Inbox: Teams backed off and became wary

Jeff from Littlefork, MN

Is the requirement to read content before accessing the Inbox because you have already answered 90% of our questions?

Ha, good one. That and a few extra clicks for our bean counters.

Pete from Caledonia, MI

The ole foot step, fall again, scamper for a TD. I hadn't thought of that strategy. You think that was Jacksonville's "can" play?

Another good one.

Mike from New Orleans, LA

Could the Packers hire whoever fixed Jackson Chourio's hamstring so fast?

This crowd is on a roll today.

Shawn from Colby, WI

Good morning Spoff. It looks like we are facing Flacco again this Sunday. Do you see this as an advantage for Flacco or for us, regarding recent familiarity?

Neither in that regard, really. Flacco has five days to prepare to run a different offense, and if that's what the Bengals feel gives them their best chance to beat the Packers, then it's advantage Green Bay. It only reinforces for me what I said the other day – this game is way more about the Packers than the opponent. Play your game, smooth out some rough edges and get the job done. That's it, that's all.

Mark from Ishpeming, MI

I see a bad moon rising. I see trouble on the way. Flacco beat us once. Hope not twice on Sunday.

Flacco didn't beat the Packers, not with a 55.6 passer rating, needing 21 completions to amass 142 yards, and no gain longer than 17. The Packers beat themselves. Just don't do that again.

Scott from Salem, OR

During a single season, have the Packers ever twice faced the same quarterback playing for two different teams? What were the results?

A popular query. Only once in my time here. It was 2011. Kyle Orton started for the Broncos in Week 4, and the Packers won, 49-23. Then he started for the Chiefs in Week 15 and helped ruin Green Bay's perfect season, 19-14.

Mark from Austin, TX

The Flacco trade just made Sunday a lot more interesting. While I'm not expecting the 2013 version of him, has any QB ever beat the same team twice in the same season, while at the helm of two different teams?

According to the Associated Press, since QB starts have been tracked dating back to 1950, the only one to do it is Jack Kemp, who beat the (AFL) New York Titans in 1962 with both the Chargers and Bills.

Jon from Willmar, MN

We are getting healthier! Where do you see the biggest challenges against the Bengals?

Block Trey Hendrickson, cover Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins. Those are the guys who can hurt the Packers the most.

Jason from Boyle, MS

Any noticeable changes we might see with special teams this week against the Bengals?

Hopefully clean play. That's all I want to see. That's all this team needs from the third phase, I believe.

Mike from Fort Myers, FL

Emanuel Wilson is averaging 4.9 yards per carry this season and 5.0 y/carry in two-plus seasons with the Packers. Josh Jacobs on the other hand is at 3.3 this season and 4.2 in his career. Why the big difference and does Wilson deserve more carries?

At the risk of this being taken the wrong way, as a defensive player, would your focus on the running threat be greater when you see Jacobs in the backfield, or Wilson? Being a team's bell cow and being the changeup are two different roles.

Rick from Trempealeau, WI

Realizing every year and every game is different, I've been waiting for a big play from Xavier McKinney. Are offenses throwing away from him in coverage or is he merely doing his usual workman-like job and going about his business waiting on opportunity to come his way?

Let me know the next time you see a QB take a downfield shot between the numbers with McKinney lined up deep. After the first five games last year, teams backed off and became wary. Now they rarely test him.

Adam from Madison, WI

According to my memory which is probably wrong (ATMMWPW), in his first two years, in an end-of-game situation Jordan Love would gamble/throw deep early. It was great to see him take the ball and move down the field (twice) in that situation. That's all I wanted to see and will benefit us later.

Going back through Love's young career, I counted seven times in 2023 when trailing by one score or tied the Packers had to have points on a late-game drive, and he was successful three times and failed four (the Packers went 2-5 in those games due to the defense allowing a subsequent walk-off score). Last year, he was in that situation only three times, and he came through all three (the Packers went 2-1). This year, you could argue he's done it four times in the last two games without a win, as the field goal was missed in Cleveland and the final three drives in Dallas were all must-haves. His improvement in those crunch-time moments from two years ago is undeniable even if victories haven't always come with it.

Bob from Grand Rapids, MI

I love the Rock Report, but yesterday's edition on screen passes left me confused. On the first play, it seems like Rasheed Walker is 4-5 yards downfield when Tucker Kraft catches the screen. On the last play, it seems like Sean Rhyan is 5 yards downfield and Elgton Jenkins is 3-4 yards downfield when Emanuel Wilson catches the ball. When does the call of ineligible receiver downfield come into play? Rhyan and Jenkins are blocking, so maybe that keeps them clean? But Walker is all alone.

My understanding is if the pass doesn't cross the line of scrimmage, ineligible receivers can be legally downfield. Screen passes are thrown behind the line of scrimmage specifically to allow the blockers to get out front.

Patrick from Ashland, WI

Could someone PLEASE give a tutorial or an explanation of this covering and or uncovering of a tackle? Or a tight end? No one knows this rule and it happened again Monday night.

It's an illegal formation if an ineligible receiver (a lineman with a number from 50-79) is lined up on the end of the line of scrimmage. Meaning, an eligible receiver must line up on the line outside each offensive tackle, "covering up" the tackle, to make the formation legal. That player covering up the tackle can be a tight end right next to him or a receiver split out wide, but he must be on the line of scrimmage. If he's offset a yard back or considered in the backfield and the tackle isn't covered up, the formation is illegal.

