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
wpr (3h) : Jets are Packers (L)East
Zero2Cool (10h) : Jets released K Riley Patterson and signed K Anders Carlson to the practice squad.
wpr (10h) : Thanks guys
Mucky Tundra (7-Nov) : Happy Birthday wpr!
Zero2Cool (7-Nov) : Anders Carlson ... released by 49ers
dfosterf (7-Nov) : Happy Birthday!😊😊😊
wpr (7-Nov) : Thanks Kevin.
Zero2Cool (7-Nov) : Happy Birthday, Wayne! 🎉🎂🥳
beast (7-Nov) : Edge Rushers is the same... it's not the 4-3 vs 3-4 change, it's the Hafley's version of the 4-3... as all 32 teams are actually 4-2
Zero2Cool (6-Nov) : OLB to DE and player requests trade. Yet folks say they are same.
beast (5-Nov) : In other news, the Green Bay Packers have signed Zero2Cool to update their website 😋 jk
beast (5-Nov) : Might just re-sign the kicker we got
beast (5-Nov) : Are there any kickers worth drafting next year?
Zero2Cool (5-Nov) : Preston Smith for Malik Willis
Mucky Tundra (5-Nov) : Getting a 7th rounder from the Stillers
Zero2Cool (5-Nov) : At least we get 7th round pick now!! HELLO NEW KICKER
Mucky Tundra (5-Nov) : Steelers getting a premier lockdown corner!
Zero2Cool (5-Nov) : Packers are trading edge rusher Preston Smith to the Pittsburgh Steelers, per sources.
Mucky Tundra (5-Nov) : Preston Smith traded to the Steelers!!!!
Zero2Cool (5-Nov) : CB Marshon Lattimore to Commanders
Zero2Cool (5-Nov) : Bears are sending RB Khalil Herbert to the Bengals, per sources.
Zero2Cool (5-Nov) : ZaDarius Smith continues his "north" tour.
Zero2Cool (5-Nov) : Let the Chiefs trade a 5th for him
Zero2Cool (5-Nov) : Nearing 30, large contract, nope.
Martha Careful (5-Nov) : any interest in Marshon Lattimore?
Zero2Cool (4-Nov) : What does NFL do if they're over cap?
Mucky Tundra (4-Nov) : They've been able to constantly push it out through extensions, void years etc but they're in the hole by 72 million next year I believe
hardrocker950 (4-Nov) : Seems the Saints are always in cap hell
Mucky Tundra (4-Nov) : Saints HC job is not an envious one; gonna be in cap hell for 3 years
Mucky Tundra (4-Nov) : Dennis Allen has now been fired twice mid-season with Derek Carr as his starting QB
Zero2Cool (4-Nov) : Kuhn let go
beast (4-Nov) : I wonder if the Packers would have any interest in Z. Smith, probably not
Zero2Cool (4-Nov) : Shefter says Browns and Lions will figure out how to get a deal done for Za'Darius Smith..
Zero2Cool (4-Nov) : Packers are more likely to have 1,000 yard rusher than 4,000 yard passer
Zero2Cool (3-Nov) : It's raining hard.
Zero2Cool (3-Nov) : Packers inactives vs. Lions: CB Jaire Alexander S Evan Williams C Josh Myers Non-injury inactives: WR Malik Heath OL Travis Glover DE Bren
packerfanoutwest (3-Nov) : Malik Willis: My focus is helping the Packers win, not proving I can start elsewhere. But he could
Zero2Cool (1-Nov) : I had Texans, but the loss of another WR flipped me
wpr (1-Nov) : I thought about taking the Jets but they've been a disaster. Losing to the Pats last week
Zero2Cool (1-Nov) : Surprised more didn't pick Jets in Pick'em.
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