Count me as among those who find MM's reaction to Rodgers begging publicly for more snaps for Abby is a big middle finger to his HOF QB. Sadly, Abby would've helped in the Viking game and with as pathetic as Cobb has been lately, put Abby in the slot and let it rip.
THe fact that Abby played at Wisconsin for a program that requires the WRs to be good run blockers makes it even more mystifying he isn't getting some snaps. Cobb has struggled blocking all year and Adams only seems to be blocking when he's supposed to run a pass pattern. He does a good job running right into the DBs in the latter scenario.
Also add the fact here they went to all of these lengths to designate Quarless for IR-DTR and he's been involved in essentially no pass plays (aside to block) and given no opportunities to open up the middle of the field. It just blows your mind how stale MM's offense is and there is no trying to get him, Abby, Janis! or even Backman involved.
Written back in August 2015:
Of those three players, the only one with the potential to be anything more than a Tom Crabtree or a Jake Stoneburner is Backman. The former Alabama-Birmingham star certainly looks the part of an NFL tight end. He possesses decent size (6β3, 255), good speed (4.66) and leaping ability and impressive body control. And while he dropped some catchable passes early in training camp, he did come into the league with a reputation for being pretty sure-handed.
I went to practice last week expecting to see a train wreck. Instead, I saw a rookie tight end whoβs obviously still thinking too much on the field, but who also has some intriguing potential. Backman made a pair of very nice plays at the end of Mondayβs practice and he didnβt drop a single catchable ball in three days. And while heβs not much of an inline blocker at this point, at least he didnβt seem intimidated when matched up against much bigger players.
And yet Backman is rarely suited up. The coaches must just be wrong. everyone else can see he is all world. Did you see him completely fail on the fake punt against the vikings? It was a thing of beauty.