State of the Packers - McCarthy Edition

[Berliner]

About RBs and the running game:

Rob Demovsky ‏@RobDemovsky 31m
MM on running game: "Our running backs need to get better. ... We need to produce better. Can't cut it any differently."

tom silverstein ‏@TomSilverstein 35m
MM: We've expanded our running game. Have to watch ourself that we don't do too much. Have concepts but variations have to adapt to team.

tom silverstein ‏@TomSilverstein 27m
MM: We've expanded our running game. Have to watch ourself that we don't do too much. Have concepts but variations have to adapt to team.

tom silverstein ‏@TomSilverstein 27m
MM: Part need to improve is when you just line up and run, not when Rodgers has options to call run or pass.

Jason Wilde ‏@jasonjwilde 29m
McCarthy on Harris: "I wish we'd have had DuJuan earlier. ... Once he got ready, I felt great about the way DuJuan finished the season."

Jason Wilde ‏@jasonjwilde 29m
More McCarthy on DuJuan Harris: "He's going to play for us next year now. That's his responsibility to prove he's a starter."

tom silverstein ‏@TomSilverstein 41m
MM: Would like to get into a 1-2 punch with the backs. It really helps if you can keep doing it with same guys. Starks, Green weren't 100%.

Jason Wilde ‏@jasonjwilde 42m
McCarthy on RBs: "James Starks has to stay healthy. Alex Green wasn't quite back from his (knee) injury. He wasn't 100 percent."

Safeties

Jason Wilde ‏@jasonjwilde 32m
McCarthy on safety position: "We've got some really good young guys."

Jason Wilde ‏@jasonjwilde 32m
More McCarthy on @nickdapick36: "Your talking about a guy in the middle of probably a @ProFootballHOF career."

Jason Wilde ‏@jasonjwilde 33m
McCarthy on not replacing Collins: "Nick was a great player. I don't know if Ted (Thompson) will ever get over that one."

Rob Demovsky ‏@RobDemovsky 32m
MM: "I feel very good about Morgan back there, and I like our young guys."

tom silverstein ‏@TomSilverstein 33m
MM: Morgan Burnett has to cash in on opportunities around the ball. He was very productive down at the line of scrimmage. Like young guys.

WR

Jason Wilde ‏@jasonjwilde 36m
McCarthy on Cobb: "I feel very good about him in the slot." On Nelson: "We just have to get him healthy."

Jason Wilde ‏@jasonjwilde 36m
McCarthy: "If Jordy and James and Randall can stay healthy all year ... we feel good about our perimeter group."

Jason Wilde ‏@jasonjwilde 10m
McCarthy with high praise for Jarrett Boykin. "He's a good football player." Glad he ran poorly at #NFLCombine and was available to them.

CB

Jason Wilde ‏@jasonjwilde 7m
McCarthy on @devo_31: "You could've made the point the first three weeks of training camp, he might've been our best corner."

Rob Demovsky ‏@RobDemovsky 7m
MM on whether Woodson could return: "I haven't been part of that conversation."

Rob Demovsky ‏@RobDemovsky 8m
MM: "Davon House had surgery."

Rob Demovsky ‏@RobDemovsky 22m
MM on T. Williams: I know he wants to get back to the way he played in 2010. Injuries part of the game, sometimes it takes a little longer.

tom silverstein ‏@TomSilverstein 22m
MM on Tramon W: "We need to get on the same page with him (in regard to injury). But he's a pro. Injuries are part of the game."

OL

Jason Wilde ‏@jasonjwilde 44m
McCarthy on Sherrod: "Anytime you break bones and try to categorize injuries, there was more to it."

Jason Wilde ‏@jasonjwilde 45m
McCarthy on Sherrod: "We've just got to get him out of this medical category." In training room/weight room every day.

Rob Demovsky ‏@RobDemovsky 45m
MM on Sherrod: "Not a day I haven't walked thru the training room and he's not there working and training."

Jason Wilde ‏@jasonjwilde 46m
McCarthy on EDS: "He had segments of games where he didn't play as well as he should've. But overall work was something we can build on."

Rob Demovsky ‏@RobDemovsky 46m
MM: "I feel good about EDS. He's been (in GB). That says a lot about his commitment."

Rob Demovsky ‏@RobDemovsky 28m
MM: "Bulaga/Barclay with Josh on the right side was a good combination. We've got to get the left side better."tom silverstein ‏@TomSilverstein 29m

MM on Newhouse: "Marshall played OK. We need some improvement on the left side of line. Bulaga and Barkley with Josh was a good combination.

