MintBaconDrivel
11 years ago

GREEN BAY — Jerry Fontenot isn't a doctor, nor does he play one in the hallway outside the Green Bay Packers locker room. What the Packers tight ends coach is, however, is a father, Jermichael Finley's position coach and a guy who played 16 NFL seasons and can remember two other instances like the one he saw on Sunday, when Finley suffered a neck injury during the Packers' victory over the Cleveland Browns and left Lambeau Field in an ambulance.

"Unfortunately those are kind of images that stick with you," Fontenot said Thursday, the same day that Finley was able to go home from a local hospital. "In my draft class in '89, there were two guys that had neck injuries. One of them, Dennis Byrd, was playing with the Jets. The other one was Mike Utley, an offensive lineman in Detroit. Unfortunately, you get visions of injuries like that occurring and it's always tough to see. Whenever it's one of the guys in your family, it's really hard."

Fontenot, who had previously coached from upstairs in the coaches' box but moved down to the field this season, didn't realize the severity of Finley's injury initially, saying he instead saw Finley catch the ball, get hit and then saw the ball come out.

"That's kind of what caught my focus was the ball trickling out at the very end," said Fontenot, who is preparing Andrew Quarless, Brandon Bostick and Jake Stoneburner for Sunday's game at Minnesota. "The next thing I noticed was Andrew over there next to him, and I could tell something was wrong. Obviously from there, it was a little bit surreal.

"I went out on to the field at some point to see how he was, and by that point they had already taken off his facemask, so I knew it probably wasn't good. Again, I just tried to console him as best I could in that moment. Anybody that knows Jermichael, he's very competitive and extremely enthusiastic person, and he was a little shaken by the whole thing."

Fontenot said he simply watched as the medical staff tended to Finley and evaluated him. He and head coach Mike McCarthy went to see Finley in the hospital with other Packers staffers while Finley was still in the intensive care unit.

"I drove over because I live not far from there, (and) I just happened to bump into Mike when I was walking up. And then there were some other people in the organization that had gone there with his wife, Courtney, and were kind of holding her hand through the process as well," Fontenot said. "Whenever you have an injury of that sort, the first thing you really care about is the person being able to live a long and healthy life, because (you don't know) the severity of it (when) it happened. I think after that, after we get the information at least, we know what we're dealing with and then we can start to move forward.

"I think we're in a good place now. We're supporting him all the best that we can. Meanwhile, we're going to go out there, do our best for him (on Sunday night against the Vikings), and if and when he's ready to come back, we'll be ready to take him back in."

Quarless and Bostick both said after visiting Finley in the hospital that Finley is hoping to play football again. Finley let his fans know that he was home from the hospital in a Tweet on Thursday afternoon.

Jason Wilde  wrote:


Fan Shout
Mucky Tundra (1h) : saw the tweet, he meant the city
Mucky Tundra (1h) : Was that for the team or the city?
Zero2Cool (1h) : Adam Schefter @AdamSchefter · 3m Draft grade is in: Green Bay gets an A. The people, the city, the venue were all superb. NFL Draft’s next
Zero2Cool (2h) : Matt LaFleur says Jaire Alexander is participating in #Packers offseason program, which has been conducted virtually during this first week
Zero2Cool (2h) : ✅ ...
buckeyepackfan (2h) : Check
Zero2Cool (5h) : Matthew Golden cahanged 81 to 22??
TheKanataThrilla (7h) : Sam Howell to Vikings...guess no Aaron
Martha Careful (12h) : 1 round 7 min, with one extra minute if there is a trade. 2nd round 4 minutes, 3rd -3, 2 thereafter IMO
Martha Careful (12h) : Agree
dfosterf (13h) : Great idea imo
dfosterf (13h) : 1st round to 7 minutes with one extension
dfosterf (13h) : NFL comissioner wants to shorten the 2st
Mucky Tundra (17h) : @jalenreagors They’re discussing if Sheduer can go back to college on NFL Network LMFAOOOOO
beast (19h) : Great point Martha
beast (19h) : Buddy Ryan used to say if a candy bar goes missing, there are two to blame, Rex and Rob 🤪 jk 😁
Martha Careful (22h) : Bum Phillips used to say there are two ways to get better. Get better players or get players to play better. We have a new DL coach
Zero2Cool (22h) : Yes. Look at the losses last year. They can win.
beast (23h) : Can Packers win with their current DL?
bboystyle (26-Apr) : waiting for a pass rusher.
dfosterf (25-Apr) : 5 minutes between picks in the 3rd
dfosterf (25-Apr) : 3rd. Hate this phone
dfosterf (25-Apr) : 4rd
dfosterf (25-Apr) : 5 minutes in the 4
dfosterf (25-Apr) : 7 minutes between picks in the 2nd round
Martha Careful (25-Apr) : Sorry to bitch, but the headline writers in that section absolutely mislead, or don't know how to read. It is maddening
Martha Careful (25-Apr) : No thanks. Not a dependable guy to be in the right place and run the right route. Dumb as a box of rocks.
Zero2Cool (25-Apr) : Losing 2nd round pick for a one year rental, not ideal. Especially a headcase.
TheKanataThrilla (25-Apr) : Pickens for Jaire may be interesting. Definitely not sure we want Pickens long term.
dfosterf (25-Apr) : No.Absolutely not
Zero2Cool (25-Apr) : NO NO NO NO NO NO!!1 🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬
dhazer (25-Apr) : scenario: Our main prospects are off the board when our pick comes around, do we just throw a 2nd round pick at Pittsburgh for Pickens
TheKanataThrilla (25-Apr) : Hopefully she had some comfort that her son will be live his dream when she passed away. Sad news.
Mucky Tundra (25-Apr) : Damn that sucks
Zero2Cool (25-Apr) : News about Derrick Harmon mom, saddening.
Zero2Cool (25-Apr) : Mark Murphy: "I predict we will trade up once and down twice."
beast (25-Apr) : Rip the Packers and getting the fans yelling and booing him
beast (25-Apr) : Super competitive Bears fan and WWE "superstar" wrestler, Seth Rollins is supposed to announce a Bears pick and absolutely rip Packers
packerfanoutwest (25-Apr) : Golden
beast (25-Apr) : I want DT Derrick Harmon, Oregon
Mucky Tundra (25-Apr) : And I can't be looking at my phone
Mucky Tundra (25-Apr) : Hey I'm at work lol
Zero2Cool (24-Apr) : btw, new site chat won't delete auto like
Zero2Cool (24-Apr) : because everyone left like wimps
TheKanataThrilla (24-Apr) : I am wondering if there is some type of autoclear when there isn't activity after a certain amount of time.
Mucky Tundra (24-Apr) : What happened in the chat? Me and Zero posted a few things earlier and they're all gone
dfosterf (24-Apr) : 10-15 min bs plus flyover
dfosterf (24-Apr) : Yes
Zero2Cool (24-Apr) : 7pm is when this kicks off????
buckeyepackfan (24-Apr) : I told him. IT'S VONTE MACK , no matter what!
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