Blogs

Tuesday’s coverage

For today’s feature story on first-year QB Graham Harrell, click here. For the final Training Camp Report of 2010, which focuses on the performance thus far of the run defense, click here.

Sports Illustrated picks Packers NFC champs, Rodgers MVP

Sports Illustrated‘s annual NFL preview issue, which hits newsstands this week, predicts the Green Bay Packers to represent the NFC in the Super Bowl and QB Aaron Rodgers to win the league’s MVP award.

The predictions were made by longtime SI writer Peter King, who has the Packers winning the NFC North and earning the No. 2 playoff seed in the NFC to get a first-round bye. He then has the Packers beating the Carolina Panthers in the divisional round at home and then going on the road to beat the defending Super Bowl champion New Orleans Saints in overtime in the NFC Championship.

King also has the Pittsburgh Steelers beating the Packers in Super Bowl XLV.

As for Rodgers, SI writer Damon Hack in his team preview of the Packers quotes Head Coach Mike McCarthy saying, “He’s in total control of our offense. We’ve given him all the responsibilities. There hasn’t been a quarterback that I’ve coached or coordinated that has as much responsibility as he does.”

Rodgers also is on one of SI’s regional covers for the preview issue.

Tuesday practice report

In the final practice before the preseason finale on Thursday, the Packers worked out in shells and did most of the team (11-on-11) drills at three-quarters speed.

P Chris Bryan was not at practice for a personal family situation that Head Coach Mike McCarthy termed “positive” in nature. Bryan’s wife has been expecting a baby. McCarthy said he didn’t know if Bryan would be available to play in Kansas City.

LB Brad Jones was back to full duty in practice, while Spencer Havner moved over to the defensive side and played at LB after practicing at TE most of the past week.

Sitting out were S Will Blackmon (knee), CB  Brandon Underwood (shoulder), RB Quinn Porter (knee), LB Clay Matthews (hamstring), LB Desmond Bishop (hamstring), T Chad Clifton (knee), DE Cullen Jenkins (calf), T/G Allen Barbre (back), and the three PUP players — S Atari Bigby (ankle), CB Al Harris (knee) and RB James Starks (hamstring).

In the QB hoop drill, No. 3 QB Graham Harrell had the best showing. Throwing short fade routes from inside the 10-yard line to the back corner of the end zone, Harrell put two in the hoop while Aaron Rodgers hit the rim once. After backing up to about 45 yards away and throwing with a strong wind that was making things difficult, Harrell hit the rim. That was the closest anyone came from the long distance.

One day after finding out he’d be taking all the punt- and kick-return reps in Kansas City on Thursday, WR Jason Chery had a rough special teams period. Fielding punts off the JUGS machine, Chery hesitated in charging a short one and then had it bounce off his hands as he reached low. Then he let another one drop in front of him that he had time to get under. Chery was seen after practice taking several more turns catching punts from the machine and looked much smoother.

A lot of the team work was in red-zone and goal-line packages, and TE Andrew Quarless made a couple of nice catches. He reached up and hauled in one-handed a high throw in the back corner from QB Matt Flynn, and he made a diving catch just across the goal line later in practice. WR Greg Jennings also made a nifty grab for a TD on a ball that was deflected up into the air by S Charlie Peprah.

As the final practice open to the public concluded, several players went over to the Ray Nitschke Field stands and slapped fives with fans and signed autographs before departing. All practices for the remainder of 2010 are closed to the public.

Coach McCarthy’s press conference transcript is here. Today’s Feature Story and Training Camp Report will be posted later.

Monday practice report

Players practiced in shells on Monday.

T/G Bryan Bulaga (hip flexor), T Chad Clifton (knee swelling) and DE Jarius Wynn (concussion) all returned to practice on Monday. LB Brad Jones (shoulder) also returned but in a more limited capacity. Head Coach Mike McCarthy said afterward he wanted to get Jones a little bit of work and he will be re-evaluated on Tuesday. Clifton also sat out several team reps, which were taken by Bulaga and T.J. Lang.

LB Clay Matthews (hamstring), LB Desmond Bishop (hamstring) and DE Cullen Jenkins (calf) all went through the opening jog-through portion of practice but then sat out after that.

Missing the entire practice were S Will Blackmon (knee), CB Brandon Underwood (shoulder), RB Quinn Porter (knee), T/G Allen Barbre (back) and the three PUP players — S Atari Bigby (ankle), CB Al Harris (knee) and RB James Starks (hamstring). McCarthy said the medical staff is trying to determine if Underwood’s injury is an existing condition from his previous shoulder surgery or if it’s a new injury.

McCarthy also said that with Blackmon out, rookie WR Jason Chery would get all the punt- and kick-return reps in the game Thursday at Kansas City. Chery returned a punt 75 yards for a TD last Thursday vs. Indy.

Fundamentals continue to be an emphasis, even this late in the preseason. The players continued the basic tackling drills they’ve been doing call camp, and the punt returners — WR Jordy Nelson, Chery and CB Tramon Williams — also caught punts off the Jugs machine with two other players nearby as distractions.

As far as the battle for roster spots among the backup tight ends, it’s worth noting that both Donald Lee and Tom Crabtree are on the No. 1 punt and kickoff return units.

