MM calls out Clifton

[cheesey]

I saw MM on TV last night (channel 4 Milwaukee) and he was talking about how bad the O line was playing, not making blocks for the run game. He said they need to stop making mistakes, and said like Chad Clifton keeps making every game. He said We can't have that.
I can't remember a coach singling out a player like that. Do you think that will do good, or harm to the team?

 

[yooperfan]

I think it will do good.
Nobody wants to be called out and these guys are competitors and will work harder if they think that's a possibility.

BTW, I think that if Clifton and College continue their shoddy play on that side, some changes will be forthcoming.
We are winning but it is almost in spite of those two positions.

 

[dhpackr]

i wonder if MM ever thought of changing his running scheme?

the Packers o-line seem to be better drive blockers than cut-blockers.

 

[Greg C.]

That statement by McCarthy seems like a bit of a gamble, but I think it will send the message that everybody is held accountable, including respected veterans like Clifton. McCarthy seems to have a pretty good feel for these things. He called out Favre a bit last year for some poor decision-making, and Favre took no offense. And this year he took Bubba Franks out of the starting lineup, and Bubba responded by playing his best football in a few years.

 

[Zero2Cool]

I took it differently. He said he used Clifton's name because he was just speaking about him about a holding call.

 

[NDPackerFan]

i wonder if MM ever thought of changing his running scheme?

the Packers o-line seem to be better drive blockers than cut-blockers.

I think guys like Colledge, Spitz, and Moll were drafted b/c they fit the zone blocking scheme. The talk last off-season was how the O-Lineman need to get stronger because they are a little light - a characteristic that Denver used successfully in the ZBS...lighter, more nimble, athletic lineman. I don't see how that makes us better at drive blocking, I guess...

A lot of it may be due to not working on cut-blocking enough in practice. It's a dangerous technique on the FB field and probably not worked on at 100% in practice much b/c it can cause injury.

 

[Tiger]

is it possible clifton is a bad fit for the ZBS? hes hardly the most mobile of players.

 

[MassPackersFan]

He's not right for it, and I think Colledge or Barbre will be out there in a year or two, but he's too good to bench right now, even though he's aging.

 

[retiredgrampa]

I would think that MM would lean on Colledge, too. Better yet, bench him. He's a liability now. But so is the ZBS. Remember the definition of insanity?

 

[dhpackr]

i wonder if MM ever thought of changing his running scheme?

the Packers o-line seem to be better drive blockers than cut-blockers.

I think guys like Colledge, Spitz, and Moll were drafted b/c they fit the zone blocking scheme. The talk last off-season was how the O-Lineman need to get stronger because they are a little light - a characteristic that Denver used successfully in the ZBS...lighter, more nimble, athletic lineman. I don't see how that makes us better at drive blocking, I guess...

A lot of it may be due to not working on cut-blocking enough in practice. It's a dangerous technique on the FB field and probably not worked on at 100% in practice much b/c it can cause injury.

i think colledge would be a decent drive blocking T, just like he was in college.

Clifton, Tauch, Colledge are not cut blockers, they are drive blockers. Why try to make them do things they are not good at?

 

[bozz_2006]

Remember the definition of insanity?

um, no.

 

[axelred13]

I don't see any good in calling a specific player out.

For some reason this team strikes me as not respecting their head coach as much as they should. This isn't going to help gain respect from Clifton, the OL, or the team in general. I think it is a head coach's job to backup their players no matter what. The media's job is to call players out.

 

[tromadz]

did you guys even look at the transcript?

 

[bozz_2006]

did you guys even look at the transcript?

psht! now why the hell would we go and do something like that? I much prefer isolated quote fragments taken out of context

 

[IronMan]

did you guys even look at the transcript?

(Are you surprised that group has regressed as arun-blocking unit?)
MM: Well, we haven't improved. I wouldn't say we've regressed. We have not improved in my opinion. The things that bother you more are the common mistakes. You're going to go through a game where you may have had a better line call versus this particular front, things like that. And when you deal with so many combination blocks, maybe you came off to fast, you didn't come off not fast enough. That's why you play the game. It's not played on a chalkboard. So those are things you're always continuing to work on. But when you see the same mistakes over and over, Chad Clifton on the back side, he needs to do a better job of that. That's a common mistake week in and week out. So we need to improve in that area. There's a number of things you could say through our whole football team that exist. There are some guys who are doing things really good in certain areas, but the common mistakes we're making, that's what we need to improve on, and frankly that's coaching. And I think every football team in America goes through that during the course of the year.

(Do some of Clifton's problems come from not practicing?)
MM: We just need to do a better job there. I don't want to get into a player. Just mentioning his name, now everyone wants to jump on it. I'm just using that as an example. There's things that we need to do better, and it's the common mistakes that are happening over and over again. That's the things that bother me.




So yeah he called him out, then went on to say that he was just using Chad as an example. Either way, I don't have a problem with it. And if a player isn't motivated to play better, after his coach calls him out, then he doesn't belong in the NFL.

 

[agopackgo4]

Maybe thats what Clifton needs! Because to me, right now he is next to useless!

 

[porky88]

i wonder if MM ever thought of changing his running scheme?

the Packers o-line seem to be better drive blockers than cut-blockers.

I think guys like Colledge, Spitz, and Moll were drafted b/c they fit the zone blocking scheme. The talk last off-season was how the O-Lineman need to get stronger because they are a little light - a characteristic that Denver used successfully in the ZBS...lighter, more nimble, athletic lineman. I don't see how that makes us better at drive blocking, I guess...

