Zero2Cool
14 years ago
http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/sports/106422873.html 

East Rutherford, N.J. - Amidst all the raves about how well a couple of the new guys filled in and some of the established guys carried the load, Green Bay Packers safety Charlie Peprah did, with little fanfare, what he's supposed to do.

He played like a starter.

Peprah took over the job Week 5 after rookie Morgan Burnett tore a ligament in his knee and took his lumps against Washington. But since then he's been a solid performer who will be hard for former starter Atari Bigby to knock out of the lineup when he comes off the physically unable to perform list.

"I'm just focusing on going out there and contributing," Peprah said after making four tackles and breaking up two passes in a 9-0 shutout of the New York Jets Sunday at New Meadowlands Stadium. "I just want to be a guy they can count on and be consistent.

"Whatever they ask, that's what I'm going to do. When I'm out there I try to have fun."

The 5-11, 203-pound Peprah started the game playing up near the line of scrimmage to help defend against the Jets' rushing game, but at the end he was making plays deep in the secondary that allowed the Packers to hang on for the victory.

The two biggest plays Peprah made came in the fourth quarter with the Jets fighting to make a comeback. Both times, Peprah came up big, dislodging the ball from receivers after it looked like they had made the catch.

The most important one was on fourth and 8 at the Green Bay 35 when quarterback Mark Sanchez thought he had receiver Jerricho Cotchery open down the seam. Cotchery had the ball in his arms, but Peprah came from behind and made him cough it up with a hit in the back.

"I was just playing the ball," Peprah said. "He (Sanchez) had time to move around. I had my depth and broke deep to short and tried to get the pick."

Cotchery gave all the credit to Peprah for the play.

"When I went up and caught the ball and brought it in, he put his helmet right on the ball and plucked it right out," Cotchery said. "I said to myself, 'You've got to be kidding me.' Play after play, they did a great job playing the ball."

The drop zone: [ul]Wide receiver James Jones can't seem to put together back-to-back good performances.

A week after catching four passes for 107 yards against Minnesota, Jones did not catch a single pass on the five throws targeted to him. The worse play he had was a clear drop on a beautiful deep pass quarterback Aaron Rodgers threw to him down the right sideline.

Jones has cornerback Antonio Cromartie beat, but he simply dropped the ball.

"You know how momentum can swing in a game," offensive coordinator Joe Philbin said. "One or two big plays do you a favor, guys gain some confidence and all of a sudden that big play spawns another big play. We didn't seem to quite get over the hump with that."
[/ul]
The entertainer: [ul]Defensive end Cullen Jenkins was cleared to play Saturday after making it through a Friday practice with no adverse affect to his strained calf muscle.

So, everyone expected him to be in uniform.

What they didn't expect was him to roll into the locker room before the game dressed as "Mr. T", including a full Mohawk haircut, long feathery ear rings and enough bling around his neck to weigh down a smaller man.

"I was the only one that dressed up (for Halloween)," Jenkins said. "I guess people on our team just weren't in the spirit."

Actually, they were. Not only did they welcome Jenkins back onto the field, where he played a full dose of plays, they enjoyed his comic routine.

"I'm glad he did that because we talked about that for awhile, we felt like we weren't having as much fun as we do as a team and I think that did a lot for us," Peprah said. "He's a guy in the locker room that keeps spirits high. He's a great locker room guy to have on the team. Funny dude."

Jenkins finished with just one tackle, but he knocked down a pass and kept a steady rush on Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez. He did it with a reduced wrap on his left hand, which he broke in the season opener and required a padded club.

"It was huge," Jenkins said. "There were times coming off the edge, I can get that hand back in and I'm getting a little push with it and I can control the placement of it. We still have to strengthen up the wrist and everything, and get it going."
[/ul]
Big man in the house: [ul]According to an ESPN New York report, the reason the Jets released defensive lineman Howard Green was because he had ballooned up to 375 pounds.

Green said this week he was 360, but it's very possible he weighed a lot more. The Packers didn't care what the scale said Wednesday when they were awarded him off waivers from the Jets because they were so desperate for defensive line help.

As it turned out, Green was more than just a body. He played about 25 snaps and was in on two tackles while helping the defense hold Jets running backs to a long run of 8 yards. It was a nice day for a guy who thought he would be on the street this week.

"I thought Howard Green did a nice job stepping in today," coach Mike McCarthy said. "That's a very good running team."

Green's best play came on an end around that he read in which he put a hit on receiver Jerricho Cotchery, causing a fumble and eventual 8-yard loss. He shot through the line to get to the ball.

"I was just doing my job and my job at that time was to slant inside and get into my gap and I noticed nobody really blocked me," Green said. "I think (tackle Damien) Woody may have shoved me and given me a push, that was it.

"I knew something had to be funny about it. My instincts told me to just stop and see what was going on and here he comes with the ball."[/ul]

The big set-up: [ul]All day long outside linebacker Clay Matthews was trying to get around the 340-pound Woody, but with the Packers only rushing three much of the day, he just didn't have a lot of success.

That is, until a third down play on the Jets' final series.

Matthews put a spin move on Woody and left him the dust, allowing him to sack his former USC teammate, quarterback Mark Sanchez.

