James Jones is Frustrated

News out of the Packer Clubhouse is that WR James Jones is frustrated not with his performance in Week 1, but with the amount of playing time he received. Up until last week's game, I had thought that James Jones would be the WR to emerge as the #2 guy behind Jennings, but it was Jordie Nelson who continues to shine ever since his great game in the Super Bowl.

I am not sure what the problem was last week, but I expect for Jones to get more involved in the offense this week and moving forward. Lets not forget that Aaron Rodgers outwardly lobbied for the Packers to re-sign Jones during the offseason. He pointing to Jones as a reason that the team was successful and won the Super Bowl Last season.

Justin Harrell's Heir? Meet Mike Neal

DE Mike Neal, the Packer's 2nd round pick in the 2010 NFL Draft, continues to battle with injuries. Neal had his season cut short in 2010 because of injuries, and 2011 looks to be just another chapter in the same sad story. Wednesday it was announced that Mike Neal had surgery this week on his knee, which flared up again after participating in practice last week.

Neal was expected to step in and fill the shoes of former defensive end Cullen Jenkins and be an impact player for the Pack. Unfortunately, Neal's career statistics are at a stand still with totals of 3 tackles, 1 sack, and 1 forced fumble in 2 games played. I hope for Mike's sake, that he is able to get healthy and get a chance to show what he can do in the NFL. 

** Please note that this photo is Mike Neal in his college days at Purdue... there are limited pictures in circulation of him in an actual Packers uniform... for obvious reasons. 

Tramon, Neal, Zombo sit out Wednesday's Practice

Tramon Williams, Mike Neal and Frank Zombo are all sitting out of Wednesday's practice. All of these players would contribute on defense if they were healthy. The main thing that we still need to worry about is Tramon getting back on the field. The Packers secondary would really take a hit if he cant recover quickly from his bruised shoulder.

Urlacher on leave for Personal Reasons

Brian Urlacher is away from the team for personal reasons having to do with his mother. Right now it is unclear as to the time frame of the matter and if he will be active for his week 2 Matchup. 

There would certainly be a huge hole to fill should he miss the game. Urlacher made several key plays in week 1 with an interception and a fumble recovery he took for a touchdown. 

Starks vs. Grant

To begin the 2011 Regular Season, Mike McCarthy and the Packers came out with a true two-headed running attack with both James Starks and Ryan Grant splitting carries. In the first game, the Packers started with Ryan Grant getting the majority of the first half carries and Starks taking over as the game went along.

Ryan Grant finished the game with 9 carries for 40 yards, averaging 4.4 yards per carry. Starks had about the same workload and similar results carrying the ball 12 times for 57 yards and 4.8 yards per carry.

First of all, the Packers are the defending Champs. Last season the leading rusher on the team was Brandon Jackson, and now, we not only have 1 healthy and talented running back, but two!! And they are competing for the top spot!! This is great news to me, and aside from trying to figure out which one I want on my Fantasy Football team, I don't care who gets more carries at this point, because they are both better than Brandon Jackson.

After watching the first game, I would have to give Starks the edge, just based on his impressive touchdown run and his strength and size. I think that either of these guys can carry a larger load for the Packers, but one thing is for certain...We are a completely different team with a running game, so everyone else better watch out, because this is a better team than the one that won the Super Bowl back in February!

Tramon Williams Injury Update

It was a scary moment on Thursday night watching the replay of Tramon getting his arm squished in between two players. At that moment the thoughts running through my head were something like this:

"Oh no! Not again. There goes one of our best defensive players and his arm is going to be broken and he will be out for the season."

Well, it turns out that its looking like only a bruised shoulder. We are unsure at this point if he will miss any game time, but Coach Mike McCarthy is scheduled to discuss Tramon's status during Wednesday's press conference.

Also, if any of you are like me and looking for something to take up some time today, check out playerwives.com. Their site provided the image for this post. 

1-0! A Solid Start to a Title Defense...

Packers 42 - Saints 34. The opening game of the 2011 NFL season was nothing short of a thriller. In fact, it came down to the last play of the game where the Packers' worn out defense made a crucial stop on the goal line to bring home the victory and start the season off 1-0. There were a lot of positives in the game, and a few negatives. Here's my take:

THINGS I LIKED-
Randall Cobb - Easily the biggest surprise of the game, the rookie WR out of Kentucky dazzled us all with his 2 touchdown performance. He took in a 35 yard catch and run on a slant (which he admitted after the game was a mistake in that he ran the wrong route) and brought back the first kick return TD for the Packers in over 10 years from 108 yards deep (which he admitted after the game, by team rules, he should have knelt). In spite of these 2 "mistakes", Cobb proved to be another valuable weapon in the arsenal that is the Packers' potent offense.