A lot of it may be due to not working on cut-blocking enough in practice. It's a dangerous technique on the FB field and probably not worked on at 100% in practice much b/c it can cause injury.

i think colledge would be a decent drive blocking T, just like he was in college.

Clifton, Tauch, Colledge are not cut blockers, they are drive blockers. Why try to make them do things they are not good at?

Colledge was always a better pass blocker than run blocker and he always will be. If we change schemes, he'll get killed.

If we do though I think the best bet is to bench Colledge and have a lineup of Tauscher, Colston, Wells, Spitz, and Clifton.

 

[TOPackerFan]

Maybe thats what Clifton needs! Because to me, right now he is next to useless!

in the run game, yes, but he's still a damn good pass blocker.

 

[Packnic]

trade clifton.

 

[Zero2Cool]

(Are you surprised that group has regressed as arun-blocking unit?)
MM: Well, we haven't improved. I wouldn't say we've regressed. We have not improved in my opinion. The things that bother you more are the common mistakes. You're going to go through a game where you may have had a better line call versus this particular front, things like that. And when you deal with so many combination blocks, maybe you came off to fast, you didn't come off not fast enough. That's why you play the game. It's not played on a chalkboard. So those are things you're always continuing to work on. But when you see the same mistakes over and over, Chad Clifton on the back side, he needs to do a better job of that. That's a common mistake week in and week out. So we need to improve in that area. There's a number of things you could say through our whole football team that exist. There are some guys who are doing things really good in certain areas, but the common mistakes we're making, that's what we need to improve on, and frankly that's coaching. And I think every football team in America goes through that during the course of the year.

(Do some of Clifton's problems come from not practicing?)
MM: We just need to do a better job there. I don't want to get into a player. Just mentioning his name, now everyone wants to jump on it. I'm just using that as an example. There's things that we need to do better, and it's the common mistakes that are happening over and over again. That's the things that bother me.

So, that's calling someone out? For someone who prides himself on being a 'tough' guy from Pittsburgh, that's a pretty weak *** way of calling someone out.

 

[cheesey]

(Are you surprised that group has regressed as arun-blocking unit?)
MM: Well, we haven't improved. I wouldn't say we've regressed. We have not improved in my opinion. The things that bother you more are the common mistakes. You're going to go through a game where you may have had a better line call versus this particular front, things like that. And when you deal with so many combination blocks, maybe you came off to fast, you didn't come off not fast enough. That's why you play the game. It's not played on a chalkboard. So those are things you're always continuing to work on. But when you see the same mistakes over and over, Chad Clifton on the back side, he needs to do a better job of that. That's a common mistake week in and week out. So we need to improve in that area. There's a number of things you could say through our whole football team that exist. There are some guys who are doing things really good in certain areas, but the common mistakes we're making, that's what we need to improve on, and frankly that's coaching. And I think every football team in America goes through that during the course of the year.

(Do some of Clifton's problems come from not practicing?)
MM: We just need to do a better job there. I don't want to get into a player. Just mentioning his name, now everyone wants to jump on it. I'm just using that as an example. There's things that we need to do better, and it's the common mistakes that are happening over and over again. That's the things that bother me.

So, that's calling someone out? For someone who prides himself on being a 'tough' guy from Pittsburgh, that's a pretty weak *** way of calling someone out.

I meant that i don't remember seeing a coach even bring up a specific name when they talk like that. Usually it's just general terms, "Our O-line needs to improve" and the like. I haven't seen a specific player's name used as an "example" for a long time. I bet Clifton doesn't see it in a good way. I bet he's tickedd off about it.

 

[Greg C.]

For some reason this team strikes me as not respecting their head coach as much as they should.

Why do you think this? I read everything I can find about the Packers, and I've never gotten so much as a hint that they don't respect McCarthy. Maybe I missed something.

Anyway, after reading the transcript, I think McCarthy did call Clifton out a little bit. Nothing major, though. Clifton should be able to handle the criticism better than the younger guys, and maybe that's why McCarthy mentioned him.

 

[axelred13]

Nothing specific Greg. Its just a gut feeling. The way Favre argues with MM on the sidelines and before that was the whole offseason/Moss thing (yes I know that was TT).

Like I said nothing specific, just hints of it here and there.

 

[cheesey]

Nothing specific Greg. Its just a gut feeling. The way Favre argues with MM on the sidelines and before that was the whole offseason/Moss thing (yes I know that was TT).

Like I said nothing specific, just hints of it here and there.

I don't see it the same way........it seems to me Favre has a relationship where he feels comfortable with MM that he can speak his mind and be open to MM's criticism as well. Look at how he pushed MM after the one TD he threw. It was like he was with a friend, not just his head coach. If he didn't like/respect MM, i doubt he would run to him on the sideline like that after a big play.
JMO of course.

 

[Greg C.]

Nothing specific Greg. Its just a gut feeling. The way Favre argues with MM on the sidelines and before that was the whole offseason/Moss thing (yes I know that was TT).

Like I said nothing specific, just hints of it here and there.

Maybe I've seen a little bit of arguing on the sidelines, but if I did, I took it as heated debate, which can happen between coaches and QB's during games. McCarthy is a very young coach who has a very hands-on style of coaching (the chest bump with Favre after a TD is an example), so I think it's just a matter of him relating to the players in a different way than a drill-sergeant type coach (Coughlin, Holmgren) or one of those quieter, more aloof coaches (Dungy).

I haven't heard of any dissent in the locker room and the players seem to be playing hard, so I'm assuming McCarthy is respected. For a young, first-time coach I've been really impressed by the way he came in and took control of this team. From day one, he's acted like he belonged here.