Packers Stock Report: What the hell is going on out here? edition

This is the NFL on Nov. 30, 2015:

  • The cheating New England Patriots are no longer undefeated, but once they get a couple players back from injury, should be on track to win the Super Bowl
  • A player who beat his naked four-year-old son bloody with a tree branch might win league MVP
  • A player with strong evidence against him in a sexual assault case from his college days is the front runner for rookie of the year
  • A team with a racial slur for a nickname is leading the NFC East
  • And, perhaps most depressing of all, the Packers have gone into a tailspin and are currently looking up in the standings at the Minnesota Vikings.

Basically, this entire season is in the falling category of the legendary Packers Stock Report here at CheeseheadTV.com. 

The good news? There are five weeks left for this season to get back on track. That means the Packers start winning again and regain control in the NFC North, the Patriots flop in the playoffs (complete Tom Brady excessively whining to the officials), Adrian Peterson gets his head permanently stuck in a Minnesota snow bank, Jameis Winston goes away and Dan Snyder stubs his toe.

But for now, all we can do is get to the Packers Stock Report:

Rising

Brett Favre and Bart Starr
I was fortunate enough to be at Lambeau on Thursday night. Despite the result of the game, it's a trip to Lambeau I'll never forget. Seeing Favre and Starr at midfield was an incredible moment. I have absolutely no regrets about dropping half a mortgage payment to get rained on for 4 hours and witness the halftime ceremony live and in-person.
 

Mike Daniels
Let's skip the silly song-and-dance where you wait until the minute before free agency opens to agree on a new contract for Daniels, Ted Thompson. Pay the man now.

Steady

Clay Matthews
The Packers desperately miss Matthews' presence on the outside pass rush, but if he's moved away from the middle, the Packers would then desperately miss his presence inside against the run.

Sam Shields
Shields made a nice play to break up a touchdown to Alshon Jeffry on Thursday night. He also held up well whenever he was one-on-one with Jeffry. Quite the difference from week 1 where Jeffry owned Shields all day.

Falling

Aaron Rodgers
Set aside Rodgers' overall struggles against Carolina, Detroit and Chicago and consider the fact that he and the Packers had a chance to win all three games in the final minutes. They failed every time. If that doesn't merit a spot in the falling category, I don't know what does. 

Davante Adams
Since returning from his ankle injury, Adams has gone from bad to worse to a total disaster. He's rarely open, and when he is, he can't catch the ball. I won't pile on the young man -- the pile is high enough already. Here's hoping he snaps out of it and fulfills the promise Rodgers and others seem to think he has.

Mike McCarthy
Yup, it's time to put McCarthy in the falling category. Being in the stadium on Thursday, it was maddening to see just how basic the Packers pass-route concepts are. If it's not a screen pass to James Starks, the Packers are calling basic slant/flat routes, or verticals where every receiver tries fruitlessly to run past their defender, and if that fails, break off the route and hope to be on the same page as Rodgers. They are rarely on the same page as Rodgers, and the results are a mess. Adjustments need to be made, but with McCarthy at the helm, I don't think it'll happen.

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Comments (52)

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RCPackerFan's picture

November 30, 2015 at 02:37 pm

Rising.

Rollins - He continues to get his hands on the ball in one way or another. He nearly had 2 turnovers in the game. If he makes those plays they could have been game changers. Watch his playing time continue to increase.

Janis - The guy makes plays. His KR ability is making a lot of Packer fans wonder why he hasn't been used there last year as well as this year. Why has it taken this long to get him to return kicks. Is the same going to be said for him at WR? I hope so....

Falling - I won't put Rodgers in there. Way to many dropped passes for him to be in the falling.

Adams - Honestly he shouldn't be starting. The way he is playing I would go find Larry Pinkard or hell go sign Reggie Wayne and they would probably do as good as Adams right now.

Richard Rodgers - I honestly would take him off the field until they get to the redzone. go to 3 WR's, 1 RB, 1 FB as their base offense. Rodgers is doing nothing to help this team.

