Packers: Injuries and replacements starting to resemble 2010 says Aaron Rodgers
Eleven years ago injuries nearly wrecked the season for the Green Bay Packers. Running back Ryan Grant was lost for the year in Week 1. Starting inside linebacker Nick Barnett saw his season come to an end in Week 4 against Detroit. A week later against Washington, a knee injury to tight end Jermichael Finley ended his year. In total, 14 players would end up on injured reserve. In an effort to plug holes, general manager Ted Thompson brought in a number of street free agents -- nose tackle Howard Green and outside linebacker Erik Walden to name a couple -- that would go on to play big roles in Green Bay's run to the Super Bowl XLV title.
It's been quite a while since that special run but this year is starting to have a familiar feel to it, at least according to one of the two remaining players on the roster from 2010.
"This season is beginning to remind me a little bit of a season over a decade ago where we've had a number of injuries and in the course of the season added certain pieces to the mix that ended up playing a big role down the line," quarterback Aaron Rodgers said Wednesday. "Think you guys can imagine what season I'm talking about, which is a good thing."
Rodgers comments came in response to the latest veteran addition to the roster in former Houston pass rusher Whitney Mercilus. He'll help fill a void at outside linebacker where the Packers have lost two players to season-ending injuries in Randy Ramsey and Chauncey Rivers, and aren't sure if their top pass rusher -- Za'Darius Smith -- will be able to return this season after back surgery.
Cornerback has also been hit hard, with All-Pro Jaire Alexander on injured reserve and Kevin King missing three games already this season. It forced them to sign veteran Rasul Douglas off of Arizona's practice squad and he ended up playing 85% of the defensive snaps against Chicago.
Back in 2010, when you went on injured reserve, you were done for the season. Right now, the Packers have seven players on IR and all of them are eligible to return.
Still, the signings of Mercilus and Douglas, combined with the acquisition of former Dallas inside linebacker Jaylon Smith, is a departure from the way the Packers have done business in the past. If a veteran went down, they expected a young guy to step up. While that is still the case in some spots -- offensive line for instance -- it's clear GM Brian Gutekunst is trying to give coach Matt LaFleur zero excuses for not reaching the team's potential, injuries or not.
"Oh, it makes you feel great as a coach," LaFleur said of the help. "Because ultimately we're as good many times as our players are able to go out there and perform. The more great players you have, the better the opportunity you have to win football games. And that's what we're all here for."
The Swing: Oct. 20, 2021
The Swing is back for Season 5! The guys talk Chucky Hepburn/Lorne Bowman, what the front court could look like with Chris Vogt, Steven Crowl and Ben Carlson, and whether Johnny Davis is ready to make the Badgers his team. They also chat with Wisconsin assistant coach Sharif Chambliss and answer your Twitter questions.
Giannis scores 32 as Bucks roll to 127-104 win over Brooklyn in season opener
Milwaukee put a cap on its celebration of last season's NBA title Tuesday night and then got back to work in an attempt to defend that championship. That effort got off to a good start with a 127-104 win over Brooklyn at Fiserv Forum.
The Bucks led by as many as 19 in the first half before the Nets cut it to five just before the break. The game was close heading to the fourth quarter but Milwaukee then put its foot on the gas for the season-opening blowout.
NBA Finals MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo got the new campaign going with 32 points, 14 rebounds and seven assists, while Khris Middleton gave the Bucks 20 points and nine rebounds. Milwaukee also got a lift off the bench from second-year forward Jordan Nwora, who pitched in 15 points and six rebounds. Pat Connaughton was also strong for Milwaukee, hitting four 3-pointers and scoring 20 points.
The Nets were paced by Kevin Durant's 32 points and 11 rebounds. Patty Mills dropped 21 points in his Brooklyn debut, while James Harden had 20 points in the loss.
Milwaukee lost point guard Jrue Holiday in the first half to a bruised heel. Before leaving, he had 12 points on 5 of 7 shooting from the field.
