Packers Calendar: Exit Interviews Being Conducted
One day after a playoff loss, Packers players are already in the process of leaving Green Bay for the offseason.
When the season comes to a close, the expediency of the exit process is rather stunning.
Already underway are players' exit interviews with head coach Mike McCarthy and the rest of the coaching staff, according to Tyler Dunne of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:
You bet. We'll be talking to guys in about 45 min. RT @packersjustdoit Is the team conducting exit interviews today?
— Tyler Dunne (@TyDunne) January 6, 2014
Over the course of the next few days, players will be making plans for the offseason, whether they spend it in Green Bay or elsewhere, many of them heading to warm locales for a much-needed vacation.
Attention will soon turn to the job status of defensive coordinator Dom Capers, and it's inevitable that the Packers make a decision on his future sooner rather than later. As for the exact timing of a decision, only Mike McCarthy knows for sure.
McCarthy will record his weekly Mike McCarthy Show at a time yet to be determined inside Lambeau Field on the 4th Floor Associated Bank Club level in front of a studio audience, but the show won't air on television until Tuesday. Tight end Ryan Taylor will be the coach's guest.
Also inside Lambeau Field, Packers Live with host Larry McCarren will be shot in front of a live studio audience inside the Legends Club at 6:30 p.m. CT and open to the public. Tight end Andrew Quarless will be the guest.
Packers Live will be shown on a statewide network of seven stations, including NBC26 in Green Bay and TMJ4 in Milwaukee. Complete listings can be found on the Packers official website.
Later on Monday evening, fullback John Kuhn will host Clubhouse Live. The show will be held at the Clubhouse Sports Bar & Grill in Appleton in front of a live studio audience and streamed online at ClubhouseLive.com starting at 6:30 p.m. Offensive lineman Josh Sitton will be the guest, according to the show's Facebook page.
At 5:30 p.m. on Monday evening, Inside the Huddle airs on Fox 11 in Green Bay, hosted by wide receiver Jordy Nelson, according to the Fox affilate's Drew Smith on Twitter.
Inside the Huddle appears on a statewide network of television stations on other days of the week with the entire schedule listed at LammiSports.com. It is recorded in front of a live audience at The Bar in Green Bay.
McCarthy will likely have his usual day-after-game press conference, but no time has yet to be published on the Packers official website.
Comments (32)
January 06, 2014 at 10:16 am
There are going to be many opinions as to why the Packers lost against the 49ers. Even though we lost by only three points and by a last second field goal, that shouldn’t mask the problem. In their last drive the 49ers took the last five minutes of the game and our defense couldn’t stop them. We saw this same thing happen many times before this past season. In fact, McCarthy called it a “recurring problem.”
We have one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL. Every year we should be in serious contention for the Super Bowl. It would be a monumental waste if Aaron Rodgers doesn’t have a good enough team around him to win at least one more Lombardi Trophy. The question is, what do we need to do to improve this team?
Now if we truly want to know what needs to be fixed in the offseason, we couldn’t ask for a better diagnostic tool than when Aaron Rodgers was lost for eight games. With AR, this team was 6-2. Without AR, 2-5-1. Having him off the field and seeing how this team played was like having an x-ray taken of this team for eight games.
And what did we see?
IMO except for one quarter of the Vikings game and one half of each of the Dallas and Atlanta games, we saw a defense unable to step-up and stop the opposing offense to help our crippled offense win games. We also saw our coaching staff on both sides of the ball unable to motivate and or scheme a way to make the players and the plays better.
Only five teams in the NFL have allowed more 4th quarter points than the Packers this year. Only seven teams in the NFL gave up more total yards per game than the Packers. Only seven teams gave up more total points than the Packers.
Whether you look at total points, or total yards given up, the Packers ranked 25th out of 32 teams in the NFL this season.
My questions for Ted Thompson and Mike McCarthy is: If your goal is to have the best team in the NFL, how can it be acceptable that 75% of the teams in the NFL play better defense than the Packers? Who is accountable for that?
January 06, 2014 at 10:16 am
I will be hopeful, but skeptical, this is the final exit interview with Dom Capers.
I was excited about the hire at the time. And he definitely was a big help in the most recent SB win. But his career pattern has held and his defense has regressed over time. It is time to move in another direction.
Unfortunately, I think a day when Mother Nature was his biggest weapon will have saved his job...if just making the playoffs did not already do so.
January 06, 2014 at 10:49 am
I'm sure Capers has some fault in the problem, but he's having to use players that shouldn't even be on the field as starters. MD Jennings/Mulumba/Brad Jones
That's some bad players and extremely key positions in this defense. I think a lot of it falls on Ted for not hitting on his high defensive draft picks.
