Lions Leadup

[trwi7]

James Starks is the starter headed into Detroit game per Rob Demovsky. Starks is averaging 5.9 yards per rush the last 4 games and Lacy is averaging 2.4.

The sad thing is Lacy has more carries in those 4 games than Starks does.

[BUCKSFORLIFE]

James Starks is the starter headed into Detroit game per Rob Demovsky. Starks is averaging 5.9 yards per rush the last 4 games and Lacy is averaging 2.4.

The sad thing is Lacy has more carries in those 4 games than Starks does.

More of McCarthy complete madness. Lacy should be suspended til he gets his Lazy ass in shape. What kind of message does this send to the rest of the team? Vince will never get to rest in peace as long as we have these total morons running the team he put on the map.

[Iheartfootball]

James Starks is the starter headed into Detroit game per Rob Demovsky. Starks is averaging 5.9 yards per rush the last 4 games and Lacy is averaging 2.4.

The sad thing is Lacy has more carries in those 4 games than Starks does.

More of McCarthy complete madness. Lacy should be suspended til he gets his Lazy ass in shape. What kind of message does this send to the rest of the team? Vince will never get to rest in peace as long as we have these total morons running the team he put on the map.

Sounds like a great way to motivate him and get him to stop eating. Send him home to his fridge.

Also, does his contract have language that allows for that? Otherwise you are going to deal with the NFLPA.

Finally, pretty sure Vince isn't doing anything except rotting down in the dirt. Time to move on, different time, different game.

[BUCKSFORLIFE]

The sad thing is Lacy has more carries in those 4 games than Starks does.

More of McCarthy complete madness. Lacy should be suspended til he gets his Lazy ass in shape. What kind of message does this send to the rest of the team? Vince will never get to rest in peace as long as we have these total morons running the team he put on the map.

Sounds like a great way to motivate him and get him to stop eating. Send him home to his fridge.

Also, does his contract have language that allows for that? Otherwise you are going to deal with the NFLPA.

Finally, pretty sure Vince isn't doing anything except rotting down in the dirt. Time to move on, different time, different game.

Maybe so. This is a different era. However discipline and leadership still count for something. Bill Belichick would never stand for this kind of silliness. He gets the most out of all his players because he sets and example. McCarthy's example is to make excuses and just shrug things off. The players then do the same. It's so plainly obvious.

[ReasonablySober]

Go get Megatron in 2016. Seriously.

[crkone]

Megatron, Jordy, Cobb, Adams, Montgomery would be pretty sweet. Only have $26 million in cap space next season though. Could get $10 mil more if we cut Peppers before June 1st, I think. Really, they just need to start over on the defense anyway. They do have a ton of FAs, though I'd let most walk:

Michael Neal
Mason Crosby
Sean Richardson
Letroy Guion
Nick Perry
James Starks
B.J. Raji
Mike Daniels
Don Barclay
Scott Tolzien
Casey Hayward
John Kuhn
Lane Taylor
Andy Mulumba
James Jones
Chris Banjo
Justin Perillo
Jared Abbrederis

[James1980]

I thought Abbrederis signed a 3 year deal?

[MickeyDavis]

Contract details released by the NFL Players Association show newly-signed wide receiver Jared Abbrederis received a three-year deal from the Green Bay Packers.

Abbrederis will earn league-minimum salaries of $435,000 in 2015, $525,000 in 2016 and $615,000 in 2017. He will become an unrestricted free agent following the 2017 season.

[crkone]

Spotrac is off sometimes

[HKPackFan]

Go get Megatron in 2016. Seriously.

Would absolutely love megatron but he's going to cost a fortune. He would require probably another $35 to $45 million deal. How many $40 million deals can we hand out to WRs? Conservatively speaking he's in the $8 to $12 million per year range. Just not sure we could afford THREE WRs making $10 million a year.

I mean would love it, but sounds kinda expensive with BJ Raji and Daniels looking for that kind of cash as well.

