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Harrell gets a shot with the Jets

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After being released by the Green Bay Packers earlier this week, quarterback Graham

Graham Harrell

Graham Harrell

Harrell will sign a deal with the New York Jets.

Last year’s starter in New York, Mark Sanchez, is out with a shoulder injury and won’t play in tomorrow’s preseason finale.  First round draft pick Geno Smith has struggled, posting a 54.6 passer rating.

Harrell had similar struggles this summer in Packers training camp, his fourth with the team.  He had gone 14 series with just one score, a field goal.  Harrell had reached his ceiling in Green Bay and the Packers decided to part company.

 

Young wins backup quarterback job

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The Green Bay Packers spent three years trying to shape Graham Harrell into a reliable backup quarterback.  But the experiment ended this

Vince Young

Vince Young

weekend when the Packers cut Harrell, opting instead for 30-year old veteran Vince Young.

Harrell spent the first two seasons on the Packers practice squad but won the backup job last season after Matt Flynn signed a free agent deal with the Seattle Seahawks.

Vince Young completed 6 of 7 passes for 41 yards and a 1-yard touchdown pass.  He also rushed 3 times for 39 yards.  His touchdown pass came on an 11-play, 80-yard drive and it was enough to convince the Packers that he was their man behind Rodgers.

Harrell finished the preseason in Green Bay completing 23 of 42 passes for 169 yards and an interception.  His quarterback rating was 54.6.  Young is 12 of 19 for 74 yards and a touchdown with a preseason quarterback rating of 88.5.

The Packers also still have B.J. Coleman on their roster.  He’ll likely be released and spend another season on the Packers practice squad.

The Packers also released wide receivers Alex Gillett, Omarius Hines and Justin Wilson.  They have until 3pm Tuesday to get the roster down to 75 players.

 

Packers fall to Seahawks 17-10

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Green Bay Packers coach Mike McCarthy hinted earlier in the week that this wasn’t going to be your average third preseason game, a game where the starters normally play at least a half and in some cases early into the third quarter.  McCarthy said they had players they needed to look at which could alter the way the normal “dress rehearsal” game is played.

AUDIO: Mike McCarthy said they wanted to win the game, but… :17

Quarterback Aaron Rodgers played just one series, which resulted in a 38-yard Mason Crosby field goal.  It means the Packers first offense

Vince Young

Vince Young

under Rodgers, hasn’t scored a single touchdown in three preseason games.  Rodgers has only played a total of five series and 45 snaps in the first three preseason games.  His passer rating is 102.3, but no touchdowns.

Rodgers won’t likely play much at all in the final preseason game at Kansas City next week, if at all.  That means he and the first unit will have to be ready with little game preparation for the regular season opener at San Francisco in two weeks.

The Packers played well defensively in the loss.  They sacked quarterback Russell Wilson four times and had a fifth negated when they accepted a 10-yard holding penalty against the Seahawks.

AUDIO: Clay Matthews picked up a sack and said they got after Russell Wilson :21 [Read more…]

Packers vs. Seahawks tonight / What to watch for

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The Green Bay Packers play their third preseason game tonight at home against the

Mason Crosby

Mason Crosby

Seattle Seahawks.  Time is running out on players still trying to make the 53-man roster.

Following are some of the things I’ll be looking forward to seeing in tonight’s game.

Kicking battle

Mason Crosby appeared to be back in control after going 3 for 3 in the field goal department against the St. Louis Rams last week.  But Crosby missed three field goals in practice on Wednesday and the battle with Giorgio Tavecchio is back on again.  Another stumble by Crosby and he could be done in Green Bay.  There’s always the chance that the Packers kicker in 2013 might not be on the roster. [Read more…]

Packers shutout in preseason opener

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The Green Bay Packers appeared to lack emotion and struggled to make the big play in their 17-0 loss to the Arizona Cardinals in their preseason

Graham Harrell runs the Packers offense

Graham Harrell runs the Packers offense

opener at Lambeau Field.

It marked the first time the Packers had been shut out in a 60-minute exhibition game since a 33-0 loss to the Washington Redskins in August of 1987 in Madison.

The Packers did move the ball on their first offensive possession.  Aaron Rodgers hit James Jones for a 50-yard pass down the left sideline, giving the Packers a first and goal.  But the Packers would fail to score, going for it on fourth down and winding up short.  Although replay would show that running back James Starks appeared to reach the ball over the goal line before he was down.  Mike McCarthy threw the challenge flag but lost the replay challenge.  That’s as close as the Packers would get to scoring points the rest of the night.

