Packers Daily Links: No Changes Planned Along Offensive Line
According to offensive coordinator Tom Clements, the Packers won't be making any changes on the offensive line. That and more in today's Daily Links...
Despite Aaron Rodgers being sacked more than any other quarterback in the NFL, it doesn't appear the Green Bay Packers have any plans to make any changes to their offensive line. "As of now no, I don't see that will happen," offensive coordinator Tom Clements is quoted as saying by Tom Silverstein of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Rodgers was sacked five times in Sunday night's loss to the New York Giants and 37 times on the season. One option available to the Packers would be for Don Barclay to replace Evan Dietrich-Smith in the starting lineup, either at left guard or at right tackle with T.J. moving back to guard. For the time being, however, that doesn't appear it's going to happen.
More on the offensive line comes from ESPNMilwaukee.com, the Packers official website and Bleacher Report.
On the defensive side of the football, defensive coordinator Dom Capers on Monday rationalized the decision to play Davon House at cornerback far more than sensational rookie Casey Hayward in the Packers' recent loss to the Giants. “You go back to the Lions game, we played sub every down," Capers is quoted as saying by Jason Wilde of ESPNMilwaukee.com. "They were in a lot more two-back personnel, whether it be one tight end and two wide receivers or two tight ends and one wide receiver, so that put us into more of our Okie personnel. We kind of liked the matchup we had in terms of House on (the Giants’) bigger receivers. I don’t think there’s any question we’ve got to keep Casey involved.” Nothing against House, but the way Hayward has been playing, he's got to be on the field full-time. House should be the nickel or subpackage cornerback.
More on Casey Hayward comes from the Green Bay Press-Gazette.
As the blog Deadspin has surmised, running back Cedric Benson is actually moonlighting as a disc jockey in a truth-is-stranger-than-fiction type of story. "Using the moniker DJ World Peace, Benson's appeared at a few clubs around Austin (Tex.) in the past month," writes Samer Kalaf. "According to DJ World Peace's Facebook page, he last spun at The Madison on Nov. 11. Below is a flyer for a show he did on Nov. 6 at the Yellow Rose, a gentlemen's club in the city." Benson in the one player the Packers designated to return from their injured reserve list yet still may need surgery to repair his foot. It's hard to believe Benson is taking his interest in DJing in the middle of the season so seriously but as long as he takes care of business on the football field, he can do whatever he wants.
The NFL announced that the Packers-Lions game on Sunday Dec. 9 will not be flexed out of its original 7 p.m. start time with television coverage on NBC. "The NFL had the option of moving the Packers-Lions out of the Sunday night slot in favor of a more interesting game, but either because Fox and CBS protected games it was interested in or it thought the scheduled match-up would have a decent viewership, NBC decided to stick with the schedule," writes Tom Silverstein at JSOnline. With the Packers one game out of first place in the NFC North standings, the game certainly can have big-time implications on the division standings, at least from a Green Bay standpoint.
More on the NFL's flexible scheduling comes from the Associated Press.
Analysis of Sunday's Packers loss to the Giants comes from Bob McGinn of the Journal Sentinel, Cliff Christl and Eric Baranczyk of the Press-Gazette and Fox Sports Wisconsin.
From all appearances, Greg Jennings looks to return this upcoming game against the Vikings. More from the Press-Gazette and JSOnline.
The Packers' inability to turn the tide and stave off momentum by the Giants on Sunday is a topic covered by the Journal Sentinel, Packers official website and Packer Report.
Special teams coordinator Shawn Slocum said on Monday that he's seeing progress from kicker Mason Crosby, as noted by ESPNMilwaukee.com and the Press-Gazette.
Comments from all the Packers coordinators appears at Fox Sports Wisconsin.
The playoff picture for the Packers is put into focus by the Associated Press.
Clay Matthews' absence this past Sunday is mentioned at the Press-Gazette.
The state of the Green Bay Packers gets its pulse taken by Ian Rapoport of NFL.com and Kevin Seifert of ESPN.com.
