Hangin’ with Havel
Monday August 19th
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Packers’ subs awful,
Brewers stay red hot
By Chris Havel
Special to The FAN
GREEN BAY, Wis. – The Packers’ Week 2 preseason game at Denver afforded Green Bay’s subs a chance to sink or swim.
They drowned.
The Broncos’ starters and top reserves routed the Packers’ backups 27-2 in a mostly unwatchable and eminently forgettable game at Denver’s Empower Field at Mile High.
Denver’s starters, led by rookie quarterback Bo Nix and a salty defense, suffocated the Packers from start to merciful finish.
At his postgame news conference, Packers coach Matt LaFleur sighed and stated the obvious: “That was a long night.”
The Broncos’ starters jumped out to a 10-0 lead.
The Packers couldn’t respond in any meaningful fashion.
“Certainly I was hoping our guys would come out with more strain, effort, and grit after kind of getting humbled the other day in practice. To have it happen again, not where we want to be. I think it’s a good lesson for our guys.”
LaFleur wasn’t entirely discouraged though.
“It’s a little different I would say in terms of how you have to judge it,” he allowed. “It’s great to see a lot of our younger players go up against NFL starters. I thought we showed more resiliency, more fight in the second half, especially defensively.
“There were some good moments.”
Pray tell?
“I thought our defense competed much harder in the second half,” he said. “We just didn’t have as many busts. We still had a couple out there. We had some situations where we had their offense in third and long and gave up big completions. That’s an area we have to get better at.”
The Packers’ offensive reserves proved that they can’t hang with an NFL starting-caliber lineup. There were several decent moments by individuals such as Emanuel Wilson, Malik Heath and … well … that’s about it.
Sean Clifford and Michael Pratt raised more questions than they provided answers in terms of developing a reliable backup QB.
Clifford started and was awful.
He finished 6-for-10 for 43 yards, one sack, an interception and a passer rating of 30.4.
Pratt was 10 of 16 for 52 yards, one sack and a 67.7 passer rating.
It makes one wonder just how good the Packers’ No. 1 defense is against an opponent’s QB1. It also makes one wonder whether the Packers need to consider making a move for the Patriots’ Bailey Zappe, the Browns’ Tyler Huntley or some other veteran backup QB if – god forbid – Jordan Love sustained an injury.
The run game wasn’t any better.
Wilson had 41 yards in 13 carries for a 3.2 average. He also made a nifty one-handed catch for an 11-yard gain. The Packers rushed 26 times for only 88 yards (a 3.4 average).
Heath caught three passes (six targets) for 22 yards. Bo Melton hauled in two passes for 10 yards. That was about it.
“I want to see more fight from our guys,” LaFleur said of the offense. “Just the lack of ability to move the football, both in the running game and the passing game …
“The production kind of speaks for itself, but it wasn’t just on (the QBs). It’s on everybody. We’ve got to block better up front, we’ve got to finish runs better (and) we had a couple drops. Collectively, all 11 have to be better in order for us to have any success offensively.”
The Packers had 10 first downs. They were 3-for-13 on third down attempts and 0-for-3 on fourth down tries. They also had three fumbles (one lost) and Clifford’s interception.
The offense never entered the red zone. The best drive of the night afforded Greg Joseph a chance to drill a 47-yard field goal and gain a leg up in the kicker competition with Anders Carlson.
Joseph missed wide right.
Defensively, rookie linebacker Ty’Ron Hopper was in on 11 tackles and stood out. The pass rush was non-existent. Second-year edge Lukas Van Ness did nothing in 17 snaps. Second-year tackle Karl Brooks likewise did nothing in 20 snaps.
The Packers are off Monday and return to practice Tuesday. On Thursday they will hold a joint practice with Baltimore ahead of Saturday’s noon preseason finale against the Ravens.
The final roster cuts are Tuesday, Aug. 27.
“The thing I challenged our team on is you’ve got to check yourself every play,” LaFleur said. “Are you giving your max effort? Are you straining the way we want you to strain? Is the style of play what we want to see?”
LaFleur didn’t commit to playing his starters in the preseason finale. He did say that game and the joint practice will give players a chance to redeem themselves.
“It’ll be a good opportunity for all of us to evaluate and see the guys that really want to put it all out there, not only for themselves but for the team.”
** Brewers sweep Guardians in weekend series
Colin Rea tossed 5 2/3 innings of no-hit baseball at the AL Central-leading Guardians and combined with two relievers for a two-hit, 2-0 shutout win Sunday at American Family Field.
Rea allowed two hits with five strikeouts and no walks in seven shutout innings Sunday. Bryan Hudson pitched a clean eighth and Jared Koenig tossed a 1-2-3 ninth for his first save. Koenig became the Brewers’ 11th pitcher to record a save this season.
All-Star closer Devin Williams, who missed most of the season with an injury, wasn’t available after notching saves in the Brewers’ 5-3 and 2-1 wins to open the three-game series.
Milwaukee (72-52) is 20 games above .500 for the first time this season. The Brewers trail the Phillies (73-51) by one game and the Dodgers (73-52) by a half-game in the race for the National League’s No. 1 and No. 2 playoff seeds.
The top two teams in each league receive playoff byes while the No. 3 seed opens with a best-of-3 series (all at home) against the league’s No. 6 seed.
Rea (11-4) is a big reason the Brewers are in contention for the NL’s top playoff seed.
“He’s just been an incredible anchor,” Brewers manager Pat Murphy said of Rea. “He really has. He gives you it every time out. What you see is what you get. It’s who he is as a human, every day the same, every day doing everything he can to help out whoever’s around him, whatever the mission is … the consummate teammate. I can’t say enough about him.”
The Brewers’ current five-game winning streak is their fourth such streak and matches their season high. Milwaukee is now 38-24 at home, 34-28 on the road and 29-15 in interleague play.
They are off Monday before traveling to St. Louis for a three-game series that opens Tuesday night at Busch Stadium.
Brewers bounce back to split with Dodgers
By Chris Havel
Special to The FAN
GREEN BAY, Wis. – Major League Baseball’s official record will reflect that the Dodgers and Brewers split their four-game series earlier this week.
What it doesn’t reflect is the series’ nature.
The official scorer may deem it a draw, but to the upstart Brewers it was much more than any “moral victory.”
The Brewers’ thrilling 6-4 victory over the Dodgers Thursday afternoon at American Family Field – on the heels of a scintillating 5-4 win Wednesday night – went a long way toward answering the question: “Can the Brewers hang with the best?”
Yes … they … can.
The fact is they have been all season.
It’s just that their shaky start in the first two games – a 7-2 loss in the opener and a 5-2 setback in Game 2 – stirred up a tired storyline: The Brewers are good, but not quite good enough.
That was the pervasive feeling late Tuesday night.
Less than 24 hours later, thanks to their gritty 5-4 and 6-4 wins, the outlook had done a 180-degree shift.
Brewers’ first baseman Rhys Hoskins took note.
“I think what’s impressive is getting beat the way we did in the first two games of this series and then responding the way we did,” he said. “I mean, the Dodgers carry a certain type of aura about them wherever they go. There’s always (Dodgers’) fans in the stands. They have the who’s who of players. I think we can grab a lot of confidence knowing that we can get punched in the face and get knocked down, and be right back in a series.”
On Wednesday night, recently acquired Frankie Montas started and did enough to keep the Brewers in the game. The veteran right-hander allowed three runs (none earned) on five hits in five innings. He walked three and struck out six.
On a day the Dodgers’ defenders looked like they were wearing blindfolds the Brewers capitalized on four unearned runs to get the win. The Brewers were outhit 9-4 but the Dodgers’ three errors proved costly in defeat.
The Brewers took a 5-4 lead in the seventh when Joey Ortiz was hit by a pitch and sacrificed to second before red-hot rookie sensation Jackson Chourio flared a single to right that was badly misplayed by Mookie Betts to allow Ortiz to score.
The Brewers’ bullpen did the rest.
Joel Payamps (3-5) retired all four batters he faced for the win.
All-Star closer Devin Williams cut through the heart of the Dodgers’ order to earn the save. He needed just seven pitches – all strikes – to retire Shohei Ohtani, Betts and Freddie Freeman.
The Brewers trailed 3-0 after a half-inning, but hung in there to plate three runs of their own in the second and another in the fourth of Walker Buehler.
It was the eighth time this season that the Brewers have stood on the brink of a four-game losing streak. It also was the eighth time this season that they didn’t blink.
Milwaukee (69-52) is 7-3 in its last 10 games. The Brewers hold a commanding 9-game lead in the NL Central ahead of the second-place Reds and Cardinals.
It’s the largest lead in any division.
Thursday afternoon’s series finale provided even more drama as the Brewers earned their MLB-best 33rd comeback win.
It wasn’t easy but it sure was fun.
The Dodgers (71-51) grabbed a 4-3 lead in the sixth inning, but the AmFam Field roof fell in on them two innings later.
Reliever Daniel Hudson (6-2) began the bottom of the eighth for the Dodgers and promptly surrendered a double to Chourio. After he walked Garrett Mitchell, William Contreras followed with a single to load the bases.
Willy Adames delivered the tying run with a single and Tyler Black drove in Mitchell with a groundout. Hoskins added another ground ball that plated the sixth run.
Chourio crushed his 15th home run earlier in the game before delivering the clutch double in the eighth.
The Brewers’ success against the Dodgers is a bona fide boost of confidence, especially for the young players.
“We know we can compete with anybody,” Chourio said. “Our job is to go out there and show that on the field. … I think I had a lot of good AB’s in this series, and particularly the last two games here. I think a lot of the guys would feel the same way. We were able to come out on top, regardless of what it looked like.”
Brewers’ right-handed rookie Tobias Myers continued to go about his work like a veteran. Myers allowed four runs (two earned) and gave up eight hits and a walk in 5 2/3 innings.
Brewers’ manager Pat Murphy was matter-of-fact afterward.
“It wasn’t perfect,” he said. “A lot of points from our young guys where it’s August and they’re still making mistakes. You get kind of emotional about it. But they bounced back.”
The Brewers wrap up their current 10-game home-stand with a three-game weekend series against AL East-leading Cleveland.
The Guardians (72-49) lead the Twins by four games.
Aaron Civale (3-8, 5.08) will start Friday night’s 7:10 game for the Brewers versus Gavin Williams (2-4, 4.38) for the Guardians.
It’ll be Tanner Bibee (10-4, 3.39) for the Guardians against Freddy Peralta (7-7, 4.11) for the Brewers in Saturday’s 6:15 p.m. game.
Sunday’s 1:10 p.m. series finale will complete the all-right-handed starters weekend with Cleveland’s Ben Lively (10-7, 3.72) versus the Brewers’ Colin Rea (10-4, 3.72).
The Brewers trail the Dodgers by only 1 ½ games for the NL’s No. 2 seed behind the Philadelphia Phillies.
In sports, a single year
feels like a lifetime ago
By Chris Havel
Special to The FAN
GREEN BAY, Wis. – What a difference a year can make in the fast-changing world of sports.
Consider where the Green Bay Packers’ Jeff Hafley, Xavier McKinney, Josh Jacobs, Jordan Love, the entire receiving corps, Javon Bullard, Evan Williams and others were a year ago.
Think about what the Milwaukee Brewers’ Pat Murphy, Rickie Weeks, Rhys Hoskins, Tobias Myers, Joey Ortiz, Jackson Chourio and the rest were doing this time a year ago.
Clearly, the Brewers’ and Packers’ rosters are replete with rising young stars whose performance in the present stirs visions of greatness in the future.
The teams also feature a number of proud, battle-tested pros in their prime and at the height of their powers. I’m talking especially about the newcomers such as Jake Bauers, Bryan Hudson, Jared Koenig and Joe Ross with the Brewers and the aforementioned McKinney and Jacobs as well as Rashan Gary, Lukas Van Ness and Kenny Clark here in Green Bay.
Let’s take a look:
** A year ago, Jeff Hafley was preparing his Boston College Golden Eagles for their Sept. 2 season-opener at home against Northern Illinois.
The Huskies edged Hafley’s Golden Eagles 27-24 in overtime. Despite a 1-3 start that included a 31-29 loss to third-ranked Florida State, Hafley’s team went on to upset No. 17 ranked SMU 23-14 in the Wasabi Fenway Bowl.
Today, Hafley is the Packers’ defensive coordinator and head coach Matt LaFleur’s right-hand man leading a 2024 season of great expectations. Hafley’s “vision-based” scheme and experience coaching the defensive backs is designed to enable the secondary to make plays on the football.
Translation: A ton of interceptions.
It’s pretty heady stuff for Hafley, who routinely has drawn praise from his players throughout training camp. We’ll see if the well-spoken, common-sense approach of Hafley’s plays as well in games as it does with his players.
** A year ago, Jackson Chourio was tearing it up in Class AA Biloxi, Miss., after a notoriously slow start with the bat.
Once Chourio, who was 19 at the time, settled in at the plate he dominated Southern League pitchers. Chourio hit a modest .280 – again, after a slow start – to go with 23 doubles, 22 home runs, 89 RBI and 43 stolen bases.
Today, Chourio is widely regarded as one of the National League’s top young players.
Chourio has 12 multi-hit games in his past 17 games. He became Milwaukee’s youngest player to have a multi-home run game in franchise history earlier this month.
On the year, the outfielder is hitting .277 – again, after a slow start – to go with 15 doubles, 14 home runs, 50 RBI and 16 stolen bases.
Chourio has played in 101 games thus far.
In the past 50 his offensive numbers rank among the NL’s top hitters in practically every meaningful category. The Brewers paid him $82 million before he took his first big-league swing.
It appears both Chourio and the Brewers have hit a home run.
** A year ago, Jordan Love was preparing for the Packers’ Aug. 11 preseason opener at Cincinnati. The Packers won 36-19 as backup QB Sean Clifford completed 20 of 26 passes for 208 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions including a “pick six.”
Love was 7 of 10 for 46 yards with a 9-yard touchdown pass to Romeo Doubs. After two series, Love gave way to Clifford for the day.
Today, Love is leading the Packers into the 2024 preseason as the highest-paid player in franchise history. Love’s record-setting contract came after he missed the first four practices (non-padded) of training camp. He has since had strong moments against Hafley’s active and aggressive defense.
Love is widely regarded as a serious NFL MVP candidate this season, especially as he deploys so many young, talented weapons at receiver, tight end and running back.
The only big question is the offensive line, but if it recaptures the form is played with in the final nine games of 2023 Love should be an MVP finalist.
** A year ago, Xavier McKinney was preparing for the Giants – led by newly minted quarterback Daniel Jones – to go back to the playoffs for consecutive seasons.
It didn’t happen.
The Giants were awful, McKinney was a willing and able leader on a bad team, and the future looked dismal. At least he’d be getting a handsome contract from the Giants, right? That didn’t happen, as it turns out, and McKinney couldn’t be happier.
Today, McKinney is a driving force on the Packers’ revamped defense.
The Packers jumped all over McKinney the instant he became available in free agency and made a pre-emptive strike to secure his services. The Packers got Hafley’s “ideal” safety in addition to a proven high-level performer just entering his prime. McKinney’s contract should allow him to focus on leading the Packers and their defense to great heights.
** A year ago, Josh Jacobs was lamenting his future with the Las Vegas Raiders. Despite being a bell-cow back and the NFL’s leading rusher in 2022 the Raiders didn’t reward him with a handsome contract.
On the contrary, they played hardball and Jacobs realized his days with the Raiders were numbered. Nevertheless, he continued to improve in blitz pickup and catching the football out of the backfield.
His numbers took a drastic dive, but the Packers weren’t concerned. They jumped all over the opportunity to sign Jacobs, 26, who is entering his prime with plenty of tread on the tires despite being a high-volume ball-carrier in Las Vegas.
Now, Jacobs is the Packers’ No. 1 running back in an offense in dire need of more juice in the short-yardage and goal-line run game. Furthermore, Jacobs’ combination of power and speed should enable the Packers to run effectively in the red zone. With Love’s weaponry it should make Green Bay’s attack almost unstoppable inside the opponent’s 20-yard line.
Those are just a few of the “feel good” stories surrounding the Brewers and Packers in terms of coaches, coordinators and players whose circumstances have changed drastically in a year.
It’s crazy but it’s true.
Brewers crush Braves
in epic offensive series
By Chris Havel
Special to The FAN
GREEN BAY, Wis. – Harvey’s Wallbangers would be proud. Bambi’s Bombers surely enjoyed the blast from the past.
Murph’s Marauders – at least for one series – brought back fond memories while swatting 52 hits and plating 34 runs in one of the most prolific offensive outbursts in Brewers history.
Brewers’ manager Pat Murphy could only smile and shake his head as his young team showed just how dangerous it is right now and what awesome potential it holds for the future.
The Milwaukee Brewers’ entire lineup treated the Braves’ highly regarded and top-ranked pitching staff like so many amateur retreads in a three-game romp at Atlanta’s Truist Park.
From Atlanta starting pitchers Grant Holmes and Chris Sale to Charlie Morton the Brewers’ bats were relentless. It was as if every at-bat was precious to the hitters. It was as priceless a piece of wood carving as a fan is likely to see.
Milwaukee capped off the sweep with a 16-7 hammering of the befuddled Braves on a sunny Thursday afternoon. Milwaukee blasted six home runs in the game, just one shy of the franchise record of seven home runs in the game.
The Brewers pounded out 20 hits and rookie Jackson Chourio drilled two home runs in the win.