The Bucks will now hit the road for a three-game trip starting Thursday in Miami.
Packers Hall of Fame announces 2022 class
A couple players whose tenures in Green Bay did not exactly end on a high note are going to be enshrined in the team's Hall of Fame next summer.
The Packers Hall of Fame announced Tuesday that former wide receiver Greg Jennings and former linebacker Tim Harris would make up the 2022 class.
Jennings played seven seasons in Green Bay after being taken in the second round of the 2006 NFL Draft. After a solid rookie season, Jennings became a star over the next five years. He topped 1,000 yards receiving three times, caught 37 touchdowns and was named to the Pro Bowl twice. His 6,537 yards receiving ranks ninth in team history, while his 425 catches is 10th and his 53 touchdowns is seventh.
His time with the Packers came to end following the 2012 season when the club didn't re-sign him and he subsequently joined NFC North rival Minnesota. Once out of Green Bay, Jennings became a vocal critic of the franchise, especially when it came to quarterback Aaron Rodgers. Jennings played three more years with Minnesota and Miami.
Harris, meanwhile, was a dominant pass rusher for the Packers in the late 1980s and early 1990s. A fourth-round pick in the 1986 draft, Harris racked up 55 sacks in five seasons, the eighth-most in team history. That included 19.5 in 1989 when he was an All-Pro and named to the Pro Bowl.
After seven sacks in 1990, Harris held out prior to the 1991 season in hopes of getting a new contract. The Packers rebuffed his efforts and traded him to San Francisco. Harris played five more seasons, finishing with 81 sacks in his career.
The two players will be enshrined during a Sept. 1, 2022 ceremony at Lambeau Field.
Bucks unveil championship banner, hand out rings in pregame ceremony
Milwaukee won its first NBA title in 50 years last season and the award for the players involved arrived Tuesday when the Bucks opened up a new campaign against Brooklyn at Fiserv Forum.
Giannis Antetokounmpo, Khris Middleton, Jrue Holiday and all the other members of the team that pushed Milwaukee past Phoenix in six games to claim the championship received their rings in a pre-game ceremony.
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The team also unveiled the 2021 World Championship banner in the rafters of the arena.
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Packers: LaFleur says David Bakhtiari is returning to practice this week, gives other injury updates
The Green Bay Packers are getting their All-Pro left tackle back at practice this week.
Coach Matt LaFleur said Monday that David Bakhtiari would practice beginning Wednesday. It will start the three week window for Bakhtiari to be added to the active roster.
Bakhtiari suffered a torn ACL in practice on New Year's Day and has been working his way back since then. As recently as last Wednesday the 30-year-old was seen going through rehab on the practice field as the rest of his teammates went through drills.
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It's unclear when Bakhtiari will be good to go in a game and if it could possibly be as soon as Sunday against Washington. He said during training camp that it would be a decision made in conjunction with the training staff, the front office and himself. With the Packers having Elgton Jenkins filling in for him at left tackle, there perhaps isn't the same urgency to rush him back as there would be if they were struggling to protect quarterback Aaron Rodgers.
"Certainly, when you come are coming off a pretty significant injury, you don't want to just throw somebody out there," LaFleur said when asked if Bakhtiari would need more than one week of practice to play in a game. "We want to make sure that, number one, physically his knee is in great shape and that he's not at further risk of doing more damage to it. Also, I think there's a confidence factor that you develop by just playing football, whether that's in practice [or not], so there is a ramp up period."
If Bakhtiari would able to return soon, it would allow the Packers to move Jenkins back to his more familiar left guard spot, where he earned Pro Bowl honors last year. They could also play Jenkins at center, where he started a few games last season. The Packers were forced to go with Lucas Patrick there after just four plays against Chicago when starting center Josh Myers went down with a knee injury that will keep him out a few weeks.
