Cheesehead
Well-known member
- Mar 19, 2019
- 2,854
- 0
“We did well in the turnover margin last week, we struggled in the tackling game,” veteran cornerback Tramon Williams said. “You obviously want to see the turnovers continue but you want to see the tackling get better. If we can put those things together, we’ll be a really good defense.”
The game will also serve as a major trial to find inside linebacker Oren Burks’ replacement. General Manager Brian Gutekunst suggested on Tuesday that Burks’ chest injury may not be long-term, but beyond that he didn’t specify.
For however long it may be, a starting companion next to Blake Martinez is needed in the middle of the defense, and the top candidates heading into Thursday’s game are rookies Curtis Bolton (undrafted from Oklahoma) and Ty Summers (seventh-round pick from TCU).
“It’ll be a good growing point for whoever I end up playing next to,” Martinez said. “It’s time to step into that live action.”
The action in Tuesday’s practice was as lively as it gets, starting with the aforementioned third-down blitz period. Rodgers was getting the ball out quickly to various hot reads with both horizontal and vertical throws. A touchdown pass deep down the middle to tight end Jimmy Graham, who spun around to catch a ball thrown purposely behind him, was one of the prettiest plays of camp.
The defense turned the tables in the two-minute drill, winning the possession pitting the first units against one another despite a leaping catch by Davante Adams on a fourth-down bomb that temporarily kept the drive alive.