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Without a long-snapper after rookie J.J. Jansen was placed on season-ending injured reserve with a knee injury, one of the 53 players who made it through the final roster reduction Saturday will have to go.
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Packers general manager Ted Thompson |
Unlike in past years, when Packers general manager Ted Thompson added a player or two after the final cuts were made, Thompson said Sunday that the team didn’t put in a single waiver claim
“I think our core group has progressed far enough along that barring some injuries or something, we felt pretty good about being able to pick and choose from our group,” Thompson said. “It wasn’t that there weren’t some people that we’d be interested in. It’s just that, (if) you claim them, you have to cut somebody else, and we weren’t really that eager to do that.”
That said, the Packers will have to cut someone to add a long-snapper, since Thompson acknowledged that there’s no one on the current roster who can serve as long-snapper in the Sept. 8 regular season opener against Minnesota.
“We’re working on it,” Thompson said.
Among the available
snappers are Tim Bugg, an undrafted rookie from Indiana who was with the Cincinnati Bengals earlier this offseason; Ryan Senser, an undrafted rookie from Ohio University who was with the New Orleans Saints during the offseason and for part of training camp; and Brett Goode, who played collegiately at Arkansas and was on the Jacksonville Jaguars’ offseason roster the past two seasons.
Thompson said Jansen’s knee injury, which he suffered on a high snap to punter Jon Ryan late in Thursday night’s preseason finale against Tennessee, was severe enough that he would have been out “a fair number of weeks and months.”
Asked if Jansen would have been the Packers’ snapper had he not sustained the injury, Thompson replied, “I was happy with him. He had made our team.”
Once Jansen’s replacement is signed, the Packers will have to make a corresponding roster move, and among those in danger of being released are rookie right tackle Breno Giacomini, safety Charlie Peprah, linebacker Tracy White and cornerback Jarrett Bush.
Giacomini struggled mightily in the preseason finale against the Titans; Peprah missed most of camp with a hamstring injury; White is the seventh linebacker on the roster; and Bush had coverage problems in several preseason games. Peprah, White and Bush are all core special-teams players.
Eight signed to practice squad: The Packers brought back oft-injured halfback DeShawn Wynn, a 2007 seventh-round pick who was released by the club a week ago in the first round of cuts from 80 to 75 players, as part of the eight-man practice squad.
Joining Wynn are wide receivers Jake Allen and Brett Swain, center Brennen Carvalho, tight end Joey Haynos, linebacker Danny Lansanah, defensive tackle Alfred Malone and cornerback Joe Porter.
The Packers likely wanted to sign defensive tackle Daniel Muir, who made the 53-man roster as an undrafted free agent last year, to the practice squad, but Muir was claimed by the Indianapolis Colts Sunday.
Thompson responds: Thompson acknowledged that he was aware of the comments made by ex-Packers quarterback Brett Favre about him in an interview with New York Jets beat writers Saturday, but Thompson demurred when asked whether Favre’s criticism was disappointing.
In the interview, Favre accused Thompson and coach Mike McCarthy of “throwing daggers to make themselves look like they were in the right.” Favre said Thompson’s offer to send Favre his locker during an awkward post-draft visit to Mississippi left him thinking, “Way to get my ass out the door.”
“I’ll say this, and we’ve said this before: We wish Brett the best and we are trying to get ready for the start of the season,” Thompson said.
Inexperienced QBs remain: While Thompson wouldn’t rule out adding a veteran quarterback, he essentially said that the team will go with Aaron Rodgers, Brian Brohm and Matt Flynn — and their zero career NFL starts — this season.
Asked if he is comfortable going into the season with the three QBs he has, Thompson replied, “Yes I am. I think Mike and I both are. We wish we had a little more seasoning, but we don’t.”
Thompson deferred to McCarthy on whether Brohm or Flynn will be Rodgers’ primary backup.
Shallow D-line depth: Thompson called releasing Muir “a close call” but suggested that the team doesn’t necessarily need to add another defensive tackle after keeping just three on the final cuts. The Packers have just nine defensive linemen, after keeping 11 — including six tackles — last year.
“At all positions you wish you could have more, but that’s where we are right now,” Thompson said.
Thompson pointed to the versatility of starting right end Cullen Jenkins, who can play inside, as well as how ends Jason Hunter and Mike Montgomery have worked inside in passing situations.