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dblbogey's picture

December 01, 2015 at 02:35 am

You won't put Aaron Rodgers in the falling category? After several horrible games in a row? He's been bouncing check down passes to wide open receivers. What is your criteria? Stop your hero worship, the man has been awful. He heads the falling list!

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RCPackerFan's picture

December 01, 2015 at 06:39 am

I was mostly just adding to the list. The only reason why I put Adams in there was because I haven't seen a player fall as badly as he has in a while.

The reason why I didn't put Rodgers in my list this week is because he hit WR's right in the hands with passes that they just flat out dropped. That's not on Rodgers.
Has Rodgers been bad, yes. Has he been great, no. But honestly I thought this week was one of his better games of late. To bad the WR's messed that up.

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croatpackfan's picture

December 01, 2015 at 03:32 am

"Janis - The guy makes plays" - maybe for your opponents. E. g. at 9:12 in the 1st Q of the Bears game Aaron pass quickly to the Randall Cobb for screen play and Jeff Janis was responsible for blocking defender who is covering Randall. He missed his assignment and play resulted in -1 yard.
That is how good is Jeff Janis in making plays!

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RCPackerFan's picture

December 01, 2015 at 06:41 am

Janis made the rising just for his KR ability. His KR's the last 2 weeks have given the Packers life.

I saw that play as well. That was brutal attempt at blocking, well anyone... The big time KR to me makes up for the bad block attempt.

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Tundraboy's picture

December 01, 2015 at 02:33 pm

"Richard Rodgers - I honestly would take him off the field until they get to the redzone. go to 3 WR's, 1 RB, 1 FB as their base offense. Rodgers is doing nothing to help this team."

RC. Oh do I ever wish they did that

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zoellner25's picture

November 30, 2015 at 02:40 pm

For falling you could put the 2015 Green Bay Packers. No risers can offset the fallers. They started out so good against the Bears and then just totally imploded. If Quarless can't bring this offense back, nobody can.

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croatpackfan's picture

December 01, 2015 at 03:34 am

Oh, you do not like how our D playing, or our ST? Interesting. I think your criteria is so high, that there is no good team in NFL. They all sucks...

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sugarbair's picture

November 30, 2015 at 02:41 pm

Adam I was there Thursday also. What a memory it will be. Have to agree with you on the MM comment. Still love this team. Go Pack Go!

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ray nichkee's picture

November 30, 2015 at 03:11 pm

Rising.

Eddy lacy. This is December and when he plays his best. If the playoffs are in the future we need him.

Just an optimistic forcast.

The passing game. Cow will disappear and reappear on the Vikings site when they start rolling Thursday.

No need for shit talking here because the true fans (not homers) all want it to happen but are not guaranteeing it. Watch and have fun. Go pack! Fuck cow!

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dblbogey's picture

December 01, 2015 at 02:38 am

Nice language. Substituting profanity for intelligent thought.

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zoellner25's picture

November 30, 2015 at 04:05 pm

i just rewatched ARod's INT a few times. Adams didn't try at all to run his route full speed and/or fight for position. Just let the guy hit him, when it looks like he could've ran underneath him. Terrible.

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DrealynWilliams's picture

November 30, 2015 at 09:42 pm

That's horrible coaching, right? The coaches must know they can't put Adams in that position to run a simple slant route. Whoever the WR coach should be fired.

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Handsback's picture

November 30, 2015 at 04:17 pm

I remember watching both Starr and Favre play and in my opinion......Starr was a very dangerous QB. Rodgers is more similar to Starr, but he doesn't have Lombardi behind him.
I'm tired of political correctness and could care less about the name Redskins...but I do have an issue with a team not playing to it's capacity. The Patriots do it year after year. The Packers need to learn that intensity.

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Tundraboy's picture

November 30, 2015 at 05:38 pm

With you on that.

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Brian's picture

November 30, 2015 at 06:25 pm

Agree totally!

