Pack/Lions Lead Up - Clay Practices Thursday

[Bucksfans1and2]

If Clay can't go this game is going to be hard.

[eagle13]

If Clay can't go this game is going to be hard.

Agreed but we won 3 of 4 the year he missed 4 games.

[rilamann]

This is going to be a tough game with or without Clay.

The Stafford/Megatron/Bush trio is going to cause some problems for our defense and the Lions defense can get after the QB.This game is making me more nervous as Sunday approaches.

Part of my nervousness probably comes from the simple fact that if we lose we are 1-3 and can pretty much forget about winning the division and the possibility of missing the playoffs all together becomes an even greater reality.

The Packers at home should win this game,but it's not going to be easy.

[Bucksfans1and2]

This is going to be a tough game with or without Clay.

The Stafford/Megatron/Bush trio is going to cause some problems for our defense and the Lions defense can get after the QB.This game is making me more nervous as Sunday approaches.

Part of my nervousness probably comes from the simple fact that if we lose we are 1-3 and can pretty much forget about winning the division and the possibility of missing the playoffs all together becomes an even greater reality.

The Packers at home should win this game,but it's not going to be easy.

I don't necessarily disagree, but we started out 2-3 last year. Forgeting about winning the division is going too far.

[rilamann]

This is going to be a tough game with or without Clay.

The Stafford/Megatron/Bush trio is going to cause some problems for our defense and the Lions defense can get after the QB.This game is making me more nervous as Sunday approaches.

Part of my nervousness probably comes from the simple fact that if we lose we are 1-3 and can pretty much forget about winning the division and the possibility of missing the playoffs all together becomes an even greater reality.

The Packers at home should win this game,but it's not going to be easy.

I don't necessarily disagree, but we started out 2-3 last year. Forgeting about winning the division is going too far.

True,but a loss drops us to 1-3 and puts the Lions at 4-1,of course if the Bears beat the Saints they will be 4-1 as well.Maybe one of the Bears or Lions might totally collapse after a 4-1 start but the odds are against both of them collapsing.

Then combine that with being 1-3 with what still looks like a pretty tough schedule for us.

If the Bears go 4-1 with a win over the Saints I will be a lot more sold on the Bears being legit and if the Lions can beat us at Lambeau to go to 4-1 I'll be a little more sold on them as well,while we sit at 1-3.

Luckily it's still Thursday so just beat the Lions Sunday and let's hope the Bears 3-1 start is a fluke and the Saints send them back to reality like they did to the Dolphins last week,then the Division is up for grabs after week 5.

This is a huge week for the Packers,we could be right in the mix for the division or be looking at a really tough climb to win it after Sunday.

[crkone]

[tweet]https://twitter.com/ttwentyman/status/385856868418985985[/tweet]

I know the Pack is different when it comes to injuries, and these guys may play. But they are at least going to be limited.

[Newz]

I cannot wait until Hayward is back. I think I like him more than most Packer fans do. I truly think he has the ability to be an elite player at his position... especially considering he was elite during his rookie year. If he improves at all on his rookie campaign he is going to go from being great to... whatever is better than great.

[El Duderino]

This is going to be a tough game with or without Clay.

The Stafford/Megatron/Bush trio is going to cause some problems for our defense and the Lions defense can get after the QB.This game is making me more nervous as Sunday approaches.

Part of my nervousness probably comes from the simple fact that if we lose we are 1-3 and can pretty much forget about winning the division and the possibility of missing the playoffs all together becomes an even greater reality.

The Packers at home should win this game,but it's not going to be easy.

I don't necessarily disagree, but we started out 2-3 last year. Forgeting about winning the division is going too far.

While i would prefer winning the division, i don't see that being a huge advantage over winning a Wild Card berth if that were to happen given 4 of the last 6 title winners got into the playoffs via the Wild Card.

It's just a different NFL from the past where pretty consistently the Super Bowl champions came from division winners with 11/12/13/14 win seasons and home field advantage in the playoffs, along with often a first round bye.