Chourio finished 3-for-5 with four RBI in the series. William Contreras, Garrett Mitchell, Willy Adames and Jake Bauers all hit home runs in the game.
Contreras was 3-for-5 with three RBI, Sal Frelick went 4-for-5 with two RBI and Mitchell went 2-for-4 with an RBi and three runs scored.
The Brewers (65-49) lead the second-place St. Louis Cardinals (59-56) by 6 ½ games and third-place Pittsburgh by nine games.
The marathon win came after Brewers’ wins of 10-0 in Tuesday night’s opener and an 8-5 rout on Wednesday night. The Braves had gone 231 straight games without being shut out at home.
The Marlins ended that with a 7-0 victory Sunday at Truist Park, and the Brewers followed it with Colin Rea’s gem on Tuesday.
The Brewers’ hitters were locked in for a three-game stretch like none in recent memory. Top to bottom the production – like singles, doubles and home runs – reigned supreme.
Twenty-one of the 34 runs by the Brewers came after two outs. The Brewers had 16 extra-base hits. They hit .321 for the series.
Twelve different Brewers drove in a run.
It was a constant procession of 3-2 counts – all full up – and often with nowhere to put the Brewers’ hitter.
The Braves’ pitching staff is no joke, either.
Atlanta (60-54) came into the game with the National League’s lowest team ERA (3.57) and also ranked first in the NL in home runs allowed, third in hits allowed and fourth in walks issued.
The Brewers didn’t care a whit.
It was extending batting practice for three straight days.
It also extended the Braves’ losing streak to five games.
Recently acquired right-hander Frankie Montas started for Milwaukee and threw four innings. His first five outs were by strikeout and he finished with seven Ks to just two hits allowed.
Chourio had two home runs on Thursday, including his first off Morton that came after a bunt attempt rolled foul. He followed it by pounding a curve into the seats.
“I thought, ‘Why not try to bunt?’ ” Chourio said through an interpreter after the game. “But I was glad it rolled foul. I came right back and got a good pitch to hit.”
Adames had three home runs in the series, including a pair of two-run blasts.
The Brewers were so dominant in their 16-7 victory Thursday that they put an obscure MLB rule to the test. The Braves turned to third baseman Luke Williams in the lost-cause series finale.
Teams can only use a position player to pitch if they trail by at least eight runs IN ANY POINT of the game.
Williams tossed an array of lollipops in the 65 mph range, right at the speed limit on most Wisconsin highways, and the Brewers took their cuts in good jest.
Williams surrendered two runs on four hits.
It was smiles all around for the Brewers, a fitting finale to a laugher, as they depart Atlanta and prepare for their longest home-stand of the season.
The Brewers will see the NL Central’s last-place Reds (55-59) in a three-game weekend set. It opens Friday night at American Family Field. Right-hander Aaron Civale will start for Milwaukee.
On Monday, the Brewers open a four-game series against the NL West-leading Dodgers (66-49) in a battle for the National League’s No. 2 seed in the postseason.
The home-stand wraps up with a three-game series against the Al Central-leading Guardians (67-47) on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
That will leave the Brewers with just 38 games to play.
The pennant race is on, and the Brewers are making sure they’re in full swing.
Packers’ Family Night
features football, fun
By Chris Havel
Special to The FAN
GREEN BAY, Wis. – Many of the best memories growing up revolved around family, the Packers and the Fourth of July fireworks lighting up the night sky above Castle Rock Lake.
Years later the Packers found a way to tap into all three.
It’s called Family Night.
What began in the late 1990s as a scrimmage/dress rehearsal under the lights at Lambeau Field has morphed into a televised event meant to showcase the Packers and give back to the fans.
It remains a grand tradition and fan-favorite 23 iterations later. That much was clear this past weekend as more than 60,000 fans gladly paid the $10 to see the annual spectacle unfold.
They weren’t disappointed.
From Jordan Love’s laser-like throws to the fantastic fireworks display it was a smashing success.
Packers head coach Matt LaFleur presided over his sixth Family Night. He said he enjoyed it as much as the first one.
“What an atmosphere, man,” LaFleur said. “It never gets old, going into Lambeau – the environment, the energy the fans brought.”
It was football wrapped around fun embraced by fans.
One of the highlights was a youth football player from Waupun, Wis., in uniform and joined by teammates, catching not one, not two but three punts in a row – while still clutching each football.
The crowd went wild as Packers players rushed to engulf the player with congratulatory hugs and high-fives.
“That was pretty impressive,” LaFleur said. “I mean all three? I know I couldn’t do that. That was a good moment. I’m sure he’ll remember that for the rest of his life.”
It was one of several feel-good moments on the night.
Jordan Love had his share on a balmy Saturday night.
He fired touchdown passes to Christian Watson and Jayden Reed in the 1-on-1 drills. He also connected with Romeo Doubs on a pair of touchdown tosses in the red zone. Doubs’ leaping catch on a high fade route was particularly impressive.
In short, Love looked smooth and in total control.
“I’m definitely getting back in that rhythm,” he said. “I feel like training camp, the speed is always so much faster. I feel like everybody’s got that energy and they’re flying around, especially at the start.
“Definitely something I’m just getting back to playing fast and trying to keep myself slowed down in the midst of it all, trying to not get sped up with my feet and my reads, which I think is something I’m trying to focus on right now.”
In general, top to bottom, the Packers’ receivers lived up to their reputation as playing fast, loose and effective football. Their collective speed can be felt play-to-play, which is impressive considering the same can be said of the defensive backfield.
Rookie safety Javon Bullard nearly intercepted Love twice. Bullard’s ability to break on the football and make plays is undeniable. He will be a difference-maker this season.
Bullard, a second-round draft pick, worked with the No.1 defense alongside Xavier McKinney at safety.
He alternated with rookie Evan Williams and second-year safety Anthony Johnson, Jr., much like they have in training camp.
Bullard knows he has a lot to learn but he likes his progress.
“I’m inexperienced in the league,” he said. “The more you play, the more things start to slow down. I’m just trying to get my feet wet and continue to do the things that I do best and there’s certain things that I have to work on. I know what those things are, so I’m definitely going to dial into those the next few days of training camp.”
Bullard lined up in the slot when Williams came in at safety.
“It’s a completely different position,” he said of the slot. “To the person that doesn’t watch enough football people think DB is all the same. From the outside corner to inside corner to safety, all of those are different. You talk about playing the deep part of the field and covering a guy with 4.3 speed in the open field – it’s completely different but reps bring muscle memory. You’ve got to dial in your keys and your technique.”
The Packers’ defensive line roughed up the offensive line with Rashan Gary dominating a collection of reserves at right tackle. Kadeem Telfort, Caleb Jones and others.
Gary looks like he’s on the verge of a monster season.
He had a pair of sacks and a terrific stop of rookie running back Marshawn Lloyd behind the line of scrimmage.
“That’s our guy,” defensive tackle T.J. Slaton said of Gary. “So when he comes out there with that energy we just feed off of him and every time he runs to the ball, we want to run to the ball, too.”
The Packers’ offensive line has struggled while starting right tackle Zach Tom continues to recover from a torn pec muscle.
The good news is LaFleur said he expects Tom to participate in team drills when the team returns to practice Tuesday.
“It’s tough on the O-line right now,” LaFleur said. “Certainly I think the D-line gets frustrated at times because in practice we use a lot of chippers, I’m like hey man that’s a credit to you guys, that’s the ultimate compliment (because) we feel like we have to get four hands on you to block you. It’s going to happen during the season. I think our D-line is solid, hopefully they continue to get better and improve and just keep coming off the ball the way they are.”
On special teams, kickers Anders Carlson and Greg Joseph had productive evenings.
Carlson was 8-for-9 on field goal attempts between 33 and 57 yards. It was a good sign after Carlson was a miserable 4-of-7 at Thursday’s practice. He is 33-for-40 (82.5 percent) this summer.
Joseph had hit on 20 straight attempts before missing from 54 and 57 yards late in practice. He was 7-for-9 and has hit 36 of 40 kicks in camp (90 percent).
“Thought they both had a pretty good night,” LaFleur said.
Packers’ pass rushers,
DBs all over the place
By Chris Havel
Special to The FAN
GREEN BAY, Wis. – Jordan Love’s record-setting contract extension has dominated headlines the past few days the way the Packers’ defense has dominated practice the first full week.
Back to front, sideline to sideline and play to play Green Bay’s defense has been aware, aggressive and around the football.
The pass rush gets up-field at the snap and routinely redraws the line of scrimmage a yard or two into the backfield. The interior defensive linemen such as Kenny Clark, Devonte Wyatt and Karl Brooks collapse the pocket. Edge rushers Rashan Gary, Preston Smith, Kingsley Enagbare et al clean it up.
The defensive secondary appears to be a legit nine deep … at least.
The infusion of raw speed is evident, but so is the speed associated with quickly reading and reacting before and at the snap. Defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley’s “vision-based defense” clearly gives DBs – and especially the safeties – opportunities to make plays on the ball.
Rookie safety Evan Williams has three interceptions thus far in camp. So does third-year cornerback Eric Stokes. Others such as Javon Bullard, Jaire Alexander and of course Xavier McKinney also have put their skills, and Hafley’s defense, on display.
The Packers’ backup quarterbacks aren’t the only ones finding it a challenge to move the ball against the new-look defense.
Jordan Love has made some terrific throws since he returned Saturday.
He has been especially sharp on crossing routes and deep balls. The Packers tied for third in the NFL with 40 pass plays of 25-plus yards, just behind San Francisco and Houston.
There appears to be no letup in sight.
Love hit 16 of 29 passes on Wednesday, the eighth practice of training camp, but he was dynamite in the final two periods.
Love went 9-for-12 in that stretch including a 40-yard bomb to Christian Watson, a 21-yard dart to Jayden Reed, a 12-yard TD to Dontayvion Wicks AND the game-winning 2-point conversion to Wicks.
The big throw to Reed came after the play broke down.
“I think that is definitely a goal of mine to keep working ‘scramble drill’ when I get outside the pocket, just keep trying to find those big plays down the field,” Love said Wednesday. “I think for everybody, too – the receivers, tight ends – just keep working the scramble drill when it goes off-schedule, finding the space they can work.
“Especially in practice, I don’t want to just take off and run,” he continued. “I want to try and work the scramble drill and get a pretty good feel for everybody and how we’re going to run it in the games. Definitely something we’ll keep working on.”
It is clear Love appreciates the defense making it as difficult as possible in camp. The keen competition can only help both sides of the ball. He also knows the defense is going to keep him and the offense honest.
“I think the defense has done a great job of mixing up looks,” Love said. “They never really give you the same two looks back-to-back. They do a great job of mixing it up.
“The safeties are always moving and they make stuff all look the same with their pressures, with their disguise,” he continued. “They’ll show pressure, drop out, so it’s really a mind game for the quarterback trying to tell what they’re in.”
When fans and media discuss “training camp battles” it usually refers to a battle to see which of two or perhaps three players will start at a given position. In the Packers’ case, “training camp battles” just as likely could be a reference to Romeo Doubs versus Jaire Alexander in one-on-one passing drills, or Rashan Gary terrorizing Andre Dillard in one-on-one pass rush drills.
The team’s upgrade in overall speed is apparent. What’s not quite as clear yet, especially on defense, is how of that is raw footspeed and how much of it is actually being coached up to understand the scheme.
It’s probably a lot of both.
Love has noticed the improved precision with which the defense attacks, covers zones, fakes one blitz before bringing another and so on.
“I think (the defense) is doing a great job of being able to pass stuff off and understanding where they need to be in the zones, in the man and communicating well with each other,” Love said. “Whereas OTAs, you could tell it was fresh for them. They were still learning that stuff and now they’re dialed into everything they need to be doing and there’s not a lot of wide-open guys.”
Here are some other notes from training camp:
** Jordan Morgan has been working at right guard with the No. 1 offensive line on consecutive days now.
Morgan, the 25th pick overall, was thought to be the Packers’ left tackle of the future. That still could be the case, but right now Rasheed Walker has that job locked down like a snapping turtle on a stick.
Walker’s emergence, Sean Rhyan’s slow development and Morgan’s versatility has led to Rhyan practicing as the swing guard and Morgan operating with the first team.
When Packers head coach Matt LaFleur talks about “the best five” starting in the O-line the media and fans tend to roll their eyes. In fact, the Packers’ approach to drafting versatile linemen is common sense.
Compare Morgan and Dillard. Both are former first-round draft picks. Both were projected to play tackle. When Dillard began to flame out despite his incredible size and athleticism, the Eagles chose to kick him to the curb, rather than inside to guard. They had no choice. Dillard was never going to be strong enough to hunker down inside against 320-pound monster defensive tackles. They’d toss him like a rag doll.
That’s not true of Morgan, who has the lower-body strength to do more than simply “hold his own” inside against the “big boys.”
It appears the Packers’ offensive line change is going to be swapping out Jon Runyan and inserting Morgan at right guard. Otherwise it’s Walker, Elgton Jenkins, Josh Myers and Zach Tom when he returns from his pec injury. Morgan appears to have the inside track at right guard.
The bigger question, and concern, is who starts at right tackle if Tom isn’t ready to roll by the season opener? Kadeem Telfort is taking the first-team reps for now, with Caleb Jones, Luke Tenuta and Dillard also somewhere in the mix.
That’s not exactly an awe-inspiring group to back up Tom.
Don’t be surprised if Green Bay is quietly in the market for a veteran right tackle as other NFL teams trim their rosters. A Jared Veldheer-type lineman would be a comforting acquisition at this point.
** Eric Wilson is working on his third straight one-year deal with the Packers, who don’t love him enough to commit long-term, but do like him enough to keep bringing him back and playing him.
Thus far, Wilson is working with the 4-3 base defense’s first unit ahead of second-round pick Edgerrin Cooper. Wilson’s experience as an eight-year veteran (he led the Vikings in tackles in 2020) coupled with his speed has helped him grasp Hafley’s defense quicker than the rookies.
Cooper will have a role in the sub-packages to be sure. He also may force his way into the starting lineup in the 4-3 base due to his incredible speed and raw physical skills.
But until further notice the steady Wilson is manning the post.
Packers’ Love signed,
sealed and set to win
By Chris Havel
Special to The FAN
GREEN BAY, Wis. – The speculation and conjecture, with a touch of anxiety, began to build among some fans and media while Jordan Love’s contract extension was being finalized last week.
The Packers’ quarterback of the future attended but didn’t participate in the first four non-padded practices of training camp.
The time it takes to dot the i’s and cross the t’s has been known to stoke worry, especially where record-setting deals are concerned.
Here’s the funny thing about that: Love may have been the least distracted or anxious among those who cared.
What’s another four days after waiting four years?
Love penned a four-year, $220 million contract extension with the Packers before Saturday’s first padded practice. It includes a $75 million signing bonus – the highest in NFL history – and at an annual average of $55 million it ties Cincinnati’s Joe Burrow and Jacksonville’s Trevor Lawrence for tops in the league.
With all that money come incredible expectations. High expectations can ratchet up the pressure, which can lead to poor performance.
Love dismissed the idea during Saturday’s post-practice media session.
“Being a first-round pick, there’s pressure,” he admitted to reporters. “Becoming the starter, there’s pressure, but there’s always pressure. I think that’s, you know, part of the job we sign up for. You’ve got to find ways to deal with that pressure and handle it as best you can to be the best player you can be every day.”
He paused.
“But there’s always pressure,” he continued. “There’s no hiding that … I’ve been in some great pressure situations, so I think there’s always going to be that. But just finding a way to navigate through this and handle it the best I can.”
Packers GM Brian Gutekunst and head coach Matt LaFleur drew a fair amount of criticism when they drafted Love in the first round of the 2020 NFL draft. Some suggest it was the selection of Love that lit a fire under his predecessor, Aaron Rodgers, to recapture his MVP form.
That also led to speculation that Rodgers’ relationship with the Packers was mortally wounded by the Love pick.
It led to Rodgers being traded to the New York Jets last offseason and Love – after a three-year apprenticeship – grabbing the reins in 2023.
Love’s steady progress and rapid ascension pushed the Packers into the playoffs and erased most concerns about the new QB1.
He threw for 18 touchdowns to just one interception during the final eight games. Then in the playoffs he KO’d the Cowboys in Dallas and took the 49ers to the brink before losing in the NFC divisional round.
Love’s fantastic flourish and an embarrassing amount of youth and talent at receiver and tight end have earned the Packers a serious place among 2024 Super Bowl contenders.
The guess here is that Love continues to handle pressure the way he always has as the Packers’ starting quarterback. He handles it by proceeding as if he were oblivious to it all.
He is calm, cool and poised to deliver a lot of touchdowns and wins.
Obviously Gutekunst is one of the true believers.
“Seeing how he handled that this past year becoming the guy, handling that pressure, coming out the other side of it, just gave us a lot of confidence that this is the guy that’s going to lead us into the future,” Gutekunst said late last week.
“I’m really excited about that.”
LaFleur echoed that sentiment.
He had a sideline view of Love’s growth as a player and a leader. He isn’t worried that “being the face of the franchise” – even one as revered as Green Bay’s – will cause Love to be anything less than his best.
“I think he’ll embrace that,” the sixth-year coach said. “I don’t think you’ll see a difference in the person. And I don’t think we would do something like that if we felt that way.”
LaFleur kidded that he has a surefire way to keep Love from changing.