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Since'61's picture

November 30, 2015 at 06:46 pm

I watched Starr and Favre play also. I wouldn't say that Starr was a dangerous QB but he was a very smart QB. Lombardi's team was a built on executing the running game and a great defense. When Starr threw he threw with a purpose. He threw when he needed to for a 1st down, he threw for TDs and he threw to cross up the defense on 3rd and short after he had established the ground game effectively. He usually only threw 15-20 passes per game but he was very efficient and he rarely made a bad throw or a mistake with the football. Rodgers is similar to Starr in that he rarely makes bad decisions with the football but Rodgers can throw better than Starr ever could. Plus Rodgers can throw on the move better than any QB in NFL history, when he is healthy. If Lombardi had Rodgers as his QB he would never have lost a game. I'm OK with the Redskins too. As for the Patriots they rarely beat themselves but they did last night. Thanks, Since '61

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4thand1's picture

November 30, 2015 at 07:07 pm

I watched that whole game, the Patriots got a couple of really bad calls that killed them.

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Archie's picture

December 01, 2015 at 02:50 pm

I'm with every word you said. In particular, " If Lombardi had Rodgers as his QB he would never have lost a game." Agreed and thats why I want a new GM/HC in GB now, before 12 ages out and it doesn't matter.

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WKUPackFan's picture

December 01, 2015 at 03:47 pm

And your recommendations as to replacements? It has to be someone reasonably available.

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Mojo's picture

November 30, 2015 at 05:10 pm

As long as you bring up Peterson and Winston, how about the following:

A player with the Packers who has had a stalking charge and pair of domestic violence incidents that resulted in three counts of battery, including one where he was charged with hitting the mother of his child in the jaw.

This was before he was taken to a Florida jail on Feb. 3, after the odor of marijuana and plumes of smoke prompted a search of his 2015 Dodge Ram during a traffic stop for swerving across the centerline, after he was handcuffed for turning hostile as officers found a gun, three-quarters of a pound of pot and $190,000 in cash.

Those who live in glass houses ...

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Samson's picture

November 30, 2015 at 07:28 pm

This blog entry should be titled "Cherry-Pick'in Time With Adam Czech."

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Oppy's picture

November 30, 2015 at 09:22 pm

All the drug stuff is true, but the shame here is that Guion was never charged with hitting the mother of his child- the police stated there was no proof he hit her in the jaw, only proof he pushed her to the ground (and a neighbor eye witness stated as much), and those other two counts of battery Guion was "involved" in? The mother of his child was the one convicted of battery, not Guion.

The facts are out there and not hard to find, all you have to do is push past the lazy, sensationalist sports media sources.

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DrealynWilliams's picture

November 30, 2015 at 09:56 pm

How about we just talk football and keep it football? I'm sure there's a player or players on every pro team that has a crime past -- convicted or not. It irks me to see things written on some players, but totally overlooked on others. Adrian Peterson and Letroy Guion for example. Both did horrible things, but I don't come here to read about that shit. I'm sure none of you do. Who cares? That has NOTHING to do with Packer FOOTBALL even if it involves a Packer player.

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Since'61's picture

November 30, 2015 at 06:31 pm

Agree on the rising and I would add Eddie Lacy.
Agree on the steadies.
As for falling, I disagree on A. Rodgers because his receivers have dropped 23 passes since the bye week and except for Cobb who is usually double covered he doesn't have any weapons in the passing game. I'm happy that J. Jones is back but he is no longer a full time NFL starting receiver and he wouldn't be starting for the Packers if Jordy, Monty, and Abbredaris were healthy. Davante Adams has been a poor route runner and has trouble catching the ball. Again if all our receivers are healthy he probably is no longer a starter. R. Rodgers would be a capable #2 or #3 TE but he has not made the jump to starting material yet. The OL has also been banged up and just not as effective as they were in 2014. I agree that D. Adams should be in the falling category along with R. Rodgers. As for MM I"m not sure what else he can do. He can't replace the receivers he is using due to the injuries. Adam writes that the route trees are very basic, which is true, but then writes that the receivers are not on the same page with Rodgers. So if they are not the same page with basic route trees why would they get on the same page for different or more complex route trees? How would that help Adams in particular catch the ball if he is open? MM can't catch the football, or block for Rodgers. He could insert Janis for more snaps but if Janis gets hurt or is dropping passes in practice who will return KOs and who takes his place at WR? It's ironic that we finally have a season where the defense is playing well and our offense can't get out of its own way. Go Pack! Thanks, Since '61

