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posted 04/25/99
Final Day Update - Sunday, April 25
Another gorgeous day greeted the Packers as they wrapped up their mandatory, post-draft mini-camp Sunday morning with a one-hour, 20-minute practice on Ray Nitschke Field, followed by a conditioning session inside the Don Hutson Center.
Second-year receiver Corey Bradford drew one of the bigger reactions from the crowd of about 500 fans, making a behind-the-back grab near the sideline.
New head coach Ray Rhodes was pleased with all that was accomplished during the camp. "Overall we got some good quality work in," Rhodes said. "We used it to work on certain parts of our football (team). I'm referring to blitzing, blitz pickups by our offense...we put in some of our blitz package for our defensive people."
Rhodes, having gotten the first up-close look at 12 draft choices and nine other new players signed as free agents, came away impressed with the group as a whole. "One of the things that happens to a lot of the young guys when they come in," commented Rhodes, "is that they're in awe of the big picture - you know, a lot of guys come in nervous and some of that shows up on film." The first-year Packers head coach went on to specifically mention by name defensive linemen Cletidus Hunt and Howard Burns, along with linebackers Kevin McCullar and Daryl Carter, as players who had caught his eye.
Offensively, Rhodes singled out offensive linemen Craig Heimburger and Scott Curry, running backs Basil Mitchell and De'Mond Parker, as well as wide receivers Donald Driver, Dee Miller and Zola Davis. "There's enough there to make a coach say that we have some things to work with," Rhodes said.
After practice, Rhodes oversaw a team-wide conditioning test, and came away pleased on the whole with the results. "One of the things that I promise everybody in this room is that we will be well conditioned as a football team," stated Rhodes. "It was a serious conditioning test. It gave me a gauge of where guys are - that's all of the players.
"I do have a different conditioning thing than has been done here in the past. It's a strenuous run - some people call it a suicide run. But I get what I want out of it - the players don't, but I do. Let's put it like this: it's not a walk in the park. (But) overall, the team in general is in great shape."
Rhodes also then let on what his closing message to the players was as the mini-camp ended. "One thing that I've let them know is that the expectation level is not going to change - it's going to stay extremely high. And I won't accept it any other way. We have to get back control of this division before we can think about anything else."
It is a mission that truly will get going in late July with the start of training camp.