Thomas from Madison, WI

Did the bye week count toward the four weeks of IR for Brenton Cox Jr. or does it have to be four weeks of games before a player can be designated for return? Any scuttlebutt on his recovery? I know the Packers aren't necessarily hurting for pass rushers but jars on the shelf and all that. Hope he's on his way to getting better!

I've heard no updates on Cox, but the IR minimum is four games, not four weeks, so he's out at least one more game before being eligible to return.

Mindy from Salt Lake City, UT

Do we know the exact nature of Devonte Wyatt's knee injury? (e.g. sprain, strain, ligament partial tear…)

Nothing's been reported. I just take it as a good sign he hasn't been placed on IR.

Scott from Holly Springs, NC

Do you believe Christian Watson will be on a snap count his first game back?

Yes. I can't imagine his first game – whenever that is – going out there fulltime and playing 50-some snaps.

John from Temple City, CA

Good morning II, I am getting excited at the prospect of having Watson and Matthew Golden on the field at the same time. Has Green Bay ever had two receivers with that much speed?

Freeman and Beebe or Freeman and Schroeder were no slouches as far as speed duos. Further back, Lofton and Epps could both really fly.

Duff from LeRoy, WI

OMG, guys. Just back visiting friends in Colorado. Was listening to post-Broncos-game radio after a thrilling fourth-quarter, come-from-behind victory over one of the last two remaining undefeated teams. You would have thought they lost the game based on 50% of the callers. Can't begin to imagine what the Inbox is like after a Packers loss. Thanks for always being there for us. I appreciate what you two do EVEN more now. That radio show was eye-opening.

I'm sure half the fans were beside themselves that their young franchise QB and offensive guru head coach could muster only three points through three quarters, and were therefore unable to enjoy knocking off the defending Super Bowl champs in their yard. Doesn't surprise me in the slightest.

Greg from Big Lake, MN

Eagles, Chiefs, Ravens, Bills, Chargers, Rams…tough week for some early-season favorites.

Here's another list for you: Bills, Colts, Jaguars, Eagles, Lions, Bucs, Niners. They're all 4-1. Anybody who nailed that parlay could make gambling legal at Bushwood again. As an aside, a number of folks asked Sunday night how soon this was for every team to take at least one loss. I have since learned thanks to NFL Research that this marks just the fourth time in the Super Bowl era the league has no unbeaten teams entering Week 6 and the first time since 2014. The others were 1970 and 2010, the former with no unbeatens heading into Week 5.

Curt from Antioch, IL

Early bye weeks, shortened preseason, NFLPA-mandated time off, Thursday and Monday games, changes in the college game, etc. Are there any of these changes made over the last few years that you believe take away from the "purity" of the game? If you could cancel/change any, which would it be?

I don't know. In many respects the "purity" of the game was lost when quarterbacks and defenseless players and the like started getting all these protections from the rules. Those are changes for the good of the game and its players, but they've changed the "pure" game dramatically and forever.

Rich from Manitou Springs, CO

I get where the 13 games is a long haul compared to having a midseason bye. But back in the '70s and '80s there were 16 games with no bye. What makes it harder today than back when? Hope you all have a nice day.

I don't recall saying it was any harder today than back then. It's all relative to the current era and the challenges faced compared to your opponents.

Derek from Maple Grove, MN

You know the Pats are going to tie this weekend now right?

Oh, I'm counting on it.

Sharon from Lakewood Ranch, FL

Agree with ID Jason and liked your proposition, Mike. Not saying I save the best for last, but every article and all photos featured, are read and scanned before I ever peruse my daily fix of II. To me, II's like spending time with favorite friends from near and far. Don't always agree, take the good with the bad; so may have to opine sometimes just to see how my II guys react, knowing it causes you both to sigh "not her again"! Hope it was a good bye and the winning Pack is back! GPG!

You're a straight shooter, Sharon. Trust me, I save my sighs for the more mind-numbing submissions.

Duane from La Crosse, WI

Hey COACH LaFLEUR, are you gonna bench Jordan who is too inconsistent when getting the offense into the 20-yard line on their end of the field?

Like that one.

Kevin from Chemung, IL

Your Brew Crew pitching staff is doing a masterful job against my hapless Cubbies. But the strike zone graphic is absolutely maddening. Seeing pitches obviously inside the box called "balls" and obviously outside the box called "strikes" makes me apoplectic. Do you think the MLB decided to take a page out of the NFL's playbook and introduce officiating controversy just to get the fans riled up?

Well, MLB is going to allow challenges on balls and strikes next year, but in my opinion it's just a precursor to a fully automated strike zone, delaying the inevitable. It's inevitable because robo-umps for balls and strikes won't slow the game down any.

Scott from Sauk City, WI

With absolutely all due respect to Terry from Junction City, I would argue that baseball has undergone just as many significant transformations as football. Pitch clocks, minimum batter rules, mound visit limits, the "Manfred Man," shifts, bans on shifts, DH, no DH, wild cards, best-of-3 postseason series, best-of-5 postseason series, All-Star game ties, All-Star games determining home-field advantage, changing the actual baseball, torpedo bats, home plate collisions – and now I'm outta space.

Thankfully.

Jon from Stambaugh, MI

"The league would find fault in Michelangelo's 'The Creation of Adam' if there was a dollar to be made" is THE best line in this column EVER! I ought to know, I've been reading this since it was Ray Nitschke's Packer Report! Bravo young man! Truer words were never coined.

I loved Wes's quip there, too. But I hate to break it to you, packers.com was launched five years after Nitschke died.

Allen from Fairhope, AL

II: A tie followed by a bye feels like two ties – yeesh. Time to get back to winning!

Happy Wednesday.

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