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Thegreatreynoldo's picture

December 01, 2015 at 12:27 am

You can't play scared, Since 61. If Janis gets hurt, that would be unfortunate, but he should be on the field as a WR if he is good enough to be on the field. If he drops some passes in practice, what does that have to do with KRs? As long as he doesn't fumble KRs and gives us 60+ yard returns, that is fine with me.

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croatpackfan's picture

December 01, 2015 at 03:45 am

At 9:12 in the 1st Q of the Bears game Aaron pass quickly to the Randall Cobb for screen play and Jeff Janis was responsible for blocking defender who is covering Randall. He missed his assignment and play resulted in -1 yard.
That is how good Jeff Janis plays offensive snaps. This one was particularly obvious, even myself noticed immediately when that happened. I have some others from his limited numbner of snaps, but not so obvious. That is why Jeff Janis missing the trust of the coaches!
He is guy in development. Still in that phase. I'm sure he will be huge part of Packers offense next season! I can envision 5 WR set with Jordy, Ty, Randall, Jeff and Abby/Davante on the field...

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Razer's picture

December 01, 2015 at 08:26 am

I can't recall a good block that Davante Adams has thrown over the season. For that matter, I can't recall much useful blocking by our receivers to date.

People are making a push for Janis simply because Adams is playing so poorly. If Janis does nothing more than take a DB deep, he will have done more than both Jones and Adams.

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Since'61's picture

December 01, 2015 at 11:01 am

Thanks Razer- that's exactly my point for inserting Janis. If he takes a DB deep it may open something for Cobb or Jones underneath. Since'61

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Thegreatreynoldo's picture

December 01, 2015 at 08:45 am

Yep, he missed that block. OTOH, he sustained a block on the CB springing Lacy for a 25 yd. TD. Janis' blocking overall this season has been pretty good.

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dblbogey's picture

December 01, 2015 at 02:51 am

Aaron Rodgers has been at least a top 3 quarterback in the NFL for 6 years running, but the truth is he is having an awful year. It's not the receivers fault that Rodgers is bouncing balls off the turf, panicking at the first sign of pressure. He looks like a deer in headlights out there. I love Rodgers. In my opinion, he alone is 90% responsible for all the success the Packers have had the last several years. But the fact is, he has been awful for two full months now.

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Roadrunner23's picture

November 30, 2015 at 06:33 pm

Rising:
J.Janis - Why they cant find a few basic pass patterns for him to run is baffling?

Lacy - Looks like he might be hitting his stride at the right time (sans fumbles of course)

D. Randall - This kid looks like the real deal (sans injuries and rookie mistakes of course)

Falling:
Mastay - I Don't know what happened to this guy, but they need to find a new Punter in the offseason.

Peppers - How much is J. Pepp getting paid? It's too much

J. Jones - Love me some James Jones but at this point in his career he is a liability as a starter

R. Rodgers - Very soft-slow, good hands but no RAC, why they continue to line him up like a WR is maddening

D. Adams - Wow, time to sit this kid, he totally lacks confidence right now

N. Palmer - Is no Napalm, guys this bad don't deserve nicknames ie: RG III

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4thand1's picture

November 30, 2015 at 07:12 pm

Why do they always stick with one really shitty line backer? Right now Ryan is better than him hands down, but this bum starts every game. WTF,WTF! They wait until it's a no brainer but to bench them.

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Tundraboy's picture

November 30, 2015 at 07:45 pm

Agree. Palmer, RRodgers, Adams to the bench. Play Kuhn and Rip more and pound the ball. Use RBs more in passing as they finally started doing.

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Thegreatreynoldo's picture

December 01, 2015 at 08:47 am

Nate Palmer got 55 snaps; Jake Ryan got zero. Still don't think the coaches get it. They are far too stubborn.

