Blackmon out for the season and other notes

[Captain Erv]

No surprise really. I wonder if MM is comfortable with Jordy fielding punts.

McCarty on loss to the Vikings
By Greg A. Bedard of the Journal Sentinel
Oct. 6, 2009 3:05 p.m.

Green Bay - Packers coach Mike McCarthy will speak shortly about the loss the Minnesota Vikings.

We'll bring you any news and notes when he starts.

Here we go:

* Will Blackmon suffered an ACL injury. He is out for the season.

* Desmond Bishop should be fine. Daryn Colledge, "they are anticipating he will be OK for Detroit."

* Derrick Martin had a throat bruise and he stayed overnight in the hospital.

* Almost everyone else should be back after the bye.

* Atari Bigby is still questionable. Bigby wants to be back. Dr. Pat McKenzie is being more cautious.

* As for Charles Woodson's comments: "He's as competitive a player as there is in the NFL. It was emotionally driven. I don't shy away from opinions that are different than mine. I don't think we have a problem there."

* Getting Chad Clifton back will definitely help (the protection issues). It's just not one guy. It's really the combination of some of the things in the protection units. And the quarterback has to know his time clock."

[ReasonablySober]

Honestly, the Blackmon loss doesn't really bother me. It sucks for him but Nelson just seems to have a knack for solid returns.

[Newz]

Losing Blackmon sucks, but Nelson looked good in the return game after he replaced him. Putting Blackmon on IR will allow us to sign someone like Tauscher, wouldn't it?

Every time I see Bishop's name I just get frustrated that he never gets a chance. I'm not positive he would be good... But it's likely that he would be better than Barnett.

If everyone is back healthy after the bye, that would be great. Our offensive line should improve just due to health and having Clifton, Jackson should give us a boost in the passing game as well with his receiving ability.

[Captain Erv]

Greg_A_Bedard: McCarthy said Tauscher joining the team is imminent provided things work out.

[Newz]

Greg_A_Bedard: McCarthy said Tauscher joining the team is imminent provided things work out.

[crkone]

I'm guessing we sign a CB like Trevor Ford off our PS, we are getting low on DBs.

[Ryan5UW]

Honestly, the Blackmon loss doesn't really bother me. It sucks for him but Nelson just seems to have a knack for solid returns or putting the ball on the ground

Fixed.

[LUKE23]

My question is, can Tauscher backup LT and RT? I think the Packers would prefer to keep the three interior guys locked in their positions for more consistency.

[Newz]

My question is, can Tauscher backup LT and RT? I think the Packers would prefer to keep the three interior guys locked in their positions for more consistency.

I don't think he has ever played LT, has he?

We might benefit from bringing in both Tauscher and Levi Jones if that is possible... I agree that we should keep the middle of the line set, I actually don't mind our interior linemen.

[rilamann]

My sources tell me Martin suffered his bruised throat from Charles Woodson giving him a good punch to the throat after the game.



They better sign Tauscher,I dont know how good Tauscher could be but im pretty sure his addition will mean an overall improvement to what our o-line is now,that's for sure.

[Wade-A-Holic]

My sources tell me Martin suffered his bruised throat from Charles Woodson giving him a good punch to the throat after the game.

I saw Al Harris just ripping Martin a new one twice in the game.

As for Blackmon, that hurts our punt return unit but Nelson is definitely the better kick returner.

[El Duderino]

Losing Blackmon sucks, but Nelson looked good in the return game after he replaced him. Putting Blackmon on IR will allow us to sign someone like Tauscher, wouldn't it?

Every time I see Bishop's name I just get frustrated that he never gets a chance. I'm not positive he would be good... But it's likely that he would be better than Barnett.

Even if they don't want Bishop on the field all the time, i'd like to see him get some snaps on defense for blitzing reasons. Capers really likes to blitz his inside linebackers and both Barnett/Hawk are poor blitzers. Through 4 regular season games and the preseason, has Hawk even got near a QB on an inside blitz a single time? Same for Barnett, whenever either or both blitz, they run right into a blocker head on and get nowhere.

Obviously there are going to be numerous times where a blitzing inside LB gets stuffed regardless who it is, but i've seen nothing from either Hawk or Barnett to think they are instinctual blitzers or that they are skilled at defeating blockers while blitzing at full speed. It's a skill just like other aspects of football require certain skills for success.

[xTitan]

Tausch is strictly a RT and will be starting there IMO....I believe Lang will be groomed to be the back-up LT and I am cool with that.....Barbe is far better than Breno, that is scary, but true....look for Breno to be let go.

Bishop doesn't play because he isn't the sharpest tool in the drawer, Bishop was responsible for the 25 yard run of Jackson against the Rams.....you simply can't make mental mistakes that end up in big plays, even if you make a tackle or two for a 1 yard loss.

