PackOne
16 years ago
http://www.greenbaypressgazette.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080901/PKR01/80901040/1058 

The Green Bay Packers face perhaps the NFLs best rushing offense in the Sept. 8 season opener against the Minnesota Vikings, and it looks like they might finally have their top run stopper back.


Defensive tackle Ryan Pickett got onto the practice field on Monday afternoon for the first time after missing all of training camp and the preseason with a hamstring injury. Though the Packers dont have to issue an official practice or injury report until Thursday, coach Mike McCarthy confirmed that Pickett worked today.

The Packers put Pickett through a multitude of tests over the weekend and finally cleared him to return for Mondays practice.

Pickett wasnt sure how many snaps he would play in the opener against the Vikings but considering how thin the Packers are at defensive tackle and that the Vikings last season led the league in rushing yards and rushing average thanks in large part to running back Adrian Peterson Pickett could get his usual workload despite missing the entire preseason.

General Manager Ted Thompson kept only three true defensive tackles Pickett, Johnny Jolly and Colin Cole on the 53-man roster. Last season, they opened with six, although only four were activated for the first game.

Were going to have a three-man rotation instead of six, Pickett said. I think its going to be great, and maybe Ill get more plays this year than I had last year. My first year (in Green Bay in 2006) I had so many and then it almost got cut in half last year. Im looking forward to having more plays.

Though Pickett was sweating at his locker following his post-practice shower, he said he never felt winded during practice.

I actually felt lighter on my feet if you can believe that, he said.

Pickett wouldnt disclose his weight, although he acknowledged that hes heavier than 330, which was his listed weight on the roster.

Just a little bit, but not too much, Pickett said. Im right on point. Im actually probably lighter than I was at this point last year.

KGB returns, too
Pickett wasnt the only defensive lineman to return to practice on Monday.

Defensive end Kabeer Gbaja-Biamila returned a week after he experienced a setback with his surgically repaired knee.

I did a little something out there today, he said after practice, and it felt good.

Asked whether it felt different than last Monday, when he returned only to drop out a day later due to recurring soreness, he said: It felt good, so thats very encouraging.

More injuries
Center Scott Wells also returned to practice on Monday after missing the last two preseason games with a lower back injury.

Others who appeared to be limited or out of practice were: safeties Atari Bigby (ankle) and Charlie Peprah (hamstring), linebackers A.J. Hawk (chest) and Tracy White (ankle), receiver James Jones (knee), guard Josh Sitton (knee), left tackle Chad Clifton (rest) and defensive end Jeremy Thompson (groin).

Its unlikely any of those players will return for Tuesdays practice but some could come back after Wednesdays off day.

I wanted to make sure I split the workload up and did all the heavy lifting early in the week but give the guys that are nicked time to get ready, McCarthy said. And well get their work at the end of the week.

Hodge is gone
To make room on the 53-man roster for new long snapper Brett Goode, the Packers cut linebacker Abdul Hodge, a third-round pick from the 2006 draft.

Hodge had a good training camp after patellar-tendon surgeries sidelined him all last season.

At the initial cuts to 53 players on Saturday, General Manager Ted Thompson kept Hodge as a seventh linebacker, which is one more than usual. But Thompson decided to cut Hodge instead of, among others, linebacker Tracy White, rookie tackle Breno Giacomini, safety Charlie Peprah and cornerback-safety Jarrett Bush.

Thompson said the Packers tried to trade Hodge over the weekend before cutting him Monday morning to make room for Goode.

Depth chart
Here are some notables from the teams unofficial depth chart, which the Packers released Monday:

Will Blackmon was listed as the punt returner ahead of Jordy Nelson and Tramon Williams. Blackmon and Nelson were listed as the top two kickoff returners ahead of Williams, Pat Lee and Kregg Lumpkin.

Blackmon was listed as the backup cornerback behind Charles Woodson, while Williams was behind Al Harris. That means Blackmon moved ahead of Jarrett Bush as the No. 4 cornerback.

The interior of the offensive line was Daryn Colledge at left guard, Wells at center and Jason Spitz at right guard.
UserPostedImage
bozz_2006
16 years ago
+1 for being the bringer of good news!