"Now, he's the guy that you can always count on and I thought he had an outstanding performance. He graded out the highest upfront against, you know how we feel about that (Chicago) defensive line," LaFleur said of Patrick. "He's a guy that just consistently shows up to work every day with a great attitude. I know I was asked about how many reps he got with our ones last week and the number was zero. Certainly he gets a lot of reps in practice but the majority of it was with the scout team and that just shows you what kind of person and player he is and how he prepares."
Green Bay is also dealing with injuries on the defensive side of the ball. With Pro Bowl outside linebacker Za'Darius Smith on injured reserve after having back surgery, the Packers lost fellow outside linebacker Preston Smith to an oblique injury against Chicago. LaFleur doesn't believe he'll have to go on injured reserve, but he's not so sure Smith will be available to face his former team this weekend. Smith has not missed a game in his 7-year career.
"He's been really consistent, does a great job of getting prepared each and every week," LaFleur said. "We'll just see how he's feeling this week. I know he's definitely motivated to play but we want to make sure that he's not going to put himself at further risk of injury and be out for a longer period of time. We want to make sure that he's good to go."
The same goes for cornerback Kevin King. He missed the Chicago game with a shoulder injury he suffered against Cincinnati. Like Smith, LaFleur doesn't think he'll need to go on injured reserve.
"It's something that's getting better every day," LaFleur said. "I know he's working hard at it, and we'll see where he's at. It's more day-to-day."
Meanwhile, All-Pro cornerback Jaire Alexander, who is on injured reserve, is making strides in his recovery from a shoulder injury. Still, there is no guarantee he will be able to get completely healthy without season-ending surgery.
"I can't 100% rule that out but we feel like it's progressing nicely," LaFleur said of not crossing surgery off the list of options. "It's a constant thing that we're always kind of rescanning, if you will, and making sure that we get the right opinions from everybody to help Jaire out and put him in the best possible position."
Iowa loss gives Wisconsin hope in division title pursuit
Wisconsin's season has not played out like it hoped. With games against Penn State, Notre Dame and Michigan, the Badgers had a chance to give notice to the rest of the country that they were ready to make a run into the College Football Playoff.
Six games into the season, though, Wisconsin is 3-3, having fallen short in their biggest games. A largely lifeless offense with a penchant for turning the ball over has combined with a dominant defense that doesn't force turnovers to make for a rough watch for fans. But thanks to a stunning upset by Purdue in Iowa City last Saturday, Wisconsin's goal of a Big Ten West title and a trip to Indianapolis remains possible, even if unlikely.
"This is kind of a second chance for us," safety Collin Wilder said Monday. "We've talked about it. We were all locked into the Iowa-Purdue game last weekend. So I mean, it's a great chance for us to still pursue the goals that we have for us."
Cornerback Faion Hicks said there was a little bit of a bump in the intensity level within the locker room at the prospect of making it back to the Big Ten title game for the fourth time in coach Paul Chryst's tenure.
Yeah, it definitely changes everything, it changes your perspective," Hicks said. "It definitely lights a fire in everyone's behind, I'll tell you that. You have opportunity that you control your own destiny and that's what you want."
With the Boilermakers beating the Hawkeyes, every team in the division has at least one conference loss. Iowa, Purdue and Minnesota are sitting with one, while the Badgers and Northwestern are with two. But both of Wisconsin's losses came against the East Division, which means the Badgers still have five games against the West, starting Saturday in West LaFayette.
"I think obviously it's good," linebacker Jack Sanborn said of the situation. "But at the same time, I think if this college football season so far as taught anybody anything, it's that you got to take every week one week at a time. Because just like that who knows what's gonna happen? I think everyone understands that and that it's Purdue week. That's all that matters right now."
Allen wins award
Braelon Allen ran for 108 yards and a touchdown in a win against Army on Saturday and on Monday he was honored for his efforts.
The 17-year-old was named the Big Ten Freshman of the Week by the conference, the first Wisconsin player to win that award since quarterback Graham Mertz last October against Illinois. Saturday against Army was his second straight 100-yard game and his teammates see a guy making improvements each week.
