What a joke this whole preseason has been

[gbgary]

You do realize he's doing the same thing you criticize Rodgers in regards to his poor choice of wording right? Not so fun is it when the shoe is on the other foot now is it?

huh? that's a massive reach like your dak/rodgers post. what poor choice of words?

 

[PackAttack12]

Same old song and dance.

 

[Wi. Mike now in Florida]

All this preseason drama, Mike McCarthy is sitting in some bar with a fat wallet laughing his @ss off.

 

[Poppa San]

All this preseason drama, Mike McCarthy is sitting in some bar with a fat wallet laughing his @ss off.

I am surprised he isn't in a press box or TV studio offering up his POV.

 

[weeds]

First Post from a long time reader.

Here is the True Story of what happened in Canada yesterday. I am a packers fan who lives in Kenora, ONT and was at the game.


I stayed at the same hotel as the team (not knowingly). Yesterday morning approx 10am I was at the private lounge for guests only. Aaron Rodgers and few players were sitting relaxing, broadcasters, other team staff, and the GM. About 6-7 of them got up and went over to the stadium. The players were not permitted to visit the field for the game. About 4 hrs later I returned to the hotel and the staff returned from the stadium. I overheard conversations that they are getting together shortly after in a private room.

Where I was for the 4 hrs they were away I visited some downtown attractions and a well known area was called 'THE FORKS'. Which blew me away and would make most cities jealous that they had such an attraction. Its not just built but it's an attraction that mixes hundreds of years history which basically formed the city as a gathering place which now is a huge space of land in the heart of downtown with restaurants, shops, parks, river boat rides,etc. I met tons of Packers and Raiders there and they were having a great time.

A side story. I met few Packers players that brought their families with them as this was a great opportunity for them to visit another country. I won't mention his name but he is a RB brought his mom - sister, and were having the time of their life. Sadly he never saw the field lol but we know he is going to be great!

Continuing....... As I was walking back from ' The Forks' I met up with few of the broadcasters. Spoke about conversation I overheard in the lounge about it being important and I just asked ''what was the worry about that the team staff had to go over to the stadium?'' He told me ''field conditions'' I was shocked. My first reaction was all the money I spent on my vacation and it was going to be cancelled.

So when I arrived at the hotel around 2:30 I made my way down to the lounge and sure enough I bumped into the same broadcaster and few other Packers staff. I brought up the status of the field and they told me '' The raiders approved the field at noon, the nfl said it was great, our guys are going over again at 4 to check'' So I was pleased with the response and I got ready for the game as usual.

At approximately 3:15 I made my way down to the lobby and was standing waiting for autographs or photos of players/coaches. At 3:30 all the Packers staff and broadcasters left for the stadium. The players left shortly after. Aaron Rodgers was not friendly at all to the fans, not even a wave. So I took that as he was prepping for the game and was getting into his zone. I thought great 'aarong is starting'.

At 4:30 I left to the stadium and I turned on the local radio and the field conditions were being discussed. They had their own pre-game show on the local sports station which was fun. They also have tons of radio access to our rivals the Minnesota Vikings. Nothing from Green Bay comes up to Manitoba. I get to the stadium which is a beautiful stadium and if you added another concourse on top it would rival any NFL stadium in size/beauty. For a 33k seat facility I have been there for a Blue Bomber game and know how loud it gets its one of the nicest stadiums in the world. Just beautiful. I walk down to our seats and I notice the field spots in the endzone. It was dark in color and notice nothing much of an issue.

The strangest part of this entire mess was that both the Raiders and Packers were running and catching balls over the spot hundreds of times in warm-ups. Never an issue.

Then the game started and the fans were told about the field adjustments. Not cool.

At half-time I walked down to the field for pictures and sure enough one of the team staff members I visited at the hotel was on the field. He came over, we spoke for a while, and he told me something that has not been discussed at all regarding the field conditions.

He told ''The Raiders and the NFL felt the field was perfect but our GM and President would not budge'' I asked him ''why?'' He told me something I never heard of as a Packers fan which brings us back to the Hall of Fame game.

According to him the Packers are operated differently as a NFL franchise and are not protected under the same laws operating in Wisconsin due to not having a private ownership group in nature, but having incorporated company with public shareholders operating outside of Wisconsin the Packers can not put their employees at risk of known risk of work place injury.

