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Welcome back to football, Packers fans!
The Green Bay Packers start training camp today for their 100th season. There is optimism in the air as Green Bay gets their season underway with a new general manager, a new defensive coordinator and a plethora of new assistant coaches.
Head coach Mike McCarthy still runs the show but in addition to new defensive coordinator Mike Pettine and staff, McCarthy took a “scrub brush” approach to the offensive playbook sand brought back Joe Philbin as offensive coordinator.
Camp promises to be as competitive as ever for the players as there will be battles for the backup quarterback position as well as competition at the wide receiver position (though this thinned out with Michael Clark’s sudden retirement). There’s also the influx of new young talent, particularly at cornerback thanks to the draft, that the Packers hope will push them back to the top of the NFC North.
The Packers don’t play their first preseason game for two weeks so these first few practices will be al about installation and easing into the grind of practice.
Camp is only getting underway, but you read more on McCarthy’s thoughts as the season gets underway plus why Jimmy Graham is already flying high in today’s cheese curds.
‘Highly competitive’ camp on tap for Packers.com—Packers.com
McCarthy is confident the Packers learned from their errors last year and noted that he would not be doing his job if he wasn’t pushing the team forward. This all sounds fine in July, but the true test will be in October and November when the grind of the season truly settles in.
Weather chases Packers shareholders meeting indoors, but team’s outlook sunny—PackersNews.com
Even some nasty thunderstorms couldn’t dampen the enthusiasm at this year’s shareholder meeting. Of note, general manager Brian Gutekunst went much deeper in his discussion of the roster than his predecessor did, but he also singled out Ted Thompson as “one of the finest talent evaluators who have ever done this job.”
100 things to know about the Green Bay Packers in their 100th season—ESPN
Know someone new to NFL fandom and want to convert them to a Packers fan? This primer might do the trick.
Packers tight end Jimmy Graham joins Young Eagles program as co-chair—Oshkosh Northwestern
Graham, a private pilot, brought his deHavilland Beaver to EAA Airventure Oshkosh this week and flew some kids as part of the Young Eagles program. Graham is wasting no time getting settled in in Wisconsin and that’s a great thing to see.
Falcons, Julio Jones agree to revised contract—NFL.com
Jones’ brief holdout came to and end overnight as some of his compensation for next season got moved up to this season. Thus ending any pipe dream of him somehow ending up in Green Bay in 2018.