Heatherthepackgirl
Cheesehead
By TOM SILVERSTEIN
[email protected]
Posted: Dec. 31, 2007
Green Bay - There is a message the Green Bay Packers' coaches have been subtly sending to their young players in recent weeks and will begin hammering home when the team returns from a four-day bye week vacation.
Tramon Williams is one of 36 players without playoff experience on the roster.
Namely, that the playoffs are a different animal.
If the 36 players on the 53-man roster who have never played in a post-season game thought the Dallas game Nov. 29 was high energy, then they're about to find out what electric really means.
"They're going to walk out on the field that day and they're going to feel it," said receivers coach Jimmy Robinson, who has four players on his unit who haven't experienced playoff football. "It almost becomes surreal."
Following the team's 34-13 victory over Detroit Sunday, Coach Mike McCarthy dismissed his players for the bye week and won't require them to return until Thursday night. On Friday and Saturday, they'll practice in pads, with the aim of working on fundamentals, as they wait to see who their opponent will be in the divisional round.
As the Packers' playoff destiny became clearer late in the year, coaches and veteran players began their initiation program for the youngsters. It has not been uncommon for a younger player to hear quarterback Brett Favre or wide receiver Donald Driver or cornerback Al Harris talk about the switch that gets turned on in the playoffs.
"Some of the vets have been there, so they tell us the little things that change," cornerback Jarrett Bush said. "The speed of the game changes. You have to know when to take risks and when not to take risks, stuff like that."
The Packers entered the season with the youngest roster in the NFL, and as they head into the playoffs, they have vastly less playoff experience than their competition. In their opening playoff game, the Packers will face the Seattle Seahawks, Tampa Bay Buccaneers or New York Giants, depending on the results of the wild-card round.
The Packers, who haven't been to the playoffs since 2004, have 17 players with a combined total of 94 games of playoff experience. Favre (20), Harris (10), long-snapper Rob Davis (10) and cornerback Charles Woodson (seven) account for half of those games.
By comparison, the Seahawks have 39 players who have been to the post-season with a combined 195 total games. The Buccaneers have 31 players with a combined total of 129 games of playoff experience and the Giants have 35 with a combined total of 95 games.
No team in the NFC playoff pool has gone longer than the Packers since their last playoff game.
For all their post-season inexperience, the Packers have players and coaches who have been to playoff games and Super Bowls. There are at least a few sources the younger players can tap into, if they want to understand what they're in for come Jan. 12.
And if they don't seek the wisdom, it will probably be delivered.
"It comes down to the same things, your attitude, your mind-set," said running backs coach Edgar Bennett, who played in 10 post-season games with the Packers, including Super Bowl XXXI.
"You have to take nothing for granted. You have to play your best football at that time, because if you don't, then you allow the possibility of not being able to continue playing. And you have to fully understand that these opportunities don't come that often."
Bennett's backfield has zero years of combined playoff experience, so his players will be leaning heavily upon him for guidance. He said he intends to continue addressing the importance of paying attention to detail so that opponents will have less to exploit on game day, and may show them some playoff film to get them ready.
The closest thing the Packers have had to a playoff atmosphere was the showdown with the Cowboys. Both teams were 10-1 and homefield advantage during the playoffs was on the line. The game was billed as the NFC Super Bowl.
"I think we got a little sample of it," first-year cornerback Tramon Williams said. "Some of the guys said that's kind of what the environment is going to feel like. We got a little bit of experience with it."
McCarthy plans to maintain the same approach he has all season, and, in fact, said he thought it would be a big mistake to try to give the players more than they can handle just because it's the playoffs. He expects them to come back from their four-day respite with a lot of energy and the same loose demeanor they've had all season.
When it's playoff time, they'll find the environment different, and how they react could make a big difference in the outcome of their first game.
"I know that from this point on, you win you continue on, you lose and you're out," Favre said after the victory Sunday.
[email protected]
Posted: Dec. 31, 2007
Green Bay - There is a message the Green Bay Packers' coaches have been subtly sending to their young players in recent weeks and will begin hammering home when the team returns from a four-day bye week vacation.
Tramon Williams is one of 36 players without playoff experience on the roster.
Namely, that the playoffs are a different animal.
If the 36 players on the 53-man roster who have never played in a post-season game thought the Dallas game Nov. 29 was high energy, then they're about to find out what electric really means.
"They're going to walk out on the field that day and they're going to feel it," said receivers coach Jimmy Robinson, who has four players on his unit who haven't experienced playoff football. "It almost becomes surreal."
Following the team's 34-13 victory over Detroit Sunday, Coach Mike McCarthy dismissed his players for the bye week and won't require them to return until Thursday night. On Friday and Saturday, they'll practice in pads, with the aim of working on fundamentals, as they wait to see who their opponent will be in the divisional round.
As the Packers' playoff destiny became clearer late in the year, coaches and veteran players began their initiation program for the youngsters. It has not been uncommon for a younger player to hear quarterback Brett Favre or wide receiver Donald Driver or cornerback Al Harris talk about the switch that gets turned on in the playoffs.
"Some of the vets have been there, so they tell us the little things that change," cornerback Jarrett Bush said. "The speed of the game changes. You have to know when to take risks and when not to take risks, stuff like that."
The Packers entered the season with the youngest roster in the NFL, and as they head into the playoffs, they have vastly less playoff experience than their competition. In their opening playoff game, the Packers will face the Seattle Seahawks, Tampa Bay Buccaneers or New York Giants, depending on the results of the wild-card round.
The Packers, who haven't been to the playoffs since 2004, have 17 players with a combined total of 94 games of playoff experience. Favre (20), Harris (10), long-snapper Rob Davis (10) and cornerback Charles Woodson (seven) account for half of those games.
By comparison, the Seahawks have 39 players who have been to the post-season with a combined 195 total games. The Buccaneers have 31 players with a combined total of 129 games of playoff experience and the Giants have 35 with a combined total of 95 games.
No team in the NFC playoff pool has gone longer than the Packers since their last playoff game.
For all their post-season inexperience, the Packers have players and coaches who have been to playoff games and Super Bowls. There are at least a few sources the younger players can tap into, if they want to understand what they're in for come Jan. 12.
And if they don't seek the wisdom, it will probably be delivered.
"It comes down to the same things, your attitude, your mind-set," said running backs coach Edgar Bennett, who played in 10 post-season games with the Packers, including Super Bowl XXXI.
"You have to take nothing for granted. You have to play your best football at that time, because if you don't, then you allow the possibility of not being able to continue playing. And you have to fully understand that these opportunities don't come that often."
Bennett's backfield has zero years of combined playoff experience, so his players will be leaning heavily upon him for guidance. He said he intends to continue addressing the importance of paying attention to detail so that opponents will have less to exploit on game day, and may show them some playoff film to get them ready.
The closest thing the Packers have had to a playoff atmosphere was the showdown with the Cowboys. Both teams were 10-1 and homefield advantage during the playoffs was on the line. The game was billed as the NFC Super Bowl.
"I think we got a little sample of it," first-year cornerback Tramon Williams said. "Some of the guys said that's kind of what the environment is going to feel like. We got a little bit of experience with it."
McCarthy plans to maintain the same approach he has all season, and, in fact, said he thought it would be a big mistake to try to give the players more than they can handle just because it's the playoffs. He expects them to come back from their four-day respite with a lot of energy and the same loose demeanor they've had all season.
When it's playoff time, they'll find the environment different, and how they react could make a big difference in the outcome of their first game.
"I know that from this point on, you win you continue on, you lose and you're out," Favre said after the victory Sunday.
