The Circus Is In Town! » Brats & Beer

July 28, 2008
posted under: Packers, training camp

Hooray, circus camp!

Slow news day, huh? Unless the team was coming off a Super Bowl season I don’t think the first day of Packers training camp has ever dominated the headlines like it did today. Unfortunately most of that coverage read more like a cheap tabloid drama than football news, so let’s put aside Peter King’s latest dispatch from the Fortress of Solitude and Gene Wojciechowski’s self-serving douchbagery for another day and focus on some important issues to come out of the first day of camp.

The biggest priority right now for the Green Bay Packers has to be the defensive line. With question marks hanging over both Justin Harrell (back) and Johnny Jolly (codeine possession), it might be up to Ryan Pickett and Colin Cole to shoulder most of the load this season, backed up by Daniel Muir and two rookies. At the risk of repeating myself here, I hope someone in the personnel department is keeping an eye out for D-linemen we can trade for or claim off waivers because without some run stoppers and an inside pass rush it’s going to be a long season whether our quarterback is named Aaron, Brett or Bart.

The offensive backfield is also up in the air with Ryan Grant still holding out for a new contract. (By the way, props to Ted Thompson for slamming Grant’s agent in his press conference today.) Mike McCarthy is quoted in the Press-Gazette blog as saying Brandon Jackson had a “special” day, but he’s far from certain as the Packers featured back. I’m confident that a platoon with Grant and Jackson can produce yards this year; Jackson leading off for Vernand Morency and Kregg Lumpkin isn’t quite as special.

But at least we’re talking about real football again, huh? And soon enough (too soon?) we’ll be able to see what all the off-season fuss has wrought for our Packers.