McGinn: Packers do not play fear card with Players

It would be easy to cut players if there were any stiffs on the roster

It would be easy to cut players if there were any better players to replace them.

Thought of this when I saw Jeremy Ross fumble another kickoff return for Oakland against Tennessee last Sunday, after he was cut by Baltimore for fumbling, which is where he went after fumbling in Detroit.

In NE a rookie WR fumbles once in a fairly meaningless regular season game and he is cut (and resigned to the practice squad) even though the team is bleeding WRs. In GB, Ross' was brought back after his last season fumbles in 2012 (the most brutal being the one in SF in the playoffs) and has a key fumble in Cincy in 2013 that contributed mightily to a loss. Only then was he cut.

Just a different way of operating I guess.

Because tyrants like Greg Schiano and Jim Harbaugh have worked so well.

Bob McGinn is a horse's ass.

Available and

maybe available

Patience and sticking with players is a requirement for a team that is fully dedicated to draft and develop.  Working through challenges is part of develop.

Once again NE is brought up.

Meh.

Can't see a lot of difference in what he wrote, and what we write here. Except for he probably draws a decent salary for doing so...

Timmy. Journalists get paid crap wages......and they're overpaid....fresh out of college I chose a sales career over journalism---best move I ever made.

He prabobly spels better and has, more punctsuasion"

Man, Boris, we need spell-check added in the new format!

I think blowing into a breathalyzer before posting would be money better spent.

I'm leaving.

Back to the topic. I wonder if the Packers were winning this past month if this is  written at all.  Pretty sure most of us know the answer.

Writers gotta write.

And McGinn writes ****.   Dang, I thought the new format might let me write ****, but crap it won't. 

McGinn says that 7 players, including 2 starters, should be cut. If he's going to write this he should name some names. He mentions a lack of character which means Guion and Quarless but who else is he talking about?

Guion, Quarless are easy ones to guess but who else? Masthay, Palmer, Adams, R  Rodgers?  

They're not going to cut Adams.  I can see why chilli excused himself.

Liked this article.   Bob has a point.  

So cutting 7 players including 2 starters. Replaced with who? Because I'm certain we can find 7 better players.

C'mon Bob....gimme a break.

If the team had a couple of wins with no hope of competing for a playoff spot it would be a consideration.  But I also think we have to consider the ethos of the Packers organization, which is all players are truly rewarded for performance and as DH13 mentioned it is also part of the committment to draft and develop.  All completely reasonable.  I think where the cuts occur is if the behaviors show up in TC the following year, partially due to ethos but also simply due to numbers and available talent.

With that said, if there is behavior that is generally lazy (unnamed video game players) and just plain detrimental to the team (scumbags like Guion and Quarles) there has to be a hammer blow.  I don't view Adams as someone you cut because he's having a REALLY bad season on the field but if he's one of the video game players, that's the reason you cut him.  That's Browns type bull****.  That's Finley "potential" type bull****.  There's compliancy bundled in with injuries and all the coaching changes.  Maybe the compliancy really has more to do with the coaching shifts but it's there.

I don't disagree that putting the hammer down on a player or two is out of the question.  McGinn is right about guys like Gaston.  They may not be world beaters but generally they have more fire to prove themselves and even for a year can help the team take a leap.  Howard Green wasn't a world beater.  Frank Zombo wasn't a world beater but they are guys that added a spark at the right time because of their hunger to either make the team or keep playing.  I completely agree with draft and development but at the same time sometimes you have to put a kid out there with his hair on fire and tell him to go get it especially in times like this.  If the kids are playing Madden instead, they need to go.   

Rodgers is showing leadership and Jordy is doing all he can from the sidelines but are we seeing players taking advantage of a very respectable team ethos?  My conjecture has less merit as McGinn's, which is diddly squat.  The only reason why I've been so down on this team isn't even due to the loses, teams have down seasons, but to me I'm getting the feeling and reading press that is starting to mimic Sherman's last couple of years.  There's a strong Norvening front coming down from the northeast.  At this point I really do believe MM will weather it and learn from it because there is plenty to learn from.  If MM and TT continue on with the status quo next year and don't adjust, there's a problem.  

Agree, Henry.

One point that has been consistently showing up in McGinn's opinion pieces as asides is that the Packers' heavy reinvestment in facilities and the like for coaches and players have created a situation where the players really lack for nothing at 1265. Meals, rehab, film study, weight training, high tech tools, etc. Couple this with what Bob mentions in this article and I can easily see where a sense of complacency and football entitlement would creep in. 

Ted and Mike want to treat their charges like professionals and adults and assume that they will respond in kind. They've been given everything they need and are expected to take advantage of that.

Works if all players buy in and there is a self-policing in the locker room. If that breaks down then the program fails. Others could characterize this as 1265 management being soft.

As much as McGinn can seriously chum the waters at times I think there has to be a certain level of respect for the guy because he is literally the voice of fandom at times, which is the counterweight to a publically owned team.  McGinn doesn't do salacious even when he's chumming, he's to the point.  So I'm sure he's going for clicks like he needs to for a journalistic enterprise but his clickbait is usually backed up with solid reporting and solid conjecture.  