Defense

tom silverstein ‏@TomSilverstein 56m
MM: Can't have the same player on the dive and the pitch every play in the read-option. That's part of what we're studying in the off-season

Rob Demovsky ‏@RobDemovsky 56m
MM: Defensively, we just completed our scheme evaluation and Dom has come up with his recommendations. Now coming up with plan for next yr

Rob Demovsky ‏@RobDemovsky 57m
MM: We never countered the big play production against SF. Offensively, we had to play perfect.

tom silverstein ‏@TomSilverstein 57m
MM: Confidence wasn't there on defense. Did you play with enough vision to football? Never countered the big play production.

tom silverstein ‏@TomSilverstein 58m
MM: QB scrambles were huge plays. Talk on headsets were rush plans on third downs because of scrambles. Not as much read-option.

DL and LB

Jason Wilde ‏@jasonjwilde 14m
More McCarthy on @mneal96: "I look for Mike to have a little bit bigger role this year."

Jason Wilde ‏@jasonjwilde 14m
McCarthy on @mneal96: "Mike has a unique skill set. I think we could do a better job of taking advantage of those things."

tom silverstein ‏@TomSilverstein 22m
MM on NIck Perry's wrist: I've been told he'll be fine. He'll be ready to go.

Jason Wilde ‏@jasonjwilde 22m
McCarthy says he's gotten good signs on @NickTheGreat8's wrist. Says @BBulaga hopefully will be ready for April 15.

Rob Demovsky ‏@RobDemovsky 22m
MM on Nick Perry: "A guy who didn't know if he was going to be an OLB or a DE. ... He'll be better prepared this year."

tom silverstein ‏@TomSilverstein 26m
MM on OLB: We're confident he'll continue to progress at the position.

tom silverstein ‏@TomSilverstein 27m
MM on OLB: Ask who biggest surprise is and you have to say Dezman Moses. He played a lot of football for us. Feel very good about him.

TE and BJ Coleman

tom silverstein ‏@TomSilverstein 20m
MM on Tes: like to have two in-line type bodies. Expect Quarless to come back. He looks great. Maybe adding another bigger-body guy.

Jason Wilde ‏@jasonjwilde 20m
McCarthy on TEs, loss of @TCrabtree83: "I'd like to have one, two on-the-line tight ends. ... (Quarless) looks great."

tom silverstein ‏@TomSilverstein 40m
MM: Expect B.J. Coleman to push for the backup QB job. "He has to." Wish he was here now training. We'll go full bore when he's back."

Rob Demovsky ‏@RobDemovsky 40m
MM on BJ Coleman push for the No. 2 job: "I wish he was there working with us like the old days. Opp to train QBs should start in March."

ST

tom silverstein ‏@TomSilverstein 24m
MM: Talk about a leap of faith putting Jeremy Ross out there. You have to make tough decisions like that."

Rob Demovsky ‏@RobDemovsky 24m
MM on Ross: That fumbled punt was a huge momentum swing. To lose a series in that first half, that was obviously a big play.

Jason Wilde ‏@jasonjwilde 25m
McCarthy: "We put Jeremy Ross out there in some big football games. Talk about a leap of faith. I've never done that."

Rob Demovsky ‏@RobDemovsky 26m
MM on Jeremy Ross:Would have been great to have those guys earlier in training camp. We put him out there in some big games. Never done that

Jason Wilde ‏@jasonjwilde 34m
MM on Crosby: "I think (competition) definitely something we'll look at. (But) we feel good about the plan. He's an experienced kicker."

Rob Demovsky ‏@RobDemovsky 35m
MM on Crosby: "Competition's good. Don't think you can look past any performance and not think competition will help."

Sorry for so many quotes. But I wanted to include everything

[NormSizedMidget]

Yay! Thanks.

[Kevolu]

Give me another one. What else has he said.

[Kevolu]

The biggest things I take away from it....

1. Sherrod has to worry Packer fans. He really wont guarantee anything or even hint at anything.

2. MM sure loves him some UDFA's. Barclay and Moses really weren't very good last year unless your expecting them to be below average but happy with that because they weren't ready coming out of college.

3. MM and Dom are going to get huge production out of Mike Neal next year and they're fully expecting it. There was a few game's towards the end where they got creative with Neal and Matthews and they were unstoppable. I expect more of the same. If healthy I honestly believe he could be just as good as Jenkins in his prime.

4. a TE will be picked up in the draft.

5. I thought they would be more enthusiastic about EDS. He had some very solid games as a run blocker. There were some really bad games though also. I believe he gave up 1 pressure in all of his starts.

6. Quarless will be ready which is great. He was 10x the inline blocker that Crabtree was. I'll never forget that block on Jared Allen then improvises for Rodgers and makes a awesome play better by getting a 1st down.

7. They don't see Dujuan as an every down back. I honestly believe Dujuan Harris could prove them wrong. I know MM and TT have a problem with smaller backs though.

