Linebacker Jones to play bigger role - JSOnline. Mike McCarthy talked about Green Bay Packers LB Brad Jones, and undrafted rookie LB Jamari Lattimore.
Lattimore's too small at 230 lbs. and McCarthy said he's got to bulk up. But he doesn't want to make the same mistake as they did with Jones, who they asked to bulk up and McCarthy said "that's not what Brad is."
Maybe the coaches did mess Jones up by asking him to be a 260 lb. outside LB. But neither player really fits with their scheme. If Jones could really emerge as the starter, how come it didn't happen last season? It wasn't like Erik Walden did a lot to earn the starting role.
I like Brad Jones, and I had hoped he would emerge as the starting outside LB at the start of the 2010 season. But it didn't happen, even before injuries ended his season. He did finally get a chance late last year, but was it too little too late?
If they don't sign an outside LB (highly unlikely) or draft a starter in April (more likely), then I'm not exactly sure what they'll do. Try and mix and match some combination of Frank Zombo, Jones, and Lattimore?