Packers 2022 Discussion Thread

[UpandIn]

17 minutes ago, Fear The Chorizo said:

He'll get plenty of carries, and probably quite a few balls thrown his way.  Would be nice for the Packer MLBs to have a solid game so Fournette doesn't become the focal point of an offense with a decimated receiving corps.  If I'm GB I'd sell out on the run early and play man behind it to force Brady into finding a matchup in the passing game that's actually favorable for them to move the ball consistently.  A gimpy Kevin King isn't going to be on the field in the Packer secondary Sunday.

That should be the game plan. That, call up maybe Kobe Jones...which they won't do, but anyone other than Garvin as he's been just brutal. 

They'll need to rotate as the Packers don't do well in the heat and humidity in FL. Can't play Clark, Smith and Gary 40 snaps. So Kobe Jones at OLBer. He's not a great athlete, but he's physical. And then we need pressure up the middle when get them in passing downs. That's always been the way to beat Brady. 

Without Barnes...I guess Wilborn gets called up? Or maybe DQ Thomas. He's a more physical LBer.

 

[Ron Robinsons Beard]

8 hours ago, UpandIn said:

Well...hopefully that just means his 2 days of practice will be Thursday and Friday. 

Tampa Bay has a nice natural grass stadium...the heat and the humidity should help Bahk's knee stay loose. 

If he doesn't play this week...

This is exactly what my thoughts are. If he doesn't go today, it's obvious that he had another setback. Then who knows what's going on moving forward. It sure would be nice if the team wasn't so evasive when it comes to injuries. I know ... competitive advantage blah, blah, blah. The fact that they never give a definitive answer on the team's franchise left tackle sucks. For a team that is owned by fans and goes out of its way to be a part of the community, there are many parts of the franchise that are shrouded in mystery. I've been a pretty big fan of Lafleur from the get-go, but this is one part of the way he does his job that I hate. As a former newspaper beat reporter, I can't imagine how frustrating it is covering this team when they basically operate under a cover of darkness and give you next to nothing.

[Fear The Chorizo]

 I know ... competitive advantage blah, blah, blah. The fact that they never give a definitive answer on the team's franchise left tackle sucks. 

At this point I think MLF's as frustrated as anyone specific to Bakh's uneven recovery and he's grown fed up with having to answer the same questions repeatedly.  As a coach, he's got to worry about winning games with the roster that is actually in uniform on gameday.    In MLF's defense, it's tough to come up with coachspeak when he doesn't know what a truthful and straightforward answer actually is regarding when Bakh's back playing and what level of performance they can expect from him.  He can't just come right out and say "we think he could suit up and play at a high level this week, but if he does there's a good chance Bakh may have to sit out the next 2 weeks to get his knee feeling right again based on what we've seen over the past year".

Based on the couple dozen snaps Bakh had in week 17 last year at Detroit, I don't think he's going to be a turnstyle when he does play - my concern is can he get through a full game and be available to suit up again the next week, or does the knee continue reacting poorly to game-intensity stress that forces him to sit out another month or two before trying to play again.  They won't know a definitive answer to that question until he actually plays, and I really don't think delaying additional weeks before getting him on the field will make a difference.

[Ron Robinsons Beard]

3 minutes ago, Fear The Chorizo said:

 I know ... competitive advantage blah, blah, blah. The fact that they never give a definitive answer on the team's franchise left tackle sucks. 

At this point I think MLF's as frustrated as anyone specific to Bakh's uneven recovery and he's grown fed up with having to answer the same questions repeatedly.  As a coach, he's got to worry about winning games with the roster that is actually in uniform on gameday.    In MLF's defense, it's tough to come up with coachspeak when he doesn't know what a truthful and straightforward answer actually is regarding when Bakh's back playing and what level of performance they can expect from him.  He can't just come right out and say "we think he could suit up and play at a high level this week, but if he does there's a good chance Bakh may have to sit out the next 2 weeks to get his knee feeling right again based on what we've seen over the past year".

Based on the couple dozen snaps Bakh had in week 17 last year at Detroit, I don't think he's going to be a turnstyle when he does play - my concern is can he get through a full game and be available to suit up again the next week, or does the knee continue reacting poorly to game-intensity stress that forces him to sit out another month or two before trying to play again.  They won't know a definitive answer to that question until he actually plays, and I really don't think delaying additional weeks before getting him on the field will make a difference.

