Kicking game struggles with new parts
Crosby made 5 of 11 attempts during Saturday’s final drill
GREEN BAY – If the Green Bay Packers thought they could change their holder and snapper and not have it affect kicker Mason
Crosby, they found out Saturday how misguided that thinking might be.
Crosby is coming off one of the best years of his career, but in the offseason, general manager
Ted Thompson decided not to bring back freeagent long snapper Brett
Goode and to part ways with punter/holder Jacob Schum.
He replaced both with undrafted free agents, meaning two thirds of his field-goal and extra-point operation hasn’t played an NFL snap.
Throughout camp, it was evident that things weren’t going seamlessly even though Crosby hit 22 of 23 field-goal attempts in practice. Some of the kicks were line drives and others just didn’t turn over the way they normally do for Crosby.
Then came Saturday night.
In the final drill of the night, Crosby missed six of his last seven attempts, including his last four, three of them from 50 yards out. Crosby made just 5 of 11 attempts.
“The operation I would say as a quick analysis wasn’t as clean as it probably
could be,” coach Mike McCarthy.
Long snapper Derek
Hart has struggled with getting the ball to holder
Justin Vogel with the laces facing forward so he doesn’t need to spin the ball to get them away from Crosby. Goode had the necessary rotation down pat and rarely gave a bad snap.
Vogel, the only punter in camp for the Packers, held at the University of Miami for three seasons and hasn’t fumbled any of the snaps. But Crosby likes the ball held a certain way and Vogel wants to check the film to see if he’s off a little bit.
“It’s really a game of inches when you come down to it,” Vogel said after the practice. “If I miss a spot by an inch or two and Mason thinks the ball is leaning more of an inside kick, it really could affect the kick.’’
Vogel has punted so well that barring a collapse in the exhibition games, he’ll be the Packers’ punter. As much as Thompson would like a younger, faster athlete at long snapper, he very well could give the 32year-old Goode a call at the end of the camp. Uncertain for opener: Montravius Adams was in the middle of a water break during his first training camp practice July 27 when he felt a sharp pain in his left foot.
The Packers rookie thought nothing of it. Adams finished practice on that Thursday afternoon. He practiced again the next day.
It wasn’t until after his second practice, Adams said, that he went to the trainers to get treatment for his foot. That’s when he learned the fifth metatarsal bone in his left foot was fractured.
Adams said he needed surgery to insert a screw in his fifth metatarsal, the bone connecting his pinky toe to his foot.
“It was really depressing,” Adams said. “Most of the time, I’m just sitting in the training room. I see the guys in the meetings, but other than that I’m just in the training room trying to come back, so I can be with them.’’
It remains to be seen when Adams can return to the field.
“I don’t know,” Adams said. “They just said after this week, we’re just going to take it one week at a time.” Unwelcome reminder: With the NFC Championship Game fresh in the minds of 63,000 fans in the Lambeau Field stands Saturday night, it was a bad time for Packers fullback Aaron Ripkowski to have his first fumble of camp.
Because fumbles have not been an issue for Ripkowski this off-season.
Then defensive lineman Kenny Clark shot a gap. Clark was a couple yards in the backfield by the time Ripkowski took the handoff from quarterback Aaron Rodgers. He appeared to rip the football away, with Clay Matthews scooping it up and running some 40 yards.
“We’ll assess the film,” Ripkowski said.
Ripkowski assessed the film this off-season. He turned on tape of the NFC title game in Atlanta, played his first-quarter run over and over again, analyzing how he fumbled at the 10-yard line.
Ripkowski won’t soon forget the fumble that counted. He didn’t need another reminder Saturday, but he got one anyway.
“It’s just being conscious of it,” Ripkowski said. “Making sure you stay true to your fundamentals.”
Not so fast: When it comes to tight ends, almost all of the attention has been showered on
Martellus Bennett and Lance Kendricks, the two new arrivals during the off-season The forgotten man is
Richard Rodgers, a starter in 2015 and backup to
Jared Cook last season. Rodgers, now in his fourth year, is a wide-bodied tight end with great hands. He does little to wow observers, but the consistency is usually there.
“We’re just trying to execute plays out there,” Rodgers said. “Like I’ve said a million times, when the quarterback throws it to me I just try to catch it.”
And that’s what Rodgers did Saturday at the Packers’ annual practice at Lambeau Field. Rodgers caught a deep touchdown pass from quarterback Brett Hundley. He nearly had an identical touchdown several periods later, but the ball was tipped away at the last minute by inside linebacker Cody Heiman.
Then, during another team period, Rodgers made a nice catch over the middle with linebacker Derrick Mathews in coverage.
“Ritchy has been making a lot of plays out there for us,” quarterback Aaron Rodgers said last week. “So the three of them really give us a lot of versatility out there.”