"Braelon is new to this system for the most part and game reps give you a feel on what you like. Each back likes different kind of things," left tackle Tyler Beach said. "I think Braelon's just getting comfortable with getting up and down with the ball and being able to make those cuts and make those different adjustments. I feel like as games go on, he's going to get a lot better and a lot more comfortable running the ball. I think you're gonna see a lot more of that kind of stuff."
Allen's teammates on defense have enjoyed watching him go from trying to run through them to running through and around other teams.
"I think he's picked it up really fast," linebacker Leo Chenal said. "In the earlier games he tried to rely on just running through people, which he does very well. But just adding move by move, getting more comfortable in each situation, he's going to be really dangerous."
Wide receiver heads to transfer portal
Wisconsin's No. 1 kick returner has left the team and hit the transfer portal.
Wide receiver Devin Chandler made the decision to look elsewhere and 247Sports was the first to report it.
Chandler played in 10 games the last two seasons and made most of his impact on special teams. He averaged 24.1 yards per return on 10 returns, including a 59-yard return in the Duke's Mayo Bowl that jump started the Badgers. He also caught two passes and carried the ball once in his career.
Chandler is the fourth player to leave the team this season, though the first to do so completely on his own. Running backs Loyal Crawford and Jalen Berger were dismissed from the team, while running back Antwan Roberts was suspended indefinitely.
The Camp: Oct. 18, 2021
Wisconsin is back at .500 after a win over Army. The guys talk about Leo Chenal and Jack Sanborn's big nights, the emergence of Braelon Allen, Paul Chryst not going for 2 late, the Big Ten West being wide open and they answer your Twitter questions
Packers 24, Bears 14: 2-minute drill
Green Bay won its fifth straight game Sunday with a 24-14 win over the Bears at Soldier Field in Chicago.
Game Balls
Offense: Aaron Jones and AJ Dillon
Green Bay pounded its talented duo into the Chicago defense and had a ton of success. Jones and Dillon combined for 135 yards on the ground and averaged 5.6 yards per carry in doing it.
Jones was especially good on the first drive of the second half. He burst up the middle for 28 yards to jump start the possession and then caught a 12-yard touchdown from Aaron Rodgers to finish it off. It was his fifth game of having at least 96 total yards of offense this season, including three where he topped 100 yards.
Dillon, meanwhile, finished the Bears off in the final minutes of the fourth quarter. He had gains of eight, three, nine and three yards to help run out the clock.
Defense: Kenny Clark
With so many injuries to the other star players on defense, Clark was a guy that Packers could ill afford to lose. But that is exactly what appeared to happen in the first half when he went down with an apparent injury. Coach Matt LaFleur said he almost threw up when he saw Clark was hurt. But the defensive tackle was able to return and played well.
On Chicago’s final possession, Clark got quarterback Justin Fields twice for sacks, ending any hope of a potential last gasp comeback from the Bears.
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What They Said
“Sometimes you black out on the field in a good way. I’ve definitely blacked out from a concussion, which isn’t a good way. I looked up in the stands and in the front row all I saw was a woman giving me the double bird. I’m not sure exactly what came out of my mouth next.”
-- Aaron Rodgers on him screaming “I own you” to Chicago fans after his touchdown run
“I love it. That’s A-Rod. I love it. What can you say? He’s right.”
-- Aaron Jones on his reaction to Rodgers’ yelling at the fans
In Case You Missed It
-- Center Josh Myers suffered a knee injury in the first quarter and did not return. Lucas Patrick replaced him. LaFleur said they do not believe it is a season-ending injury for Myers.
-- Outside linebacker Preston Smith went down with an oblique injury in the first half. He did not return to the game.
-- Safety Darnell Savage had an interception in the first half but was knocked from the game with a concussion in the third quarter. When Savage went out, the Packers were missing three of their preferred starters in the secondary, as cornerbacks Jaire Alexander and Kevin King were already out with injuries.
