McCarthy Sounds Right Notes After Sloppy Practice

After a bad practice for the offense, Mike McCarthy was in no mood to laud a team that looks great on paper.

After watching his two lead running backs put the ball on the ground, after a series of false starts and motion penalties from his offense - all which lead to, perhaps, an ill-timed question about how many talented playmakers he had at his disposal heading into the 2011 season - Mike McCarthy sounded like a man who is already tired of the smoke being blown up his teams' ass:

I don't want to disrespect any of my players. We look great on paper, there's no doubt about it, but we're not close to where we need to be. We realize that we have a lot of work to do.

The ball on the ground, that's unacceptable. That was not a very good practice at all for the offense from a fundamental standpoint. I did not like the fundamentals. You've got to take care of the football. Pre-snap penalties and not taking care of the football, that's a bad day.

Coming off a shortened Family Night practice, followed by a day off, its not surprising the offense struggled to find its rhythm last night in the stuffy confines of the Don Hutson center. It's also no surprise that the defense is looking much better than the offense - this is true most years, but after missing the entire offseason due to the lockout it is even more understandable. McCarthy and offensive coordinator Joe Philbin are still installing things that would normally have been installed back in May.

However, as of today, the Packers have 19 practices left until they open the season against the New Orleans Saints. McCarthy is doing the right thing by setting a tone that says "We have a lot of work to do. This is unacceptable."

McCarthy knows that defensive coordinators, starting with the Saints' Gregg Williams, will be throwing everything at the Packers' offense from the get-go, and his guys need to be ready.

 

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Comments (10)

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Brian Carriveau's picture

August 09, 2011 at 09:13 am

I'm very confident Aaron Rodgers can make the Saints pay if they, indeed, throw everything at the Packers offense.

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PackerAaron's picture

August 09, 2011 at 09:20 am

I am confident in Rodgers. I am less than confident in all 11 guys being totally in-sync on offense from the opening snap.

That game will be a first-one-to-17-wins affair.

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FITZCORE1252's EVO's picture

August 09, 2011 at 09:45 pm

So the highest possible O/U is 33... Ill take the over. Our D will take the over on their own.

GBP 4LIFE

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CSS's picture

August 09, 2011 at 09:45 am

With a shortened training camp I really want to see McCarthy place an emphasis on at least attempting to establish the running game early.

a) I just want him to set a physical tone for the offensive line. Let them explode out of their stance and hit somebody. There's something almost akin to 'retreat' when you ask your line to rock back on their heals for the first few series in pass pro. With the lack of reps you know that line wants to hit somebody.

b) There's hardly a single team on the Packers schedule that have the personnel to play nickle effectively. They're going to come after Rodgers to hit him, not sack him. They're going to concede some big plays to punish him, that's their best defense. Play action, keep the defense honest, punish defenders with no free releases.

I don't care about Rodgers fantasy stats during the 1st 4 games, I want him healthy. Spread may be the philosophy, but set a physical tone with the run early.

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Ken's picture

August 09, 2011 at 09:20 am

If sloppiness pours over into the exhibition games and MM has to give the No. 1s additional reps that he had slated for Flynn and Harrell, he is going to blow a fuse.

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jaydubya's picture

August 09, 2011 at 11:03 am

I can't help but suspect things are currently a bit sloppy at all 32 training camps. Losing all those weeks of mini-camp position skill, classroom & specialized conditioning work due to the lock-out has consequences. This year the teams with superior coaching and training staffs will likely be the ones who shine early on. Hopefully that includes us.

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fishandcrane's picture

August 09, 2011 at 11:34 am

Agreed. Our slop is probably the tastiest.

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Jake's picture

August 09, 2011 at 04:06 pm

Perhaps we need to get used to the fact that our offense just tends to start slow. Both of the last 2 seasons our offense started out slow and then picked it up a few games into the season. Not that it excuses bad practicing, but still. I do wonder if we should learn not to freak out if Rodgers doesn't throw 3 touchdowns and no picks in the first game because it just takes them a couple games to gel?

Another interesting note is that in both the last 2 seasons the offense looked stellar in preseason (never punting, giving up no sacks, etc) only to run into some bumps in week 1 (albeit still winning the game).

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PackersRS's picture

August 09, 2011 at 05:40 pm

Completely agree, and fully expect them to start slow, as well as rip through preseason like a hot knife through butter.

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retiredgrampa's picture

August 09, 2011 at 06:30 pm

The important point is that NO ONE on this team, especially the coaches, is getting cocky or over confident. They see things the way they are and will fight hard to improve. That's what champions do.

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