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Tundraboy's picture

December 01, 2015 at 12:02 pm

That's just absurd. At this rate we will be looking for a higher pick in the draft.

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RCPackerFan's picture

December 01, 2015 at 12:31 pm

Coaches are way to stubborn. Look at how long they stuck with players in the past. Brad Jones, MD Jennings, Hawk just to name a few. Really only one that I can think of worked out. Crosby...

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MarkinMadison's picture

November 30, 2015 at 08:06 pm

Antonio Freeman had some harsh words about the receivers in general and Davante Adams in particular today. Not getting open, and dropping the ball when they are. He also had an interesting praise of Favre that could be read as a subtle criticism of #12. Time for the O to get together and have a great big group hug.

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4thand1's picture

November 30, 2015 at 08:32 pm

What baffles me is Cobb. Is he afraid of re-injuring his shoulder and not looking the ball in? I think his shoulder is still really hurting.

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Oppy's picture

November 30, 2015 at 09:27 pm

I don't think his shoulder will be right all season, my guess is doctors examined it and determined the tear (or whatever) will most likely not get worse in terms of physical damage, but the pain, swelling will continue until after the season is over and he has surgery.

I think it is limiting his ability to lift the arm at the shoulder higher than a certain degree without extreme pain, and he's trying to play through it, but it's affecting his ability to make many grabs he normally would catch in his sleep.

within a week of the season ending, I'm guessing he's in McKenzie's O.R. or some other specialists.

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Oppy's picture

November 30, 2015 at 09:31 pm

The offense already had a group hug, it was the kind where Rodgers let the youngins' know they need to stop effin' around and start picking up their study habits, lol.

My fear: this new generation of young people seemingly don't understand that sometimes it's not okay to just do whatever you want, and sometimes don't believe that there is a right and wrong way to do things... and sometimes the react poorly to being told they aren't performing and need to work harder.

Man, I really hope pro footballers are immune that that attitude, but I do wonder if some of the young players are tuning Big, Mean Rodgers out.

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Bohj's picture

December 01, 2015 at 10:36 am

"My fear: this new generation of young people seemingly don't understand that sometimes it's not okay to just do whatever you want, and sometimes don't believe that there is a right and wrong way to do things..."

I agree that there is a motivation problem with the upcoming generations....mostly due to electronic obsessive compulsive behavior. However, I think because we love our Packers so much, we tend to forget that these guys are paid.

They go in to do a job. And then they clock out and literally can do "whatever they want". Why? Because they have every right to. Just like all of us can spend our time off watching football all day. Think about it. A 22 year old kid. Gets a job. Gets off of work. Think he's gonna go study tape all night? Some ...yes. Most..no. Just because we want them to be great and motivated and Lombardi-esque, doesn't mean they will be.

It's hard to be good all the time. At any job. Look at all of yourselves and ask if you give 100% for everything you do. And then...what about all the people around you? The group of guys in these locker rooms are no different. It's probably insanely difficult to keep a group performing at that level for this long. Give these guys a break. They're trying to make a living too. They can't all be Rodgers and Woodsons.

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Oppy's picture

December 01, 2015 at 09:29 pm

They aren't hourly employees, they're salaried.

Salaried employees are, generally speaking, expected to put in as much time as it takes to get the job done and perform at the level expected.

If you get it done on time, early, ahead of schedule, and are performing at a high level, many salaried employees can enjoy benefits like taking an early friday.

If you aren't on schedule to get the presentation done before the meeting, you are expected to do what you have to do to make it happen, including working longer hours in the office, taking your work home with you, maybe even working over the weekend.

These young men are paid a handsome salary (I just checked- and am shocked- league min for a rookie is now $400k+)for a job that takes up only 9 months of their year, and if they are hitting the field on Sundays not as prepared as they need to be to succeed because they are playing video games instead of studying gameplan, film, whatever- then I do believe Rodgers and the Packers have the right to expect more of them.