[MickeyDavis]

I don't see Detroit dealing him within the division

[MickeyDavis]

T Bryan Bulaga (knee), CB Casey Hayward (concussion), WR James Jones (quadriceps), RB Eddie Lacy (groin), G T.J. Lang (back), LB Clay Matthews (ankle/knee), WR Ty Montgomery (ankle), LB Nick Perry (shoulder/hand), CB Sam Shields (shoulder) and G Josh Sitton (back) were limited participants in Thursday's practice.

LB Mike Neal (hip) did not practice for the second consecutive day.

S Morgan Burnett (ankle), DB Micah Hyde (quadriceps), CB Damarious Randall (illness) and CB Quinten Rollins (neck) were full participants.

[MickeyDavis]

Good article on Randall

http://www.jsonline.com/sports/packers/packers-cornerback-damarious-randall-playing-like-a-starter-b99614918z1-347340411.html

[raysbookclub]

No way that Calvin Johnson would be traded to GB. Oakland would be a great spot though. Denver has one, maybe two, years left as a contender, and then that division is open.

[HKPackFan]

No way that Calvin Johnson would be traded to GB. Oakland would be a great spot though. Denver has one, maybe two, years left as a contender, and then that division is open.

I was not considering a trade. Someone then would have to absorb his insane salary. I was thinking cap casualty then he becomes a free agent. What's his salary like 20 million? Who would take on an elite qb salary for an old wr?

[ReasonablySober]

Yea, I'm not thinking trade either.

[MickeyDavis]

We get Buck and Aikman again. Ref is John Hussey. He was promoted to ref from line judge this year.

[MickeyDavis]

Linebacker Mike Neal, the only Green Bay Packers' player to miss practice Wednesday and Thursday, is set to play Sunday against the Detroit Lions at Lambeau Field.

Neal was listed as questionable with a hip injury.

"I'm good," Neal said Friday. "This is the best physically that I've felt. Just week in and week out, sometimes you get banged up. Things flared up where they shouldn't have flared up.

"By Wednesday, I was good. The (medical) staff does a good job of saying, 'You know what? Just chill out. I don't care if you feel like you can go. Relax. We don't want it to become an issue.'"

Neal has played 395 of the 555 defensive snaps, or 71.2%.

"I've played a lot of snaps, a lot more than I have in the past," he said.

Also listed as questionable entering practice Saturday were running back Eddie Lacy (groin), wide receiver Ty Montgomery (ankle) and cornerback Sam Shields (shoulder). Eleven players were listed as probable.

In Allen Park, Mich., the Lions declared cornerback Rashean Mathis out with a concussion. He'll be replaced by Nevin Lawson, who will be making the second start of his two-year career.

"He'll fight you and he hustles and he plays," Lions coach Jim Caldwell said Friday. "He loves to play and I think he'll fare well. It's not just one guy."

Wide receiver Calvin Johnson (ankle) sat out Friday and was questionable along with No. 3 safety Isa Abdul-Quddus (foot).

[MickeyDavis]

If the Green Bay Packers rather than the Denver Broncos had acquired tight end Vernon Davis, the reaction in their locker room probably would have been every bit as ebullient as it was in the Broncos'.

"It's amazing," Denver wide receiver Demaryius Thomas said shortly after the Nov. 3 trade. "Now you've got more weapons for Peyton (Manning) to throw to...it'll make the offense more explosive."

Packers fans might not be ready to let it go but the team has. Call it out of sight, out of mind for the Packers' players and coaches when it comes to Davis.

"It never even crossed my mind what he could have done here," said linebacker Julius Peppers. "I didn't even know he was available."

Davis, a dynamic deep threat for a decade in San Francisco, and a seventh-round draft choice in 2016 went to Denver in exchange for sixth-round picks in '16 and '17. The deal was consummated one day before the trading deadline.

A source with knowledge of talks between the 49ers and Broncos said there was at least one other team involved. The Journal Sentinel learned that the Packers had no interest in Davis.

Through a team spokesman, general manager Ted Thompson declined an interview request Friday about Davis because it concerned someone on another team.

The Packers' need at tight end was more critical than the Broncos', who already had veterans Owen Daniels, Virgil Green and Richard Gordon.