If a player tears his ACL playing Football it falls under the NFL-NFLPA CBA regarding insurance,etc. But if it happens due to a known risk such as a playing surface, they are not protected under the agreement the same as other teams.

I have sent a message over to the broadcaster I met and hopefully he responds and would be great for someone in journalism in Wisconsin to do a story on this as it would be more responsible for the Green Bay Packers to explain themselves other than just letting everyone guess on why the Packers feel differently than the Oakland Raiders.

Jon Gruden post-game knew about this and was clearly not impressed and left the Packers to explain it for themselves.

Other than that. It was a great time. I get to continue on with my vacation and going over to Lake Winnipeg and then Falcon Lake for the weekend. Going to watch the Blue Bombers game tonight and enjoy the rest of my vacation.


Go Packers!

Great post. Interesting stuff.

 

[Packer Fan in SD]

Funniest thing to me is Gruden was ok with the field but didn’t play 24 of his players including many starters. Why did Carr not play?

 

[TomBrownFan40]

Great post. Interesting stuff.

I agree. KelliParkins, welcome to Packerland!
"I stayed at the same hotel as the team (not knowingly)."
If Sheryl Crow ever comes to your town I want you to be my booking agent.

On the topic, I'm going to calm down til the games count.
I'm guessing everyone will play in Soldier Field.
I sense some people here have been watching Florio, ESPN, and bicycle racing. Stop it!!! It's bad for your health!!!
College Football starts tomorrow!!!
Yay!!!

 

[rmontro]

All this preseason drama, Mike McCarthy is sitting in some bar with a fat wallet laughing his @ss off.

The worse the Packers do this year, McCarthy's chances probably improve for getting another head coaching job.

 

[Pokerbrat2000]

i'm beginning to think their personalities overmatch his.
the comments that rodgers has made that keep the "uncoachable" narrative alive. last night MLF said he wasn't part of the decisions made about the field conditions. MLF said the field had nothing to do with personnel decisions, then rodgers said at half-time he didn't play because of the field. they didn't play 33 guys because of the field. did murphy make the call on the personnel? MLF got kinda defensive after the game when asked about the personnel decisions. idk.

Really? During his post game presser he said the field conditions was the reason he didn't play starters and in his press conference today he said the same thing and added "he was going by a gut instinct", that playing his starters wouldn't be wise. I really think you are reaching way too much for this smoking gun of making Rodgers appear to be alienating everyone and uncoachable.

https://www.packers.com/video/lafleur-believes-tackling-is-much-improved

https://www.packers.com/video/lafleur-on-boyle-he-did-a-good-job-of-making-it-right

 

[weeds]

I agree. KelliParkins, welcome to Packerland!
"I stayed at the same hotel as the team (not knowingly)."
If Sheryl Crow ever comes to your town I want you to be my booking agent.

On the topic, I'm going to calm down til the games count.
I'm guessing everyone will play in Soldier Field.
I sense some people here have been watching Florio, ESPN, and bicycle racing. Stop it!!! It's bad for your health!!!
College Football starts tomorrow!!!
Yay!!!

Yeah, I'm with ya, TBF40. My response to KelliParkins was based solely on a "different perspective" basis. Your reference to Florio's website made me laugh. Good jab.

They focus on the fact that the Pack parked 33 starters (interesting work with numbers) but failed to mention that the Raiders didn't even BRING 42 of their players - this for a Raiders' HOME game, and a game generally perceived to be a dress rehearsal for the regular season. Makes me wonder if the Pack got blindsided by Gruden and were concerned that our starters on the field with a bunch of wannabes was a recipe for late hits and the like.

 

[Mondio]

I did hear MLF say something to that effect, the Raiders weren't playing any starters so they figured there was no sense in playing our's

 

[Deleted member 6794]

Right now I don't know if we should start talking next year draft picks or the pot hole situation in Wisconsin. New system, New Coach, anemic offense the last couple years and no clue how everything works together in game situations. Plus the system will be first tested against last years division winner in Chicago playing on a cow pasture. Who said Barnum and Bailey went out of business?

Geez, the Packers haven't played most of their starters for a significant amount of snaps during the preseason yet there are already fans giving up on the season.

 

[Do7]

Geez, the Packers haven't played most of their starters for a significant amount of snaps during the preseason yet there are already fans giving up on the season.

Well to be fair. It seems like from the looks of things our first trial by fire will be against Chicago in Soldier Field.

