Packers Daily Links: Woodson Not Expected to Play vs. Chargers

Charles Woodson made the trip to San Diego, but it's questionable whether he'll play on Thursday evening. That and more in today's Daily Links.

Despite playing safety more often than in the past, Packers cornerback Charles Woodson isn't expected to play much, if at all, in Green Bay's preseason opener at San Diego on Thursday evening. “You know, that’s kind of how it’s been the past years,” Woodson told the Green Bay Press-Gazette. “I guess it’s pretty much expected.” As a high-profile veteran, Woodson often gets the benefit of the doubt. He's been held out of preseason action before. Defensive coordinator Dom Capers wouldn't commit to saying Woodson wouldn't play at all, but indicated that if he did play, it wouldn't be much. Woodson did make the trip to San Diego.

New York Giants defensive lineman Justin Tuck responded to recent comments by linebacker Clay Matthews who suggested the Giants didn't beat the Packers last year, instead the Packers beat themselves. "Did they play their best ball?" Tuck told ESPNNewYork.com. "I don't know. But we won the football game. I don't think they gave us anything." Matthews' comments were silly, and all they do is provide bulletin board material for the opponent. He might be right that the Packers didn't play their best game, but there's no reason to bring the opponent into it. This issue will come up again when the Packers travel to the Giants in the regular season.

With a lack of depth on the offensive line, the Packers signed 10-year NFL veteran Reggie Wells on Wednesday. "Wells appeared in eight games and started one with Philadelphia in 2010," writes Wes Hodkiewicz of the Press-Gazette. "After being cut by the Eagles at the end of camp last season, Wells signed with Carolina, for whom he played five games in two separate stints. He was released for a second time on Nov. 30 and hasn’t played since." Considering all the injury issues the Packers have, it wasn't surprising the Packers signed someone, though maybe it was slightly unexpected they signed an older player. Wells will give the Packers some depth in the short-term, but he'll have to earn his roster spot if he's going to stick around during the regular season.

More on Reggie Wells comes from JSOnline, ESPNMilwaukee.com and Packer Report.

In addition to an expected heavy workload on offense during Thursday's game, rookie running back Marc Tyler has a new role on special teams against the Chargers. "It could be as the up-back on the punt cover team," writes Tom Silverstein of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. "Tyler was told Tuesday morning to go play the position because he would be needed when the Packers play the San Diego Chargers at Qualcomm Stadium." Tyler will see a lot of playing time this evening because the Packers have only two healthy halfbacks going into tonight's game.

More on Marc Tyler appears at JSOnline.

On the eve of his first game action as the Packers backup quarterback, Graham Harrell received a lot of attention with articles coming from the Associated Press, ESPNMilwaukee.com and Packer Report.

Pro Football Weekly attended Packers training camp this week and has items on Jeff Saturday, Jerel Worthy and upcoming Packers contracts.

Packers president Mark Murphy talked about retiring Brett Favre's number on Wednesday.

Wide receiver Tori Gurley's chances of making the Packers' roster are dwindling, suggests Fox Sports Wisconsin.

Rookie safety Jerron McMillian is featured in an article by Bob McGinn of the Journal Sentinel.

The Packers are the favorites to win the Super Bowl, according to Las Vegas oddsmakers.

Tight end D.J. Williams is the subject of a post appearing at JSOnline.

Previews of the Packers-Chargers game come from the Journal Sentinel, Press-Gazette, Packerpedia and AllGreenBayPackers.com.

The play of running back Brandon Saine is analyzed at AllGreenBayPackers.com.

Video: Graham Harrell talks about Thursday's game, courtesy of the Press-Gazette...

Brian Carriveau is the editor at Cheesehead TV. To contact Brian, email [email protected].

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Comments (2)

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Lucky953's picture

August 09, 2012 at 09:28 am

As we get to roster cutdown dates I expect Ted to pick up another o-line guy or two. None of the undrafted guys from this year or holdovers from last year have been able to step up and make a statement so far

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jrunde10's picture

August 09, 2012 at 12:23 pm

I don't think Matthews meant it quite the way it was interpretted. Yeah, Matthews said they beat themselves, but it's obvious that his express intent wasn't to slight the Giants or their accomplishments. I think Tuck knows that, he's just overcompensating so he can motivate himself. Anyway, it WAS their worst game of the season and they did make pretty awful mistakes (i.e. The Peprah tackle, Bradshaw's run before half and the Hail Mary). Even if there was shades of this poor play before the playoffs, everyone knows the Packers could have performed better, even Tuck. What Tuck should have said was, "Yes, the Packers could have played better. And Yes, they did give us some gifts. But, mistakes aside, we still outclassed them."

Either way, does anyone have the full interview where Matthews said this? If he gave it up to the Giants in any way, I would say the statement is null. If he didn't, I still don't care. Matthews and that D should recognize that they should have played better. That effort and focus was terrible. They are capable of better. Matthews isn't making excuses for his team's mistakes, he's owning up to them.

Tuck has a case, but he's being a bully and a blow-hard. Matthews didn't intend to offend anyone and he shouldn't be afraid of Tuck or the Giants. The bar for bold statements has been raised so high in the last 10 years, this isn't even a footnote. Tuck's is obviously ranting and this would have been overlooked had he not over-reacting to a tiny fragment of an interview.

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