“I always joked with him, if he ever changes I’m going to call his mom,” the Packers’ coach said. “But he’s been raised the right way. I think he’s about the right stuff, and his teammates really certainly respect him.
“They respect the man. They respect the work he puts in. They were fired up today to have him back in the fold.”
Love practiced Saturday and Sunday.
The numbers weren’t altogether great – he started 1-of-8 on Saturday before heating up to finish 11-for-20 with some terrific throws.
In some ways, Love resembled the Brewers’ All-Star closer, Devin Williams, who returned Sunday after missing all season with an injury. Williams struggled a bit, found his footing and blew away the Marlins to earn his first save in what feels like forever.
On Sunday, Love hit 9 of 16 passes including several lasers.
With Love’s return, it didn’t take long to be reminded why the Packers’ offense was struggling so mightily against Jeff Hafley’s new and improved defense. They didn’t have their lead dog pulling the trigger.
Suffice it to say the offense is much smoother with Love under center.
Rookie safety Evan Williams took note.
“(Love’s) really smart,” Williams said. “Pre-snap, he’ll switch his count up to get you to tip a blitz or tip what you’re doing and then kind of see what you’re doing, see the movement of the DBs, see the drops before they happen and see a window before it appears.
“So he’s able to fit a lot of balls into windows that shouldn’t be there where the throw seems kind of impossible. It’s great for our defense to go up against a caliber of quarterback just like Jordan. If we can play as well as we are with him behind center, then we should be all right versus a lot of the quarterbacks we see this year.”
Love connected with Christian Watson on a beautiful 47-yard touchdown throw on his first day back at practice.
“To be able to hit him in stride and him make that play, it felt good to connect on that first day back, for sure,” Love said.
It was the first day of the rest of his career.
The future is bright.
Packers extend all-pro Clark on eve of camp as excitement abounds
By Chris Havel
Special to The FAN
GREEN BAY, Wis. – The Packers and their fans have been eagerly anticipating this day ever since San Francisco ousted Green Bay 24-21 with a late touchdown in a hotly contested NFC divisional playoff game.
That loss feels like an eternity ago.
Today, the Packers officially kick off the 2024 season with a pair of morning news conferences (GM Brian Gutekunst and head coach Matt LaFleur) followed by the first practice of training camp.
The Packers didn’t want their season to end in January.
It felt like it was just getting rolling with a 7-3 finish after a 3-6 start.
Jordan Love capped his first season as the Packers’ starter by outplaying every other NFL quarterback in the season’s second half. His ascension was steady. His numbers were staggering. His future as the Packers’ QB1 was cemented and a mega-contract extension secured.
Now that momentum is being carried into training camp.
They are expected to sign Love to a multi-year extension in excess of $50 million per year. They preceded that move with a clever cap-cutting extension of All-Pro defensive tackle Kenny Clark on the eve of camp.
Clark, 28, is among the oldest players on the NFL’s youngest roster.
He also is one of the most well-respected players and leaders in the locker room. And guess what else? He can still play at a high level. In fact, he ranked eighth in the league in pass rush production among all defensive tackles.
There is a feeling that new defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley’s scheme is going to unleash Clark’s pass rush ability like never before.
The Packers have 46 days between now and their Friday, Sept. 6 regular-season opener against Philadelphia in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
Here is the Packers’ “To Do” list between now and then:
** No. 1 – Seal the deal to extend Love’s contract. Once that is settled the entire focus will be on the field, not off it.
Love, 25, is the unquestioned leader on offense.
His calm demeanor, day-to-day consistency and apparent talent have drawn teammates to him. He is a charismatic guy who seems as real and down-to-earth as a burgeoning NFL star is apt to be these days.
Love’s development, ascension and success has validated Gutekunst’s decision to draft him and reinforced LaFleur’s reputation as a creative play caller and quarterback whisperer.
The better Love plays, the better everyone looks.
** No. 2 – Settle on an offensive line that can go into the season ready to handle anything Philadelphia’s defense can throw at it. The projected starting five appears to be (left to right) Rasheed Walker, Elgton Jenkins, Josh Myers, Sean Rhyan and Zach Tom.
While Tom recovers from a torn pec muscle the Packers need to decide which configuration best suits the offense’s needs. If Tom isn’t ready for the season opener it could be rookie Jordan Morgan or veteran Andre Dillard at right tackle. Or perhaps another offensive tackle will emerge.
Regardless, the Packers have much better depth than they did a year ago.
** No. 3 – Jeff Hafley’s defense will be under the microscope in camp. That comes out of curiosity, rather than concern, because nobody is quite sure exactly what to expect on that side of the football.
Most assuredly it will be a significant departure from the recent past.
Hafley’s 4-3 base defense will take some getting used to. So will seeing the Packers’ defense successfully stop the run on early downs, rather than being steamrolled to set up second-and-short situations.
Clark isn’t the only defensive lineman expected to benefit from Hafley’s scheme. Devonte Wyatt and Karl Brooks also are excited about being able to cut it loose at the snap and create disruption wherever they can.
** No. 4 – The Packers signed free agent safety Xavier McKinney and running back Josh Jacobs to lucrative deals.
Both will be under the microscope as fans get to know them.
McKinney is a fluid, ball-hawking safety whose strengths include being a bona fide student of the game. McKinney leads by example. He already is similar to Charles Woodson in that his defensive back mates just naturally gravitate to him.
They see what he does and try their best to emulate it.
Jacobs, 26, is bigger, stronger and younger than Aaron Jones. He also is just one season removed from being the NFL’s rushing leader.
He should improve the Packers’ fortunes in short yardage and goal line situations. He also is tenacious in blitz pickup and a capable receiver out of the backfield. He lacks Jones’ explosiveness, but don’t be fooled. Jacobs ranked among the best in the NFL at making the first would-be tackler either whiff or get run over.
McKinney and Jacobs were excellent free agent signings in that they’re both just entering their prime and already have excelled at the highest level. There is no mystery about what McKinney and Jacobs bring.
It’s professionalism, leadership and an abundance of talent.
** No. 5 – It’ll be interesting to watch the coaches interact during camp. That’s especially true on the defensive side where Hafley has either retained or brought in an interesting group of accomplished assistants.
They are reputed to be vocal, intense and unwilling to suffer repeat mistakes. They are demanding, detail-oriented and highly respected. This isn’t Joe Barry’s crew, not by a longshot.
** No. 6 – The Packers’ special teams has details to be sorted out such as how to best cover and return kickoffs under the new rules. They also need to decide on a kicker they can rely on and figure out which of their rookies can enhance the mix on special teams.
It’s a lot to accomplish in 46 days, but it feels doable under this regime.
The 2024 season is officially here.
It might feel like an eternity between today and the Packers’ season-opener in Brazil, but trust me on this: It’s going to be here before you know it.
Packers’ defense looks to attack under Hafley
By Chris Havel
Special to The FAN
GREEN BAY, Wis. – The contrast between Joe Barry and Jeff Hafley couldn’t have been clearer simply based on first impressions.
Barry, who was part of the Lions’ winless season, spent his introductory news conference defending past failures as much detailing a plan for future success when he was hired to coordinate the Packers’ defense.
Hafley spent his initial media availability painting a vision of what he expects the Packers’ defense to play like under his tutelage. He also drew a picture of what his ideal “post safety” would look like.
Barry flamed out after three largely underwhelming, at times epically embarrassing seasons. The run defense sprang more leaks than a rusted out pipe. The pass defense and its “better safe than sorry” approach – which often failed – generated more regret than turnovers.
Now it is Hafley’s turn to implement his brand of defense.
The first-year NFL defensive coordinator is scarcely a newbie. He spent seven seasons in the league working with Kyle Shanahan, among others, while building a first-rate reputation.
He took that to Ohio State and helped build the nation’s No. 1 defense. After that it was on to Boston College, where Hafley’s Golden Eagles showed steady improvement under him.
However, Hafley appeared destined to return to the NFL, whether it was as Shanahan’s defensive coordinator in San Francisco, or LaFleur’s Packers in Green Bay.
The Packers-49ers NFC Divisional playoff winner advanced to the NFC Championship. The loser got the chance to hire Hafley and pounced.
Hafley, a former defensive backs coach, runs a “vision-based” defense where the back end (safeties and occasionally cornerbacks) keeps its eyes on the quarterback in an effort to better read and react.
Theoretically, it creates more opportunities to make big plays, especially game-changing interceptions.
Eric Stokes, who is hoping to rejuvenate his career under Hafley, is a big fan of what he’s seeing so far. The first-round draft pick spent three seasons in Barry’s scheme so he has an interesting perspective.
“I love Hafley,” Stokes admitted to the media. “I love how his mindset is and everything … He just wants you to ball. He’s going to put you in the positions (to make plays). He ain’t gonna make you overthink anything and all that stuff.
“He just wants you to go out there and have fun and just play 110 miles per hour, and that’s what I love about Hafley, to where he always says, ‘I’m going to go ahead and take the bullet (when plays backfire). You just go out there and just have fun and you just play.’ And it’s different for every position.’ ”
Hafley deploys as 4-3 as his base defense.
However, it’ll be a 4-2-5 alignment that will be on the field most often.
The 4-3 should provide stouter run defense on early downs. In turn, the vision-based defense on the back end should be equipped to defend offenses that choose to pass on early downs, rather than buck the 4-3.
All-Pro defensive tackle Kenny Clark is on board.
“I think it’s going to be really good,” Clark said. “It’s one of the things where all of my career I’ve been kind of playing this way but in more of a controlled way. And I think now this is giving us a chance to shut all that other stuff off. Just use your ability and just go up the field and be disruptive. I just think with my get-off and how I am, I think it’s going to suit me well.”
Every NFL defense talks about attacking and being aggressive. Nevertheless, there is a vast difference from one team to another in terms of how the defensive line – the interior linemen especially – are taught to play at the snap.
Jason Rebrovich, the defensive line coach, is a holdover from the previous staff. It speaks to Hafley’s respect for Rebrovich that he retained him. In turn, Rebrovich is happy to be here.
“It’s an attack front,” he told reporters.
“It’s about TFLs (tackles for loss) and sacks. We’re going to create havoc in the backfield. Every down, we’re looking to penetrate and make something big happen. Offensive linemen, not moving so fast laterally, which is why they’re going to have to stay on the line of scrimmage a little bit longer with the movements and the ability for us to get in the backfield.”
Last season under Barry it was a lot of “read first” and “react second.”
Under Hafley it’s more of an “attack first” and “read as you go” approach.
It plays well to the style of Karl Brooks and Colby Wooden, and T.J. Slaton returns to anchor the interior along with Clark. First-round pick Devonte Wyatt also is looking to take a massive leap.
The linebackers also should be able to cut loose.
Now the unit has the speed to do it.
Quay Walker, a physical freak, returns as one inside linebacker. Veteran Isaiah McDuffie also returns as the would-be middle linebacker and primary play caller on early downs. Rookie second-round draft pick Edgerrin Cooper, the fastest linebacker in the draft, would also be there.
The upgrade should be eye-popping at the outset.
Rashan Gary, Preston Smith and Lukas Van Ness should provide the pass rush along with Kingsley Enagbare. Second-year pro Brenton Cox Jr. also should figure in the mix.
In the secondary, the Packers spent big money on safety Xavier McKinney, who is eerily similar to Hafley’s description of “the ideal safety” in his scheme when he was initially hired.
Rookie second-round pick Javon Bullard joins McKinney and Anthony Johnson Jr. as the top safeties.
Jaire Alexander leads a cornerback group that should be better for the healthy return of Stokes, along with Carrington Valentine, Keisean Nixon, rookie Kalen King and the rest.
McKinney – like Stokes – is excited about Hafley and the defense.
“I think we could be really special,” McKinney said.
Training camp opens Monday. It won’t be long before the Packers and their fans find out just how special.
Love’s strong Year 1
elevates expectations
By Chris Havel
Special to The FAN
GREEN BAY, Wis. – A year ago, the Packers went into the season needing to know if Jordan Love had what it takes to someday develop into a franchise quarterback capable of winning in the playoffs.
A year later, that “someday” is today.
Packers head coach Matt LaFleur’s confidence in Love is so high that the quarterback position has gone from being the team’s greatest unknown to one of the top reasons for fans to dream big.
Love, 25, is the Packers’ franchise quarterback.
It’s all over but the signing.
His impending contract is going to be valued among the NFL’s highest for a quarterback. That’s not a bad thing. It means Love has done enough to prove to GM Brian Gutekunst that he’s worth every penny.
If the eye test didn’t tell you, the numbers don’t lie.
Love started 17 regular season games and two postseason games.
He stayed healthy, made steady progress and stacked successes from one week to the next. His unflappable demeanor served him well. If he was stressing out between snaps it didn’t show.
He threw for 37 touchdowns to 13 interceptions in his 19 games. That included an amazing stretch during the final seven regular season games and the wild-card game in which he threw 23 touchdowns to one pick.
“He had a hell of a year,” LaFleur said of Love. “Just to see the growth … obviously, the results speak for themselves, but the growth of him as just the commander out there, he’s an extension of us, and I thought the ownership that he showed, the leadership that he showed, was a great sign for us.”
Love completed 409 of 634 passes (64.5%) for 4,625 yards and finished with a 98.5 passer rating. By comparison, Aaron Rodgers threw 28 touchdowns and 13 interceptions during his first year as a starter in 2008 and finished with a 93.8 passer rating.
Love had to work through some rough going early in the season.
Through nine games Love had 14 touchdown passes to 10 interceptions. It was decent, but it wasn’t enough for Gutekunst to commit to him when he held his mid-season news conference.
At that time, around Halloween, Gutekunst took a “wait-and-see” approach in regards to making grand declarations regarding Love’s play.
Coincidentally or otherwise, Love’s season began to soar in the coming weeks. He posted a passer rating of at least 108 in eight of the final 10 games, and exceeded 125 in four of them.
As the young receivers began to emerge, and the tight ends started to find their way, the Packers got Aaron Jones back from injury. With the offensive line playing at a high level – it allowed only seven sacks in the final nine games, including none in the two playoff games – and Jones recapturing his form the offense flourished.
LaFleur was asked if Love’s growth will continue in 2024.
“We all know how resilient he is and one of the things I think he’s done such an unbelievable job with is every situation he’s been in he’s learned from it,” LaFleur said. “So I would fully expect that to be the case.”
Jones had the finest five-game run of his seven-year stay in Green Bay to close out his career. He is now with the Vikings while free agent Josh Jacobs will replace him in Green Bay.
Jacobs led the NFL in rushing in 2022. After a down season in which he averaged just 3.5 yards per carry, some teams cooled on Jacobs.
Not the Packers.
Gutekunst and LaFleur jumped at the chance to sign him in similar fashion to their aggressive approach to acquiring safety Xavier McKinney.
Jacobs is a decent receiver out of the backfield and exceedingly capable in blitz pickup. His strength is his ability to either run over or simply make the first would-be tackler whiff.
The Packers’ goal-line and short-yardage situations should be much improved. As great as Jones was there were times when it appeared LaFleur didn’t know how to best utilize his talents.
Jacobs is a tough runner between the tackles who also possesses enough elusiveness to take it outside.
Third-round draft pick Marshawn Loyd is penciled in to be the primary backup. Loyd possesses breakaway speed. Some draft experts believed he was one of the top running backs in the entire draft.
A.J. Dillon returns on a bargain-basement contract. He’ll be highly motivated to prove his worth and increase his value to the team. He has had some shining moments, but how it’s make-or-break time for Dillon.
Emanuel Wilson also returns and it’s not beyond the realm to think he could supplant Dillon as the No. 3 back.
The receivers are wonderful. Top to bottom, from Christian Watson to Malik Heath, promise and potential abounds.
The thought of Watson staying healthy for an entire season could lead to a “breakout” season. Watson is the most explosive big-play weapon on the roster. He’ll either beat defenses or demand maximum attention, which should allow Romeo Doubs, Jayden Reed, Dontayvion Wicks and Bo Melton plenty of room to operate.
There isn’t a weak link in the group.
The tight end position is well-stocked for the next several seasons.
Luke Musgrave and Tucker Kraft developed into the players they were reputed to be coming out of college. Musgrave has legit big-play potential in the passing game and he’ll only improve as a blocker.
Kraft may be the more complete player right now. He also has excellent hands, runs crisp routes and attacks would-be tacklers with a vengeance.
Ben Sims and Tyler Davis are quality special teams players and reliable backups if either Musgrave or Kraft is injured.
The offensive line added depth and youth in the draft. First-round pick Jordan Morgan looks to be the sixth-best offensive lineman entering training camp. Right now it appears Rasheed Walker will hold down the left tackle job until further notice.
Elgton Jenkins will be back at left guard with Josh Myers at center. If Jenkins recaptures his Pro Bowl form, and Myers continues to play at the level he did in the second half last season, the line should excel.
Sean Rhyan will be first up at right guard with Zach Tom at right tackle. A pec injury to Tom might be the opening Morgan needs to crack the lineup until Tom is healthy. Projections are less than certain that Tom will be ready in time for the season-opener in Brazil.
Brewers end skid with
9-2 Dodgers drubbing
By Chris Havel
Special to The FAN
GREEN BAY, Wis. – The Brewers blew away the Dodgers and the cloud of negativity hovering above Chavez Ravine entering Sunday’s finale of their three-game series at Dodger Stadium.
Milwaukee’s 9-2 win snapped a seven-game slide at Dodger Stadium and enabled it to dodge its first four-game losing streak of the season. The Brewers, Phillies and Guardians – all division leaders – are MLB’s only teams whose longest losing streaks are just three games.
