INSIDE THE NFL
Stuck in Neutral
The Packers stumbled out of the preseason still trying to get
into gear
by Peter King
Posted: Wed September 2, 1998
As the last of 52 preseason penalties was walked off against the
Packers in a desolate Pro Player Stadium late last Friday night,
Green Bay coach Mike Holmgren motioned referee Phil Luckett
within earshot. Fed up with his team's shoddy play this summer,
Holmgren said with a snarl, "Can we just go home? Can we please
just get this over with?"
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Wideout Derrick Mayes should get some relief from a
returning Brooks
(Peter Read Miller)
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Mercifully for the Packers the preseason is over. In the 21-7
loss to the Dolphins, Green Bay's third defeat in five
exhibitions, Holmgren didn't like the way his offense was
playing. Eliminate a steamrollering of the hapless Saints, and
the Brett Favre-led first unit was outscored by a combined 49-17
in preseason games against the Chiefs, Raiders, Broncos and
Dolphins. "We can't live off the last two years," says running
back Raymont Harris, a free-agent acquisition who filled in for
holdout Dorsey Levens. "Am I concerned? Ask me next week."
Holmgren, in fact, was so concerned about the offense last week
that he donned the headset linked to the quarterback and called
the plays himself for the first time since early 1994, his third
season in Green Bay. Customarily, offensive coordinator Sherm
Lewis sits in the coaches' booth giving suggestions to Holmgren,
who then picks the play and relays it to quarterbacks coach Andy
Reid, who relays the call to the quarterback. By eliminating the
middleman, Holmgren hoped to speed things up, but the offense
wasn't any smoother in Miami. The coach wasn't crazy about the
results of the experiment, either. "The problem is, I'm
concentrating on doing that, and I can't concentrate on the other
things—game strategy, special teams, the clock," he says. "I
don't know if I'll continue it."
Holmgren also felt compelled last week to summon Favre for a
fireside chat—they've had many such discussions during their
six-plus years together—about the quarterback's approach to the
season. "Brett would be the first to tell you he doesn't study in
the preseason," Holmgren says. "He's a wealthy young man. He's
accomplished a lot. I guess I wanted to ask him if he's still
hungry. I got the answer I wanted. I know him well enough to know
when he's ready to go, and he is."
The return of Levens, who rushed for 1,435 yards last season,
and wideout Robert Brooks, who caught 60 passes in 1997 and is
coming off back surgery, gives Green Bay 10 of the 11 offensive
starters from last year's NFC championship team. (Marco Rivera
replaces left guard Aaron Taylor, a free agent who signed with
the Chargers.)
Things aren't as settled on a defense that the Broncos' Terrell
Davis shredded for 157 yards in the Super Bowl last January.
Fourth against the run and first against the pass in its 1996
championship season, Green Bay fell to 20th and eighth,
respectively, last year. "Not really a fair stat," defensive
coordinator Fritz Shurmur says, "because in '96 we had no
injuries and last year we were patching it together every week,
and we still finished fifth in the league in scoring defense."
Nevertheless, in the off-season the Packers lost three valued
starters—defensive end Gabe Wilkins, cornerback Doug Evans and
free safety Eugene Robinson—to free agency. Their replacements:
Vonnie Holliday, the club's first-round draft pick who was
impressive but not impactful in the preseason; cornerback Craig
Newsome, who missed almost all of last season after undergoing
major knee surgery; and second-year man Darren Sharper, who will
move to cornerback in most nickel packages. The nickelback is
34-year-old Mike Prior, who was waived in the off-season and
later re-signed.
"We'll bite the bullet and pray no one gets hurt," says Shurmur
of the secondary. Yet after final roster cuts were made on
Sunday, executive vice president and general manager Ron Wolf was
bullish about his cornerbacks: starters Newsome and third-year
man Tyrone Williams, with fourth-round pick Roosevelt Blackmon in
reserve. "We'll function as well as any team in the league at
that position," Wolf said.
Still, with Levens, Brooks and defensive tackle Gilbert Brown
(strained groin) rusty, Green Bay has a lot to do to get ready
for this Sunday's opener against the Lions. As Shurmur says, "In
six weeks of camp you're supposed to become what you're going to
be. But how would we know what that is right now? With free
agency, holdouts and injuries, we'll have to spend the first few
weeks of the season trying to find ourselves."
Issue date: September 7, 1998
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