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Bohj's picture

December 02, 2015 at 02:04 pm

Oppy,
I get what you're argument is. However, I am salaried as a doctor. All of my colleagues are salaried as doctors. But that doesn't mean they are all excellent. In fact....unfortunately for all of you and your health care......there are plenty of underperforming doctors. Most show up and give you health care.....then they symbolically "clock out" and get home by 5:30pm without another thought to the day and unwind like everyone else.

I assume that players that get paid 400k feel entitled to the leisures because of what they have put their bodies through to get here. And that their careers could end at any year. If you extrapolate 400k or any other number over a short lived career, it actually isn't alot of money after taxes. I digress about salary though. The real issue is drive and motivation.

To be the best and extend your career, it does take more dedication than the hours you are assigned. But trust me......there are more people than not that are underachieving and are happy to get a paycheck without going the extra mile. Expectations or not.

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WKUPackFan's picture

December 01, 2015 at 03:39 pm

Oppy: Trust me, I know exactly how you feel. However, if the new generations didn't question the right and wrong way to do things we wouldn't get much innovation. Sometimes us old folks have been doing it wrong.

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rajahking's picture

December 02, 2015 at 09:51 am

If this was some "generational" thing, would it effect all the teams in the NFL equally?

I think the Packers issues have much more to do with scheme, poor play, strange coaching decisions, etc., then pop psychology takes on the young'ins.

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DrealynWilliams's picture

November 30, 2015 at 10:06 pm

I hope that reported players only meeting did happen. If it didn't, I hope one does take place soon.

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Thegreatreynoldo's picture

December 01, 2015 at 12:32 am

I would add Raji and Lang to the rising category.

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brewers_rule's picture

December 01, 2015 at 09:10 am

I'm surprised more hasn't been made of Datone Jones playing OLB lately. Dude's really looking like he's blossoming there and could prove worthy of the 1st round value we thought Perry would be. So much so it somewhat makes up for the moronic Thompson move of paying Clay to play OLB yet watching him HAVE to go inside all the time because that team hole was never adequately filled thus having us wasting cap space by overpaying Clay there.

My two cents: for a future Rising category let's hope Janis and Abbredaris make it. Whether the former only gets in on some plays starting Thursday and/or the latter forces his way into the lineup soon now that he practiced fully yesterday, it's time to start benching underperformers like Jones/Adams to see what these kids McCarthy & Thompson previously had so much faith in have. Just doing that swap for a sprinkling of plays Thursday could be enough to turn the offense around totally & give us another great December march toward the postseason if they stick.

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WKUPackFan's picture

December 02, 2015 at 08:38 am

Good call on Datone...of course people like Cow, Archie, and Big T would have cut him years ago. Patience is a virtue.

Disagee regarding CM3. Cap space is not being wasted, Clay is getting paid regardless of position, and he still plays snaps at OLB. Mike Neal (another guy the brainiacs would have cut) plays a more than adequate OLB. Perry has also played well.

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lou's picture

December 01, 2015 at 12:30 pm

Adams has taken a lot of flak and rightfully so. Isn't it interesting the parallel with Boykin last season. McCarthy could not say enough positive things about Boykin going into the season and unfortunately he followed a surprising previous season with playing himself off the roster and out of the NFL. This year McCarthy did the same with Adams, nothing but praise, if I was a Packer WR in pre-season 2017 I would ask McCarthy to talk about someone else. My guess is that as logical it is to sit Adams for a while and give Janis his opportunity from scrimmage, like he did with Boykin, McCarthy will continue to play Adams as he has done to date. 3 of the 5 INT's Rodgers had last year bounced off of Boykin's hands like they were ping pong paddles and fell into defenders hands.

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WKUPackFan's picture

December 01, 2015 at 03:58 pm

Adam: You are an intelligent and reasonable person with even more plusses for being a professional wrestling fan.

Please tell me the Pats reference was in humor. There is no way you can believe balls were actually deflated. Leave aside the fact that there was never any substantive evidence, and that the league continually leaked false information. In addition to the Ideal Gas Law, logic and common sense tell us that the whole affair was motivated by someone(s) in the league office, not by some guy that took a bag of balls into a restroom for 90 seconds.

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