Milwaukee’s most recent “stopper” came in the form of a crafty lefty.
Veteran starter Dallas Keuchel couldn’t keep the Dodgers off the bases, but he did keep them off the scoreboard with 4 1/3 scoreless innings. He had five walks, zero strikeouts and a ton of soft contact.
“The reason we picked him up,” said Brewers’ manager Pat Murphy, “is because of his experience. He’s not going to give in. He gave us a huge lift today. He did what was needed.”
As All-Star Christian Yelich said of Keuchel, “He finds a way.”
Yelich is right about Keuchel. The 2015 Cy Young Award winner has “found a way” to replace a once-dazzling arsenal by mixing experience and ingenuity with just enough stuff to keep hitters off-balance.
Of course, Yelich could’ve been referring to the entire team. Or, for that matter, he could’ve been referring to himself.
Yelich had three hits, three RBI and a home run to highlight the Brewers’ impressive win Sunday. He has “found a way” back to his NL MVP form of 2018 and 2019 when he belted 63 doubles, nine triples and 80 home runs with a .327 average in a wondrous two-year span.
Murphy had a dugout seat to Yelich’s tremendous two-year run as the Brewers’ bench coach. Now as the Brewers’ manager he is seeing the veteran outfielder recapture his place among baseball’s finest hitters.
“I’ve seen this,” Murphy said. “I’m not going to get giddy, but he’s had an incredible year.”
“More than that,” he added, “he’s having an incredible impact on the team, an incredible impact on the team, an incredible impact on young guys like (Blake) Perkins to not get down after getting picked off in a 2-0 game. A senseless pickoff (but) he kept himself going.
“After that Perkins responded.”
Perkins responded, as Murphy noted, with three hits, three RBI and a home run to back Yelich’s big day.
Although Perkins’ playing time has dwindled significantly since Garrett Mitchell’s return after missing all of the season with a fractured finger, he kept his head in the game.
Then he helped the Brewers win despite his own base-running blunder.
“Yelich rose to the occasion when we needed him,” Murphy said. “Perkins was unbelievable too. (It was) a great effort by our guys.”
Backup catcher Eric Haase, who is one of the guys giving great effort, had two hits including a two-run home run to stake Milwaukee to a 4-0 lead before the Dodgers’ Chris Taylor homered to make it 4-2.
After that it was all Brewers, all the time.
Yelich, 32, is on a tear right now. He hit .393 (11 for 28) with three home runs and five RBI during the Brewers’ six-game road trip. He is hitting .329 for the season with 11 doubles, three triples and 11 homers.
Yelich isn’t a stats watcher.
“I have no idea what any of my stats are,” he said. “The home runs are probably the only one I know. I don’t look at (stats) because they change so much throughout the year. You just try to keep contributing to wins and stack them.”
The Brewers (53-38) maintained their five-game lead over St. Louis in the NL Central. The Pirates, Reds and Cubs are all 10-plus games back.
The victory also kept Milwaukee just two games behind the Dodgers (55-36) in the race for the NL’s No. 2 playoff seed. The No. 2 seed gets a first-round bye. The No. 3 seed gets a matchup with the No. 6 seed in a best-of-three wild-card series at the higher seeded team’s ballpark.
The Dodgers face the Brewers in a four-game series Aug. 12-15 at American Family Field. It’s their only other regular-season series.
The Dodgers travel to Philadelphia (58-32) for a three-game series against the NL’s top team. The Phillies are 33-14 at home.
Milwaukee headed home for a three-game series against the Pirates beginning Monday night at American Family Field, where the Brewers are a dazzling 27-13 this season.
Right-hander Colin Rea (8-2, 3.34) will start Monday’s series opener. Rea is 5-0 in his last eight games as he continues to be the Brewers’ most dependable of the 15 starters deployed.
“It’s good to win, especially on ‘getaway day,’ ” Yelich said. “We had two tough losses.”
The Brewers lost Friday night’s series opener 8-5 despite it being tied at 5-5 entering the eighth inning. That’s when the normally reliable Hoby Milner, in relief of Elvis Peguero, yielded three runs before recording a single out to take the loss.
On Saturday, the Brewer and Dodgers were knotted at 3-3 entering the bottom of the eighth. That’s when the typically unhittable Bryan Hudson allowed home runs to light-hitting second baseman Miguel Vargas and the incomparable Shohei Ohtani in the 5-3 loss.
Despite the disappointing outcomes of both games, the Brewers went pitch-for-pitch with the mighty Dodgers and had a chance to win each of the first two games of the series.
The Brewers reminded fans that they have what it takes to compete with baseball’s best teams. Even if that means using an MLB-high 15 different starting pitchers this season – the most in franchise history for an entire season – to do the job.
Yelich lent perspective.
“Whenever you go through a stretch when the outside perspective is that it’s the end of the world and the sky is falling to us it’s like, ‘We know that there’s going to be tough streaks in the year. Keep going. Keep trying to play well,’ ” he said. “Then, when you get on the good side of it, you try to build momentum again.”
Packers’ MVP hopes?
Love is poised to win
By Chris Havel
Special to The FAN
GREEN BAY, Wis. – The Packers open training camp in 17 days.
The season arrives with great expectations for the NFL’s youngest team. The Packers are coming off a 9-8 season capped by a wild-card rout of the Cowboys in Dallas and a narrow divisional round loss to the eventual Super Bowl runner-up 49ers at San Francisco.
So what will the Packers do for an encore?
To a person, from the front office to the field, the football folks at 1265 Lombardi Ave. believe the sky’s the limit. Reclaiming the NFC North from the talented Lions won’t be easy, especially while trying to fend off the much-improved Bears and the explosive Vikings.
Nevertheless, it is a lofty yet attainable goal. Beyond that everything is in play, including a Super Bowl berth.
Those are terrific team goals for an incredibly unselfish squad.
But what about the Packers winning individual awards in 2024?
Hardware has been tough to come by lately.
Matt LaFleur knows it firsthand.
The Packers hired LaFleur in 2019 for a job numerous NFL “experts” called “a bad job.” They thought the roster was in a shambles, the defense was in disarray and the future Hall of Fame quarterback was in decline and going to be difficult to work with.
LaFleur merely led the Packers to a 13-3 record and the NFC’s No. 2 seed. Green Bay defeated Seattle 28-23 in the NFC divisional round before falling to the eventual Super Bowl champion 49ers 37-20.
He got Rodgers’ career back on track and proved the naysayers wrong. It turns out the Packers’ job wasn’t bad. It just needed the right person running the show.
A strong argument could’ve been made for LaFleur being the NFL’s “Coach of the Year” in 2019. Instead, he finished a distant third to Baltimore’s John Harbaugh and San Francisco’s Kyle Shanahan.
LaFleur didn’t get much credit for Rodgers’ rebirth. Rather, it hurt his chances for “Coach of the Year” because the prevailing notion was “He couldn’t have done it without Rodgers.”
No one bothered to ask, “Could Harbaugh have done it without Lamar Jackson?” It wasn’t asked because the answer was all too obvious.
So what about 2024?
Again, LaFleur could be his own worst enemy.
While he is widely praised for developing Jordan Love during a 3 ½ year span that blossomed in the final seven regular-season games and two playoff games last season.
If the Packers reach or exceed expectations the narrative could be, “Jordan Love was the reason. LaFleur was just along for the ride.”
It’s ridiculous rationale but it isn’t unprecedented.
LaFleur has the fifth-best odds to win “Coach of the Year.” The Bears’ Matt Eberflus and the Chargers’ Jim Harbaugh lead the pack. The Jets’ Robert Saleh (because of Rodgers), and the Texans’ DeMeco Ryan – last year’s runner-up – also are ahead of LaFleur.
The Packers’ head coach will trade personal honors for the Lombardi Trophy every day of the week and twice on Super Bowl Sundays.
If LaFleur isn’t “Coach of the Year,” but the Packers still forge a double-digit win season and playoff magic, Love should be the heavy favorite to win the NFL’s MVP Award.
Love, like his coach, has the fifth-best odds … to be MVP.
The Chiefs’ Patrick Mahomes (hard to argue), the Bills’ Josh Allen (I don’t see it), the Texans’ C.J. Stroud (he’s the real deal) and the Bengals’ Joe Burrow (he’ll have a big season) are ranked ahead of Love.
So are the Ravens’ Lamar Jackson, the 49ers’ Brock Purdy and ex-Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers.
Love’s cool persona, charisma and undeniable talent should thrust him into the forefront of MVP discussions by the season’s midpoint. The rest is up to Love, his coaches and teammates, and – alas – the voters.
The NFL’s “Offensive Player of the Year” award isn’t likely to find its way into a Packers’ hands.
Josh Jacobs has the best odds at plus-12,000.
The receivers are so far back it isn’t worth listing the odds.
The NFL “Defensive Player of the Year” does have a decent chance to wind up on Rashan Gary’s fireplace mantle or Xavier McKinney’s.
Gary, with the 14th-best odds, could explode for a huge sack season. With a bolstered run defense, a creative coordinator and a top-notch safety on the back end, Gary is in line for 12-plus sacks.
McKinney, who isn’t listed among “Defensive Player of the Year” candidates, is another strong choice.
If the Packers’ defense excels it will mean McKinney is running the show with aplomb. If he has multiple multi-interception games, including a “pick six” or two, he’ll immediately become a top contender.
None of that is farfetched, either.
McKinney is that good. It’s just that the rest of the NFL doesn’t understand how good he will be in the heart of the Packers’ reconstituted defense.
Interestingly, the Packers are in the hunt for a “Defensive Rookie of the Year” award winner with linebacker Edgerrin Cooper and safety Javon Bullard coming aboard in the second round of the 2024 draft.
Cooper has a chance to run and hit with the best of them. It doesn’t hurt that he’ll have Quay Walker next to him in addition to savvy veteran Isaiah McDuffie.
Bullard’s talent is off the charts. If offenses elect to avoid McKinney and attack Bullard it could lead to plenty of opportunities for the rookie from Georgia.
Finally, do the Packers have any candidates for “Comeback Player of the Year?”
No one even made the list. The Packers are so young they aren’t in a position to make comebacks. They’re still on the rise.
By the way, the NFL’s best bet to win “Comeback of the Year” honors?
Aaron Rodgers.
For 1st-place Brewers
life is grand as of late
By Chris Havel
Special to The FAN
GREEN BAY, Wis. – MLB.com’s Adam McCalvy nailed the nickname the way the Brewers nail pitches with the bases loaded.
And the veteran baseball writer was down to his last strike.
When Brice Turang smashed the Brewers’ fifth grand slam in eight games Sunday to make Milwaukee only the second team in baseball history to do so, McCalvy felt the feat was nickname-worthy.
Slamwaukee? (Strike one). Wisconslam? (Strike two).
AmSlam Field? (Get up … Get outta here … Gone)!
Turang’s second grand slam in a week capped a seven-run fourth inning as the Brewers rolled the Cubs 7-1 in front of a standing-room-only crowd at “AmSlam Field” to take the weekend series, two games to one.
Lost in all of the grandeur was the fact that Brewers starting pitcher Freddy Peralta and the bullpen held the Cubs to just one run on two hits. Nico Hoerner led off with a home run and Cody Bellinger added a one-out single in the first inning.
After that the Cubs were no-hit in the final 8 2/3 innings.
Nevertheless, the Brewers’ penchant for grand slams stole the headlines.
Manager Pat Murphy was asked if the Brewers had a secret recipe. It was reminiscent of the search for the recipe for the “secret sauce” at the stadium that fans use to lather up their hot dogs.
“We found the secret plan for how to hit homers with the bases loaded and, really, it’s been working,” Murphy quipped after the game. “There was a recipe online.”
For real, skip?
Murphy explained.
“Most homers are thrown, and I think if you look at all of those grand slams that were hit, you’ll see where the pitches are,” he said. “You have to be ready when you get that opportunity.”
Turang’s grand slam stretched the Brewers’ streak to five straight home runs with the bases loaded. That streak ended later in the game.
“Most homers are thrown, and I think if you look at all of those grand slams that were hit, you’ll see where the pitches are,” Murphy said. “You have to be ready when you get that opportunity.”
Turang started it with a ninth-inning grand slam June 22 at San Diego. Rhys Hoskins followed suit Monday and Jake Bauers did so Wednesday. That helped the Brewers sweep their three-game series against Texas.
On Friday night, rookie Jackson Chourio delivered a grand slam – also in the fourth inning – in Milwaukee’s 4-2 win over the Cubs. The Brewers scored eight runs on two swings in the weekend wins.
Chourio was red hot in June. He is hitting .324 (23-for-71) with four doubles, four home runs, 13 runs and 17 RBI in his last 23 games.
“Truthfully, it’s just every single day I feel a little better,” Chourio said through an interpreter. “I’m happy to be here.”
And the Brewers are happy to be in first place in the NL Central, where they boast a gaudy 20-10 record in the division.
The Cubs’ Ian Happ delivered the crushing blow – a two-run home run in the ninth – to deliver Chicago’s 5-3 win on Saturday.
On Sunday, Happ misplayed a fly ball in left field to extend the fourth inning and give Turang a chance to clear the bases.
“We’re just out there competing, having great at-bats and catching (grand slams),” Turang told reporters. “It’s fun, man.”
Turang has 12 career home runs. Three are grand slams.
Talk about rising to the moment.
Cubs’ right-hander Kyle Hendricks looked untouchable through three innings. Then came the fateful fourth inning and the Cubs were history.
“They obviously had a good plan against me, sitting on some of the right pitches and got them,” Hendricks said. “But regardless, even if they’re sitting on a pitch and they get it, it was still up in the middle. It doesn’t matter whether you’re sitting on that or not, it’s just easier to put a good swing on that.”
The first-place Brewers (50-34) lead the second-place Cardinals (43-40) by 6 ½ games. The Pirates (40-43) are 9 ½ games out with the Reds and Cubs 11 and 11 ½ games out, respectively.
The Brewers and Phillies are the only teams in baseball without a losing streak longer than three games.
Milwaukee is 27-13 at home, including 22-6 in their past 28, and owns the most comeback wins (25) in all of baseball. The Orioles, Yankees, Guardians and Royals are next at 22 comeback wins.
Milwaukee’s 13 blown leads are the second-fewest in baseball trailing only the Yankees with 12.
The Brewers’ .255 team batting average is fourth in the NL. Their 3.71 team earned-run average also ranks fourth in the NL.
Murphy is grateful to have the Brewers in this position, but he isn’t taking anything for granted.
“There’s a lot to be pleased about,” he said. “But there’s a mountain to climb. We’ve got half a season left and we have to improve in just about every way you can.”
Obviously, it’s going to be difficult to improve on the Brewers’ ability to hit home runs with the bases loaded.
The Brewers’ five grand slams already are more grand slams than the team hit in 38 of the franchise’s 55 seasons.
Peralta said the team is sensing something special. He admitted he got emotional when Turang’s line drive in the fourth landed in the first row of the stands.
“I got emotional in that moment. I said a word I’m not allowed to say here,” Peralta said. “I was talking about it with some of the guys in the dugout. We’ve been doing a lot of the little things (on offense). … When you do that, everyone on the team sees everything different.
“There’s no pressure around.”
The Brewers open a seven-game road trip tonight at Colorado. Bryce Wilson will start against the Rockies’ Austin Gomber. After that, the Brewers play three more at Colorado, where they play a Fourth of July night game Thursday.
Then they embark on a three-game weekend series against the Dodgers.
Brewers on pace for
96 wins at midpoint
By Chris Havel
Special to The FAN
GREEN BAY, Wis. – The Brewers’ outlook entering the 2024 season was one of anxiety overshadowing expectations.
The prevailing view around baseball was that the Brewers – with no Craig Counsell, no Corbin Burnes and no Brandon Woodruff – had no chance to seriously compete with the Cubs, Cardinals and Reds in the National League Central. In fact, a majority of preseason predictions forecast Milwaukee to finish fourth just ahead of the Pirates.
Even the most ardent of Brewers’ fans, if they were being totally honest, would have been hard-pressed to disagree.
Pat Murphy, the new skipper, was a baseball lifer with a wry sense of humor, the ability to connect with his players and a knack for thinking outside the batter’s box, so to speak.
But he also was a first-time big-league manager.
Some believed that by the season’s midpoint – if not sooner – Murphy’s seat on the bench would start heating up, his witty retorts would wane and his team would struggle to play .500.
Look who’s struggling now.
While Counsell’s Cubs resemble a shabby facsimile of his poorer teams through the years, the rejuvenated Brewers are handling their business … and let me tell you: Business has been good.
Milwaukee is 48-33 at the season’s halfway point.
The Brewers are on pace to win 96 games. The Las Vegas odds-makers had Milwaukee’s win total at 77.5 entering the season. The Brewers could exceed that even if they flamed out at 30-51 the rest of the way.
Milwaukee and its fans get a day off Thursday before hosting the Cubs in a three-game weekend series at American Family Field.
The “off day” provides an opportunity to recap and revel in the first half of what has been a truly remarkable 2024 season.
The Brewers haven’t spent a single day out of first place this season. They currently hold a 6 ½ game lead over St. Louis, despite the fact that the Cardinals have won 25 of their last 39 games. The Reds, Pirates and Cubs have spent much of the first half flailing around the basement.