 

[Pokerbrat2000]

Well to be fair. It seems like from the looks of things our first trial by fire will be against Chicago in Soldier Field.

Well if it makes people feel any better, the Bears have pretty much taken the same approach to the preseason, so they could be as "equally rusty".

This approach of not playing your key starters much, if at all, is pretty much the norm now. Coaches and players feel like the amount of reps they get in practices and/or scrimmages are enough and outweigh the risks associated with trying to fine tune things and possibly getting injured during a meaningless PS game. Not to mention that they aren't going to show a whole lot during the preseason, its mainly get out there, run some plays and try to escape healthy.

Really all I see preseason games as now are games to evaluate talent. The talent of the starters is pretty much already known. Making them risk injury just to prove it or to make them "feel like they can perform during live action against another team", is discounting everything they do at practice and everything they have done previously in the NFL.

Now I get playing the young guys a lot, even first rounders like Gary, they need the NFL experience, but Aaron Rodgers needing preseason games? Meh, not worth the risk of a lost season.

I will happily watch a bit of rust in a full first game of the season, which is probably 5-10 times the reps that the starters would see over 4 preseason games, than loose a valuable starter in the preseason.

 

[Wi. Mike now in Florida]

This approach of not playing your key starters much, if at all, is pretty much the norm now.

 

[Wi. Mike now in Florida]

This approach of not playing your key starters much, if at all, is pretty much the norm now. .

I agree.
With all the talk about eliminating preseason, cutting back games, and practicing with other teams,
this seems to be a work-around now for starters.

Even A-rod stated he gets more out of single practices then playing in preseason.

We shall see when the regular season begins.

 

[Pokerbrat2000]

I agree.
With all the talk about eliminating preseason, cutting back games, and practicing with other teams,
this seems to be a work-around now for starters.

Even A-rod stated he gets more out of single practices then playing in preseason.

We shall see when the regular season begins.

Yup. I had a hard time accepting it at first. It had been about 7 months, since I last saw my beloved Packers play and I was eager and hungry to see my favorite players play again. But all it takes is seeing a few key players get injured in the preseason (Jordy Nelson) and you begin to understand that these games are better suited to both evaluate and give the new guys a chance to play some NFL football.

While some talk about playing fewer preseason games, I still think they are necessary to evaluate and improve the younger guys, so I wouldn't change much about it.

 

[HardRightEdge]

According to him the Packers are operated differently as a NFL franchise and are not protected under the same laws operating in Wisconsin due to not having a private ownership group in nature, but having incorporated company with public shareholders operating outside of Wisconsin the Packers can not put their employees at risk of known risk of work place injury.

If a player tears his ACL playing Football it falls under the NFL-NFLPA CBA regarding insurance,etc. But if it happens due to a known risk such as a playing surface, they are not protected under the agreement the same as other teams.

I have sent a message over to the broadcaster I met and hopefully he responds and would be great for someone in journalism in Wisconsin to do a story on this as it would be more responsible for the Green Bay Packers to explain themselves other than just letting everyone guess on why the Packers feel differently than the Oakland Raiders.

That's an interesting post.

It might be worth noting that the difference between the Packers and everybody else is that the former is a not-for-profit corporation, albeit taxed, whereas other teams are for-profit corporations of one stripe or another. I don't think Jerry or Bob would be running a sole proprietorship and filing taxes on a Schedule C. A corporate structure is necessary, even for a single owner who is then the sole shareholder, to shield personal assets from business liabilities. There may not even be a single owner anyway. For example, Bob's sone may have a partnership interest and partnerships are de facto corporations.

I find it implausible that Wisconsin law would expose a not-for-profit to a potentially onerous liability while exempting a for-profit from that same potential liability. In other words, I find it implausible that corporate structure has anything to do with it.

It could be that Wisconsin has some unique and potentially onerous Workers Comp provisions not found in other NFL states where payments are made off the salary cap books that we would never see.

Or it could be the whole story is wrong, just a guy making up or repeating an excuse for an overly fastidious football decision.

I look forward to any informed response you might get.

 

[Mondio]

I'm not sure how that would work either and if true, why play any? to be on the hook for a camp cut to claim his career was cut short because of the field? or at least expose yourself to that risk?