Really good point. It's "put up or shut up" time now. It doesn't do anyone on the team any good to have this "will he or won't he" dynamic every week. He either plays soon, or you end the mystery and just put him on IR and move on with Yosh. He has been serviceable at the very least in that spot, and perhaps would even take another step without looking over his shoulder at the constant threat of an All-Pro talent coming to take his job back.  

[PeaveyFury]

Bahk did practice today, for those interested. Limited participation, per the injury report.

[Ron Robinsons Beard]

14 hours ago, PeaveyFury said:

Bahk did practice today, for those interested. Limited participation, per the injury report.

Yep. I would think that if he goes today, there's probably a pretty decent chance that he plays on Sunday, provided he feels good tomorrow after going two days straight. But in this particular case, who knows?

[endaround]

Who had Game 3 as the first Watkins was going to miss due to injury?

[HarveysWBs]

3 hours ago, endaround said:

Who had Game 3 as the first Watkins was going to miss due to injury?

I was really hoping he’d at least make it until October, but he is nothing if not consistent.  Time for Doubs to grow up fast.

[UpandIn]

22 minutes ago, HarveysWBs said:

I was really hoping he’d at least make it until October, but he is nothing if not consistent.  Time for Doubs to grow up fast.

That...also time for Rodgers to give the rookies a little bit more of a shot.

There's a montage of Watson/Doubs getting open and Rodgers not throwing it to them. Now...obviously there are reasons why you miss an open WRer on a particular play, but there were multiple plays last week where the Bears were in single high man with someone in press vs Watson...a situation Rodgers would certainly take note of and even if it were MVS likely throw the ball their way...and instead he's opted to check it down or hold onto it.

I get he dropped that ball vs Minnesota, but this is an issue with Rodgers. You'll see other QBs go right back to a guy after a big drop, Rodgers doesn't with rookies. And rookie drops are hardly rare. Chase had a big drop problem last year(though his big issue was in pre-season, a luxury we didn't have with Watson). But even Julio, Calvin Johnson, TO, obviously Adams and Nelson in particular had issue with drops. James Jones was notoriously bad dropping would be TDs during that SB run in 2010.

Even in limited snaps, Watson has been impressive with the ball in his hands. He is a tank, he is fast and he is also quick. It's not just a long stride, he makes people miss. So hopefully we can get the ball in his hands on some basic routes. Some slants, digs. Easy catches and then watch him run through the secondary(though Winfield and Tampa's secondary is pretty physical). 

 

But...if we have Bahktiari, Jenkins and Rodgers out there, I'm pretty confident the rest of the offense will figure it out. Also expect more out of Dillon as I think he's left a lot of yards on the field...which is a little outside the norm.

[DuWayne Steurer]

Watkins put on IR and will miss (at least) the next four games.

Gasp.

Shocker.

[HarryDoyle]

WTH were the Packers thinking signing Watkins? Really, what? The guy probably pulled his hammy getting out of bed.

[HarryDoyle]

Meanwhile, on this day 10 years ago, a day that will live in infamy...

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3WJai4nrJ9c

 

[CheezWizHed]

3 hours ago, HarryDoyle said:

WTH were the Packers thinking signing Watkins? Really, what? The guy probably pulled his hammy getting out of bed.

To be fair, I think they expected to get one starting WR out of Watkins and Cobb combined. Getting two starts a the same time was just a bonus..  

[PeaveyFury]

I’m stunned that no one is discussing the report that Bakh is expected to start tomorrow yet….

[PeaveyFury]

4 hours ago, HarryDoyle said:

WTH were the Packers thinking signing Watkins? Really, what? The guy probably pulled his hammy getting out of bed.

The Packers are literally paying him less than their punter. I’d say they adequately accounted for the risk associated with the signing.

[Fear The Chorizo]

2 hours ago, PeaveyFury said:

I’m stunned that no one is discussing the report that Bakh is expected to start tomorrow yet….

Many are probably locked in the "believe it when I see it" mindset with him at this point.  I'm most interested in seeing how Bakh  gets through the following week of practice after actually playing a game and if he's good to suit up and play that next game.  You can't find out an answer to that question until he gets back on the field for that first game, which is hopefully tomorrow afternoon.

 

[CheezWizHed]

Yes, Wait and see. The report I read said that he needed to be ok after the flight and warm-ups.  Honestly.... that didn't give me much confidence if it that was all it took to have him sit again.

[UpandIn]

1 hour ago, CheezWizHed said:

Yes, Wait and see. The report I read said that he needed to be ok after the flight and warm-ups.  Honestly.... that didn't give me much confidence if it that was all it took to have him sit again.