Aaron Rodgers - Rodgers came out of the gates firing on all cylinders, throwing 3 touchdowns in the first quarter. Granted, he slowed down after that and missed a few throws. But all in all, Rodgers looked sharp and is poised for a great season.

JerMichael Finley - Finley was not as involved as I anticipated he would be, and McCarthy could be easing him back in due to his minor injuries. But when he was on the field, he was impossible for the saints to cover. There is no team in the league that can cover the Packers' receiving corps.

Offensive Line - I will admit that I was concerned about the line going into the season because of the issues I noticed in the pre-season. Even though they gave up a few sacks, I thought that overall they did a pretty good job of protecting Rodgers and opening up running lanes. I believe that they will continue to improve going forward.

Running Backs - It was hard to determine who was the better RB last night. Grant started off the game well, and just when it seemed like he was the sure fire starter, James Starks took over and looked even better. I think that this will cause problems for opposing defenses knowing that they can't just try to cover the pass anymore and will have to deal with the Packers' in 2 different dimensions.

THINGS I DID NOT LIKE-

Missed Tackles - I don't have the exact number, but I'm guessing it was somewhere in the teens. There were several occasions where the defense looked like they were going to make a stop, they were in position, and then bounced off of the ball carrier. This is actually the reason why Tramon Williams is now injured. If AJ Hawk makes the tackle, Tramon is still healthy...This will need to be improved upon if the Packers are going to be successful this year.

Tramon Williams' Injury - The worst part about this is that it could have been completely avoided. We do not know how serious it is yet, but it could potentially have a big impact on the season. Jarrett Bush is a decent CB, but is a significant drop off from Williams. We will keep our fingers crossed that Tramon will be back on the field soon.

3rd Downs - It seemed the defense could not get off the field on 3rd downs. They either missed a tackle or let a receiver get wide open. Granted the saints offense is good and Brees is an elite QB, but elite defenses need to be able to make stops more often than the Packers did last night.

There you have it. My thoughts. It was a great win for the Packers and all-in-all I think the things I didn't like are fixable and will be addressed and improved upon in the coming weeks. For now I am going to enjoy being 1-0 and watching football the rest of the weekend! GO PACK!

Pre-Season Predictions

August is over, so is the preseason. It's less than a week until REAL football starts. So that means it's time for us to make our pre-season predictions.

PACKERS

The Pack return 21 out of 22 starters from the Super Bowl run of 2010. I believe that the loss of Cullen Jenkins will prove to be a mistake, but not a big enough one to lose the division. I predict that Rodgers shreds defenses with the help of JerMichael Finley, the running game is mildly improved (but not substantial), and the defense led by the Claymaker will be top 5 for the 3rd year in a row. Packers win the division with a record of 11-5.

LIONS

I was a believer in the Lions in 2010 and thought that they would finish ahead of the bears until Matthew Stafford went down for the season. This year there is a lot of hype surrounding the defense and Stafford's impressive pre-season performance. I think the Lions are on the verge of making a big splash in the NFL. They have a ton of talent on both sides of the ball, but injuries have been their downfall. Even this pre-season they have lost their first 2 draft picks. If Stafford stays healthy, it will be a tight race (but not too tight) at the end of the season. I have the Lions finishing 2nd in the NFC North with a record of 9-7.

BEARS

I think this will be the year that the bears luck will catch up with them. They have historically had a better record than their ability and I find it difficult to believe that they can do it again this year. Cutler will be 2nd in the league in INTs only behind Eli Manning. And the new kickoff rule will kill the bears' field position and take Hester/Manning partially out of the game. Along with an aging defense, I think this will be the beginning of the decline of the bears. Opposing defenses will catch more touchdowns from Cutler than Roy Williams. The Bears finish 3rd in the North with a 7-9 record.

Vikings

The Queens are an intriguing team, but not really that intriguing. The acquisition of Donovan McNabb will bridge the gap between Brett Favre and QB-of-the-future Christian Ponder. The O-line has major problems, and the defense and receiving corps have big question marks. I see the vikings giving up on the playoffs just after midseason and handing the reigns to the rookie QB to gain experience. Last in the division at 5-11.

Those are my predictions for 2011. Make sure you have your brats, cheese curds, and Miller beer ready to go for next Thursday against the Saints. GO PACK!

Clay Matthews Blowing Up Plays

Happy Manlarn Day!

Although we have many loyal followers here at The Malnarn, few actually know the origin of the sites name. There was once a very dear friend to the creators of this blog that we commonly referred to as Malnarn. She was a very nice girl, and although we had a falling out these days, this website was named in her honor, and today is her Birthday!

