Cheese Curds, 9/22: Taysom Hill returns to Green Bay; AJ Dillon discusses struggles

When the Green Bay Packers take the field on Sunday afternoon against the New Orleans Saints, they’ll be seeing an old friend in a regular season game at Lambeau Field for the first time. Taysom Hill has not played a meaningful game in the stadium since joining the Saints, but he’s returning to the place where he started his professional football career.

The Packers signed Hill as an undrafted free agent in 2017, and he largely impressed in the preseason that year. However, Mike McCarthy and Ted Thompson took a chance by releasing him, hoping they could sneak him onto the practice squad. Instead, the Saints claimed him on waivers and turned him into a jack-of-all-trades player, one who is now formally considered a tight end but who lines up at running back, wide receiver, and even his original position of quarterback from time to time.

The Saints did play the Packers early in Hill’s rookie season at Lambeau Field, but he was inactive for that game, and the two contests between the teams in the years since have been road games for the Packers. That means that this week’s game will be the first time he plays at Lambeau in a regular season game.

While the Packers’ defense prepares for Hill’s varied usage, they need to figure out a way to get one of their own offensive weapons on track. AJ Dillon has struggled to start this season — there’s no questioning that — and although he acknowledges that he needs to improve in some areas, he says that he still feels like he’s happy with his overall game. Even if Aaron Jones can play on Sunday, Dillon will likely still be called upon to play a major role in the offense, so he’ll need to figure out how to change his recent fortunes to help the Packers earn a victory.

Here’s a look at those stories and much more as we prepare for Sunday’s game.

‘Freak of nature’ Lukas Van Ness finding his place in Packers’ pass-rush rotation | Packers.com
Van Ness left last week's game a bit early with an elbow issue, but he's ready to go and to try to wreak some havoc on a Saints offensive line that has struggled in pass protection so far this year.

Saints weapon Taysom Hill presents unique challenge for Packers defense | Packers Wire
Sean Payton may be gone, but the Saints' willingness to use Hill in creative and multiple ways remains. But in two career games against the Packers -- who originally signed him as a UDFA -- Hill has just 10 total yards and a notable lost fumble.

Packers RB AJ Dillon is off to a slow start, but how much is he to blame? - The Athletic ($)
Dillon says he's "really happy with my pad level, my mentality." But what about footwork and his vision? He has identified some mistakes with his balance that led to him missing opportunities (and contributing to Elgton Jenkins' injury), and he'll need to be better on Sunday if Aaron Jones misses another game.

Best NFL pass-rushers by year: Who owns the Championship Belt? - ESPN
Reggie White owned the title for multiple seasons in the 1990s, including his final year with the Packers in 1998.

Cardiac Pack is Born as Packers Overcome 3 TD Deficit to Beat Saints in 1989 | The Old School Sports Blog
This is a great look back at a game that helped give Don Majkowski his fun nickname.

Woman admits to mistakenly stabbing 1-year-old niece instead of dog that ate her chicken sandwich | FOX59
This headline just keeps getting crazier. But perhaps the biggest shocker is that it didn't happen in Florida.