Aug 31, 2010 11:42pm
One more chance
By JASON WILDE
jwilde@espnwisconsin.com
GREEN BAY Justin Harrell wasnt looking for anyone to feel sorry for him. Lord knows after three years of disappointment, sympathy for the Green Bay Packers 2007 first-round draft pick is in short supply.
But as he enters what might be his last chance to make something of his career in Green Bay if not the NFL in Thursday nights exhibition finale at Kansas City, the oft-injured defensive end wants people to understand something.
Hes sorry.
You come into this league, with it being a lifelong dream to get to this point, and you dont want to just get here and say, I was on the team. You want to do something, you want to show people that you really belong here, Harrell said earlier this week. And to this point, I really dont feel like I have.
You can certainly criticize general manager Ted Thompson for taking him with the 16th overall pick in the 2007 NFL Draft. You have every right to wonder whether Harrell did his part to be in tip-top shape before suffering the March 2008 back injury during the offseason program that plagues him to this day. And its perfectly reasonable to say that to this point, Harrell has been a complete bust.
But if you think the kid has simply collected a paycheck, hasnt felt bad about the way his career has gone and hasnt worked very hard to give it one last shot, well, then youve got him all wrong.
He cares. Theres no doubt in my mind that he cares, defensive line coach Mike Trgovac said Tuesday. And I do have hope for him.
Problem is, thats all anyones ever had for Harrell hope. Hes played in just 13 games over his three NFL seasons, spending all of last year on injured reserve because of two back surgeries that still didnt completely resolve the disk problems hes had.
But if Harrell wasnt serious about making up for the disappointment hes been, then he wouldnt have traveled to Seattle two weeks ago to play in the Packers second preseason game against the Seahawks.
By now you know that Harrell played poorly in that game the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel did an extensive breakdown of just how bad Harrell looked and if you re-watch the tape of the game, Harrells body language looks like he doesnt want to be there. And in truth, he probably didnt. Because what you didnt know is that his newborn son, who arrived when Harrells wife, Barbie, had an emergency caesarian section in the early morning hours of Aug 19, was in the neo-natal intensive care unit at a local hospital.
If I put the pads on and play a game, Im expected to have a good game, Harrell said. There was a lot of stuff going on in my head, but I cant use that as an excuse. It was just a bad game.
And while Trgovac, who isnt the most touchy-feely coach youll run across, has been hard on Harrell throughout camp, even he had to admit that the Seattle performance wasnt a fair representation of Harrells camp.
Yes, he was (bad). But put yourself in that guys shoes, Trgovac said. Its not like he had a baby and the baby was at home with his mom. His baby was in intensive care, and thats his first child.
I dont know if you have any kids, but picture that baby being in ICU. It was not a planned C-section. It was an emergency C-section. My first baby was an emergency C-section, but it was in May. I dont know that I couldve gone out and played a game.
Harrell said this week that mother and child are doing fine now, and his play against Indianapolis last Thursday night was significantly better than it was against the Seahawks, Trgovac said.
Yes, he was (bad against Seattle), but I think he had really one play (against Indianapolis) that I really ripped his (expletive) for, Trgovac said, pointing out that Harrell was the one who got a hand on quarterback Peyton Manning on the play that ended in linebacker Frank Zombos sack-fumble on the four-time NFL MVP.
He played 18 reps. He played the run well, he had two rushes on the sack-fumble, he had a great rush on that one; the other one, he wasnt very good. (But) he did his job and it wasnt that difficult for him.
Now, Harrell may be facing his last game with the Packers, even though the No. 5 and No. 6 defensive line roster spots are wide open. While the three starters (Ryan Pickett, B.J. Raji, Cullen Jenkins) and top backup (rookie Mike Neal) are set, Harrell is battling Jarius Wynn, rookie C.J. Wilson, Anthony Toribio and Ronald Talley for one of the final two spots. The Packers generally have five defensive linemen active on game days.
I think in our minds right now, this game is huge for these guys. We want to see out of 5 and 6 who steps up, Trgovac said. Theyve all got ability, theyve all shown flashes. We need that next guy to step up.
This game will determine a lot for those guys. This game is very important to those last two spots.
With the exception of missing the Aug. 17 practice when it flared up on him, Harrell hasnt had any problems with his back, and Trgovac said he has intentionally kept Harrells snap count as high as possible in practice to see if (the back) will go out on him. It hasnt, although Thursday night Harrell figures to play more snaps than he has to this point.
Whether or not he does enough with those snaps will become clear on Saturday, when the final roster reduction from 75 players to 53 players is due.
I think I can help this team. I still feel like I can play in this league and I can be a good player in this league. As long as I got the opportunity, Im just going to keep working, Harrell said. Its the last preseason games before the cuts, so its pretty much an audition for all of us. I have no clue, no direction on which way they want to go or how theyre feeling. Im going to go out there and play as hard as I can and see what happens over the weekend.
Just (in terms of) being available, its without a doubt the best training camp Ive had from that aspect. Ive had some inconsistent play, but Im trying to work hard and at the end of the day, not have any regrets. And I think for the most part, thats what I can say about this training camp. Im just trying to control what I can control, hopefully put a good game together on Thursday and just sit and wait.
Listen to Jason Wilde every weekday from 10 a.m. to 11 a.m. on Green & Gold Today, and follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/jasonjwilde.