Parity is more common today and that's lead to the playoffs being more of a crapshoot than ever before where 9-7 or 10-6 Wild Card teams end up in the Super Bowl, especially if those teams are playing well come the end of the year and relatively healthy.

[El Duderino]

I cannot wait until Hayward is back. I think I like him more than most Packer fans do. I truly think he has the ability to be an elite player at his position... especially considering he was elite during his rookie year. If he improves at all on his rookie campaign he is going to go from being great to... whatever is better than great.

Your not alone, we may have won the SF game had Hayward played and been covering Boldin on some of his 13 catches that day.

[PkrsBcksGphsMqt]

Feeling waaaaaay better about this game now that we know Clay will be on the field.

[raysbookclub]

Bigger issue for the season for the Packers is who else can rush the quarterback. Hope Perry isn't a bust. I know Matthews is an exception, as a guy who made an immediate impact and was soon a star, but we haven't been able to develop anyone at OLB besides him. I know the PIT OLBs had time to develop like Harrison et al, but Zombo, Walden, and Brad Jones all had 2-3 years to develop at that spot and didn't really improve. Maybe Perry has a good game vs Det and builds off that...

[eagle13]

Bigger issue for the season for the Packers is who else can rush the quarterback. Hope Perry isn't a bust. I know Matthews is an exception, as a guy who made an immediate impact and was soon a star, but we haven't been able to develop anyone at OLB besides him. I know the PIT OLBs had time to develop like Harrison et al, but Zombo, Walden, and Brad Jones all had 2-3 years to develop at that spot and didn't really improve. Maybe Perry has a good game vs Det and builds off that...

I think Perry will be good against the run but a weak pass rusher and cover guy which makes him a 1st down and short yardage downs only guy. Mike Neal has more pass rush potential imo and he's shown some coverage ability but needs improvement on run. Right now its easy for the offense on most downs to throw when Perry is in and run when Neal is.

[El Duderino]

Bigger issue for the season for the Packers is who else can rush the quarterback. Hope Perry isn't a bust. I know Matthews is an exception, as a guy who made an immediate impact and was soon a star, but we haven't been able to develop anyone at OLB besides him. I know the PIT OLBs had time to develop like Harrison et al, but Zombo, Walden, and Brad Jones all had 2-3 years to develop at that spot and didn't really improve. Maybe Perry has a good game vs Det and builds off that...

I think Perry will be good against the run but a weak pass rusher and cover guy which makes him a 1st down and short yardage downs only guy. Mike Neal has more pass rush potential imo and he's shown some coverage ability but needs improvement on run. Right now its easy for the offense on most downs to throw when Perry is in and run when Neal is.

Neal has seemed fine against the run from what i recall when playing OLB. Clearly the team needs at least one of the two to be a pass rushing threat though. After Clay exited vs the Bengals, it was frustrating to see both struggle so badly to generate any pass rush. Neal is still new to playing OLB and he showed promise rushing the passer from there in preseason, but he did little to capitalize on his big opportunity last Sunday. Hopefully he shows more over the rest of the season because i have less faith in Perry becoming a quality pass rushing threat.

The other guy not mentioned is Jones. It often takes rookies on the DL some time to make a noticeable impact, so i'm not panicking at all yet on him and his snaps have been limited, but it would be a huge boost to the defense if at some point this year he gets pressures as a nickle/dime pass rusher.

[Bucksfans1and2]

In an ideal world, everybody in our front four consistently gets to the QB.

Through three weeks, Clay and Daniels have been getting pressure. It will be interesting to see if Daniels continues his success whether or not defenses will focus their interior attention on him rather than Raji. Perry has been playing a lot of contain, but he needs to get to the QB at some point. I'm confident that he's going to put it together, I just really hope it's not for another team on his second contract.