PS I love how Mike McCarthy aka Mr. Pittsburgh says that Pickett "worked" today.
UserPostedImage
longtimefan
16 years ago
I am more concerned with Pick making it back..I think in the long run we would miss him way more the kgb
bozz_2006
16 years ago
he practiced and he felt fine. i'm confused; are you still concerned?
UserPostedImage
longtimefan
16 years ago

he practiced and he felt fine. i'm confused; are you still concerned?

"bozz_2006" wrote:



Came across wrong...

I want him in the games much more then KGB..

.So if KGB has to sit out or get less playing time I am okay with that..
digsthepack
16 years ago
Looking at the roster composition along the DL and LB corps, I have to assume that Jenkins and/or Montgomery get a decent number of snaps inside on passing downs.....giving the interior rotation some additional bodies. That said, I just have a sneaking suspicion that the LB corps will be the unit that keys the defense this year.

Given the talent amongst the starting and backup LBs, I envision a lot more blitzing, and a lot more use of unusual formation/player groupings to be extremely disruptive. Sanders is of the Jim Bates mold....somewhat conservative in scheme....but Winston Moss has his title for a reason......to make sure that Bates follows through on McCarthy's desire to be more aggressive/disruptive with the defense this year, as the team DOES possess the talent to do so.

I have a sneaking suspicion that if Sanders is unable/unwilling to break from his comfort zone scheme-wise, that Moss will assume greater control over the defense and, as Maximus said in Gladiator, "unleash hell upon my command".

