Cheesehead
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- Mar 19, 2019
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4. The Packers remain high on Oren Burks' upside.
The Packers' inside linebacker situation remains in flux with starters Blake Martinez and B.J. Goodson both scheduled to become unrestricted free agents next month.
However that situation resolves itself, the Packers remain high on 2018 third-round pick Oren Burks, who has started only four of his 26 games played through his first two seasons.
The 6-foot-3, 233-pound linebacker had been the frontrunner to start opposite Martinez each of the last two offseasons before suffering shoulder and chest injuries during the 2018 and 2019 training camps, respectively.
The Packers also are scheduled return second-year linebackers Curtis Bolton and Ty Summers. Bolton made a convincing argument to win a starting job in Burks' absence before tearing his anterior cruciate ligament in a preseason game vs. Oakland.
Summers, a seventh-round pick out of TCU, played exclusively on special teams as a rookie. He led the unit with 311 snaps played.
"I feel really good about Oren (Burks). He's got to stay healthy, but I think he has all the talent in the world to be a productive player for us," Gutekunst said. "I think Ty Summers did a really, really nice job, not only on special teams but how he developed as a linebacker as well. And then Curtis (Bolton), obviously, he had the knee injury, so really we didn't get a big opportunity to see him. But early on in training camp he was making some big strides."
5 & 6. The Packers are excited for what Jerry Gray will bring to the secondary…and are still planning to hire a receivers coach.
Earlier this month, LaFleur tabbed the longtime Minnesota Vikings assistant as the Packers' new secondary coach and he's been impressed by what he's seen.
Gray, 57, has twice served as a defensive coordinator (Buffalo, 2001-05, and Tennessee, 2011-13) and coached defensive backs in Tampa Bay, Washington, Seattle and for six years with the Vikings before coming to Green Bay.
"Just a calming veteran, confident … I think our players are going to be really receptive to him," LaFleur said. "He's been a coordinator in this league. He's just been around this league for such a long time. I think he's going to bring a lot of value to not only our defensive staff but our whole staff maybe and to our team."
Although the Packers have yet to hire a receivers coach, LaFleur still intends on doing so in the near future.
"I think it's more about fit," LaFleur said. "We've got a lot of guys that have a lot of experience. It's just trying to find the right fit, not only for our staff but for our players and for them to go out and perform at their best."
7. "There was never a doubt" Mike Pettine would be back.
In LaFleur's mind, there was never any question whether Pettine would return as the Packers' defensive coordinator in 2019.
Pettine, in his second year in Green Bay, welcomed two new pass rushers ( Za'Darius Smith and Preston Smith) and two new safeties ( Adrian Amos and Darnell Savage) to a defense that ranked in the top 10 in scoring (19.6 points per game), red zone (50%) and takeaways (25).
"There was never a doubt," LaFleur said. "I'm not going to make a rash decision on one game (against San Francisco). I thought our defense did a lot of great things. Certainly, there's areas we have to improve upon, but it's not just defensively."