"It was tough," Matthews said. "You're trying to work your guy and figure him out. He's a big guy and has been around this league for awhile. He knows what he's doing.

" I felt like I had him beat on a couple of speed rushes early on, he caught on to that and started setting quick, so I was setting him up for a quick spin move and what better time to have it happen then on third down there."[/ul]


UserPostedImage
musccy
14 years ago
I was going to ask about Green. I saw them in there, their running game was avg, so I figured he had a decent game but didn't focus on him enough to draw any conclusion.
yooperfan
14 years ago
It was great that Howard Green was able to step in so quickly and play 25 snaps effectively.
It certainly didn't hurt that "Howard Huge" was familiar with the Jets offense, he was really what the doctor ordered for the Packers defense, hopefully he will be a factor for the Packers for the rest of the season.

The battle between Clay Matthews and Damien Woody was both intriguing and frustrating. There is no question that Clay gave 110 % 100% of the time and it finally paid off at a critical time.
Fan Shout
Zero2Cool (10h) : Both LB Quay Walker and Rookie DB Micah Robinson have passed their physicals
Zero2Cool (11h) : Happy to see site feels more snappy snappy
Zero2Cool (11h) : No sir. I did not.
dfosterf (11h) : You didn't get free childcare when you were at work?
wpr (12h) : These guys make hundreds of thousands of dollars a year. Pay for their own childcare.
dfosterf (13h) : 2nd issue. Number 1 issue was no gameday childcare. 1 of 3 teams not providing it
Zero2Cool (13h) : Suppose if locker room is main issue, we sitting pretty
wpr (13h) : I thought so Mucky. In those useless player polls GB always rates high overall. Locker is a part of it.
Mucky Tundra (14h) : Wasn't the locker room just updated like 6 or 7 years ago?
Zero2Cool (14h) : I have forum updated on different site. We'll see how this one goes before going to that
Zero2Cool (15h) : Elgton Jenkins has a back injury, is expect to end contract dispute
wpr (17h) : It's funny the PA complained about the locker room. It wasn't that long ago it was top shelf. Things change in a hurry.
wpr (17h) : The site is much more better.
Zero2Cool (17h) : NFLPA report said Packers lockerroom needed upgrade. Whining bout where you change?
Zero2Cool (17h) : I saw that and thought it was kind of lame.
dfosterf (17h) : Packers new locker room is pretty awesome. Great for morale, imo
Zero2Cool (18h) : Shuffled things on the web server. Hope it makes it faster.
Zero2Cool (18h) : Other times, it's turtle ass
Zero2Cool (18h) : Sometimes it's snappy, like now.
beast (19h) : I feel like it's loading at the top of the next minute, or something like that.
beast (19h) : Also the thanks/heart takes FOREVER to load, and posting in the shout box takes three times FOREVER!
beast (19h) : Thanks for saying something, I thought it was slow, but assumed it was on my end
beast (19h) : Thanks for saying something, I thought it was slow, but assumed it was on my end
Zero2Cool (19h) : Yeah, I noticed that too. Is it slow for PackerPeople.com too?
wpr (20h) : I don't know what you IT guys call it but the page loading is very slow for me today.
Zero2Cool (20h) : SSL might be settled now.
Zero2Cool (23-Jul) : Still working through SSL cert issues
wpr (23-Jul) : Glad to be back
Zero2Cool (23-Jul) : I think PH original finally working.
dfosterf (22-Jul) : Can tell you are having a fun day Kev
Zero2Cool (22-Jul) : Yep, I had to manually move them. It'll fix itself after more posts.
Mucky Tundra (22-Jul) : Same deal with the songs/videos thread, says you replied last but when I go there it's what I posted earlier is last
Zero2Cool (22-Jul) : I had to manually move three posts.
Mucky Tundra (22-Jul) : But when I go it, Martha's is the last reply
Mucky Tundra (22-Jul) : Still a little screwy; it shows on the main forum that you were the last person to reply to the Jenkins trade thread
Zero2Cool (22-Jul) : Host issues, been crazy day
Mucky Tundra (22-Jul) : Connect 4?
Zero2Cool (22-Jul) : Connecting to new database
Zero2Cool (22-Jul) : What the hell
beast (22-Jul) : Packershome going to the Whiteout unis again
Zero2Cool (21-Jul) : Oh wait, they got Cam Ward. 1st overall right? haha oops
Zero2Cool (21-Jul) : They could send Packers a 1st for a QB they are familiar with
Zero2Cool (21-Jul) : Titans QB Will Levis to have season-ending shoulder surgery
Zero2Cool (19-Jul) : Their season did kind of start there, so 🤷
dfosterf (19-Jul) : Eagles put an engraved Brazil flag on their super bowl rings
Zero2Cool (18-Jul) : Benton unsigned no more
Zero2Cool (17-Jul) : That's good analysis, yes you are getting old. It'd a blessing!
dfosterf (14-Jul) : *analysis* gettin' old
dfosterf (14-Jul) : One of the best analyisis I"ve ever watched at this time of an offseason
dfosterf (14-Jul) : Andy Herman interviewed Warren Sharp on his Pack a day podcast
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