Randall earns high marks
McCarthy happy with play of CB
GREEN BAY - There’s still a long way to go before the Green Bay Packers’ secondary sorts itself out for the regular season, but if you pinned coach Mike McCarthy down about which guys have positioned themselves well heading into training camp he would point to cornerback Damarious Randall and rookie safety Josh Jones.
Randall, as a firstround pick heading into his third year, should be standing out. Receiving praise is as much a reflection on his whereabouts the past two seasons as it is the space he now occupies.
But McCarthy is upbeat about Randall’s state with the team.
“If there’s one that really jumps out to me, it’s Damarious Randall,” McCarthy said Wednesday before the team’s second minicamp practice. “(He’s) had an outstanding off-season.
“You can see his play at the nickel – the star position, we call it. A lot of guys are taking full advantage of it and the quality of practice has clearly risen from last week to this week, and that’s what we’re looking for.”
Randall has played mostly outside in the Packers defense in his first two seasons, giving way to Micah Hyde and Quinten Rollins at the “star” or slot position in the nickel defense. But he was a hybrid safety in college and is much faster than the departed Hyde and fellow third-year pro Rollins.
The Packers need someone who can both cover quick receivers in the slot and be physical around the line of scrimmage, whether it’s playing the run or blasting through a running back on the way to the quarterback.
Randall has gotten a lot of work in the slot and it appears he’ll be first in line when training camp opens.
“He’s got good vision, instincts,” defensive coordinator Dom Capers said. “He can key the quarterback and play the ball. He’s got the safety background coming out of college. He’s done a good job in there at the slot.
“It takes some instincts to play in there at the slot position. You’re closer to the action. Normally that guy, our history here is he blitzes more. He’s got the speed and he can get there in a hurry.”
Rollins appears to be much stronger than a year ago and like Randall, is fully recovered from groin surgery. The two of them are likely to fight it out for the right to play in the slot, if not the right to start in the base defense as well.
McCarthy, when asked who had stood out during minicamp, also mentioned the safeties, who he said consistently have been around the ball.
Jermaine Whitehead kept the run going with one of the defense’s interceptions in practice Wednesday and several others got their hands on passes as well.
The player who has drawn the most attention, however, is second-round pick Jones, who spends his time in the classroom with the safeties, but he is also playing a combination safety/linebacker position that Capers began using with Morgan Burnett last year.
Brett’s time: With veterans of five or more years excused, backup quarterback Brett Hundley has been the guy under center the most during minicamp.
He was supposed to get a load of work last summer with the Packers playing an extra exhibition game, but he got hurt and ceded most of his reps to undrafted free agent Joe Callahan, who wound up making the final cut.
This time around, Hundley is taking all the snaps he can.
“Boy, he had about three plays yesterday, it’s exactly what you’re looking for,” McCarthy said.