You could easily argue this man is our 2nd most important player.

It's been 20 months since he had what we were all led to believe was a normal ACL.

Comes back, 2nd surgery, he needs to get a routine clean-up. Fine, that's relatively normal. 

Goes out, plays a game and DOESN'T recover. He's told it's fine, just let it calm down, let the swelling go down and it'll be fine.
A couple months later he's hiking and he knows the knee's not right...and he's told he needs another surgery. 

5 years in a row the guy is an All Pro LT(1st OR 2nd team) and then he misses two playoff runs and he can't get his knee right.

Oh, and he getting paid a whole lot of money with 3 years left on his deal(which they could get out of next year if they don't mind paying the 23M+ cap hit to NOT have an AP LT.

 

Not that I think any of this is news to anyone on here, but when you kinda step back and look at it. Everything he's gone through, I'd imagine the mental hurdle, the apprehension on both sides is about as high as you can get. 

That said, even if he plays poorly tomorrow and gets beaten badly a couple times like Jenkins did, I won't really care as long as he gets through this week fine. Which I think he will(I also thought he'd play vs SF, so...).

[UpandIn]

4 hours ago, PeaveyFury said:

The Packers are literally paying him less than their punter. I’d say they adequately accounted for the risk associated with the signing.

Right...we didn't sign the guy under the impression he was some ironman. 

I wanted Julio as well...and I'd be more than happy to have him. We just need that guy who went off and popped for a couple big plays for 93 yards last week for a couple weeks at the end of the year.

2M for a guy like Watkins....a waste if you're the Bears, a worthwhile risk if you're the Packers. We'll get to the playoffs short of an injury to #12. We just need these guys to make it through a few more games once we get there. Watkins went off for KC in their SB run. 302 yards in 3 playoff games. The year before he went off vs the Pats in the game they lost in OT. 

 

It's a 2M dollar risk that he'll help you in the big games because he's got the talent and he's been there before...but he's not the guy you rely on to get you through the season. If he were...as you point out, he'd be paid more than Pat O'Donnell. 

[HarryDoyle]

13 hours ago, PeaveyFury said:

The Packers are literally paying him less than their punter. I’d say they adequately accounted for the risk associated with the signing.

Then whatever they're paying him is that amount more than he deserves.

[DuWayne Steurer]

I guess when your receiving corps is Allen Lazard and a bunch of rookies (all due respect.... Randall Cobb), I feel like the team shouldn't be gambling on the health of a guy like Sammy Watkins.  Sure, it's not costing them a lot of money, but I don't think that's the point. 

Maybe Watson and Doubs will get into the flow of the offense faster than expected, but I feel like they were counting on Watkins more than we think they were. 

Hopefully he's just out the four games or so, but I'm not holding my breath. 

[SeaBass]

Honestly I don't think Watkins landing on IR is the issue, it's that he was their only veteran free agent WR signing when virtually everyone expected him to be sidelined with an injury at some point this season. Hopefully the crew of inexperienced young guys the front office seems to hold in high regard prove everyone wrong. I'm not so confident though.

Today would be a great time for the TE group to step up.

[LouisEly]

46 minutes ago, DuWayne Steurer said:

I guess when your receiving corps is Allen Lazard and a bunch of rookies (all due respect.... Randall Cobb), I feel like the team shouldn't be gambling on the health of a guy like Sammy Watkins.  Sure, it's not costing them a lot of money, but I don't think that's the point. 

Maybe Watson and Doubs will get into the flow of the offense faster than expected, but I feel like they were counting on Watkins more than we think they were. 

Hopefully he's just out the four games or so, but I'm not holding my breath. 

When you look at what even marginal WRs were getting in FA in the offseason, they didn't have the cap space to get someone who was both "good" and "durable".  They had to pick one or the other.  I really believe they thought that Adams would resign - and they did offer more than the Raiders - but didn't anticipate how appealing playing with his college QB was. 

[HarryDoyle]

Sounds like Watson is out today. Both teams' receivers are going to have to wear nametags on their jerseys.

[PeaveyFury]

3 hours ago, HarryDoyle said:

Then whatever they're paying him is that amount more than he deserves.

Seems like an odd take. We saw his potential to contribute just last week. Obviously, the reason they were able to sign him was the fact that he took little money because of the associated risk.

Considering that Julio Jones, another player that fans wanted the Packers to sign, is also already battling nagging injuries and is likely to miss today's game, it shows that the 'veteran WRs' that were available this offseason all had flaws.