Just a thought......
State Motto: "Wisconsin, our serial murderers eat their kill!"
Fan Shout
packerfanoutwest (10h) : Jaire Alexander says he has a torn PCL
Zero2Cool (20-Nov) : Even with the context it's ... what?
Mucky Tundra (20-Nov) : Matt LaFleur without context: “I don’t wanna pat you on the butt and you poop in my hand.”
beast (20-Nov) : We brought in a former Packers OL coach to help evaluate OL as a scout
beast (20-Nov) : Jets have been pretty good at picking DL
Zero2Cool (20-Nov) : He landed good players thanks to high draft slot. He isn't good.
Zero2Cool (20-Nov) : He can shove his knowledge up his ass. He knows nothing.
beast (20-Nov) : More knowledge, just like bring in the Jets head coach
Zero2Cool (19-Nov) : What? Why? Huh?
beast (19-Nov) : I wonder if the Packers might to try to bring Douglas in through Milt Hendrickson/Ravens connections
Zero2Cool (19-Nov) : The Jets fired Joe Douglas, per sources
packerfanoutwest (19-Nov) : Jets are a mess......
Zero2Cool (19-Nov) : Pretty sure Jets fired their scouting staff and just pluck former Packers.
Zero2Cool (19-Nov) : Jets sign Anders Carlson to their 53.
Zero2Cool (19-Nov) : When you cycle the weeks, the total over remains for season. But you get your W/L for that selected week. Confusing.
packerfanoutwest (19-Nov) : the total and percentage are the same as the previous weeks
packerfanoutwest (19-Nov) : the total and percentage are the same as the previous weeks
packerfanoutwest (19-Nov) : the totals are accurate..nrvrtmind
Zero2Cool (19-Nov) : I don't follow what you are saying. The totals are not the same as last week.
packerfanoutwest (19-Nov) : ok so then wht are the totals the same as last week?
Zero2Cool (19-Nov) : NFL Pick'em is auto updated when NFL Scores tab is clicked
Martha Careful (19-Nov) : The offense was OK. Let's not forget the Bear defense is very very good.
packerfanoutwest (19-Nov) : Who updates the leaderboard on NFLPickem?
beast (19-Nov) : Has the Packers offense been worse since the former Jets coach joined the Packers?
Zero2Cool (19-Nov) : Offense gets his ass in gear, this could be good.
Zero2Cool (19-Nov) : Backup QB helped with three wins. Special Teams contributed to three wins.
bboystyle (18-Nov) : Lions played outside thats why. They scored 16 and 17 in the only 2 outside games this year
Zero2Cool (18-Nov) : The rest of the NFL is catching up to Packers ... kicking is an issue throughout league
packerfanoutwest (18-Nov) : Packers DL Kenny Clark: We knew 'we were going to block' Bears' game-winning field goal attempt
Zero2Cool (18-Nov) : Lions seem to be throttling everyone, but only (only) got 24 lol maybe the rain is why
Zero2Cool (18-Nov) : Packers vs Lions game doesn't seem so bad.
beast (18-Nov) : Dennis Green "They are what we thought they were, and we let them off the hook!"
Martha Careful (17-Nov) : comment of the day Z2Cool "Bears better than we want to admit. Packers worse than we think. It's facts."
Mucky Tundra (17-Nov) : my worst case scenario: Bears fix their oline and get a coach like Johnson from the Lions and his scheme
Zero2Cool (17-Nov) : Bears get OL fixed amd we might have a problem
buckeyepackfan (17-Nov) : Pretty sure they already have scouting reports on guys who aren't even starting for their college team. The future is now for me.
buckeyepackfan (17-Nov) : I tend to let Gute and Co. Worry about the future.
beast (17-Nov) : That's great news and Packers need to keep upgrading their OL, DL and DBs this off-season, so missing one guy doesn't kill them
beast (17-Nov) : That's great news and Packers need to keep upgrading their OL, DL and DBs this off-season, so missing one guy doesn't kill them
buckeyepackfan (17-Nov) : Jaire and Evans Williams are both ACTIVE! Good news.
Martha Careful (17-Nov) : The badgers really need to change the whole offensive scheme. No draws no screens plus the quarterback is marginal
Cheesey (17-Nov) : If the Badgers had a decent QB, they would have won. The guy can't hit a wide open receiver
Martha Careful (17-Nov) : chop block
Martha Careful (17-Nov) : there was a very questionable job Block call that upon viewing replay was very borderline
beast (17-Nov) : How so? (I didn't watch)
Zero2Cool (17-Nov) : Badgers got hosed vs Oregon
packerfanoutwest (16-Nov) : damn,he hasn't played since week 2
Mucky Tundra (15-Nov) : poor guy can't catch a break
wpr (15-Nov) : wow. That three different things for the kid.
Zero2Cool (15-Nov) : MarShawn Lloyd has appendicitis according to Matt LaFleur.
Please sign in to use Fan Shout
2024 Packers Schedule
Friday, Sep 6 @ 7:15 PM
Eagles
Sunday, Sep 15 @ 12:00 PM
COLTS
Sunday, Sep 22 @ 12:00 PM
Titans
Sunday, Sep 29 @ 12:00 PM
VIKINGS
Sunday, Oct 6 @ 3:25 PM
Rams
Sunday, Oct 13 @ 12:00 PM
CARDINALS
Sunday, Oct 20 @ 12:00 PM
TEXANS
Sunday, Oct 27 @ 12:00 PM
Jaguars
Sunday, Nov 3 @ 3:25 PM
LIONS
Sunday, Nov 17 @ 12:00 PM
Bears
Sunday, Nov 24 @ 3:25 PM
49ERS
Thursday, Nov 28 @ 7:20 PM
DOLPHINS
Thursday, Dec 5 @ 7:15 PM
Lions
Sunday, Dec 15 @ 7:20 PM
Seahawks
Monday, Dec 23 @ 7:15 PM
SAINTS
Sunday, Dec 29 @ 12:00 PM
Vikings
Saturday, Jan 4 @ 11:00 PM
BEARS
Recent Topics
13h / Green Bay Packers Talk / Martha Careful

15h / Green Bay Packers Talk / Zero2Cool

19h / Green Bay Packers Talk / Zero2Cool

20h / Green Bay Packers Talk / Zero2Cool

21-Nov / Green Bay Packers Talk / beast

20-Nov / Green Bay Packers Talk / Zero2Cool

20-Nov / Green Bay Packers Talk / Zero2Cool

20-Nov / Green Bay Packers Talk / beast

20-Nov / Green Bay Packers Talk / beast

20-Nov / Green Bay Packers Talk / wpr

19-Nov / Green Bay Packers Talk / dfosterf

19-Nov / Featured Content / Zero2Cool

19-Nov / Green Bay Packers Talk / Martha Careful

19-Nov / Green Bay Packers Talk / wpr

19-Nov / Green Bay Packers Talk / wpr

Headlines
Copyright © 2006 - 2024 PackersHome.com™. All Rights Reserved.