January 06, 2014 at 11:53 am
i agree with you lmills. capers doesn't have much to work with especially when you have guys like jolly, matthews and hayward out with injuries. i'm not saying he shouldn't be fired either though. i'm not qualified to make that decision.
one thing about ted's high draft picks- most these 1st, 2nd, and 3rd year players are still developing so it's probably too early to pass judgement on them. plus, the packers like to take players out of their natural positions and move them around (see: nick perry, mike neal, micah hyde, etc...).
i think the defense is 2-3 really good players away from being solid again (by solid i mean a middle-of-the-road defense)
January 06, 2014 at 01:15 pm
Agreed on the developing of some of the younger guys. But...Justin Harrell, Pat Lee, McMillan, Morgan Burnett...some of them are 1st and 2nd round picks and they're not even on the team!!! I'm not giving up on Perry or Jones this early in their careers, but they have to show something soon. High draft picks need to contribute sooner than later. That's why they're high draft picks.
And I'm not ripping on Ted. He's also found some gems on both sides of the ball. But if you're a draft and develop team, you HAVE to hit on your high draft picks.
January 06, 2014 at 09:47 pm
right on!
January 06, 2014 at 11:00 am
Exit Interviews for Raji, Jennings, B. Jones, Newhouse: "You suck. Bye."
January 06, 2014 at 11:25 am
All 4 sure made a minimal contribution this year. None would be missed in the least.
What is a bigger mistake contract by TT...AJ Hawk or Brad Jones? I wouldn't have signed Jones to the vet minimum last year. Instead, they gave him $9 mil. At least with Hawk, they were coming off a SB win and trying to keep that team intact. But the reality is that neither would get a sniff of playing time on a good 3-4 defense.
Re: Raji..I think he can be productive if allowed to attack more. That's not a defense of him. He's not a team player for not accepting his role and playing it well. But I won't be surprised if he goes elsewhere and flourishes.
Evan
January 06, 2014 at 11:28 am
I'm not remotely smart enough to evaluate the play of a defensive linemen (and I know they often play with only 2 DL so it's not so cut and dry), but in 2010 Raji had one of the best seasons ever for a NT and then promptly got moved to DE. With Pickett on his last legs, maybe they bring him back and move him back to the nose? Not for $8 mil, though, hopefully.
January 06, 2014 at 12:51 pm
Add to that "You suck, bye" list: Morgan Burnett, Mike Neal, and Jarrett Bush
January 06, 2014 at 01:11 pm
Not sure what to do with Neal. He may be an OLB backup or maybe an OK DE on a 4-3 team. Given the fact that neither Perry or CM3 can stay on the field he may be useful until we can get some real OLBs in the mix. Hopefully a veteran FA. Wishful thinking I know. Burnett??? Man I dunno. He sure has regressed.
Bush: "You suck. Bye."
January 06, 2014 at 03:08 pm
Disagree on Jarret Bush. He's really a solid contributor. Sure, he might not be the guy you want in coverage for the most part, but he is a terrific role player, great on special teams (and make no mistake, we NEED that) and from what we hear, a great locker room presence. He'll be on the team again, and for once I'm glad he will be. As much as he's been on some of the biggest mistakes, his play has also directly effected some incredibly important wins. I know he screwed up that last Kaep scramble, but he most likely thought he saw a big play - and yeah, I know, HUGE mistake. I think it's forgivable.
January 06, 2014 at 08:40 pm
Bush proved his worth this year, both on ST and, to almost everyone's surprise, on D. Neal will be fine if he can stay on the field, he's got talent and is a physical freak (the same is true for Perry). Burnett is a subject that requires more analysis than a single comment. Suffice it to say that he played every snap last year, and I don't recall heavy criticism off his play before this year. Logic suggests that there are reasons he regressed this year.
January 06, 2014 at 11:15 am
I agree that Capers is working with substandard OLBs and Safeties. Capers' system demands that LB and Safety be areas of relative strength on the roster. That's why they stink so badly on defense. Think of all those great Steeler defenses from the 90s onward. The guys that come to mind are nearly all LBs and Safeties.
However, I think his staff has a finger in that pie for not doing a better job of developing players at those spots. In a "draft and develop" philosophy, the developing part is every bit as important as the drafting part.
Either way, there is plenty of talent on defense to finish better than 25th in points and scoring. They have a deep and talented group of CBs and outstanding depth on the DL. Unfortunately, Capers can't seem to figure out how to maximize what he does have to work with when it isn't exactly what his system demands. That is what ultimately turned me against him during the course of this season. There is no greater weakness for a coordinator, IMO. Coordinators simply must be able to maximize what they have without making excuses for what they don't have.
January 06, 2014 at 11:37 am
I ask myself "is the defense just too complicated?"