With Andrew Quarless out until at least Thanksgiving with a knee injury, the Packers' triumvirate of Richard Rodgers, Justin Perillo and Kennard Backman is among the NFL's worst.

"If we have any opportunities to get better, and we think that the compensation is fair, then we're going to do everything we can to do that," Denver GM John Elway said. "We're trying to win from now on, but this will be a big step for us to win this season."

The Broncos assumed the final year of Davis' contract that will pay him $2.3 million over the last nine weeks. He will be an unrestricted free agent in March, and if the Broncos don't re-sign him they could be in line for a compensatory pick in 2017.

Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers said none of the team's decision-makers discussed with him the idea of adding a fleet-footed albeit 31-year-old tight end to a sluggish offense.

Asked if he wished the Packers had traded for Davis, Rodgers replied, "No. I like our guys."

Linebacker Clay Matthews vividly remembers being burned by Davis for a 24-yard touchdown pass as a rookie in 2009.

In seven games against the Packers, Davis caught 25 passes for 530 yards, a 21.2-yard average and seven touchdowns. Twelve of his receptions were for at least 20 yards.

"You know what?" said Matthews. "Any time you can add a playmaker to your team no matter what position, through the draft, free agency, trade, I'm all for it.

"I don't know him personally, and we don't like knuckleheads around here. We try and do everything the right way. I don't know how he'd fit.

"I don't know what his statistics have been...he's pretty gifted athletically. That's for them upstairs to say."

Tom Clements, the associate head coach on offense, wouldn't comment when asked if he would have liked to see Davis in a Packers uniform.

Jerry Fontenot, who coaches the tight ends, quarterbacks-wide receivers coach Alex Van Pelt and Clements all said they weren't privy to what certainly were internal talks regarding Davis.

"I can wish and want all I want," said Fontenot. "There's a lot of decisions that have to be made according to what our team needs. At the end of the day, I trust the guys that are making all those decisions will do what's best for our team."

After six years, linebacker Mike Neal understands the tenor of business in Green Bay.

"With Ted, it's very, very, very quiet how they go about going after free agents and just guys in general," said Neal.

"We (players) didn't talk about it. I don't even know if they looked at it. They just do a good job of keeping guys in-house and bringing them up through the system."

Davis had his poorest statistical season in 2014 with 26 catches for 245 yards in 14 games (five drops). Sidelined for three games this year with a sprained knee, he had 18 receptions for 194.

Still, Pro Football Weekly ranked him as the NFL's No. 8 tight end entering training camp. He had been No. 5 in 2010, No. 3 in '11 and '12, No. 5 in '13 and No. 4 in '14.

"All the stuff that we've heard of him being a leader with the 49ers and the qualities that he has as a person, I think that he's going to fit perfectly," Elway said. "When he was here for (joint practices) this (summer), he hadn't slowed down a bit."

Davis, 6 feet 3 inches and 250 pounds, ran as fast a 40 (4.38) in 2006 as any tight end ever. Over time, scouts said he became a much better than average blocker, too.

Coach Gary Kubiak played Davis for nine snaps Sunday in Indianapolis after three days of practice. He was matched up wide against a safety and had him beat deep but was held.

"There was a conscious effort to get him the football," said Kubiak. "He needs to play more, and he will."

Minus Quarless, the double tight-end formation that had been an effective staple of coach Mike McCarthy's offense has been minimized.

Through eight games last year, there were 274 instances in which a tight end lined up in a three-point stance. In eight games this year, that total is 117.

Two tight-end sets balance the formation and create identification problems for the defense. The added bulk helps blocking for run and pass.

"If you have two big guys that can both block and run the field then it poses problems for defenses," Fontenot said. "For us, it poses a great advantage because then you can exploit whatever personnel group they put on the field."

Van Pelt, who also has coached for Buffalo and Tampa Bay, indicated McCarthy's scheme is more complex than most. He also said it would take time for even a veteran newcomer to get on the same page with Rodgers.

"But I think it's more philosophy than anything else," he said.

Since taking over in January 2005, Thompson has traded for six players. The last was safety Anthony Smith in October 2010.