Inbox: There's no better setup

[Cheesehead]

Shawn from Kissimmee, FL


Who would be the presumptive starter at TE at this point?


Marcedes Lewis but it'll be fluid. I expect Jace Sternberger to play quite a bit as well early on.


Corey from Henderson, NV


Everybody is talking about how a team has to shift gears if they lose a player or two due to COVID the day of a game. What I'd like to know is how a team's game plan might change if its opponent loses a couple of key players? Say Week 1, the Vikings lose Cousins and/or Cook because of this. Or a couple in their secondary. Does that change how Rodgers and Co. might attack the opposing team?


Of course. You wish the player well in his recovery but it's no different than whenever an injury forces a player out of a game. You play to win the game. To do that, you have to attack the weakest link.


Julian from Las Cruces, NM


It's very early to answer this question, but whom do you see being the Packers' best running back at blocking for Aaron?


Jones has really improved in that area over the past two seasons but Williams is still my pick. I'd put Williams up there against any other NFL running back when it comes to pass protection. He's a fundamental marvel.


Jennifer from Middleton, WI


Can you talk a little about Jason Vrable? Couldn't the change in WR coach be a key variable in having the same guys yet a different outcome in terms of development and resulting on-field production?


It's a significant variable. Vrable's name might be new to the average fan but he's coached in the league for eight years and spent time in the receivers room this past season. He's the fourth different receivers coach the Packers have had in as many years, so it's Vrable's job to settle the seas down. For all the consternation about Green Bay's receivers, there's still a lot of untapped potential in that room.


Dan from Twin Lakes, WI


Wes, since certain members of the media have started another round of "Aaron Rodgers must be upset about the Jordan Love pick," allow me to try another round of common sense. In my mind, Jordan Love is equitable to a term life-insurance policy. You hope to never need it but if you do, you're really glad you were smart enough to buy it. If you don't, you cash it in (for draft picks) at the end of the (4-5 year) term and you buy another. Ron Wolf was masterful at this.


I think what made this such a polarizing topic for fans is how drafting Jordan Love coincided with the Packers not taking a receiver, creating the perfect media storm. However, it's not like Brian Gutekunst took a QB and then spent his next seven draft picks all on defense. He still picked skill-position players in each of the next two rounds. The offense wasn't neglected.


Nikhil from Washington, D.C.


Hello II, Tom from Pine River asked why there would be an asterisk next to the champion this year. I know COVID is unique, but I've always heard football described as a game of replacement, with the next-man-up mantra ingrained in players and fans. Replacing a player because of COVID rather than injury may seem different, but it's the same philosophy. There isn't an asterisk next to the 2014 NFC Championship Game because of AR's hamstring. I don't think there should be any asterisks this year.


The only way there would be an asterisk is if the season isn't completed. If a Super Bowl champion is crowned, that team will be handed the same Lombardi Trophy as the previous 54 victors. Quite honestly, this one might mean just a little bit more, too, given everything that team is going to have to endure to stand tall atop that mountain.


Marcus from Villas, NC


Mid-week greetings, hope that all is well. Suddenly there are players being placed on the COVID-19 list. How long does a player stay on this list, and when placed on this list does this include quarantine from the remaining 80-83 active players? Will this hamper the training camp protocol, when you see two-thirds of special-teams players placed on this list?


Hopefully, it doesn't come to that. But any player who has been diagnosed with COVID-19 or been exposed to somebody who has been afflicted goes on this list until he passes the protocol. Once activated, I believe that player has a two-week roster exemption before a roster spot must be cleared.