Anyone who ever said this team needs an owner or saw the benefits of an owner needs to be kicked in the ****ing nuts.

To Cuqui's point, what I wonder is if there is some factioning occurring in the locker room.  That's a serious concern.  When Rodgers starts commenting on preparation and video games you wonder if there is a segment of the locker room that does need to be removed simply because it can be poisonous to a very effective team mentality.  To a fan that really has no context to the situation you hope it isn't a issue where Rodgers is being alienated or alienating others or if there are players who have tuned out the coaches, Rodgers and Jordy.  

It's a fragile ecosystem and if TT wants to zealously protect it he needs to do some weeding if necessary.  

Mega-schism.  Gamers vs. non-gamers.

Henry, I gotta agree - some of the stuff getting out there is reminiscent of Shermy years.  NFL.com has an article about the Pack, and Lang is quoted questioning the play-calling (i.e., RTFB) last week.  MM is all about execution, but the coaches are calling the plays, and if players aren't buying in....  That's trouble. 

when ya ain't winning and ain't gelling, ain't nobody happy and all the scabs itch.

I can't say whether or not guys need to play every snap with the fear of Ted's axe hanging over their heads, but has anyone here not questioned the "loyal to a fault" mentality we can see at times?

No, this team doesn't need to cut guys like Rich Rod, Adams and Jones when they go MIA for multiple games at a time, but they probably also don't need to have 1800 snaps between them at this point.

I think there's one big caveat with a draft-and-develop team: the coaches have to develop the players. You can have the best players in the world, but if they aren't developed properly you just have a good roster and a middling team that gets by on athletic ability. It's coaching and playing to your team strengths that gets the most out of the players. Judging by the fact that our players don't really start contributing until year 3 or so and that this year is showing a lack of adjusting to our player strengths, I am beginning to lose faith in the teaching ability of our coaches. (Okay, so I never had any when it comes to Capers.)

As to the locker room atmosphere, I mentioned a couple weeks ago that I think there are "issues" in the locker room and AR's comments seem to prove that. Again, the coaches have to be aware of what's happening there and take care of business. Otherwise, you have a Philbin situation and that ain't good.

If MM is truly a head coach, he'll get his boot in there and straighten it out. 

Lions are playing well the last 3 weeks. We're going to find out a lot about the 2015 Green Bay Packers tonight.

Are we sure the staff (develop) isn't getting the most out of what they have (draft)?

50k Club posted:

...some of the stuff getting out there is reminiscent of Shermy years. 

Not saying you are wrong, but I don't recall locker room discord under Sherm. Please remind me...

The media coverage and some of the rumblings coming out of the locker room appears to me to be pretty typical stuff that happens when a team having a rough stretch. Not a big deal and winning cures all.

All I remember from those years is when Farb decided he needed his own private locker room.

Just hope MM hasn't lost this team.....UW-L division III coach "lost his team" and he just quit.  Horrible record, but that "lost his team" business makes me nervous.      

The injuries on the offense have limited the team, in the scheme they run. We do what we do. Rodgers in a funk since the bye is also a factor, but also quite puzzling.

I think the situation with the receivers is unlike anything he has had to face before in his career.  He's not used to guys consistently not being open in nearly every game.  That is probably the "scariest" thing for a QB that hates INTs as priority #1.  Mix in some bad spells for the OL and he's struggling to be his usual self.  He needs to adapt and find ways to work around it or deal with it.

Probably no coincidence that the 6-game win streak featured a lot of big plays on free plays when Rodgers isn't afraid to let it rip. Those have been almost non-existent (or wrongly blown dead) during this skid when one big play could have changed the outcome in at least the DET and CHI losses.

Lombardi was right. The only way to excellence is by pursuing perfection.

Perfection is hard-really, really hard. It's pursuit is by definition unbalanced. You have to give up lots to even get within sight of it. In the selective environment of the NFL,  where talent is averaged by design, "want to" is the difference maker. Can't and Won't must be considered the same thing.

cuqui posted:

Agree, Henry.

One point that has been consistently showing up in McGinn's opinion pieces as asides is that the Packers' heavy reinvestment in facilities and the like for coaches and players have created a situation where the players really lack for nothing at 1265. Meals, rehab, film study, weight training, high tech tools, etc. Couple this with what Bob mentions in this article and I can easily see where a sense of complacency and football entitlement would creep in. 

This. While granted, yes there are likely not 7 players on the street better than ______, at the same time all these players know this therefore their incentive to go out and bust their ass just isn't there and that I can see leading to complacency.

I mean look at the Frank Zombos, Jerron McMillians, Brad Jones, hell even AJ Hawk. These guys hung around and hung around with very little fear they'd have no job. And it took forever before finally getting cut and GB moving on.

Still...would I have rather have the D&D style that is here vs. the knee jerk reactionary ridiculousness that is Dan Synder, Jerry Jones, and Ray Farmer (Browns GM)? Of course I will choose what we have here.

The 2016 draft will be a really interesting one. TT has gone heavy defense for multiple years. I can't help but think TT will restock toys in AR's toy box in May.