McCarthy chides Daniels for unnecessary penalty
GREEN BAY - Coach Mike McCarthy wasn’t made aware until after Monday night’s game of defensive tackle Mike Daniels’ plea for the Green Bay Packers’ defense to “deliver some blows” against the Detroit Lions.
In reaction to seeing quarterback Aaron Rodgers and receiver
Davante Adams knocked out of games against divisional rivals this season, Daniels said Saturday it was time for the Packers’ defense to hit back.
In light of Daniels’ 15-yard penalty on the game’s initial third down, on what would have been a failed conversion for the Lions, the comment didn’t please McCarthy.
Given new life, the Lions scored six plays later to take a 7-0 lead and never trailed in the game.
In the wake of a three-game losing streak, McCarthy said his message to Daniels was the same he told his entire team.
“They need to put their nose down,” McCarthy said Wednesday, “and I’m not really interested in talking right now. We need to play better. We need to coach better. We need to get the practice to show up on Sunday for four quarters, and it’s in the details.
“We need to focus on the details, and that was a big play in the game. Big play in the start of the game. It would have been momentum off of that, and so forth. Totally unnecessary.”
After the game, Daniels said it was “a really stupid-ass penalty” on his part.
Daniels long has been an emotional leader for the Packers. In recent years, he has been perhaps their best defensive player. His season started in dominant fashion, with Daniels recording seven tackles and 1½ sacks in the Packers’ opening win against the Seattle Seahawks.
He hasn’t had a sack or tackle for loss in any of his five games since.
Daniels missed two games with a hip injury — and he exited with the injury early in a Week 2 game at Atlanta — but it isn’t the type of production the Packers have come to expect. When asked Tuesday if Daniels has underachieved this season, McCarthy said he wouldn’t place that description on him.
“I get the negative nature of how we have to operate in this climate right now,” McCarthy said, “but I’m not going to put those type of declarations on any of my players.” Bright side: The silver lining of a third straight loss for the Packers came in the fourth quarter, when
the offense finally showed signs of life. A group that looked lost against the Minnesota Vikings and hapless against the New Orleans Saints left a glimmer of promise with a pair of scoring drives in the final few minutes against the Lions.
“When we got into our flow, got into our rhythm we scored points,” quarterback Brett Hundley said. “That’s what we have to take out of it. It’s something to learn from, good film. But at the same time, we’ve got to be able to do that in the first quarter, the second quarter, the third quarter and especially the fourth.”
The Packers scored their first touchdown of the game with 9:55 remaining on a 1-yard run by Hundley. His dive into the end zone capped a seven-play, 78-yard drive ignited by a huge catch and run from wide receiver Randall Cobb.
Hundley orchestrated another scoring drive in the waning seconds that ended with a touchdown run from tailback Jamaal Williams. The Packers covered 75 yards in six plays to lend a shred of respectability to the score line, even if the Lions were playing nothing but prevent defense.
Nonetheless, McCarthy believes that moment was a crucial one for the offense as it attempts to sputter into gear.
“We needed that drive,” McCarthy said. “It was an opportunity to get better, to improve.”
Settling in: Over the course of a year, give or take a month, Chicago Bears offensive lineman Josh Sitton transitioned from blocking for veteran Rodgers in Green Bay to blocking for Mitch Trubisky, the second overall pick in the 2017 draft. He moved from an offense that never seemed to run the ball enough to an offense that needed only seven pass attempts to beat the Carolina Panthers earlier this year.
To call it an adjustment would be an understatement.
“We’re young at a lot of positions,” Sitton said in a teleconference Wednesday. “So each week, you have to grow and take steps with everyone as a whole. It’s just like Brett Hundley coming in there for the Packers, it’s a learning process. There’s a learning curve to it. So it just takes some time, and there’s no doubt Trubisky has got all the talent in the world. I’ll be excited to see what he’s going to do going forward.”
Trubisky has completed just 47.5% of passes through his first four starts with an average passer rating of 66.3. He has as many touchdowns (two) as interceptions (two), and the Bears are 2-2 in the four games Trubisky played. Injury report: Inside linebacker Joe Thomas (ankle) and outside linebacker Ahmad Brooks
(back) returned to practice as limited participants Wednesday. It was the first time Thomas had practiced since Sept. 27, while Brooks had not been on the field since Oct. 18.
“It felt good,” Thomas said. “I’m excited. When I was waiting I watched a lot of film and I feel like I gained a little more knowledge, and (the game) should kind of slow down for me a little bit more.”
Safety Morgan Burnett (groin), defensive tackle Quinton Dial
(chest) and tight end Martellus
Bennett (shoulder) were the only three players who did not practice. Bennett was later released Wednesday afternoon. Offensive lineman Justin McCray (ankle) and outside linebacker Nick Perry (foot) were limited participants.
McCray, who was injured on the final play from scrimmage against the Lions, did not appear comfortable in the portion of practice open to the media. He had a heavy tape job on his right ankle.