Heatherthepackgirl
Cheesehead
By TOM SILVERSTEIN
[email protected]
Posted: Oct. 1, 2007
Green Bay - Despite two straight games in which opponents have worked him over a bit, Jarrett Bush will remain the Green Bay Packers' nickel
Defensive coordinator Bob Sanders said he had no intention of pulling Bush in favor of Will Blackmon, Frank Walker or Tramon Williams even though Bush has given up touchdowns in consecutive games and had difficulty covering Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Sydney Rice.
"He did a nice job," Sanders said of Bush's performance Sunday. "He had a lot of good plays. A lot of times the sacks or the pressures we got were because he and the other guys were in good coverage. A lot of times you don't see all those type situations. The number of times they threw and the times they actually caught the ball, there are a lot of times he's playing very, very well."
There's no question, however, that Bush had his struggles.
He easily could have been burned for a 56-yard touchdown on Minnesota's first series when Rice ran past him. However, quarterback Kelly Holcomb badly overthrew the rookie, saving the Packers from giving up an early touchdown.
Later in the first quarter, he gave up two third-down receptions to Rice on a drive that didn't result in any Vikings points.
Bush was pretty solid from that point on until Rice got him again in the fourth quarter, this time on a lob into the end zone for a 15-yard touchdown that cut Green Bay's lead to 23-16. Bush was stride for stride with Rice but turned his head too early and allowed Rice to leap over him for the ball.
"The guy made a great play on the touchdown," cornerbacks coach Lionel Washington said. "I thought he went up for the catch and the guy went over and made an excellent play. I thought he was in excellent position. Sometimes things like that happen. It's football. He was in great position and Rice made an excellent play."
Bush said if he had to do it all over again, he said he might have read the receiver longer to determine when the ball was coming.
"There wasn't too much I could really do," Bush said. "But instead of looking for the ball, look through the receiver, face him, read his hands. But that's about it. On tall receivers, because he gets up so high, when he comes down you punch the ball out. It's a judgment call in a split second. It's one of those deals."
On the play Holcomb overthrew Rice, Bush said he tried to jam Rice at the line of scrimmage but missed, which allowed Rice to get a jump on him. As for his confidence, Bush said the coaches had remained on his side and hadn't shown any signs of giving up on him.
"I have to just keep working on the things that I need to work on," Bush said. "They said I played pretty solid. Some of the catches I really couldn't do anything about because of the coverage I was in. Some of the crossing routes were like that. Some of the coverages put us in a difficult position. They're a good football team and they have good receivers also."
[email protected]
Posted: Oct. 1, 2007
Green Bay - Despite two straight games in which opponents have worked him over a bit, Jarrett Bush will remain the Green Bay Packers' nickel
Defensive coordinator Bob Sanders said he had no intention of pulling Bush in favor of Will Blackmon, Frank Walker or Tramon Williams even though Bush has given up touchdowns in consecutive games and had difficulty covering Minnesota Vikings wide receiver Sydney Rice.
"He did a nice job," Sanders said of Bush's performance Sunday. "He had a lot of good plays. A lot of times the sacks or the pressures we got were because he and the other guys were in good coverage. A lot of times you don't see all those type situations. The number of times they threw and the times they actually caught the ball, there are a lot of times he's playing very, very well."
There's no question, however, that Bush had his struggles.
He easily could have been burned for a 56-yard touchdown on Minnesota's first series when Rice ran past him. However, quarterback Kelly Holcomb badly overthrew the rookie, saving the Packers from giving up an early touchdown.
Later in the first quarter, he gave up two third-down receptions to Rice on a drive that didn't result in any Vikings points.
Bush was pretty solid from that point on until Rice got him again in the fourth quarter, this time on a lob into the end zone for a 15-yard touchdown that cut Green Bay's lead to 23-16. Bush was stride for stride with Rice but turned his head too early and allowed Rice to leap over him for the ball.
"The guy made a great play on the touchdown," cornerbacks coach Lionel Washington said. "I thought he went up for the catch and the guy went over and made an excellent play. I thought he was in excellent position. Sometimes things like that happen. It's football. He was in great position and Rice made an excellent play."
Bush said if he had to do it all over again, he said he might have read the receiver longer to determine when the ball was coming.
"There wasn't too much I could really do," Bush said. "But instead of looking for the ball, look through the receiver, face him, read his hands. But that's about it. On tall receivers, because he gets up so high, when he comes down you punch the ball out. It's a judgment call in a split second. It's one of those deals."
On the play Holcomb overthrew Rice, Bush said he tried to jam Rice at the line of scrimmage but missed, which allowed Rice to get a jump on him. As for his confidence, Bush said the coaches had remained on his side and hadn't shown any signs of giving up on him.
"I have to just keep working on the things that I need to work on," Bush said. "They said I played pretty solid. Some of the catches I really couldn't do anything about because of the coverage I was in. Some of the crossing routes were like that. Some of the coverages put us in a difficult position. They're a good football team and they have good receivers also."