Milwaukee also is one of only five teams whose longest losing streak this season is three games. The Phillies (53-27), Yankees (52-30), Orioles (50-30) and Guardians (51-27) are the others.
It’s good company to be in.
Former Brewers pitcher Jerry Augustine believes the ability to avoid slumps is due to Milwaukee’s completeness and consistency. They rarely give away at-bats, much less games, without a fight.
The Brewers, Augie also noted, play terrific defense, run the bases wisely and aggressively, and feature baseball’s finest bullpen.
Furthermore, the Brewers’ lineup is talented and tenacious.
In terms of pitching, potentially devastating injuries and defections to a depleted starting rotation have been offset by timely hitting, great defense and Murphy’s belief that necessity is the mother of invention.
He is unorthodox in the way he uses “openers.”
Rather than expecting his starter to go six innings, Murphy is Ok with them getting six outs and turning it over to the next pitcher up.
He has used 14 different starters, the most in big-league baseball, and he has enabled pitchers such as Tobias Myers, Bryse Wilson, Jared Koenig, Bryan Hudson and Trevor McGill to flourish.
Milwaukee currently ranks first in Major League Baseball in steals with 113. They rank fifth in batting average at .255. They rank third in walks drawn with 299. They have 83 home runs in 81 games. Their on-base percentage (OBP) is third in baseball at .332.
They have the eighth-best fielding percentage (.987) and have committed the ninth-fewest errors (39).
The pitching staff’s ERA is a cool 3.75 which is ninth overall. They also are third in saves with 29 and that’s without All-Star closer Devin Williams, who is expected to return in the season’s second half.
Individually, the Brewers have numerous players in the midst of career years, and a handful of rookies that are playing like seasoned veterans.
Christian Yelich is hitting .325 in the No. 3 spot in the lineup. His return to near-MVP caliber play is a revelation. He has drawn 28 walks to just 47 strikeouts with seven home runs and 16 steals.
William Contreras is hitting .292 with 19 doubles, nine home runs and 49 runs batted in. He also is an excellent defensive catcher.
Willy Adames plays marvelous shortstop while belting 13 home runs and driving in 54 runs. Both are team highs.
Jackson Chourio has raised his average to .236 with eight home runs. He plays first-rate defense and is an exciting base runner.
Joey Ortiz has developed into a quality third baseman as a rookie. He is hitting .275 with seven home runs.
Sal Frelick is batting .269 after a slow start.
Everywhere you look someone in the Brewers’ lineup is doing something positive.
The pitchers have been every bit the pleasant surprise.
Colin Rea is a steady starter with ice in his veins. Freddy Peralta has had his struggles but still is as dynamic a starting pitcher as there is in baseball. Myers, Wilson and the rest have done their part and more.
Finally, the bullpen has been magnificent despite tossing the most innings in all of Major League Baseball.
The Brewers look like a good bet to claim the NL Central title.
It’s a far cry from the preseason predictions of doom and gloom. It’s also proof that Milwaukee’s organization knows how to develop its own pitchers and hitters while accurately assessing prospects such as Ortiz when being forced to move on from high-priced pitchers.
Right now it’s all good in Milwaukee.
The beer is frosty and foamy. The brats are cooked and garnished to perfection. And the Brewers are as entertaining and exciting a team as any of their predecessors in recent memory.
Enjoy the day off.
Myers keeps rolling as
Brewers top Blue Jays
By Chris Havel
Special to The FAN
GREEN BAY, Wis. – Tobias Myers enabled the NL Central-leading Brewers to win consecutive series both coming and going.
On Friday night, Myers dazzled by pitching eight innings of one-hit, shutout baseball to lead Milwaukee to a 3-0 victory at Detroit in Game 1 of a three-game weekend series. The Brewers went on to win the series, two games to one.
On Wednesday afternoon, Myers backed it up by allowing three hits in six shutout innings to help Milwaukee claim a 5-4 victory over Toronto at American Family Field.
It was the Brewers’ sixth straight win in a home series dating back to April 26-28 when the New York Yankees won two of three at AmFam. The Brewers won the opener 7-6 in 11 innings before dropping games of 15-3 and 15-5.
Milwaukee (40-28) is 15-4 at home since that two-day 30-run unconditional surrender. By the way, the Yankees are really, really good, too. The Brewers are now 20-11 at home.
Myers (3-2) won back-to-back starts for the first time in his big-league career. The 25-year-old right-hander is 3-0 in his last five starts.
“I think I did a pretty good job of landing everything today and that opened up some opportunities to throw some curveballs in the fifth inning,” Myers said. “We just kept it going from last week.”
Quietly, Myers has become one of the Brewers’ most dependable starters, along with Freddy Peralta and Colin Rea, in what has been an injury-depleted starting rotation.
Rea (5-2) has covered 70 2/3 innings while allowing 66 hits with 48 strikeouts to 23 walks. He has posted a 3.31 earned-run average while emerging as the Brewers’ most reliable starter in his 11 starts.
Peralta (4-3) has pitched an identical 70 2/3 innings while allowing 54 hits and 31 runs with 92 strikeouts to 26 walks.
Myers (3-2) has made eight starts and allowed just 33 hits in 40 2/3 innings with 36 strikeouts to 14 walks.
The trio has a sterling 176 strikeouts to just 63 walks, but also has combined to surrender 26 home runs (Myers has given up eight home runs while Rea and Peralta have yielded nine each).
The Brewers’ pitchers also have been blessed with terrific defense behind them, great catching in front of them, and timely hitting from a number of different players.
On Wednesday, Myers and the Brewers needed a five-run sixth inning against the Blue Jays to escape with the win.
Myers allowed a first-inning home run to Davis Schneider to give the Blue Jays a 1-0 lead and that was it.
Right-handed starter Chris Bassitt pitched five shutout innings despite giving up five hits and walking four in a wild 100-pitch outing.
Toronto (33-35) went to Zach Pop (0-1) in the sixth. Things started well enough for Pop when he recorded the first two outs. After that it was as disastrous and self-destructive an outing as Pop could’ve imagined.
It began with Blake Perkins drawing a two-out walk.
Brice Turang followed with a single to put runners at the corners. Turang stole second as catcher Alejandro Kirk’s throw bounced away fromm second baseman Isiah Kiner-Falefa. Perkins scored on the play and was credited with a steal of home to tie it at 1-1.
Turang advanced to third on Kirk’s throwing error and William Contreras promptly drove him in with a single to make it 2-1. Christian Yelich followed with an RBI single off reliever Tim Mayza and Willy Adames capped it with a two-run home run.
Brewers’ manager Pat Murphy had seen his team stretch its hitless streak with runners in scoring position (RISP) to 24 earlier in the game.
Nevertheless, Murphy wasn’t surprised by the sixth-inning outburst. The Brewers’ lineup is too solid top to bottom to be held down forever.
On Wednesday, all nine Brewers in the lineup reached base. They also had the huge inning after two outs and also managed to overcome numerous two-strike counts to get the job done.
“It’s like shaking a bottle when it’s carbonated,” Murphy said of the offense. “It’s going to fizz but at some point its top is going to pop.”
The Blue Jays’ offense has been underperforming most of the season. It was no different on Wednesday until Toronto put together a three-run rally in the ninth.
Hoby Milner whistled through the eighth so Murphy decided to stick with the veteran left-hander in the ninth with a 5-1 lead.
The decision was almost disastrous as Milner allowed three runs before Trevor Megill came in to record all three outs. The game ended with Megill getting pinch-hitter Vladimir Guerrero to end the game.
The Brewers are off Thursday before taking on the Cincinnati Reds in a three-game weekend series at American Family Field.
Friday night’s series opener features a pair of hard-throwing right-handed starters. Cincinnati will start Hunter Greene (4-2, 3.61) against the Brewers’ Peralta (4-3, 3.95).
On Saturday, it’ll be left-hander Andrew Abbott (5-5, 3.28) for the Reds versus righty Bryse Wilson (3-3, 4.19) in the 3:10 p.m. game.
Sunday’s 1:10 p.m. series finale features Reds right-hander Frankie Montas (3-5, 4.55) versus Rea (5-2, 3.31).
Brewers take 2 of 3 vs.
Tigers as Myers shines
By Chris Havel
Special to The FAN
GREEN BAY, Wis. – Tobias Myers had to be the leader in the clubhouse to win the Brewers’ “Teammate of the Week” award, if such an honor existed, following his dazzling performance Friday night.
The 25-year-old right-hander pitched eight innings of one-hit baseball to lead Milwaukee to a 10-0 shutout of the Tigers at Comerica Park. Fellow rookie James Meeker pitched a scoreless ninth in his big-league debut.
After a scheduled day off Thursday, Myers’ outing enabled the Brewers’ bullpen to get an extra day of rest.
Myers needed 100 pitches (64 strikes) to navigate the Tigers’ lineup. He allowed just one hit with three walks and five strikeouts.
Detroit centerfielder Matt Vierling led off with a bloop single to open the game. The Tigers proceeded to record 24 straight outs before shortstop Zach McKinstry singled off Meeker in the ninth.
Myers’ performance was first-rate, but imagine what type of excitement would’ve been building had Vierling’s hit come in the eighth, rather than the first?
The Tigers went seven innings without a hit until McKinstry’s hit, a fitting way for the shortstop-turned-pitcher to end his night. McKinstry was the Tigers’ fifth and final “pitcher” for the evening. McKinstry, a right-hander, tossed a 10-pitch perfect ninth. He capped it by coaxing Joey Ortiz to hit a 43 mph “sinker” back to the mound to end the game.
Brewers’ manager Pat Murphy was happy for Myers.
“He stayed ahead and didn’t get cute with people,” Murphy said.
The Brewers’ longest start of the season also was timely in that it preceded Freddy Peralta’s shorting outing of the year. Peralta lasted just 3 1/3 innings Saturday afternoon, but Milwaukee was able to survive and escape with a 5-4 victory over the Tigers.
Jackson Chourio’s two-run double keyed the offense and Jared Koenig (6-1) pitched 1.2 innings of scoreless relief to get the win while Trevor Megill earned his ninth save.
On Sunday, the Brewers fell 10-2 as left-hander Tarik Skubal effectively mowed them down.
By then, the Brewers already had their series win in the bag, and they were bracing for a return to American Family Field and a three-game series with the visiting Blue Jays.
The loss Sunday was much easier to stomach thanks to Myers’ outing Friday night.
Myers began his professional baseball career right out of high school. The 17-year-old prospect was drafted by Baltimore and assigned to the Orioles’ team in the Gulf Coast League.
Nine years later he’s pitching in the big leagues.
The 6-1, 217-pound Myers has been a godsend to the Brewers’ injury ravaged starting pitching. Wade Myers, DL Hall, Jakob Junis, Joe Ross and others either are out for the season or currently on the IL.
While the Brewers wait to get healthier, Myers has held the fort.
In seven starts (eight appearances overall) he is 2-2 with a 4.15 earned-run average (down from 5.40 before the one-hit shutout) with 13 walks to 32 strikeouts in 34 2/3 innings.
Tigers’ manager A.J. Hinch summed it up pretty well.
“Myers got spotted a pretty big number in the second inning and he seemed to relax,” Hinch said.
Indeed, the Brewers posted a five-run second inning to take control against Tigers’ right-hander Reese Olson.
Sal Frelick led off with a single and Rhys Hoskins followed with a double to open the second. Joey Ortiz added a two-run single and Blake Perkins delivered Ortiz with a run-scoring triple (his first of two triples on the night).
Brice Turang singled home Perkins, advanced to third on Christian Yelich’s single and proceeded to steal home.
By the time the dust settled the Brewers were up 5-0 and in control thanks to Myers, who was called up earlier in the day from Triple-A Nashville. He merely delivered the best start of his entire pro career.
“They stayed relentless and kept putting it on them,” Murphy said of his hitters. “
Myers became the Brewers’ first starting pitcher to go eight innings. In fact, he was the first starter to pitch INTO the eighth.
Meeker, a 29-year-old righty and former teammate of Myers’ at Class AA Biloxi last season, allowed a walk and a hit in a scoreless ninth.
Olson, the Tigers’ 24-year-old starter, began his professional career with the Brewers. Murphy said the organization hated to see Olson leave via a trade, but noted that’s the business.
Olson (1-7) had a 2.48 ERA in 11 starts with the Tigers going into Friday night’s game, his first against his original big-league club.
“We hated losing him,” Murphy said. “That was an agonizing trade. Everybody was so high on the kid, and he’s got a great future. We just happened to get to him today.”
The Brewers (38-27) currently hold a 6.5 game lead in the NL Central over the Cubs (32-34), the Reds (32-34) and the Cardinals (31-33).
Here are the probable pitching matchups for the Jays-Brewers series:
** Monday, 7:10 p.m., American Family Field – Right-hander Jose Berrios (5-4, 2.80) vs. Right-hander Colin Rea (4-2, 3.53)
** Tuesday, 7:10 p.m., American Family Field – Left-hander Yusei Kikuchi (3-5, 3.48) vs. TBD
** Wednesday, 1:10 p.m., American Family Field – Right-hander Chris Bassitt (6-6, 3.80) vs. Tobias Myers (2-2, 4.15)
NFL power rankings reflect Packers’ leap
By Chris Havel
Special to The FAN
GREEN BAY, Wis. – The Packers’ success in Jordan Love’s first year as their starting quarterback, coupled with aggressive offseason moves to upgrade the defense, has elevated expectations going into 2024.
The NFL power rankings have Green Bay eighth in the league. That is an NFC North-best 11 spots higher than the previous offseason, when the Packers were ranked 19th overall.
It is instructive to compare the 2023 to 2024 power rankings of each NFC North team to get a feel for the big picture. In the grand scheme the vibe is good throughout a much-improved division.
The question is this: Which teams are going to meet expectations? And which teams inevitably will fall short?
Here are the past two preseason power rankings courtesy of NFL.com:
** DETROIT LIONS (11th in 2023; 4th in 2024)
In 2023 the Lions ranked 11th coming off a 9-8 season under head coach Dan Campbell to finish second behind Minnesota (13-4) and a game ahead of Green Bay (8-9) in Aaron Rodgers’ final season here.
Detroit exceeded the hype by roaring to a 12-5 finish and a berth in the NFC Championship where they lost to San Francisco.
The Lions leap-frogged the Packers to draft Alabama cornerback Terrion Arnold with the 24th pick. They also added highly regarded Missouri cornerback Ennis Rakestraw Jr. to bolster a suspect secondary.
Here is what NFL.com had to say:
“The Lions attacked the draft like a team that believes it can and will compete for the Lombardi Trophy in the 2024 campaign, and who am I to doubt them?”
** GREEN BAY PACKERS (19th in 2023; 8th in 2024)
The Packers’ progress was much greater than a single game (8-9 to 9-8) with Love as the signal caller.
This is what NFL.com had to say about the 2024 Packers:
“The biggest question coming out of the draft might be where first-rounder Jordan Morgan ends up playing next season. Does he compete for the starting left tackle job? Or is a move inside a better fit for his skill set?
“This might be heresy, but I referred to Morgan as a poor man’s David Bakhtiari at one point. We’ll see. Protecting Jordan Love is, of course, the highest priority now. Green Bay watched the quarterback blossom into near stardom down the stretch of last season, completely flipping the midseason script after some early struggles. This is a team that reasonably can go a long way, but that left tackle spot is worth monitoring.”
It is a far cry from NFL.com’s 2023 takeaway:
“It’s Jordan Love’s show in Green Bay now. Team brass made a concerted effort to help their young QB in his maiden voyage across the NFL. The team used its pair of second-round picks (one of them acquired in the Rodgers trade) to add Oregon State tight end Luke Musgrave and Michigan State wideout Jayden Reed before taking another TE – South Dakota State product Tucker Kraft – in the third round. This has the feel of a developmental year for the offense, a reality that will put more pressure on the defense to play at a high level.”
The prevailing storyline was that it’ll be difficult to accurately gauge Love with so many unproven, inexperienced weapons.
That proved to be dead wrong.
The quarterback, in addition to the rookie receivers and tight ends, delivered in a major way.
The Packers enter 2024 with one of the NFL’s most promising young quarterbacks and a stellar collection of receivers and tight ends. The NFL’s youngest team is even younger this season … and better.
Furthermore, the defense received a major overhaul with the firing of coordinator Joe Barry, the hiring of Jeff Hafley, and the signing in free agency of safety Xavier McKinney. In addition, the Packers drafted major help at linebacker and safety.
Now it’s the defense’s turn to prove it.
Meantime, the Bears and Vikings are expected to be seven-, eight- or nine-win teams depending on what you read and what you know.
** CHICAGO BEARS (26TH in 2023; 16th in 2024)
A year ago, Bears fans were buying into the silly notion that Justin Fields could be an MVP candidate with the addition of receiver D.J. Moore and improvement up and down the roster.
That hardly proved to be the case as the Bears finished 3-14 and Fields was jettisoned to Pittsburgh.
More of the same silliness is pouring out of The Windy City this offseason following the Bears’ modest jump to 7-10 in ’23.
Don’t be fooled.
The Bears will be improved, but it’s much easier to go from 3-14 to 7-10 than it is to go from 7-10 to a possible playoff run.
Chicago would do well to improve as much this season with Caleb Williams as the QB as the Packers did last season with Love.
Here is what NFL.com had to say about Chicago entering ’24:
“We’ve graduated the Bears to the top half of the NFL. It’s no charity situation, either. QB Caleb Williams‘ arrival was forecasted for weeks, but landing WR Rome Odunze as a new target for Williams at No. 9 overall was pretty darned exciting.
