that terrible throw where he misfired the ball off Jennings' hands and right at the defender. What was he thinking?

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MarkinMadison's picture

October 17, 2011 at 01:37 pm

AR in an interview commented that he gets a "minus" from his coach if he makes less than 90% of his plays. Passer rating and QBR have nothing to do with it; his coaches opinion of what he should have done is all that matters.

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gbslapshot's picture

October 17, 2011 at 09:32 pm

I am all for AJ showing some fire for a change.

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Josh's picture

October 18, 2011 at 09:09 am

I think he was flipping off his teammates that know he's very unproductive. He's the carried 3 yrds too far type of player those guys must love.

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