[Berliner]

Give me another one. What else has he said.

That's everything what they posted on Twitter. If I find anything new, I'm going to post it here.

[TC119]

"If Jordy and James and Randall can stay healthy all year ... we feel good about our perimeter group."

That's a big IF. I have to think they're drafting one that can play right away if need be.

[NormSizedMidget]

The biggest things I take away from it....

1. Sherrod has to worry Packer fans. He really wont guarantee anything or even hint at anything.

2. MM sure loves him some UDFA's. Barclay and Moses really weren't very good last year unless your expecting them to be below average but happy with that because they weren't ready coming out of college.

3. MM and Dom are going to get huge production out of Mike Neal next year and they're fully expecting it. There was a few game's towards the end where they got creative with Neal and Matthews and they were unstoppable. I expect more of the same. If healthy I honestly believe he could be just as good as Jenkins in his prime.

4. a TE will be picked up in the draft.

5. I thought they would be more enthusiastic about EDS. He had some very solid games as a run blocker. There were some really bad games though also. I believe he gave up 1 pressure in all of his starts.

6. Quarless will be ready which is great. He was 10x the inline blocker that Crabtree was. I'll never forget that block on Jared Allen then improvises for Rodgers and makes a awesome play better by getting a 1st down.

7. They don't see Dujuan as an every down back. I honestly believe Dujuan Harris could prove them wrong. I know MM and TT have a problem with smaller backs though.

Anyone get the feeling that one part was a move from the ZBS. That scheme talk?

I didn't get #7. I don't think they said he can't be an every down back. They said he had a chance to be our starter Seemed pretty pleased to me.

"If Jordy and James and Randall can stay healthy all year ... we feel good about our perimeter group."

That's a big IF. I have to think they're drafting one that can play right away if need be.

I hope we def do that last part. If even they guaranteed health.

[Berliner]

Sometime we should appreciate the Packers coverage.

During a Q&A with Rob Demovsky

Michael: He was good. He knows what he's getting into. That session is designed to be an hour-long Q&A. But it goes to show you the depth of coverage on the Packers beat. There were several coaches who had only one or two reporters at his table at a time.

[Kevolu]

I didn't get #7. I don't think they said he can't be an every down back. They said he had a chance to be our starter Seemed pretty pleased to me.

Jason Wilde ‏@jasonjwilde 29m
More McCarthy on DuJuan Harris: "He's going to play for us next year now. That's his responsibility to prove he's a starter."

tom silverstein ‏@TomSilverstein 41m
MM: Would like to get into a 1-2 punch with the backs. It really helps if you can keep doing it with same guys. Starks, Green weren't 100%.


Don't you think if they thought he could be an every down back he would of just left it at the first comment. I've heard numerous times MM talking about RB by committee. He has said in the past he would rather have 1 bell cow back. Just kind of makes me think they see Dujuan as a main contributor in a rotation.

[NormSizedMidget]

I kind of agree with him there.

I mean, it would be really beneficial to have another guy in the mix. A real guy.

But he said, prove he's a starter.

He does really feel like a COP back so I get it.

[Tram0n man]

Does anyone really think dujuan is going to be a "starter"?

Starter as in an every down 20+ carry guy?

Not that hes not good but I dont see him being what most would say a "starter"

Real excited for House, Perry, Sherrod, Quarless, and Bishop

[NormSizedMidget]

Does anyone really think dujuan is going to be a "starter"?

Starter as in an every down 20+ carry guy?

There's like 5 backs in the league MM would run 20 times a game.


Lol

[Tram0n man]

There's like 5 backs in the league MM would run 20 times a game.


Lol

He wants to though
He attempted it with alex green
Starks was barely alive all season and he had a 25 attempt game
Pretty sure Grant broke 20 in that Titan game too
Dujuan barely knew the offense but week 17 he had like 15 carries

[NormSizedMidget]

And Green got like 1 YPC when he tried that hahaha

I was being a bit facetious btw.

[StickyGreenFan]

3. MM and Dom are going to get huge production out of Mike Neal next year and they're fully expecting it. There was a few game's towards the end where they got creative with Neal and Matthews and they were unstoppable. I expect more of the same. If healthy I honestly believe he could be just as good as Jenkins in his prime.

7. They don't see Dujuan as an every down back. I honestly believe Dujuan Harris could prove them wrong. I know MM and TT have a problem with smaller backs though.

could this be the return of... wait for it... mike.... ****ing ... neal?? Lol
i was lookin forward to seein him play few years ago but he hasnt stayed healthy, this year will probably define him as failed draft pick, average at best, or realized potential.

and i think harris benefited from having fresh legs late in the season, i want more of a sample size. i got my hopes up with starks and he failed miserably after that solid late season playoff run in '10