[MickeyDavis]

MM's Friday presser

Probable – S Morgan Burnett (hamstring); OLB Clay Matthews (hamstring); CB Jarrett Bush (hamstring); RB Eddie Lacy (concussion); TE Jermichael Finley (concussion); RB Johnathan Franklin (foot), FB John Kuhn (hamstring). Out – CB Casey Hayward (hamstring), OL Greg Van Roten (foot), RB James Starks (knee).

-Everything looks good with Clay Matthews. Fully expect him to play.

-Morgan Burnett looked good. Particularly, I thought our football team it was one of our better padded practices.

-Returns, it’ll be situational. We’re looking at Johnathan Franklin, Micah Hyde and Randall Cobb. It’s a game plan decision based on when and where.

-Casey Hayward is making progress. The big day for Casey will be next week Monday or Tuesday. Monday will be the big day for Casey this week.

-Watch Reggie work. He’s a talented young man, good quickness and handles the football seamlessly in the return game. He’s had a good two days of work.

-We wouldn’t put anyone back there if we weren’t comfortable how they catch the ball. Jordy Nelson and Tramon Williams took some returns. You need to do it every single week. I feel good about Micah and Johnathan.

-Past success, I really don’t like talking about it. Every game is different. Division games, we have a process we go through. It’s really a credit to our players and coaching staff.

-Anytime a player switches positions and coming out of college and transition he’s able to make. Everyone goes about it differently. His professionalism and development that he needed to work on, you can see improvement in his game.


-I look at Eddie Lacy and Johnathan Franklin as three-down backs. How reps sort out, that’s why you play the game.


-I think this is probably their best team as far as they’re playing coming into the game. I can’t sit here and tell you how I felt about each and every game.


-John is an important member of our football team. He’s very valuable on game day whether it’s special teams and pass protection. We’ll see how much he can go, but it’ll be good to have him back out there.


-I really think the bye week if you’re going to prioritize the bye week, it is players getting healthy. The opportunity to practice during bye really don’t exist. The health part of it really helps the players. The ability to step away and come back, the urgency is always heightened.


-Every season is different. I know the bye week for me determines how the whole year is laid out. You don’t stay to that, it’s an outline. As far as the time of year, it factors into that. Every year is different. The health of your team factors into that.


-I think a later bye week would be preferable. Playing on Thanksgiving has served as a mini-bye. I think it’s going to work out fine.

[whatthe_buck!?]

I cannot wait until Hayward is back. I think I like him more than most Packer fans do. I truly think he has the ability to be an elite player at his position... especially considering he was elite during his rookie year. If he improves at all on his rookie campaign he is going to go from being great to... whatever is better than great.

There are packer fans out there who aren't in love with Casey Hayward?

[Aaron It Out]

I barely noticed Kuhn hasn't been active. Can't wait to hand it off to Kuhn on 3rd and short when he's in an I formation with Lacy.

[jimmybones]

Anyone going? I'll be in the 6th row. It will be only my third football game ever and by far the best seats I've had. SO excited.

[El Duderino]

Anyone going? I'll be in the 6th row. It will be only my third football game ever and by far the best seats I've had. SO excited.

Great to hear for you and i'm glad you get so excited.

For a variety of reasons, i've lost a decent sized amount of excitement i used to get over attending home games. I think it's a mix of the drive back home to Milwaukee, my ever increasing loathing of any weather where the temperature dips below 50 degrees, the overall expense, and my enjoyment instead of sitting in front of my big plasma where i can pause the game at any point to do whatever. Can see the other games. Don't have to find perfect times to hit a bathroom.

Lastly, i got sick of often ending up in a dead section of the crowd where few people stood up to make noise except for certain 3rd down situations on defense. In fact, more than once the group of four guys i attend games with got dirty looks or what's with these guys type of looks from people in the crowd for simply making noise when others around us were sitting on their hands, and we weren't swearing either. Seems strange to me how many fans spend all of that money to attend and then spend most of the game quietly just watching. To each their own i guess.