Packers' running game tough to judge
 
Only small sample size available from No. 1 unit
By Tom Silverstein of the Journal Sentinel
Aug. 22, 2010

Green Bay If Green Bay Packers coach Mike McCarthy was making a list of things he has accomplished during training camp, it might look something like this:

Get Aaron Rodgers clicking.

Elevate Jermichael Finley's impact.

Establish a static offensive line.

Involve James Jones and Jordy Nelson more.

Put Bryan Bulaga on a fast track.

Establish the running game. (Will get to later)

Roughly three weeks before the Packers open the regular season, McCarthy and his offensive staff probably know about as much about their running attack as they did the day training camp opened.

In two exhibition games, starting running back Ryan Grant has carried the ball eight times, two fewer than the team's three quarterbacks.

Quinn Porter, Brandon Jackson and Kregg Lumpkin all have more carries than Grant, who, to be fair, was very limited in the first game because he suffered a concussion.

But still, this is a team whose offense started on fire in the opener, played all summer with a stable offensive line and features a running back itching to get some work.

Saturday's game against Seattle would have been a good opportunity to find out about the running game.

But other than some second-half success with a number of offensive linemen who won't be around after roster cuts, there were no clues to where the running attack stands.

"I'm not overly concerned about the running game right now, but I'm not sure I have a ton of information yet either," offensive coordinator Joe Philbin said. "We've gotten a good amount of work in practice."

Part of the problem with testing out the running game this summer is that the passing game has been so effective it has made the handoff a second thought.

Rodgers has the option many times of checking out of running plays when he sees a good matchup, and these days with Finley and the receiving corps on top of their game, there are mismatches all over the field.

In the 27-24 victory over the Seahawks, Jackson, Porter and even fullback John Kuhn were a bigger part of the running game than Grant.

And while they combined for 137 yards on 26 carries, did it really mean all that much given it came against Seahawks second- and third-teamers?

"No matter with anything you never really know until the first game," Grant said. "We feel like what we're doing is pretty good work. We need to clean things up here and there and keep going. . . . I have to make sure that the carries I do have I take advantage of."

Grant played all but one of the 17 snaps the No. 1 offense played against the Seahawks and touched the ball six times. He had good runs - an 8-yard off-tackle play that was run confidently and with power - and there were bad ones. He let 197-pound cornerback Marcus Trufant take him down in the open field for a 2-yard gain.

Maybe his best play was an 8-yard gain on a screen pass on which he allowed his blockers to catch up to him and lead him down field.

Going into the game, Grant mostly wanted to re-establish himself after fumbling on his first carry against Cleveland and then getting hit in the head on the third carry and calling it a night. He had to sit out two practices and took part in just one pads practice before the Seahawks game.

"I wanted to get back into it, have live snaps, get into the physical part of the game," Grant said. "Just banging guys and getting hit. That was the emphasis for me."

"I felt good. Got hit. It felt good, when I hit. I came out OK. I wanted to play sound football. Now, we move forward. I think we're doing pretty well."

Running the ball has always been more of a plan than a reality under McCarthy and there's no reason to think it will change this year. The 2009 offense became only the third in team history to top 6,000 yards and it did it by throwing 58% of the time.

Given the development of Finley and the advancement of Jones and Nelson, there's no reason to believe 2010 will be much different.

But if McCarthy wants a team that can finish games in the fourth quarter and win games in December and January, he will have to at least take the running game out for a spin once in awhile.

"In most NFL games, it seems the second half is when the run takes over anyway," Philbin said of the lack of work this summer for Grant. With the first string, Philbin said, "we had two series in there. I think we had a couple more when we played Cleveland.

"It's hard to tell (where you're at). You're never really sure. We use the analogy that last year was in the seven years I've been here by far the best offensive production we've ever had in the preseason and it didn't translate early on. And we've had some pretty good offenses in the past that didn't function well in the preseason."

From the No. 1 offensive line's standpoint, it would be nice to get some more work running the ball, especially if Philadelphia's blitz on opening day becomes so maddening that the ground game is the best option. But at this point, it has to settle for what it can get.

"We still had a handful of reps running the rock," guard Josh Sitton said. "You evaluate what you can. We still practice every day. Really, you just keep practicing it.

"If the game plan goes to throwing the ball a lot, if that's the look they give us, you take what you get."