“The Bears have a legitimate offense now. No, really. Williams, Odunze, WR Keenan Allen and RB D’Andre Swift are four major additions to a group that was starting to show some promise in 2023. … Even in the really tough NFC North, that should be enough to get Chicago into the playoff mix.”
The Bears in the playoff mix? I’ll have to see it to believe it.
** MINNESOTA VIKINGS (16th in 2023; 18th in 2024)
That leaves the Vikings – a team with a resourceful defensive coordinator in Brian Flores and a boatload of high-end weaponry on offense – with Sam Darnold running Kevin O’Connell’s offense.
That is at least until Darnold fails or rookie first-round pick J.J. McCarthy is so impressive the Vikings have no choice but to play him.
The bottom line is this: The Packers and Lions are going to duke it out for first place with the loser seeking playoff revenge. Meantime, the Vikings and Bears – while intriguing given their upgrades – are left to fight for third place and an 8- or 9-win season.
Brewers roll ChiSox to
widen NL Central lead
By Chris Havel
Special to The FAN
GREEN BAY, Wis. – The past week has been pure Brewers bliss.
Milwaukee woke up last Monday staring down a four-game series at home against (at the time) the NL Central’s second-place Cubs, followed by a three-game set against the struggling White Sox.
When it was all over but for Tommy Pham’s shouting after being thrown out at the plate in the eighth to preserve the Brewers’ 4-3 lead and ultimately the win Sunday, the Brewers were in a great place.
Milwaukee had won six of seven to widen its NL Central lead to seven games over second-place St. Louis (28-29). The Brewers lead the Cubs (29-31) by 7 ½, the Pirates (27-32) by 9 and the Reds (26-33) by 10.
Milwaukee (36-23) is a season-high 13 games above .500. They have won eight of 10.They are on a season-best five-game winning streak.
Brewers’ manager Pat Murphy didn’t cast the team’s fantastic week as some great feat, but rather a tone-setter for what lies ahead.
Murphy’s merely saying he expects the Brewers to be among the two or three teams vying to capture the NL Central. Right now they are firmly in the pole position with everyone well back in their rear-view mirror.
“We’re a work in progress, for sure,” the Brewers’ manager said. “Guys are getting comfortable in their roles. We’re set up now to understand how the season is going to be.”
How it’s going to be is a battle to the finish.
The Cubs are struggling to hit, but the law of averages says that is bound to change. The Cardinals have been red-hot but despite winning seven of 10 they still dropped a game to Milwaukee in the standings.
The Brewers’ sweep of the woeful White Sox (15-45) featured a different player in a starring role in each of the victories.
Christian Yelich keyed Friday night’s 12-5 rout by going 5-for-6 with two doubles, five RBIs and a stolen base. Milwaukee scored the 12 runs on 23 hits without a home run.
On Saturday afternoon, Willy Adames stole the show with a 2-for-5 performance at the plate. He delivered a two-run single in the seventh to tie it at 3-3. Then Adames came through with the game-winning, run-scoring single in the bottom of the 10th.
In Sunday’s 6-3 win rookie Jackson Chourio starred at the plate. After Freddy Peralta allowed two runs in the top of the first to the White Sox, Chourio capped a four-run Brewers second with a two-run shot into the second-level seating in left field to make it 4-2.
Peralta (4-3) settled down to get the win. He scattered four hits over five innings while allowing three runs with a walk and seven strikeouts. Peralta’s 3.74 ERA is respectable but could be better.
The White Sox have lost 11 straight – the longest losing binge in baseball this season – and have little to smile about. Pham’s displeasure with William Contreras after being thrown out at the plate was misplaced. He should’ve been upset with the White Sox’s third base coach who had no business sending him home.
“It was a shallow fly ball to left field,” Pham said. “You would expect the left fielder to throw the baserunner out on that play. The third base coach (Eddie Rodriguez) sends you, you’ve got to go. I’m nailed out at home by a mile. I’m going to the dugout. I hear the tough guy (Contreras) with all the hoorah (stuff). I never start anything, but I’ll be prepared to finish it.”
Contreras and the Brewers shrugged off Pham’s tantrum as frustration.
“I really wasn’t paying attention to what he had to say,” Contreras said. “I didn’t know what he was saying in my direction.”
The Brewers have more important concerns than Pham’s displeasure.
The NL East-leading Phillies come to mind.
Philadelphia (41-19) owns the second-best record in baseball trailing only the New York Yankees (42-19). The Phillies’ plus-99 run differential also is second only to the Yankees’ plus-107.
The Brewers and Phillies open a three-game series tonight with first pitch set for 5:40 p.m. at Citizens Bank Park.
Milwaukee’s “duct tape approach” to its starting rotation is reflected in MLB’s probable starters for the series.
The Phillies will open with right-handed power pitcher Zack Wheeler (6-3, 3.32 ERA) on Monday night. Left-hander Cristopher Sanchez (3.3, 2.83) follows on Tuesday night with right-handed ace Aaron Nola (7-2, 3.03) going on Wednesday afternoon.
Milwaukee’s starting pitchers are TBD, TBD and TBD.
That’s it.
Murphy isn’t trying to be coy or clever. He’s being honest. He can’t say for sure who is going to be the starter for any of the three games.
It could be Bryse Wilson, Colin Rea and Tobias Myers based upon five days rest between starts. Then again, Murphy could elect to go with an “opener” such as Jared Koenig like he did at Boston.
Unlike the mystery that is the Brewers’ starting rotation, Murphy can rely on his everyday stars to go out and contribute on a daily basis.
The original lineup for Sunday’s game against the White Sox, according to MLB’s Adam McCalvy, had Contreras and Adames both out for a day of rest. An hour before the first pitch, McCalvy wrote that the catcher and shortstop went to Murphy’s office and asked to be in the lineup.
The manager asked them to rethink it. He wanted them to rest entering the three-game series at Philadelphia. The players didn’t want to hear it.
Murphy thought about it and rewrote his lineup with them in it.
“That doesn’t happen everywhere, I promise you,” Yelich told reporters. “A Sunday day game, a lot of guys would be pretty excited about (being off), honestly. Not around here. Not this year.”
The terrific vibe remains strong and the Brewers keep on winning.
The Phillies pose a tremendous challenge, but the Brewers wouldn’t want it any other way. Not these Brewers. Not this year.
Brewers’ late heroics
thwart reeling Cubs
By Chris Havel
Special to The FAN
GREEN BAY, Wis. – With the Brewers down to their last out in the eighth, and Gary Sanchez down to his last strike at the plate, fate and the burly right-handed slugger’s bat intervened.
Sanchez barreled up Tyson Miller’s 3-2 sweeper and drove it 422 feet to dead center-field for a tie-breaking two-run home run as the Brewers went on to edge the Cubs, 6-4, on Thursday at American Family Field.
It capped a thrilling series replete with home-run robbing catches, close plays at the plate, a first-rate pitchers’ duel featuring seven no-hit innings and wondrous home runs.
It was baseball at its finest.
Milwaukee (33-23) claimed the four-game series, three games to one, as the reeling Cubs (28-29) dropped to third place in the NL Central. Chicago trails Milwaukee by 5 ½ games with red-hot St. Louis (27-27) a half-game ahead of the Cubs and 5 behind the Crew.
Sanchez, at 6-2, 258, resembles an NFL linebacker.
He’s got the right jersey number – #99 – to suggest he hits with power.
Sanchez’s seventh home run of the season snapped a 4-4 tie and enabled Milwaukee to avoid what would have been a disappointing series split.
The Brewers expect to have right-handed slugging first baseman Rhys Hoskins (hamstring) available for their three-game weekend series against the Chicago White Sox (15-42) at AmFam Field.
While Hoskins has been out, Sanchez has picked up the slack.
“He’s going to have some strikeouts, but the guy’s dangerous, and everybody in the league knows it,” Brewers manager Pat Murphy said of Sanchez. “I’m really happy for him. He’s kind of shoved it in our face a little bit, like, ‘Hey, man, I can hit more than lefties,’ Pretty cool.”
Sanchez, the former Yankees catcher and DH, delivered a pinch-hit home run off Aroldis Chapman – also a right-handed reliever – in the eighth inning of Milwaukee’s 7-5 win at Pittsburgh in late-April.
“Really, nothing changes there,” Sanchez said when asked about hitting in the clutch. “I think the focus remains the same. Find a pitch in the zone and try to put a good swing on it. I was able to do that today.”
The Brewers had nine hits in Thursday’s win. Seven of the hits came with two strikes. Clearly, the Brewers’ hitters are locked in. It’s like the old saying in baseball, “The first two strikes are for me … the third strike is for my team.”
Translation: I’ll look for something to drive early in the count, but with two strikes I’m going to choke up, shorten my stroke and concentrate on making good contact if it’s near the strike zone.
The Brewers are in a good place right now.
They have won seven of their last 12 games with the White Sox – owners of the worst record in Major League Baseball – coming to town.
Meantime, the Cubs have been scuffling at the plate and in the field. Even their vaunted starting pitching caved under the weight of the Brewers’ bats.
The Brewers had gone 32 2/3 innings without plating a run against any Cubs starter entering Wednesday night’s game. They roughed up Cubs left-handed starter Shota Imanaga for five runs in three innings. Imanaga wasn’t sharp coming off 11 days between starts, but the Brewers showed no mercy. Christian Yelich’s 441-foot blast in the bottom of the first inning off Imanaga set the stage for a 10-6 blowout win.
On Thursday, Jamison Taillon scattered six hits over six innings while allowing three runs on a walk and four strikeouts.
However, a quartet of Cubs’ relievers surrendered three hits, two walks and three runs in two innings. The Cubs’ defense committed several critical errors in the series, and the bats have been mostly anemic.
With the Cubs falling into third place, the story of Craig Counsell’s return to Milwaukee – where he is the franchise’s all-time winningest manager – fell into a distant second.
For his part, Counsell played it cool. He knows the distance between his Cubs and Murph’s Brewers – with the Cardinals sandwiched in between – is scarcely insurmountable.
“We’ve just got to keep going,” he said. “We’re in a tough stretch. When you’re in a tough stretch it feels like you don’t get breaks. We’ve got to make our own breaks, and we’ll keep doing that.”
Meantime, the Brewers intend to keep rolling on their merry way.
Bryan Hudson, the outstanding left-hander, proved he was human by giving up not one, but two home runs in a dreadful 1 2/3 innings spanning the seventh and eighth on Thursday.
In the seventh, Seya Suzuki tagged him for a two-run shot to give the Cubs a short-lived 4-3 lead. In the eighth, Christopher Morel nailed him for a solo shot to tie it at 4-4 before Sanchez’s heroics.
Before Thursday’s hiccups, Hudson’s only home run allowed was an inside-the-park job by Cincinnati’s Elly De La Cruz on April 8. Despite the rough outing, Hudson still ran his record to 4-0 with his earned-run average merely going from 0.59 to 1.13.
While the Brewers opened their NL Central lead against the Cubs, the St. Louis Cardinals continue to keep on winning.
When the Brewers defeated St. Louis on May 11 it dropped the Cardinals to 15-24. The Cardinals defeated the Brewers 4-3 to avert being swept in the four-game series. St. Louis is 11-3 since that win.
“The feel is real good, it really is,” Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said. “The guys are getting after it. And they’re convicted about every game and committed to what we set out to do out of spring training.
“These guys are playing hard, the attention to detail is there, they’re taking good at-bats, the starters are doing a good job and the bullpen has been good about taking the ball whenever needed.”
“So it feels really good in that clubhouse right now.”
Was that Oliver Marmol talking about his Cardinals? Or was it Pat Murphy discussing his Brewers?
It was both in what shapes up to be a fantastic three-team battle in the NL Central as a really fun season continues to unfold.
Brewers wallop Cubs in Counsell’s return
By Chris Havel
Special to The FAN
GREEN BAY, Wis. – Craig Counsell received a traitor’s welcome at American Family Field before Monday’s Cubs-Brewers game.
The Brewers played a tribute video of Counsell, the winningest manager in team history, before the Memorial Day matinee featuring the I-94 rivals and top two teams in the NL Central Division.
It was as well-received by Brewers fans as burnt brats and stale beer.
The fans’ boos cascaded throughout the ballpark as Counsell looked on from the third base dugout in wry amusement. The Cubs manager, who grew up in nearby Whitefish Bay, expected nothing less from the place he calls home and the fans he admires greatly.
Counsell’s Cubs were greeted in similarly rude fashion.
It was divine.
The Brewers captured a thrilling 5-1 victory thanks to some fancy footwork by their current manager, Pat Murphy, and a terrific swing on a 3-0 count by Willie Adames in the eighth.
In a well-pitched scoreless game through 7 ½ innings, Sal Frelick led off the eighth with a pinch-hit single (his first in 21 at-bats as a pinch hitter) off Cubs’ reliever Mark Leiter Jr.
Brice Turang walked and William Contreras followed with a rocket to third baseman Nick Madrigal, who tried to side-saddle the grounder as it ricocheted off his glove into left field to plate Frelick and make it 1-0.
Leiter Jr. struck out Christian Yelich before being pulled in favor of right-hander Hayden Wesneski.
After working the count to 3-0, Adames sat on a sinking fastball and drove it 427 feet over the center-field wall. That made it 4-0. Rookie Jackson Chourio capped the scoring with a ringing double to right center that scored Joey Ortiz from first base.
Adames’ home run was the Brewers’ first dinger on a 3-0 pitch since Christian Yelich did it in 2021. It was only the second time Adames had ever swung at a 3-0 pitch as a Brewer.
“I don’t really like to swing 3-0, but today, it was just the right opportunity, the right moment, the right situation,” Adames told reporters. “I think today was one of those situations where you’re like really confident about swinging 3-0, and we got the results we wanted.”
The Brewers (31-22) increased their lead to 4 ½ games over the Cubs (27-27) in the NL Central.
Memorial Day is particularly emotional for fans that solemnly honored each branch of the military in an impressive pregame ceremony. It didn’t feel like the right time for Brewers’ fans to pay their respects to their (not so) dearly departed former manager.
“I feel a lot of us were waiting for this series because it’s always intense when you’re playing the Cubs, especially when we’ve got Counsell coming for the first time after he left,” Adames said.
Counsell’s brief “thank you” video elicited boos from every nook and cranny of AmFam Field. Counsell was booed by the sellout crowd of 41,882 every time he left the dugout or was shown on the big screen.
Counsell took it in stride.
“I think the fans are here to enjoy a day and enjoy a baseball game,” he said. “They get to do what they want. Hopefully they had a good time.”
Indeed, they did.
They were treated to as well-pitched a game as you’re likely to see.
Robert Gasser started and pitched six innings of scoreless baseball. He didn’t walk a batter and fanned seven. The rookie left-hander lowered his earned-run average to a tidy 1.96 through four big-league starts.
Lefty Bryan Hudson (3-0) struck out three in two scoreless innings to get the win. Hudson entered with two runners on and nobody out in the seventh, but got Gasser off the hook. Hoby Milner allowed a sacrifice fly in the ninth – the Cubs’ only run – to cap off the Brewers’ 5-1 win.
Cubs’ left-hander Justin Steele matched Gasser pitch for pitch.
Steele allowed just three hits while walking one and striking out eight in seven innings.
“It was a great pitchers’ duel,” Counsell said. “Both pitchers were outstanding. Both pitchers were kind of on the attack. It just felt like every hitter was in a hole every single at-bat, from both sides.”
The Brewers came into the four-game series off a series win against the Red Sox at Boston’s Fenway Park. Milwaukee took two of three with Murphy’s ingenuity leading the way.
Murphy used left-hander Jared Koenig as an “opener” in each of the Brewers’ first two games at Fenway Park. He had Bryse Wilson ready to follow on Friday night and Colin Rea likewise on Saturday.
The strategy paid huge dividends.
The Brewers scored a 7-2 win Friday night and followed with a 6-3 win on Saturday afternoon.
Boston’s lineup features three red-hot left-handed hitters among its first four hitters. Koenig was able to cool off Jarren Duran, Wilyer Abreu and Rafael Devers both games.
On Friday night, Koenig recorded two outs but allowed two baserunners to reach in the top of the first, prompting Murphy to bring in Bryse Wilson to get right-handed slugger Tyler O’Neill to end the frame.
Wilson (3-1) went on to pitch 5 1/3 innings while allowing six hits and two runs with one walk and seven strikeouts.
On Saturday, Koenig went 1 1/3 innings before giving way to Rea, who went 5 2/3 while allowing three hits and two runs to get the win. Rea improved his record to 4-2.
The Brewers dropped the series finale, 2-1, despite a strong pitching performance from Tobias Myers, who allowed a run on six hits while walking none and striking out four in 4 1/3 innings.
Murphy has been terrific as the Brewers’ manager since Counsell’s departure. He has the Brewers in first place despite dealing with numerous injuries to the starting pitchers.
His creativity has enabled Wilson, Myers and others to be effective by using an “opener” such as Koenig to get through the opposing lineup at least once before going to the quote/unquote “starter.”
Murphy also has juggled a lineup that ranks among the NL’s best in batting average, on-base percentage, home runs and steals.
The four-game series continues tonight as Brewers ace Freddy Peralta (3-3, 3.81) tangles with Cubs righty Ben Brown (1-1, 3.20).
Packers, Love in good
place as OTA’s begin
By Chris Havel
Special to The FAN
GREEN BAY, Wis. – Jordan Love gets it.