-- After missing three games with an ankle injury, Elgton Jenkins returned to the lineup. He got the start at left tackle and was part of a solid performance from the line overall.
Inside the Numbers
20 – That is how many wins the Packers have in their last 23 games against Chicago. They now lead the overall series by seven games.
0 – That is how many players have rushed for 100 yards against the Packers this season. Chicago’s Khalil Herbert came the closest, running for 97 yards on Sunday.
2 – That is how many touchdown passes Aaron Rodgers had. He also had zero interceptions. It moved him past Drew Brees for the second most games with 2+ touchdowns and no interceptions in NFL history.
4 -- That is how many receiving touchdowns Aaron Jones has this season, which is a career high.
What’s Next
Green Bay (5-1) will head back home to face Washington (2-4) at Lambeau Field next Sunday.
Wisconsin 20, Army 14: 2-minute drill
MADISON -- Wisconsin held off an upset minded Army squad Saturday night with a 20-14 at Camp Randall Stadium.
Game Balls
Offense: Braelon Allen
The true freshman continued to show his worth Saturday night, running for 108 yards on 16 carries. It was his second straight 100-yard game, and he provided the Badgers with their first touchdown of the night. It came on a 95-yard drive in which Allen had seven carries for 72 yards. His 33-yard score was designed to be a run up the gut, but he saw Army converge on the middle of the line, so he bounced it outside and outran the defense for the touchdown.
Allen and Chez Mellusi (66 yards) each carried the ball 16 times, but the former was a lot more productive. It may be time to hand the Fond du Lac product a bigger workload moving forward.
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Defense: Leo Chenal
Chenal played like a man possessed Saturday night. It felt like he spent half the game wrapped around the Army quarterbacks, finishing with 17 tackles, including eight solo stops. Multiple times he sliced between the center and guard right at the snap to ensnare the quarterback almost at the same time he got the ball. It led to 2.5 of Wisconsin’s five tackles for loss on the night. But he saved his best play for when Wisconsin needed it most.
With the Badgers leading 13-7 late in the fourth quarter, Army got the ball back with a chance to win. But on a first down play, Chenal recovered from a cut block to hit quarterback Jabari Laws, forcing the ball loose. The Badgers were able to get on top of it and would score the next play.
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It was just the fourth forced turnover by Wisconsin this season and it proved to be the biggest play of the game.
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In Case You Missed It
-- Former Wisconsin linebacker Zack Baun served as the honorary captain. Baun’s New Orleans Saints are on a bye this weekend.
-- Wisconsin pulled out a fake punt in the second quarter. Facing fourth-and-1 on their side of the field, the Badgers served up a direct snap to linebacker Jack Sanborn, who rumbled for eight yards and a first down. Wisconsin would go on to score on the drive.
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-- Sanborn would also make a huge play to seal the game, holding on to an onside kick. The senior said he actually juggled the ball in the same situation in practice this week but told everyone he would make the play on Saturday. He was right.
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Inside the Numbers
4 – That is how many catches tight end Jake Ferguson had. They went for 58 yards and all of them resulted in first downs. Ferguson had a total of four catches in the last three games combined.
2 – That is how many catches wide receiver Danny Davis had. He turned that into 48 yards, including a 36-yard grab on a jump ball. Davis had not touched the ball in either of the last two games.
198 – That is how many yards Wisconsin ran for as a team. Army came in allowing 54 yards per game, the second fewest in the country.
1 – That is how many turnovers Wisconsin had. The Badgers have had at least one turnover in 11 straight games. Graham Mertz accounted for the turnover Saturday with a first quarter fumble. It was his 10th turnover this season.
80 -- That's how many yards Wisconsin's offense had in the second half. Army outgained them by 138 yards after halftime.
13 -- That's how many Power 5 teams Army has played since Jeff Monken took over in 2015. This is the 8th time the game has been decided by single digits.
What’s Next
Wisconsin (3-3, 1-2) will hit the road to face Purdue (4-2, 2-1), which is coming off an upset of No. 2 Iowa.