Would "smarter players" be the answer? Or a simpler scheme? But if the scheme is too vanilla, is it too easy for offenses to attack? See the circular logic happening here?
It is very easy to say "better players", but what does that really mean? Bigger, stronger, faster, quicker, smarter? All of that, I guess.
All I REALLY know is I want GB to have a much better defense, and let the men who are getting paid millions of dollars to do it figure it out.
January 06, 2014 at 11:24 am
Teams have figured out Capers and our personnel and a change is needed, both in the coordinator and players. Now is the time. We just cannot go into next year with our current safeties and LBs and expect a different result.
January 06, 2014 at 11:56 am
we're going to need some beef on the d-line too if raji, pickett and jolly all walk
Evan
January 06, 2014 at 11:57 am
I'd bet Pickett and Jolly are back (assuming Jolly's healthy).
January 06, 2014 at 12:25 pm
i hope so but pickett is 34 (will be 35 next october) and you know how the packers roll when it comes to players who are over 30 years old.
has anyone heard about the extent of jolly's injury? i think all i heard was that it's a "significant" neck injury.
Evan
January 06, 2014 at 01:18 pm
"i hope so but pickett is 34 (will be 35 next october) and you know how the packers roll when it comes to players who are over 30 years old."
True...TT doesn't want to give them big money. But Pickett won't command that. A 1-2 year deal for a million or two I could see.
January 06, 2014 at 11:48 am
Packer player needs for 2014.
Defense: All positions except mathews, and williams. No more small injury prone players. No more fat players.
Offense:
All positions except rogers,lacey,franklin,nelson,cobb,jones. No more small injury prone players.
COACHING AND MGMT
Lack luster game plan. To many three and out first half. Packer team is too often playing from behind by half time.
Need a more offensive minded head coach. Replace McCarthy.
Serious misjudgemnt on size of players, in particular, corner backs and safeties.
Need backs that can take on the bigger running backs head on.
Replace Thompson
The packers have been falling behind , i believe, due to player selection particularly on defense and the offensive line.
January 06, 2014 at 11:54 am
There should be less emphasis on scheme and more emphasis on fundamentals. It seems to me that fundamentals allow a player to develop better instincts--instead of thinking for that split second about where they should be in the scheme, instincts developed by good fundamentals allow for a quicker reaction to a play. Often, there is a hesitation in these defensive players, causing them to be out of position on a tackle, interception, or pass to be defended.
January 06, 2014 at 12:15 pm
I'm still amazed at how many of our defensive players tackle high. they've been coached on that for what, 15 years or more? Bad fundamentals there for sure
January 07, 2014 at 07:01 pm
With how the rules work: Hit them in the knees, get a flag; hit them anywhere near the head, get a flag. But we do tackly like crap despite the rules.
January 06, 2014 at 12:17 pm
Maybe less emphasis on making players fit the scheme and Coaches making the scheme fit the players...
January 06, 2014 at 12:25 pm
I have heard TT say that he does not draft for scheme; he says "good football players are good football players".
January 06, 2014 at 01:07 pm
Which I agree with that to an extent. Mike Daniels doesn't fit the scheme, but he is becoming a hell of a player.
January 06, 2014 at 01:52 pm
Isn't the 3-4 supposed to allow for flexibility due to the extra linebacker? GB has tried since 2011 to convert DE's to LB (Palmer, Perry, Elmore, and DJ Smith) They also drafted OLB Manning. Mixed results on those picks. Isn't the OLB supposed to hold the edge in the 3-4? That obviously didn't happen against SF...Maybe TT should consider drafting towards the scheme a bit more....
January 06, 2014 at 03:39 pm
Point being that using converted D-linemen may seem like a bargain, as there are more of them available, but if the linebacker is such an important part of the system, maybe we should find true linebackers, otherwise, we are just taking traditional 4-3 d-linemen and moving them off the line. Why bother with the 3-4?
Evan
January 06, 2014 at 03:45 pm
Most 3-4 OLBs are converted college DEs.
Aldon Smith. Orakpo. Ware. Suggs. Dumervil. Kerrigan. All college DEs. To name a few.
January 06, 2014 at 07:54 pm
That's absolutely correct Evan. College DE to pro 3-4 OLB is a normal transition. There are several reasons for this, including that a lot of college DEs are undersized for the pro 3-4 system, and a lot of college LBs are more sized as pro safeties. The Packers aren't doing anything differently than other teams in this regard.
The same is true for drafting OTs for conversion to G or C., with additional reason that college OTs tend to be the best linemen on any given college team. There's a reason Gs and Cs aren't usually 1st round picks.
January 06, 2014 at 02:44 pm
It's so depressing-need next season to start already!