 

[PackerfaninCarolina]

This is the first preseason I can remember in my 56 years on this earth that everything seems unclear and with a huge lack of any continuity. Let’s hope it clears up soon!!

Somehow no, I vehemently disagree with this. We have very clear information that Rodgers's successor is not on this roster.

Then again that should have been common knowledge.

 

[PackerfaninCarolina]

as i said in my post it's just a feeling i'm getting that his personality isn't strong enough for a HC. we'll see. lotta football left.

That's putting it mildly considering we've not played a single game that's counted yet.

Now, obviously LaFleur is not an old school style of coach following the mold of Holmgren, Parcells, Cowher or even McCarthy. But neither are many of these other younger guys that are now taking over the league. Reid and Bellichek aren't going to be out there forever either.

My point is LaFleur is not likely to just wave his wand and fix this all overnight. Our last regime's exit left a pretty hefty job for the next guy to fix.

If there is blame to be had, it's in the front office. So far the buffoons in there have proven to be anti offense people who do nothing to give this team any weapons. Gute and Ball have done absolutely nothing to get the offense talent or speed, so if the offense struggles again this year it is all their fault. They need to be forced to draft all offense and not just slow TEs.

 

[PackerfaninCarolina]

The worse the Packers do this year, McCarthy's chances probably improve for getting another head coaching job.

Even if he took another one and succeeded, it doesn't mean the Pack were wrong to move on from him no more than Philly was to move on from Reid. Sometimes it just has to be done. We just gotta give MLF a chance to hit his bearings and hope that our front office doesn't screw him in the process. Regardless, I'm pretty sure MM has made his peace by now about the Pack's decision to move on, and his getting hired will be based on his own merits which will not be affected by the Packers success or failure this season.

 

[HardRightEdge]

i'm beginning to think their personalities overmatch his.
the comments that rodgers has made that keep the "uncoachable" narrative alive. last night MLF said he wasn't part of the decisions made about the field conditions. MLF said the field had nothing to do with personnel decisions, then rodgers said at half-time he didn't play because of the field. they didn't play 33 guys because of the field. did murphy make the call on the personnel? MLF got kinda defensive after the game when asked about the personnel decisions. idk.

The entire affair has the look of one of those through the looking glass and down the rabbit hole kind of affairs that are becoming a habit. Who decided what and when for what reason and whether Rodgers was in on the joke or if there wasn't any joke at all will likely remain a mystery. For all we know, Murphy found an excuse to send a message to the league to not send him to a small stadium with a small visitor share of the gate receipts and to shorten the preseason while we're at it. The injury threat from those little patch-overs in the end zones did appear overly fastidious.

Then you have Lafluer, a young inexperienced guy, kinda like a whiz bang tech nerd who got promoted to management. He's bound to have some missteps along the way.

It would certainly help if Murphy could get the principals together for a chat on messaging, the importance of being on the same page, whether lying or telling the truth. Better yet in the Thompson/McCarthy style, avoid saying much all. Since LeFleur has now stated he will not talk about injuries anymore, he may be learning a lesson.

McCarthy: "I have not talked to the medical staff in the last couple of days so I can't give you an update."

 

[Pokerbrat2000]

Even if he took another one and succeeded, it doesn't mean the Pack were wrong to move on from him no more than Philly was to move on from Reid. Sometimes it just has to be done. We just gotta give MLF a chance to hit his bearings and hope that our front office doesn't screw him in the process. Regardless, I'm pretty sure MM has made his peace by now about the Pack's decision to move on, and his getting hired will be based on his own merits which will not be affected by the Packers success or failure this season.

I predict that MM will be coaching in Detroit around mid-season, about the time Bob Quin and the Lions figure out it was a colossal mistake hiring Matt Patricia.

 

[rmontro]

If there is blame to be had, it's in the front office. So far the buffoons in there have proven to be anti offense people who do nothing to give this team any weapons.

I agree the offense needs attention. But if they're anti-offense, how much worse are they on defense. Because they've been trying to fix the defense for years without any results. Yeah, we have a new GM and DC now, so let's hope it gets better. If not, maybe we just have bad scouts or something. If it doesn't improve, it's going to make the organization look bad.

Even if he took another one and succeeded, it doesn't mean the Pack were wrong to move on from him no more than Philly was to move on from Reid.

I like McCarthy, but I definitely think it was time to move on. Things had gotten stale and it wasn't working anymore. Hopefully they picked the right guy.