[trwi7]

Who keeps tools in a drawer?

[MickeyDavis]

Before we get too giddy it's not like we had a great line last year. And now Tausch is a year older (32) and coming off major surgery. Clifton has also been hurt. And while Clifton has been solid he's not young anymore either (33) and has never been to a Pro Bowl. Hopefully a bandaid fix will get us through the season but there is a ton of work to be done on the OLine. Spitz and Colledge are free agents after this year and you certainly don't want to give them a ton of money. Wells lost his starting job because he's crap.

[xTitan]

Who keeps tools in a drawer?

Anyone with a big tool box

[El Duderino]

Tausch is strictly a RT and will be starting there IMO....I believe Lang will be groomed to be the back-up LT and I am cool with that.....Barbe is far better than Breno, that is scary, but true....look for Breno to be let go.

Bishop doesn't play because he isn't the sharpest tool in the drawer, Bishop was responsible for the 25 yard run of Jackson against the Rams.....you simply can't make mental mistakes that end up in big plays, even if you make a tackle or two for a 1 yard loss.

They may have legit reasons for not playing Bishop more, but when fans wonder why Capers isn't blitzing more, i think part of the reason is Barnett and Hawk are such poor blitzers and Capers likes to blitz his middle linebackers. Every blitz can't be expected to work just via confusion, many times a defensive player simply has to beat a blocker if the blitz is picked up or partially picked up.

Quarterbacks since the Bears game have often been able to sniff out our blitzes either from our formations or hard counts causing defenders to show who is coming. Whenever Barnett or Hawk is sent, they almost always just crash into a blocker and get stoned. In most 4-3 schemes, being skilled at blitzing isn't that high of a priority for a middle linebacker, but in Capers scheme, it's much more important given how much he blitzes those middle backers.

[Jollay]

Before we get too giddy it's not like we had a great line last year. And now Tausch is a year older (32) and coming off major surgery. Clifton has also been hurt. And while Clifton has been solid he's not young anymore either (33) and has never been to a Pro Bowl. Hopefully a bandaid fix will get us through the season but there is a ton of work to be done on the OLine. Spitz and Colledge are free agents after this year and you certainly don't want to give them a ton of money. Wells lost his starting job because he's crap.

One of the reasons (or I was told here) that we wanted to have oodles of cap room in reserve was the impending FA of Spitz and Colledge.

I still don't see how they have proven they are anything better than average, at best. Even with Colledge at his more natural guard position. TT retained Scott Wells for decent money, who turned out to be the 6th best lineman on a poor line. These guys aren't much better.

Although our guys playing tackle have been far worse, the guys playing guard haven't exactly excelled. Crap, Colledge got hurt when our guard (Spitz?) got thrown backward into him, or something like that.

And they haven't exactly been penalty free either.

Fine with Jordy Nelson on punts, but it seems alot more risky, some of his choices he makes...

[El Duderino]

Before we get too giddy it's not like we had a great line last year. And now Tausch is a year older (32) and coming off major surgery. Clifton has also been hurt. And while Clifton has been solid he's not young anymore either (33) and has never been to a Pro Bowl. Hopefully a bandaid fix will get us through the season but there is a ton of work to be done on the OLine. Spitz and Colledge are free agents after this year and you certainly don't want to give them a ton of money. Wells lost his starting job because he's crap.

One of the reasons (or I was told here) that we wanted to have oodles of cap room in reserve was the impending FA of Spitz and Colledge.

I still don't see how they have proven they are anything better than average, at best. Even with Colledge at his more natural guard position. TT retained Scott Wells for decent money, who turned out to be the 6th best lineman on a poor line. These guys aren't much better.

Although our guys playing tackle have been far worse, the guys playing guard haven't exactly excelled. Crap, Colledge got hurt when our guard (Spitz?) got thrown backward into him, or something like that.

And they haven't exactly been penalty free either.

Fine with Jordy Nelson on punts, but it seems alot more risky, some of his choices he makes...

I'm fine with Nelson returning punts and kicks. He doesn't have the TD breaking potential of Blackmon, but he runs more north/south and can break more tackles. Over the course of a season, i think Nelson could have similar return averages, just getting those numbers in a different way.

As for Spitz, i don't want to see him take another snap at guard unless it's an emergency. He may end up becoming a very solid center, but he's not strong or skilled enough to be a decent guard. If injuries happen, i'd much rather just keep Spitz at center and maybe try Lang at guard if needed. For all the flack Colledge got yesterday, Spitz wasn't much better, he was a turnstile himself.

[Jollay]

[ If injuries happen, i'd much rather just keep Spitz at center and maybe try Lang at guard if needed.

Agreed.