Activity really starts accelerating on Wednesday as we draw closer to the NFC Championship Game. The first practices of the week, press conference zoom sessions galore brought about a lot of news and notes. Let’s get to ’em as we’re just less than five days away from the 14-3 Green Bay Packers hosting the 13-5 Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Lambeau Field with the winner representing the Conference in Super Bowl LV.
Head Coach Matt LaFleur doesn’t want to alter the team’s routine that’s worked pretty well through a season ending five game winning streak, a playoff bye week and a victory over the Los Angeles Rams last Saturday. Late in the year, he calls Wednesdays “a neck-up day”, with limited phsyical exertion and mainly individual drills. Every rostered player took part including running back A.J. Dillon who suffered a quad injury last week. Mason Crosby is a limited participant with a shoulder that was injured after the botched extra point. After the workout, LaFleur said tackle Jared Veldheer remains on the Reserve/Covid list and running back Tyler Ervin isn’t quite ready to be designated to return from injured reserve.
Another interesting personnel note from late in the day. Former Packer defensive back Tramon Williams flew to Green Bay for a visit and according to reports, if the workout goes well, he will be re-signed by the team for a third time. Williams was released during the off-season and didn’t find work until the Baltimore Ravens signed him in late November. Williams played six games with the Ravens including their two playoff contests. One of the heroes of the Super Bowl XLV run for the Packers a decade ago, he might be asked to provide another veteran presence in the secondary one step away from another appearance.
Matt LaFleur in front of the new NFC Championship backdrop.
As for the rematch against the Buccaneers who humbled the Pack 38-10 back in October, LaFleur said that game was a long time ago but the Tampa defense gave his offense more trouble than any other opponent, including the LA Rams number one ranked defense last Saturday night.
Down in Florida, Buccaneers Head Coach Bruce Ariens conducted a walk through practice on Wednesday but two important players did not participate. Wide Receiver Antonio Brown had an MRI on his knee but it found no structural damage however he is considered day to day. Jason Pierre-Paul also didn’t take part with a knee injury and a non-injury related reason. The Bucs put former Wisconsin linebacker Jack Cichy on injured reserve Tuesday after he suffered a broken arm against the Saints. Former Cardinal veteran Deone Buchannon was elevated up from the practice squad. They also have designated two players to come off injured reserve. Defensive tackle Vita Vea broke his leg just before Tampa played Green Bay and he took part in his first practice, as did running back Kenjon Barner. Vea could give the already number one ranked rush defense a boost if activated by the weekend.
The Bucs practice field is just across a small parking lot from Raymond James Stadium where construction crews have been dressing up the place in advance on the Super Bowl. Huge banners are hanging down the walls, NFL and Super Bowl LV logos are going up everywhere but when asked if his team might be daydreaming about going north to Green Bay and returning as NFC champs to become the first team to play a Super Bowl on it’s home field, Ariens said bluntly, “We don’t play that game this week. That’s the message to everybody. We play the Packers in the NFC Championship Game, we start thinking about the Super Bowl you’ll get your ass beat and be packing your bags on Monday.”
The 12’s also had their zoom sessions with the media. Down in Tampa, Tom Brady’s media visit lasted less than five minutes while in Green Bay, Rodgers chatted away for nearly 25 minutes.
Rodgers was named the NFL’s MVP by the Pro Football Writers Association on Wednesday, a pretty good lead-up for the official Associated Press honor. The PFWA MVP has also won the NFL’s top honor every year since 2004. Rodgers looking to become a three-time MVP and the presumptive favorite would trade three for two, as in a second trip to the Super Bowl. He won the Super Bowl XLV MVP 10 years ago and has come this close three more times, coming up short in NFC title games in Seattle in 2014, Atlanta in 2016 and San Francisco last year. Aaron turned 37 last month and no, he really hasn’t considered if he’ll ever get this close to a second Super Bowl again.
The countdown continues for Sunday’s 2:05 PM CST kickoff.
The Packers put up 6500 tickets for sale and as you can imagine, they were snapped up in a matter of hours. It’s 500 more seats for opt-in season ticket holders than were available for the Divisional Round and if the same number of employees and their families and invited guests return, the crowd could be near 10,000 on Sunday.
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