McCarthy: Barr’s hit on Rodgers an ‘illegal act’
GREEN BAY – They don’t usually discuss hits from opposing defenders, but this was no ordinary Monday. Inside the Green Bay Packers outside linebacker meeting room Monday, Minnesota Vikings linebacker Anthony Barr’s name was mentioned. The conversation wasn’t too kind.
Ahmad Brooks is new to the Packers, but he spent a decade in the NFL before arriving in Green Bay. He has seen many hits over many years. When he watched film of Barr driving Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers into the ground, breaking the two-time MVP’s right collarbone and likely ending his season, Brooks felt his counterpart crossed a line.
“A lot of the times we do want to hit the quarterback,” Brooks said, “but I think in this situation Aaron had already released the ball as the guy was engaging into him.
“He could’ve just laid off on him. Or even if he wanted to go tackle him, he didn’t have to drive him into the ground. That’s the problem.”
Brooks wasn’t alone in his condemnation. After Sunday’s loss in Minnesota, players reserved their opinions of Barr’s hit. Most claimed they hadn’t seen the play. Brooks said he saw the play live, but it wasn’t until he saw the replay that he realized Barr drove Rodgers into the ground.
Coach Mike McCarthy said he immediately knew Rodgers was injured, but he didn’t get a good look at the hit until after the game.
“I didn’t like the hit,” McCarthy said. “I had a chance to watch it last night on the plane. He’s out of the pocket. He’s clearly expecting to get hit.
“To pin him to the ground like that, I felt it was an illegal act. To sit here and lose any of your players on something like that, it doesn’t feel very good.”
Right guard Jahri Evans, another longtime NFL veteran new to Green Bay, said he thought Barr hit Rodgers to send a message. Most teams prefer to keep Rodgers inside the pocket, rather than allow him to extend plays. Rodgers was rolling right when he threw a pass to tight end Martellus Bennett.
Barr took one stride before hitting Rodgers, a stride that changed the Packers’ season. Evans said it was a dirty hit.
“The ball was gone,” Evans said. “So he probably could’ve pulled up, but I think he wanted to make his presence known, and not have a running QB outside the pocket. I think it will be turned in (to the league), and I think it’s up to them to assess it the proper way.
“As far as our side, yeah, you would say (it was dirty). That’s a hit on the best player on our team, possibly the best player in the league. If you think that way, that’s a significant loss.”
Rollins to IR: In order to create a roster spot for quarterback Joe Callahan, who was promoted off the practice squad, the Packers placed cornerback
Quinten Rollins on injured reserve Monday.
Rollins dropped out of Sunday’s game with an ankle injury in the second quarter after defending a pass to wide receiver Adam Thielen near the goal line. His right leg buckled while he was attempting to change directions, causing Rollins to fall awkwardly. Thielen helped him to his feet, and Rollins hopped to the sideline without putting any weight on his right leg.
The Packers entered the game with four healthy cornerbacks before Rollins’ injury.
“At one point in the game we had one,” defensive coordinator Dom Capers said with a laugh. Other than the offensive line, which resembles a game of whack-a-mole with players popping in and out, the cornerback position is the most depleted. Starters Kevin King (concussion) and
Davon House (quadriceps) were inactive for Sunday’s game, and without Rollins the Packers are down to three healthy corners on the 53-man roster:
Damarious Randall, Josh Hawkins and undrafted rookie Lenzy Pipkins, who was thrust into action for the first time this season.
“I thought (Pipkins) did a good job,” Capers said. “I mean it’s his first action. He blitzed, he had a couple tackles for losses in there, played fairly physical. You saw there the way they threw the little swing screen there on the last series, he came up and made a good tackle. I thought he was aggressive and made some good plays.”
It’s possible the Packers could receive a shot in the arm from an unexpected source. Cornerback Demetri
Goodson, who tore his ACL last November, is eligible to begin practicing this week after beginning the year on the PUP list.
Starting Wednesday, the Packers have a three-week window in which Goodson can return to practice. Once he returns, the Packers have three weeks to decide whether to activate him.
The same applies for rookie outside linebacker Vince Biegel, a fourth-round pick earlier this year. Both players could provide much-needed reinforcement on defense and special teams if their medical reports are clean.
Change-up: Entering Sunday, wide receiver Jeff Janis had lined up at the goal line to field every kickoff of the 2017 season. Nearly all of them had resulted in touchbacks, but he managed one return for 17 yards through the first five weeks.
Janis had his second opportunity of the season early in the second quarter. But the kickoff from Kai Forbath was an ugly one, a low line drive off to the left. Janis bobbled the ball as he scooped it up, and the Vikings’ coverage unit surrounded him in seconds. He gained only 11 yards. “The first kick, it really wasn’t Jeff’s fault,” special teams coordinator Ron
Zook said. “The guy mishit hit the ball and it kind of bounced around. And I think when Coach (McCarthy) first saw it, it didn’t look like Jeff was trying to judge the ball. And I think Jeff was thinking the same thing I was thinking: It was going to roll into the end zone. And usually a ball like that you don’t want to return it if you can help it because their coverage team is going to be down there. When it did roll, it kind of rolled back (into the field of play), and it was just one of those things.”
But that was the last time Janis trotted onto the field to return a kick. From that point forward, the job belonged to wide receiver Trevor Davis. He returned two kicks for an average of 27.5 yards.