Packer Report analyzes a hypothetical re-match with the New York Giants.
Wide receiver Jordy Nelson takes a Vikings-themed quiz on Inside the Huddle.
The play-calling of Mike McCarthy on Sunday is scrutinized at Acme Packing Company.
Former Packer Jim Temp passed away, notes the Packers official website.
A feature on a Packers fan who will be allowed to do the "Lambeau Leap" during an upcoming game appears in the Manitowoc Herald Times Reporter.
Video: Randall Cobb joins Tom Crabtree on Monday's episode of Clubhouse Live...
Brian Carriveau is the author of "It's Just a Game: Big League Drama in Small Town America," a member of the Pro Football Writers of America and an editor at Cheesehead TV. To contact Brian, email [email protected].
Comments (10)
November 27, 2012 at 10:21 am
I'm really curious to see what Greg coming back will do for us. It might be huge....might not even matter with this o line. Either way they NEED to keep feeding JJ the rock. He's playin his ass off and getting open and deserves to keep getting the ball!
November 27, 2012 at 11:00 am
they are going to need to change their offensive philosophy with this O-line. we'll see if MM is capable of doing that in the next few weeks. if not, this team is all but finished
November 27, 2012 at 11:38 pm
We can help the o line by running the ball better. The running backs are not productive therefore the defense just pins their ears back and go after Rodgers
November 28, 2012 at 12:05 am
Crazy thought switch saturday with eds, and put lang back, throw in barclay and help on every down, not finley, seems like he might be getting back to being aggressive. Just watch the play he made on the tip.
November 28, 2012 at 08:18 am
Anyone else get the feeling MM is saving things?? Like he's just trying things out...putting things on film...and then the last few weeks of the season will start putting a gameplan together for the final stretch / playoff run?
I guess the problems seem so obvious, and we've got really smart and historically successful guys in place to see what needs to be done...just makes me wonder.
November 28, 2012 at 07:50 pm
yep.
having rodgers get hit repeatedly is just all part of the plan.
putting the team's playoff participation in jeopardy is just all part of the plan.
seriously?
November 28, 2012 at 09:34 pm
Look moron...nowhere did I say he was intentionally setting Rodgers up to be sacked. He trusts his players to execute and wants to save their best for the stretch run, and part of that is trying things to see what kind of success they can have and holding the things that he's most confident in close to the vest.
Now go be a fake Packer fan somewhere else.
November 29, 2012 at 05:37 am
jamie -
just stop for a second and think about what you're suggesting.
think of all the negatives that could come out of such a "plan"...
-players/team loses confidence
-players get hurt due to the fact that their teammates are put in positions that do not fit their skill set.
-momentum gone.
-games lost (it's not like this team is 10-1 and can mess around with wins and losses).
-offensive rhythm gone.
-players willingly giving up stats that would help them come future contract negotiations.
in my opinion - if you're a coach in the NFL and you're not constantly doing everything you can to win every game you can, you won't be around long.
saying - "well we could have won but just didn't want to" sounds like wishful thinking to me.
and you can kiss my ass regarding that "fake Packer fan" bullshit.
you don't know me.
you don't like that i see (and bring up) the negatives surrounding this team (and there are a shitload). guess what? they are there. and they have been for a long time. and i have no reason to believe that they won't remain for the foreseeable future.
i don't like how this team is put together.
i don't like how this team is playing.
i don't like the plans that this team brings in to a lot of it's games.
i don't like the lack of effort.
i don't like the lack of passion.
i don't like the lack of physicality.
but that doesn't mean that i'm not a fan.
i'm just a fan that sees thing differently than you do.
November 28, 2012 at 09:36 pm
@ Jamie
Congratulations.
You've just won 'Dumbest Post of Season 2012'.
November 28, 2012 at 10:12 pm
Every game counts. The NFL & the Packer's season isn't something where you can hit the "reset button" & start over. This is real football, not your favorite video game.