Eddie Lacy saw his first action on Saturday. |
Jermichael Finley: Is the reformation complete? The imposing tight end has historically irked fans with his brash talk, excessive celebration, and generally not living up to the hype. Finley is reported to have rededicated himself. He has put his nose to the grindstone and is letting his play do the talking. The tight end took hits and grabbed yards after the catch, showing an aggression that's been lacking in the past. He displayed his quickness, slicing through the Rams zone defense for 25 yards on the third play from scrimmage. His extra prep-time spent with Aaron Rodgers appeared to pay off later in the quarter when, after the QB called an audible, Finley knew to look for the quick pass and turned it into a 33 yard gain, absorbing some hits along the way. And no shark-fin dance this time. Maybe Finley knows it's only preseason. Maybe he knows it's a contract year. Whatever the reason, it means positive things for the Packers offense.
Jolly had a batted pass and an interception on Saturday |
Micah Hyde: Taking more snaps than anyone else on the team (52) Hyde showed his versatility. He played the corner position left, right, and worked in the slot, breaking up 2 passes and collecting a sack and 5 tackles. Hyde did surrender a 57 yard catch and run to Rams WR Chris Givens, exposing a slight lack of speed, but an argument can be made for blown coverage over the top. The real surprise of the night was a chance to return a punt in which Hyde recovered 17 years. Hyde returned punts at Iowa and said after the game, "I feel comfortable doing it." If WR Jeremy Ross continues his bobbling ways, Hyde could see more action on special teams as coaches should be anxious to relieve the dynamic and valuable WR Randall Cobb from his returning duties.
Did you see anyone that stood out? Anything you liked or didn't like? Comment and let's chat about it.
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ReplyDeleteI felt so happy for Jolly in that game. I don't see him going anywhere. To add to your list, I have to give a lot of credit to our entire red zone defense. We almost came out of that game with a shut out. One individual that I have liked in both of our preseason games is Gillette. He shows signs of having short and quick pass play abilities. I hope they sign him.
ReplyDeleteOne thing I didn't like was that even though our back-up QBs still need work, I saw a lot of passes that could have been cought, and a few on-the-money passes that were dropped. I know it's only preseason, but you never like to see that.
ReplyDeleteI'm happy for Jolly as well. Football loves a good redemption story, and it's good to see the big man getting back to his instinctive ways. The team has lacked his energy and intuition in the past. He hasn't showed consistent pass rush ability, but he occasionally breaks through. More importantly, he hustles on every snap and just has a knack for the big play. The Packers usually keep 6 DL's. I hope there's room for Jolly.
ReplyDeleteRegarding dropped passes, I totally agree. I think Graham Harrell has gotten some unfair criticism as of late. Many of his incompletions were on-the-money passes that were inexplicably dropped. Bob McGinn of jsonline.com recently pointed out that if those gimmes had not been dropped, Harrell throws for over 100 yards and probably a touchdown. When judging Harrell, keep in mind how much repetition and rhythm matter, and how poorly Matt Flynn and, yes, Aaron Rodgers sometimes played in the preseason earlier in their careers.