Ty Montgomery
Ty Montgomery was told to not bring the kickoff out of the end zone with 2:05 left to play in Sunday’s game against the Rams. Unfortunately for him, and the rest of Packers Nation, he did. Montgomery fumbled, the Rams recovered and the Green Bay Packers never got a chance for a potential comeback victory.
Montgomery didn’t talk with reporters after the game on Sunday and by the time he had the chance to do so on Monday, his entire world turned upside down.
Teammates questioned his move while speaking with reporters after the game. Early Monday morning, the NFL Network reported that an anonymous teammate questioned Montgomery’s character in returning the kick. The website reported that six Packers coaches and players had said Montgomery was frustrated when he was benched late in the game. They referred to Montgomery’s following actions as a “tantrum” when he slammed his helmet to the ground.
Another anonymous player said Montgomery’s display while coming off the file led to the player willfully going against McCarthy’s order to take a knee in order to serve his own interest.
Montgomery told reporters on Monday that he made a decision based on the depth of the kickoff, feeling it was too close to the goal line and didn’t want to take the chance of him kneeling on the line. So he brought it out and the rest is history.
Montgomery said he’s never been a guy to completely disobey what he’s been told.
He did acknowledge his frustration at being pulled in favor of Aaron Jones for a second-down play in the fourth quarter.
“I got a little frustrated. I wanted to make a play,” he said. “I wasn’t playing very much and I wasn’t able to make a play and I was frustrated about that. I don’t fully understand what my role is right now, what I’m supposed to be doing, how I’m supposed to help this team. And it’s frustrating when I want to help the team and I get limited opportunities and it didn’t happen on that play. So I came off frustrated about it.”
But Montgomery said it was not a factor in the decision-making process on the kick return.
Montgomery said no one had come to him directly to own up to the anonymous quote. He admitted to being extremely disappointed in that teammate.
Now the question is how will this affect Montgomery and even larger, the team, moving forward. Will Montgomery still be on this roster when the team returns to work on Wednesday? Could he be released by the end of the week or even after the Patriots game? Or does coach Mike McCarthy try to rebuild the damage caused by Montgomery, by deciding to keep him around?
Those questions will have answers soon enough!