The Packers’ second-year starting quarterback realizes and embraces the responsibility that comes with playing that position in this city.
It’s about throwing touchdowns and directing comebacks and winning games, to be sure. It’s also about being willing to lead, to give of himself, to set the tone by example.
It is why Love was present and accounted for at the Packers’ start of OTA’s Monday. In his mind there’s nothing “voluntary” about being at the OTA’s. There’s no gray area in terms of being “all in.”
Either you are or you aren’t.
Love is in the final year of his one-year contract extension worth up to $22.5 million (with incentives), and $13 million guaranteed.
It’s a lot of money, but it’s dwarfed by his next deal, which is being negotiated and may be worth as much as $275 million over five years. There’s an inherent risk every time an NFL player takes the field, be it for practice or a game, and Love understands this.
He also knows his team is in a great position as the season approaches.
“I think that’s always a part of it … just showing up and the other guys will follow, too,” Love told reporters. “But I mean it’s a testament to everybody wanting to be here, wanting to get that work in.”
The Packers had near-perfect attendance at the start of OTAs, with only cornerback Robert Rochelle absent for personal reasons with the team’s blessings. It’s the most highly attended OTA since Packers head coach Matt LaFleur was hired six seasons ago.
LaFleur was asked about the high number of participants and in particular Love’s presence.
“It’s everything to us,” he said of Love being there. “We’ve had almost 100% the entire offseason, which has been the best that we’ve had since I’ve been here. And I always think that when you look around the league, when your quarterback’s there, it just naturally has a way of attracting everybody to come.”
Love’s viewpoint may change over the years, but right now he explained that being here, doing his job, is just business as usual for him.
“I mean that’s just something that I’ve always done,” he said. “Trying to be here, get the reps in, get the work in with the guys and just start building that chemistry and getting ready for the season.”
Love took that approach as Aaron Rodgers’ understudy, which was understandable. Now that he’s QB1 his approach hasn’t changed.
Love, 25, learned a lot – both positive and negative – by watching and considering Rodgers’ every move. He also watched how teammates respond to the quarterback’s lead.
“I think my leadership has grown every year, even more now,” he said. “I think it was tough when Aaron was still the quarterback and I was the backup to try and be that leadership role and tell guys one thing when he might want something said differently, so that was always tough and obviously now, being the guy last year, I try to elevate that role and talk to guys more, be in guys ears a little bit more and just try to focus on being a better leader.”
Love’s on-field performance is the most important aspect of his job, but nothing happens in a vacuum. The time spent together in OTAs talking football, working out and collaborating on routes all adds up.
For example, what might seem like a minor detail discussed between Love and Jayden Reed this week could lead to them hooking up for the game-winning touchdown pass in the Sept. 6 season opener.
It’s one of those things that the media, and therefore the fans, doesn’t hear about until a postgame news conference during the season.
It’s a bonus when that interaction is facilitated by the quarterback’s willingness to learn along with his receivers and vice-versa.
LaFleur has talked repeatedly this week about how much his team’s “love of football” on a player-by-player basis is critical to success.
He also pointed out Love’s embracing his role.
“I just think you feel the confidence from him, the way he projects himself in front of the team, and that’s what you expect. You expect guys to continue to push and get better and better and better.
“The command that he has of the offense, I know the guys, they all respect the hell out of him just in terms of who he is as a man and the work he puts in.”
It’s crazy how much difference a season can make.
Last offseason, rookie tight end Luke Musgrave was asked about his QB1, and he said something like, “Well, he played at North Dakota State and I’m excited to get to work with him.”
Uh, that’s Utah State, not NDSU, but Musgrave has been forgiven.
This offseason, rookie tackle Jordan Morgan admitted he “froze” when he first met Love. He stood in awe of what Love did in 2023.
Love smiled when told of Morgan being star struck.
“It’s the first time I’ve ever heard anything like that, so obviously it’s different,” Love said. “I’m just myself … They came in their first day, you could tell the rookies are wide-eyed, first time being in the locker room, being around the guys. So it’s cool just to be able to say, ‘What’s up?’ There’s a lot on their plate.”
Love isn’t the only player with the capacity to empathize.
Left tackle Rasheed Walker played superb football in the second half of last season. His ascension and the offense’s rise weren’t a coincidence. He allowed just six sacks and was flagged for one holding penalty in 851 snaps last season. The Packers allowed only two sacks in the final seven games of the season, including the playoffs.
Walker was asked what he thought when the Packers selected an offensive tackle (Morgan) with the 25th pick in April.
“I didn’t think much about it,” he said. “It doesn’t really have anything to do with me as far as my preparation and being ready and being the best player I can be.”
Instead of feeling threatened by Morgan’s presence, Walker said he’s going to do his best to help the rookie. In fact, Walker went so far as to say that he sees himself when he looks at the rookies finding their way.
“That was me,” he said, the empathy on full display.
As for Love, he’s going to build upon the foundation laid last year.
“Last year you have a lot of guys, young receivers that are learning the playbook, that the timing, the chemistry is just not really there yet and we go out there today and it’s just night and day,” Love said. “Guys know exactly where they’re going to be at. We have so much chemistry from last year and know where guys are going to be at and know what we need to do.”
All that chemistry, to go with the talent, could very well trigger an offensive explosion in Green Bay.
UWGB hires Gottlieb;
Brewers clinging to 1st
By Chris Havel
Special to The FAN
GREEN BAY, Wis. – Doug Gottlieb has realized a lifelong ambition.
The 10th men’s basketball coach in Wisconsin-Green Bay history said during last week’s introductory news conference that he grew up dreaming about being an NCAA Division I basketball head coach.
UWGB hired Gottlieb, a longtime media personality and former college player, to replace Sundance Wicks, who exited to become the head coach at Wyoming after posting an 18-14 record in his one season.
Now it’s up to Gottlieb to build on Wicks’ progress.
Gottlieb’s resume indicates a strong desire to be around the game in some capacity, whether it is coaching at the AAU level, or the United States’ team in the Maccabiah Games in 2009 and 2017, or talking basketball endlessly with college coaches in his media role.
All of this suggests Gottlieb is champing at the bit to get to work.
My concern regarding Gottlieb’s ability to lead the Phoenix program isn’t rooted in any lack of experience, enthusiasm or knowledge.
My concern is the fact that wanting something, especially after wanting it for so long, is often more desirable than having it.
So now what?
Gottlieb has his dream job, or dream jobs, if you will, because he is going to continue hosting his national radio show Monday through Friday from 3-6 CDT.
Let the juggling begin.
Landing the Phoenix job is a great accomplishment for Gottlieb. And one may question his motives, but the truth is building a program and a resume aren’t mutually exclusive.
In fact, one often begets the other.
However, Gottlieb’s hire is as non-traditional as it gets. That’s true even in these entirely non-traditional times in college basketball, from the NIL deals … to the transfer portal … to you name it.
One could argue the Phoenix and AD Josh Moon had few options.
In fairness, Wicks’ 11th-hour departure was the catalyst that turned a basketball program headed the right direction upside down.
Moon actually danced around the disaster rather adroitly.
He was decisive in hiring Gottlieb, and he focused on the positives rather than any potential negatives. The exposure afforded UWGB basketball is going to be incredible thanks to Gottlieb’s radio role. The university also was able to hire Gottlieb at a bargain salary because they’re allowing him to moonlight to supplement his income.
The tradeoff is obvious.
Gottlieb won’t be able to give his full, undivided attention to UWGB. As it is college basketball coaches across the country are bemoaning the additional time required to navigate NIL deals and the transfer portal.
These are strange, demanding times indeed.
Gottlieb swears he’s up to the task. He insists he has the energy, desire and commitment to make it work.
Perhaps the basketball gods will bless him for his great affection for the college game and all it brings. Perhaps they’ll watch over him and reward that love of the game with a great experience in Green Bay.
In the best-case scenario Gottlieb and UWGB will be better for it.
In reality I have my doubts that it will bring about the Phoenix’s first NCAA Tournament appearance in what feels like forever.
All anyone is wish UWGB and Gottlieb the best … fingers crossed.
** BREWERS STILL IN FIRST IN NL CENTRAL
The Milwaukee Brewers dropped two of three games at Houston over the weekend, but still hold a two-game lead over the Chicago Cubs in the NL Central.
The Brewers (27-19) kept pace with the Cubs (26-22) who lost two of three to the Pirates at Wrigley Field.
Milwaukee’s finest moment all weekend was William Contreras’ at-bat in a four-run fifth inning that propelled the Brewers to a 4-2 win over the Astros and ace Justin Verlander on Saturday.
Contreras saw 12 pitches before swatting the 13th offering an estimated 428 feet for his seventh home run, a three-run shot that plated Sal Frelick and Jackson Chourio with two outs.
It gave Milwaukee a 4-1 lead and the Brewers never looked back.
Contreras came into the game second in the NL in runs (39) and batting average (.353) while extending his on-base streak to 25 games. That streak was halted on Sunday.
The Brewers’ win halted the Astros’ six-game winning streak and enabled them to maintain their two-game lead over the Cubs.
Milwaukee is at Miami (15-33) for a three-game series beginning tonight. The Marlins are among MLB’s worst teams, although they have been better of late, going 5-5 in their last 10 games.
Joe Ross will start for the Brewers in the series opener.
** WAUSAU’S JIM OTTO PASSES AWAY AT 86
In NFL news, the player they called “The Original Raider” – Wausau native Jim Otto – passed away at 86 during the weekend.
Otto played 15 seasons and never missed a game. His career began in the AFL in 1960 and continued through 1974. The Raiders’ legend who wore jersey number 00 played in 223 straight games, including the playoffs. From 1960 until the NFL-AFL merger in 1970 Otto was the AFL’s only All-Pro center. He was a 12-time Pro Bowl player and was voted All-Pro (best at his position) an amazing 10 times.
Otto is quoted as saying the Packers’ Ray Nitschke laid the hardest hit on him of any player in all those seasons. It occurred in 1972.
“He broke my facemask in here, which broke my nose and set it over here,” he said, pointing with his index finger.
“Broke my cheekbone, and my zygomatic arch bone here, and detached my retina in my left eye … I was blind for six months in my left eye. It was really bad. It all swelled up, and I couldn’t see, but I kept playing. I never went out of the game.”
Otto remains one of Wisconsin’s most famous athletes of all time.
Packers’ schedule has
user friendly feel to it
By Chris Havel
Special to The FAN
GREEN BAY, Wis. – The Green Bay Packers’ schedule release has morphed into a cataclysmic event. It triggers a torrent of excitement, anticipation and action regarding what’s to come and what could be.
The possibilities are endless. The sky’s the limit. Visions of a Super Bowl berth dance through the minds of Packers’ fans everywhere.
Why not?
The Packers’ only wins and losses, at least until the final second of the Friday, Sept. 6, season opener against the Eagles in Sao Paulo, Brazil, are the W’s and L’s fans scrawl next to each of the 17 games.
The Packers remain unbeaten and untied until then.
One could say optimism runs high each offseason when the schedule is released. Perhaps, but this schedule feels different than most.
It seems more doable than daunting despite a singularly difficult stretch. It begins at home against San Francisco, continues Nov. 28 with a Thanksgiving home game against Miami and wraps with a Thursday night showdown Dec. 5 against the Lions in Detroit.
That’s 49ers, Dolphins and Lions in 12 days.
That’s tough.
Still, the typical Green Bay fan’s reaction to the Packers’ 2024 schedule ought to be, “I don’t like it. … I LOVE IT!”
It’s as user friendly as an open door … As inviting as a cup of hot chocolate on a cold night … As welcoming as a preacher perched in the narthex inviting parishioners to enter … As cordial as a politician shaking hands and making promises on the campaign trail.
Yes, the 12-day stretch from Nov. 24 through Dec. 5 is straight out of football hell.
No, it isn’t likely the Packer will run the table against the 49ers, Dolphins and Lions. Following that up with night games against the Seahawks and Saints is no bargain, either.
However, the Thanksgiving night game against Miami begins a stretch of four straight night games. The Packers are at Detroit (7:15 p.m. on Dec. 5), at Seattle (7:20 p.m. on Dec. 15), and home against New Orleans for Monday Night Football at 7:15 p.m. on Dec. 23.
There aren’t any games on Halloween, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, New Year’s Eve or New Year’s Day.
Thank you, NFL.
More important, the Packers can get dialed in on night games rather than constantly readjusting their body clocks.
The natural rhythm and routine can’t hurt.
Furthermore, if things go according to plan, the Packers will be playing their best football against top opponents at a time when NFL fans are tuning in to check out Jordan Love and the Packers’ retooled defense.
LaFleur discussed the schedule on Packers.com.
“That will definitely be a tough four-game stretch,” he said. “Going into the season, those are four teams (Dolphins, Lions, Seahawks and Saints) that I think project to be very tough football teams. But it is nice to have two of those, at least, at home with San Francisco and then following it up with Miami on Thanksgiving, which is great to have a Thanksgiving night game in Lambeau.”
The Packers kick off six of eight games to open the season at noon.
NFL coaches are control freaks by nature. They put stock in a regular routine and regimen. The noon starts help to facilitate all of that.
The early starts also are great for Packers fans.
Lambeau Field in all its glory is always a wondrous place to watch a football game. It’s a special mixture of magical and magnificent in two instances: When the snow is blowing, the wind is howling and the temperatures plummet to single digits … Or when it’s a gorgeous autumn day in Wisconsin and the brilliant colors – especially green and gold – stand in brave opposition to the coming winter.
The Packers host the Colts on Sunday, Sept. 15, in their noon home opener. They return Sunday, Sept. 29, to take on the Vikings and Aaron Jones. Then it’s the Cardinals on Oct. 13 and the Texans on Oct. 20.
That’s four warm-weather home games during which fans will be able to hoot and holler without seeing their own breath.
LaFleur needs his team to be ready to spring at the starting line.
“Yeah, our guys better wake up with their (blank) hot like I’ve said before … they got to get ready to go,” LaFleur said of the noon starts. “I do think in the preseason, we’ll have an early kick game (against Baltimore on Aug. 24) to get those guys acclimated with that rhythm.”
The bye week comes in Week 10. It falls between critical NFC North home games against the Lions before the bye and the Bears after.
Division games are crucial. It’s especially true at home.
“I think we’re excited about that,” LaFleur said of the bye week. “You’re never quite sure when the right time for a bye is, although it does seem like it maps out pretty favorably for us.”
Much the same could be said of the entire schedule.
The Packers, coming off an impressive 9-8 mark in Love’s first year as the fulltime starting quarterback, should be in the double-digit win total.
At the risk of sounding like a Packers’ fan an 11-6 season seems doable. It’s possible the Packers could go 12-5 and vie for the NFC’s top seed.
Either way, the course has been charted and the journey’s about to begin. The Packers-Texans matchup featuring Houston’s terrific young quarterback, C.J. Stroud, and Love, might be the Super Bowl preview.
Anything’s possible. The sky’s the limit.
“We’re excited,” LaFleur said. “We’re excited to have a plan for the season. The schedule’s the schedule. Our mindset is ‘we’ve got to be our best regardless of when we play, where we play,’ but we are excited to be able to map out our plan.”
Brewers win 3 of 4 to
claim St. Louis series
By Chris Havel
Special to The FAN
GREEN BAY, Wis. – The Brewers’ plan to capture a four-game sweep of St. Louis in Sunday’s finale at American Family Field was derailed by erstwhile slugger Paul Goldschmidt’s slump-busting day.
Goldschmidt ended a career-worst 0-for-32 slump with a ninth-inning base hit on Saturday night. He followed it up with a home run and single on Sunday afternoon to help the Cardinals rally for a 4-3 victory over Milwaukee and salvage the series finale.
William Contreras, Gary Sanchez and Christian Yelich each had two hits, but it wasn’t enough to overcome Bryse Wilson’s shaky start and the bullpen’s inability to make a 3-2 lead through 5 innings stand up.
“Offensively and pitching, whatever, it just wasn’t a great ballgame for us,” Brewers manager Pat Murphy said.
The Cardinals won despite stranding 13 baserunners on Sunday. They were a dreadful 2-of-14 with runners in scoring position Sunday and finished 4-of-35 with RISP for the four-game series.
Wilson issued five walks, Goldschmidt was due and the Brewers’ insane eight-game winning streak against St. Louis had to end sometime. The Cardinals’ win also snapped their seven-game losing streak.
Nevertheless, the Brewers (24-16) remain atop the NL Central. The second-place Cubs (24-17) trail Milwaukee by percentage points.
Milwaukee is a splendid 11-6 versus the NL Central. The Cubs are next at 4-2. No one else has more than one win in the division. The Brewers also are also an NL-best 12-7 in day games and 14-8 on the road.
Milwaukee has spent 29 days in first place. It also is 9-8 in intra-league games and owns nine comeback wins. Its plus-35 run differential is fourth-best in the National League.
The loss Sunday was disappointing for Brewers’ fans, but the overall series was a smashing success given their three wins and rookie pitcher Robert Gasser’s outstanding MLB debut on Friday night.
Gasser, a 24-year-old left-hander, threw six scoreless innings to set the tone in Milwaukee’s 11-2 victory over the Cardinals. The Brewers are an impressive 9-3 in blowout games (decided by five or more runs).
Gasser (1-0) was called up from Triple-A Nashville, where he was recovering from bone spurs in spring training that postponed his season. He was acquired as part of the trade that sent Josh Hader to the Padres.