Like Sunday, some of the starters took more scout team reps than regular snaps in practice because they won’t play much on Thursday in Kansas City. Crowd noise was piped in during the team periods with two road games — KC and the Week 1 opener in Philadelphia — coming up.

QB Matt Flynn had a couple of impressive throws during team work. He beat a corner blitz by perfectly placing a sideline throw between safeties Morgan Burnett and Nick Collins for a completion to TE Spencer Havner. He also connected with Nelson on a deep ball down the right sideline.

On defense, CB Pat Lee had a nice break-up of a fade route to the back corner of the end zone by WR Patrick Williams. Burnett also had an INT on a badly overthrown pass.

During a field goal period, K Mason Crosby went 6-for-8 with a strong wind at his back. He was good from 28, 33, 36, 40 and 43 before missing from 45 and 53, both wide left. He finished the period by hitting a 57-yarder.

One more practice is open to the public, Tuesday at 10:15 a.m. Then the team is off to Kansas City on Thursday and practices beginning next week are closed.

Click here for the full McCarthy transcript, here for today’s Feature Story on James Jones, and here for the Training Camp Report.

Comments from Ted Thompson

Click here for the full transcript of GM Ted Thompson’s press conference on Monday morning.

Sunday practice report

Head Coach Mike McCarthy declared after practice that Daryn Colledge has won the starting LG job and would be the team’s starter there in Week 1 at Philadelphia. The LG position was really the only undecided one on the offensive line throughout camp, with first-round draft pick Bryan Bulaga competing against Colledge.

The following players sat out practice entirely on Sunday: S Will Blackmon (knee), CB Brandon Underwood (shoulder), RB Quinn Porter (knee), T/G Allen Barbre (back), DE Jarius Wynn (concussion), and the three PUP players — S Atari Bigby (ankle), CB Al Harris (knee) and RB James Starks (hamstring).

McCarthy said the injury to Underwood is to the same shoulder he’s had surgery on previously, so the medical staff is being cautious with him.

Not suiting up in pads and going through the opening jog-through portion of practice only were: LB Clay Matthews (hamstring), LB Desmond Bishop (hamstring), T/G Bryan Bulaga (hip), T Chad Clifton (knee swelling) and DE Cullen Jenkins (calf).

McCarthy said Matthews has a chance to play Thursday in Kansas City, Bulaga could practice on Monday, Bishop should be ready for Week 1, and Jenkins is the furthest away in that injured group.

LB Brad Jones, who has been battling a shoulder injury, started practice in pads to test out a shoulder harness but did not actually practice with the team. McCarthy said he has a chance to play in Kansas City.

During team work, with Jenkins out, rookie DE Mike Neal was taking snaps with the No. 1 base and nickel defenses. With Clifton and Bulaga out, T.J. Lang was taking the first-team reps at LT. With Matthews and Jones out, LBs Brady Poppinga and Frank Zombo were the No. 1 tandem at OLB.

Also, with Underwood out, CB Sam Shields was getting most of the snaps as the nickel corner, ahead of CB Pat Lee.

Even this late in the preseason, there’s no lapse in the fundamental drills. DL coach Mike Trgovac was still doing his little golf ball drill on Monday, where the defensive linemen have to shuffle back and forth to scoop up a golf ball that Trgovac rolls in their direction. It’s a drill designed to force the defensive linemen to stay low.

During 11-on-11 work, both sides of the ball made their share of plays. QB Aaron Rodgers zipped a middle seam throw to TE Jermichael Finley, QB Graham Harrell found WR Greg Jennings with a nice deep ball behind the defense, and QB Matt Flynn went deep over the middle to WR Jordy Nelson for a big gain.

Defensively, LB Brandon Chillar made a leaping INT of a Rodgers pass, S Morgan Burnett picked off a deep throw from Flynn when WR Jason Chery didn’t turn back for the ball, and CB Jarrett Bush made an athletic INT when he deflected Harrell’s pass intended for WR Brett Swain and corralled it himself.

In a couple of other minor notes, LB Robert Francois was practicing at OLB, where he began training camp, but that may be simply a numbers decision at the position due to injuries. Francois has seen his preseason game action on the inside. Also, P Tim Masthay was doing more kickoff duty in practice, continuing what he started in the last preseason game.

Click here for the full McCarthy transcript. Today’s feature story on Colledge is here, and the Training Camp Report is here.

Packers-Colts multimedia

Packers.com has posted 6 locker room interview videos, 1 press conference, and 11 game highlight clips. Watch the videos and check out the rest of the multimedia from Thursday night’s Packers-Colts preseason game.

• Game photos
• Locker room interviews (video)
• Head Coach Mike McCarthy press conference (video)
• Game highlights (video)
• Audio clips

Packers-Colts game story/notes

Click here for the game review of the Packers’ 59-24 win over the Colts, and here for the game notes.

Injury update

Head Coach Mike McCarthy said the injuries coming out of the game were CB Brandon Underwood (shoulder), LB Desmond Bishop (hamstring), LB Cyril Obiozor (quad), DE Jarius Wynn (concussion), and RB Quinn Porter. The only player that returned to the game out of that group was Obiozor.

Final: Packers 59, Colts 24

Stay tuned for post-game coverage on Packers.com.