AUDIO: Mike McCarthy on the loss :23

After Aaron Rodgers left, the Packers backup quarterbacks couldn’t get anything done.  Graham Harrell got the longest look, completing 12 of 19 passes for 76 yards, no touchdowns and 1 interception.  His quarterback rating was 49.5. [Read more…]

Packers sign Young to compete for backup job

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Vince Young is on the Green Bay Packers practice field this morning, after signing a 1-year contract with the team.

The Packers saw enough from Young in their workout on Monday to keep him in Green Bay, where he is expected to compete with Graham Harrell and B.J. Coleman for the backup job to Aaron Rodgers.

The 30-year-old Young was the third-overall pick in the 2006 NFL Draft.  He has played in 60 career games with 50 starts in his six NFL seasons with Tennessee and Philadelphia.

Young has completed 57.9% of his passes for 8,964 yards in his career.  He’s thrown 46 touchdown passes and 51 interceptions.  Young has also rushed for 1,459 yards, averaging 5.2 yards per carry and scoring 12 touchdowns.

The Packers weren’t happy with backup B.J. Coleman’s performance in Saturday’s scrimmage.

It’s not certain if Young will get enough of the offense to play in Friday’s preseason opener against Arizona, or if he’ll be able to learn the offense sufficiently during the rest of training camp to be able to win the backup job.

The Packers open the season Sept. 8 against the San Francisco 49ers and then host the Washington Redskins the next week.  At the very least, Young should provide the Packers defense with a good scout look for Collin Kaepernick and Robert Griffin III.

Young went 30-17 as a starter in Tennessee.  But the last time he played in an NFL regular season game was in 2001 with Philadelphia.

 

Bulaga injury could be serious (WRN Sports Daily-Video)

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The Green Bay Packers are bracing for bad news after left tackle Bryan Bulaga

Bryan Bulaga works in training camp

Bryan Bulaga works in training camp

suffered a knee injury in Saturday nights Family Night scrimmage.

The Packers are reportedly concerned the injury could be a torn ligament and would turn out to be season ending.

Bulaga had just moved to left tackle this offseason and played 30-snaps in Saturday night’s scrimmage.

The Packers have a practice in shells this afternoon (closed to the public).  Mike McCarthy will address the media after that workout. [Read more…]

Packers to go with three quarterbacks in camp

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As training camp gets ready to open Friday, Packers General Manager Ted Thompson has made a tweak to the roster.

Tuesday, the team announced that they released rookie QB Matt Brown.  Brown was signed as an undrafted free agent out of Illinois State back in May.

That leaves the Packers with a trio of signal callers heading into camp; Aaron Rodgers, Graham Harrell, and B.J Coleman.  This move shouldn’t come as a surprise as Coleman and Harrell are expected to battle for the back-up spot behind Rodgers.  With limited practice time since the new CBA in 2011, this will allow the two to get more snaps.

Packers receivers finish strong

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The Green Bay Packers have until 8pm tonight to reduce their roster from 75

Jarrett Boykin

to 53 players.  The backup receivers certainly made a case for the Packers to keep 6 receivers instead of the normal 5.

Jarrett Boykin had 5 catches for 82 yards and a touchdown last night.  His preseason total is 13 catches for 166 yards.  Tori Gurley and Diondre Borel both had a pair of catches last night.

AUDIO: Tori Gurley says he, Borel & Boykin stated their case :18

Packers coach Mike McCarthy said a number of statements were made in this contest.

AUDIO: Mike McCarthy says a number of players made statements :22

Mike McCarthy said after the game that he doesn’t have a high level of concern about B.J. Raji’s injured ankle.  Raji hurt his ankle on the first play of the game.

Harrell shows he belongs

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For the first three preseason games, Green Bay Packers quarterback Graham

Graham Harrell

Harrell had fans wondering.  They didn’t know if the Packers had a backup quarterback on their roster or not.

Last night, Harrell proved that he belongs, completing 13 of 15 passes for 223 yards and two touchdowns in the Packers 24-3 win over the Kansas City Chiefs.

AUDIO: Harrell says he knew he could do it :22

Harrell had a perfect quarterback rating of 158.3.  His performance proved it to be well deserved.  His only two incompletions came on a throwaway and a dropped ball.

AUDIO: Mike McCarthy is happy with Harrell’s performance :16

Harrell’s performance for the first three weeks mirrored the second teams performance.  That unit failed, which left Harrell with little support.  Last night, that unit played better and it allowed Harrell to get into a groove .

The coaches cautioned not to read too much into Harrell’s numbers prior to last nights game.  Mike McCarthy said repeatedly that they saw progress in Harrell.  They led you to believe that Harrell was going to be their guy going into the season to back up Aaron Rodgers.  Harrell’s performance on Thursday night has everyone feeling much better about the backup in Green Bay.