This will be the first annual edition of The Malnarn Day Preseason Post, full of news, predictions, insight and pure poppycock.

The NFL Lockout is water under the bridge and football is back! The Packers are coming into the season as the team to beat and the favorite to win the Super Bowl, and with good reason as we have some key players coming back from injuries who certainly can improve the team. Much like Malnarn, these players are coming out of hiding in the swamps and are ready to pounce on their competition.

As is typical of the Pack, we did little through free agency this season to improve our squad, and may have arguably moved back a couple of steps with the departure of Cullen Jenkins and Darren Colledge. Jenkins leaves a big hole to fill at DE, and with the injury to Mike Neal, that hole is a glaring one to us at The Malnarn.

Several rookies will be expected to make an impact early in the season. Through two preseason games, Randall Cobb looks like lighting in a bottle. He is already a little banged up with a couple of bruised knees, but he has looked dynamic in the return game and could be dangerous anytime he gets the ball in his hands. I'm excited about Cobb and I'm really looking forward to seeing what he can do this season.

Alex Green is another skill position player who can positively effect our already potent offense. Green is going to be thrown into the running back mix with Ryan Grant and James Starks this season. The Packers seem to really like this kid and want to get him into the mix and get the ball in his hands.

Aaron Rodgers is going to have more weapons that he had last season and I don't think there is a team in the league that is going to be able to cover them all, especially with Finley back in the lineup.

There has been a lot of talk this week about Ryan Grant's future with the organization. I believe this is mostly speculation, but the emergence of James Starks last year in the playoffs and the ability of Alex Green could lead to Grant being less valuable to the Packers. Grant did restructure his contract earlier in the month, taking less money but getting it all guaranteed. This could be a sign that he has a home in Green Bay for at least the 2011/2012 season. We will just have to wait and see what happens as final cuts in the NFL will occur September 3rd.

When it comes to The Malnarn, there is always a lot of discussion about the Packers and the NFL in general between myself and my co-editor. We are often on the same page but there are times when we don't always see eye to eye on topics. For this reason, I am going to make some predictions for the upcoming season that he may not agree with.

#1: James Jones will take over Donald Driver's spot as the #2 WR. It was clear this offseason that Aaron Rodgers wanted to keep Jones around. James Jones has a ton of talent that last season was often trumped by dropped passes. I think that Jones is going to break out this season and show that he is on his way to being a very good wide receiver in this league. I expect him to step up and take over as the #2 WR on the team, and although I still think Driver is going to play a role in the offense and get his catches, I think that Jones will start to take some of his targets.

#2: Clay Matthews will lead the league in Sacks. Last season Clay had 6 sacks in the first two games. It came out earlier this preseason that last year Clay played with a stress fracture in his leg or foot, I don't remember which, but the bottom line is that when he is healthy, there is no stopping him.

#3: Alex Green takes a larger share of running back duties than you expect. One of my favorite things about the NFL is the NFL Draft. I always love watching the draft and waiting to see what the Pack does. I remember hearing a little about Green prior to the draft, but it was nothing compared to what i'm hearing coming out of Green Bay's training camp and what i've seen so far this preseason. The Packers are looking for ways to get the ball into Green's hands and I think that is whats going to happen during the season. We here at the Malnarn see the Pack going with a true "running back by committee" strategy this season and we expect Alex Green to be a surprise this season and prove to be a great draft pick.

#4: The Bears will still suck. Regardless of how the Bears were last season, making it to the NFC Championship, they will always suck. I continue to hate the Bear Nation with a passion and I continue to bash them with every chance I get. Watching Jay Cutler cry on the sidelines to end their season was one of the greatest gives I've ever received. This season the Bears have made some serious moves in Free Agency...just kidding, they got Roy Williams and Marion Barber. This is so laughable because everyone in Chicago thinks that Roy Williams is going to lead the league in receiving, all because out of his lackluster seasons that compile an average at best NFL career, his best season was under Mike Martz, now offensive coordinator for the bears. So obviously, it makes complete sense that after doing nothing in Dallas for a couple years he will come into Chicago and be a top WR. Again, I'm completely kidding. The bears suck, Roy Williams sucks, and I smile everytime I think of him being the #1 receiver. I'm putting Chicago in the #2 spot in the division, but the Bears still suck.

That concludes my predictions for the start of the season. I would imagine they will all be correct. We now have less than two weeks until the Packers season debut against the Saints. All we can do now is sit back, relax, and get ready to defend our title!! That being said, happy birthday to Malnarn and stop back often for more award winning blogging from us at The Malnarn!