Gasser scattered six hits to go along with four strikeouts, no walks and a hit batter in his 79-pitch outing.
Murphy said he was pleased with Gasser’s poise and patience.
Once the Brewers claimed a commanding lead Gasser proceeded to pepper the strike zone.
The Brewers took command with a five-run fifth to grab a 7-0 lead. St. Louis right-hander Lance Lynn started strong but lost command in the fourth, when he allowed two runs. The Brewers chased him in the fifth.
Gasser and the bullpen did the rest.
The last time a Brewers pitcher went six scoreless in his MLB debut was Brandon Woodruff in 2017.
On Thursday, the Brewers claimed a 7-1 win as they lit up veteran right-hander Sonny Gray like a Roman candle.
Gray (4-2) surrendered solo homers to Joey Ortiz and Jake Bauers after entering with a 0.89 ERA and allowing just one home run in five starts.
On Saturday, Milwaukee rallied for a 5-3 win behind Rhys Hoskins’ three-run home run in the seventh.
Cardinals’ reliever Andrew Kittredge came in with one out in the seventh. Contreras walked and went to third on Bauers’ two-out single. Hoskins then delivered a 407-foot bomb to center for his ninth homer.
Trevor Megill pitched a 1-2-3 ninth to get his fourth save in fourth tries.
Here are some notable Brewers’ statistics through 40 games (nearly a quarter of the schedule):
** Contreras is hitting .346 with 13 doubles, five home runs, 30 RBI and 22 walks. His batting average, RBI and walks are among the league leaders.
** Christian Yelich has stayed hot despite missing several weeks with a sore back. Yelich is batting .364 with no letup in sight.
** The Brewers acquired Hoskins to bring punch to the lineup. He has done that with a team-high nine home runs and 27 RBI.
** Leadoff hitter Brice Turang’s remarkable sophomore season continues with him hitting .301 with 10 doubles, 14 RBI and 16 stolen bases without being caught. His Gold Glove-caliber defense is apparent.
** Milwaukee’s .254 team batting average ranks 4th in the NL. The Brewers’ 48 home runs, 53 steals and .334 on-base percentage each ranks 3rd in the NL. Milwaukee batters have been hit 19 times (second most in the NL) and their 150 walks ranks fifth in the senior circuit.
The Brewers open a three-game series with the Pittsburgh Pirates on Monday. First pitch is set for 6:40 p.m. at American Family Field. Steady right-hander Colin Rea (3-0, 3.29) will start for Milwaukee versus Pirates’ ace righty Mitch Keller (3-3, 4.41).
Right-hander Joe Ross (1-4) will face off against Pirates’ righty Quinn Priester (0-3, 3.60) in Tuesday’s 6:40 p.m. game.
On Wednesday it’ll be Gasser (1-0, 0.00) squaring off against Pirates’ left-hander Martin Perez (1-2, 3.60).
The Pirates (18-23) trail the Brewers by 6 ½ games and are 4-6 in their last 10 games.
Five bold predictions
for Packers’ offseason
By Chris Havel
Special to The FAN
GREEN BAY, Wis. – The Packers’ offseason soundtrack surely kicks off with Pharrell Williams easing into a mike and crooning, “Happy.”
It’s been pure bliss in Green Bay these days.
It’s been full speed ahead ever since Jordan Love began to blossom in a rough but revealing 23-19 loss last November at Pittsburgh.
While the defense showed modest improvement after an abysmal 3-6 start to the season, Green Bay’s offense established itself as legit.
Love was 21 of 40 for 289 yards in the Packers’ loss at Pittsburgh, but he also threw touchdown passes to answer early Steelers leads of 7-0 and 14-7. His resiliency under fire was impressive. His ability to give his team a chance despite facing heavy pressure on the road was exciting.
Love looked and played like an upper-tier NFL quarterback. While the Steelers’ game was his breakout appearance it’s difficult to imagine anyone predicting what was to come.
In the Packers’ final eight regular-season games and two playoff contests, they were held to fewer than 21 points just twice, compared with seven times during the 3-6 start.
The Packers’ third-down efficiency was 50 percent or better in 10 of the final 12 games. Green Bay finished fifth in the NFL in third down conversion rate.
Love also posted triple-digit passer ratings in nine games from November through January.
The NFC divisional playoff loss to San Francisco was disappointing, but it definitely allowed Packers coach Matt LaFleur to have the “first shot” at replacing Joe Barry with Jeff Hafley as his defensive coordinator. It’s all but certain 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan would’ve been on the phone to Hafley within days of an early playoff exit.
Instead, the Packers pounced on Hafley, just like they went all-in to sign safety Xavier McKinney and running back Josh Jacobs in free agency.
It’s much easier to be aggressive when you have “the guy” at QB1.
Here are five bold predictions in terms of what will happen between now and the Packers-Eagles season opener in Brazil.
** No. 1 – Who will be the “best five” offensive linemen at the season’s outset, and where will they be lining up?
Based on past performance, experience, contract status and rookie potential it seems there really is only one way LaFleur could go here.
It’s likely he’ll have incumbent left tackle Rasheed Walker and first-round pick Jordan Morgan compete for the starting job. However, it’s not unprecedented to see Walker and Morgan time-share the position throughout training camp, the preseason and into the season opener.
If it’s Walker/Morgan time sharing left tackle, it’ll be Elgton Jenkins at left guard, Josh Myers at center, rookie Jacob Monk at right guard and right tackle Zach Tom staying put until further notice.
Earlier this week offensive line coach Luke Butkus revealed Myers is staying put at center.
“We need depth, so we’re going to cross-train them all,” Butkus said. “Obviously, Josh Myers is our center but as far as everybody else, we’re going to cross-train them and put the best five out there. It’s competition so it’s making everybody better.”
Myers is in the final year of his contract. It appears the Packers are going to play out the string before moving on from him. Much of that is because of the offensive line’s terrific performance down the stretch.
The run game exploded with a healthy Aaron Jones leading the attack.
Green Bay also allowed only two sacks in Love’s final 150 pass attempts of the regular season and playoffs. In fact, the Packers surrendered only eight sacks in their final nine games.
They also were the NFL’s best offense in goal-to-go situations. Once they got there, they got into the end zone 95 percent of the time.
They did all of that with Myers at center.
His improvement was a critical if underappreciated aspect of the Packers’ offensive ascension.
At least Myers wasn’t unappreciated by Butkus.
When asked what Myers needs to do to continue his improved play, Butkus said: “Just continue to grow, just like our expectations for everybody. That’s where Josh excelled last year. He did get better as the year went on and he had command of this offense and took charge, was a little bit more vocal toward the end in commanding this offense.
“So, what do we need from him? Just to get better every single day. Keep improving.”
** No. 2 – The Packers’ tight ends will emerge as an integral and irreplaceable part of the offense.
LaFleur’s offense puts great emphasis and reliance on tight end play. In the past, he hasn’t always had the proper pieces to execute it to its fullest.
With the addition of Luke Musgrave and Tucker Kraft in last year’s draft, the signing of Ben Sims and Tyler Davis’ return from injury, Green Bay’s tight end room is second to none in the NFL.
Musgrave is a big, fast target that’s just beginning to find his way.
Kraft is a rugged blocker, reliable pass catcher and bruising runner after the catch. Sims is steady and versatile, and Davis is an excellent special teams’ player who already knows LaFleur’s scheme inside and out.
Tight ends coach John Dunn can’t wait to get to work.
“Tight ends are great weapons because they can wear a bunch of different hats and defenses have to match that … I think it will be fun to see that.”
I suspect Musgrave and Kraft will combine for more receptions than the Packers’ top two receivers, which is another way of saying I believe double-tight end formations are going to be deployed a lot of the time.
** No. 3 – Greg Joseph is going to replace Anders Carlson as kicker.
Joseph beat out Riley Patterson in 2021 to become Minnesota’s kicker. He went on to hit 33 of 38 field goals (86.8 percent) in his first season. He also drilled a 61-yard game-winner against the Giants, so there’s no shortage of leg strength.
Furthermore, Joseph is a veteran who has been there, done that.
The Packers have too much at stake to put their faith in Carlson’s right foot. The change will be quick and unceremonious, except for the inevitable questions about the risk of drafting a kicker.
** No. 4 – Rookie safety Evan Williams will start alongside McKinney to open the season. That means second-round pick Javon Bullard will be lining up at the nickel cornerback spot in sub-packages in tandem with the returning Keisean Nixon.
Williams is a heavy hitter who can slide down and defend the run with a vengeance, especially on early downs. At least that’s what the scouts see and I tend to agree.
Bullard is incredibly versatile with big-play potential. He’ll play more snaps than Williams, but on early downs and run situations it’ll be Williams on the field.
** No. 5 – Jacobs is going to finish among the top three in rushing yards after one season removed as the NFL’s top rusher.
The Packers are going to ride Jacobs like they rode Jones down the stretch. Except Jacobs is going to be the lead dog from Day One with only minimal concerns about being overused.
With Love at the throttle the Packers can use the pass to set up the run, and vice-versa, to their play-caller’s hearts content.
The offensive weapons are young at receiver and tight end, but they’ve also logged a fair number of snaps in their short time.
Jayden Reed and Dontayvion Wicks shared a residence in Florida this offseason so they could train together religiously. If that doesn’t make a football coach smile nothing will.
Christian Watson’s healthy return, Romeo Doubs’ continued improvement and another leap for Reed, Wicks, Malik Heath and Bo Melton will further bolster the attack.
That leaves Jacobs to do a lot of the heavy lifting with rookie MarShawn Lloyd providing him a breather and the defense another reason to worry.
Packers offensive coordinator Adam Stenavich is excited by the potential to be creative and hit the ground running.
“We can go out there right now and just run plays and it’s not like we’re installing everything for the first time,” he said this week. “We can start experimenting faster and taking the next steps with the offense.
“You’re always looking to take the next step. You have to keep evolving, so it’s just a matter of what’s our best next step, or next two things that we want to do … where you can see, ‘alright, is this the direction we want to go?’ ”
Once Love began to blossom the next steps have been full speed ahead.
Cubs win 2 of 3 to join Brewers atop division
By Chris Havel
Special to The FAN
GREEN BAY, Wis. – The Brewers forgot to pack their bats.
At least it looked that way as Milwaukee dropped two of three to the Cubs in their weekend series at Wrigley Field. Better that than the beginning of a slump because the Brewers have neither the starting pitching nor the bullpen to overcome a lengthy scoring drought.
The Brewers’ 5-0 loss to the Cubs and right-hander Javier Assad (2-0) on Sunday put the exclamation point on Milwaukee’s lack of offense.
The Brewers didn’t score until they plated three runs in the eighth inning of Friday’s series opener. They didn’t score until they posted four runs in the seventh inning of Saturday’s 6-5 loss.
They didn’t score at all on Sunday.
The Cubs’ Hayden Wesneski, Jameson Taillon and Assad put up terrific numbers in the three starts. They combined to pitch 18.1 innings while allowing just nine hits, zero runs, seven walks and 19 strikeouts.
That’s nearly flawless starting pitching.
Brewers’ manager Pat Murphy seemed to take it in stride.
“We ran into three guys that pitched very, very well,” Murphy said. “And offensively we didn’t hit with runners in scoring position. But like I said, (it was) a great, great experience for our guys.”
The Brewers began the series with a tidy 3-1 victory over the Cubs on Friday afternoon. Willy Adames highlighted a three-run, eighth-inning rally to turn a 1-0 deficit into a victory.
Rookie Jackson Chourio opened the eighth with a one-out single, stole second and scored on William Contreras’ sharp single to make it 1-1. Contreras stole second and scored on Adames’ base hit to centerfield. Jake Bauers followed by driving in Adames for a two-run cushion.
The Cubs’ Adbert Alzolay suffered the loss while Elvis Peguero (4-0) got the win and Trevor Megill pitched a clean ninth for his second save.
Brewers’ starter Joe Ross allowed just one run on six hits in six innings while striking out four without issuing a walk.
Brice Turang stayed hot with a 2-for-4 day to help Milwaukee run its winning streak to three games. That’s when the offense withered, the pitching couldn’t hold up and a pair of disappointing losses ensued.
The Brewers (20-13, .606) and the Cubs (21-14, .600) are separated by percentage points atop the NL Central.
Fans of both teams may want to settle in for more of the same all season. When healthy the Brewers appear to have the better squad, but the Cubs are expecting to get Cody Bellinger back, and players such as Ian Happ aren’t going to stay cold all season.
Either way, there appears to be a paper-thin margin between them. It’s good for baseball. It’s good for the division. And it’s really good for the fans, especially Milwaukee fans if the Brewers manage to prevail.
If it’s going to be a two-team race the Brewers’ bats need to get busy.
Freddy Peralta (4-1) suffered his first loss of the season, and the Brewers’ first loss in his six starts, due to a three-run, 33-pitch fifth inning that proved to be his undoing.
Peralta’s curveball was A-plus on Sunday, but he couldn’t command his fastball. On one sequence, he threw such a nasty curve that Christopher Morel’s knees buckled. All Morel could do was call timeout, step out of the batter’s box and smile. It was utterly unhittable.
Three pitches later – including two wayward fastballs – and Morel had coaxed a walk.
It was that kind of afternoon for Peralta and the Brewers, who are now 13-6 on the road and 12-5 in day games.
“My (command) wasn’t that bad, but I walked a lot of people today,” Peralta said. “It shouldn’t have happened. I have to be better than that.”
Peralta appealed his five-game suspension for his ejection in last week’s game against the Rays. Now that he pitched against the Cubs on Sunday, he will drop the appeal and serve his suspension while waiting to make his next start, which is scheduled for Saturday against St. Louis.
Now, it appears left-handed pitcher Robert Gasser may be called up from Triple-A Nashville. Gasser pitched Sunday and threw 78 pitches before exiting with the lead.
“I think there’s a chance you might see (Gasser),” Murphy told MLB.com. “You see the hole there with Freddy being down, right? That would be a strong candidate.”
Peralta called Sunday’s loss “really important.”
“Especially today,” he said, “because I had the opportunity to win this game and the series.”
As it stands, the Brewers and Cubs are in a virtual dead heat.
Cubs’ shortstop Dansby Swanson expects it to be a two-team battle to the finish in the NL Central. Swanson definitely doesn’t expect the Brewers to fall out of contention any time soon.
“It’s kind of in their DNA to never beat themselves,” Swanson told MLB.com. “They pitch. They play great defense. They obviously run the bases well. They just do a lot of the little things right … I thought we had to play a good brand of baseball this weekend to be able to beat them, and we were able to do that two out of three times.”
The Brewers’ newest hitter, Tyler Black, got off to a slow start going 1-for-12 while batting third in Murphy’s lineup. Veteran outfielder Christian Yelich is recovering from back problems, but did participate in batting practice and some light workouts. He has been out since April 16, and his return to the lineup would be a godsend.
Meantime, Black continues to be excited and looks forward to contributing with the big league club.
“The only thing that matters is winning,” he said. “Obviously thrown into the fire, I wouldn’t want it any other way. I really felt the intensity and I’m looking forward to the future of that.”
The Brewers take on the Kansas City Royals (20-15) at Kansas City beginning tonight. Bryce Wilson will start for Milwaukee versus the Royals’ left-hander Cole Ragans. First pitch is set for 6:40 p.m.
Brewers get Counsell, Cubs at Wrigley Field
By Chris Havel
Special to The FAN
GREEN BAY, Wis. – While the Packers sort out the post-draft details and the Bucks gamely try to stave off elimination, the Brewers are using Thursday’s off day to prepare for a much-anticipated weekend series.
The NL Central-leading Brewers (19-11) travel to Chicago to face Craig Counsell’s Cubs (19-12) in a three-game series at Wrigley Field. The first pitch is set for 1:20 p.m. for each game of the weekend set.
Counsell, the Brewers’ all-time winningest manager, left Milwaukee in the offseason for a huge payday and a chance to manage the rival Cubs.
The Brewers promoted bench coach Pat Murphy to the manager’s role.
The early returns suggest it could be a “win-win” for both teams.
The Brewers have persevered despite Counsell’s departure, the Corbin Burnes trade and injuries to starting pitchers Wade Miley and Brandon Woodruff (out for the season), as well as DL Hall and Jakob Junis (both are on the 15-day Injured List). Relievers JB Bukauskus (15-day IL) and Devin Williams (60-day IL) also are out.
Nevertheless, the Brewers are off to a terrific start.
They enter the Cubs series with the best road record (12-4) in baseball. They also own MLB’s top record in day games (11-3). In terms of wins against teams that are .500 or better, only Burnes’ Baltimore Orioles (13-5) have a better record than the Brewers’ 11-6 mark.
Interestingly, the Cubs own MLB’s top home record at 10-3.
Something has to give this weekend.
After a 7-6 start under Counsell the Cubs proceeded to win 10 of 13 to plant themselves directly in the Brewers’ rearview mirror. Like the mirror reads – objects are closer than they appear – and right now only percentage points separate the Brewers and Cubs.
The winnowing process begins in earnest on Friday afternoon.
The Brewers and Cubs will be without veteran outfielders Christian Yelich and Cody Bellinger, who are on the 10-day IL. Yelich is hitting .333 with five home runs while Bellinger has five homers and 17 RBI.
Here are the probable starters in the series:
** Friday: Brewers right-hander Joe Ross (1-3) vs. Cubs righty Hayden Wesneski (2-0).
** Saturday: Brewers righty Tobias Myers (0-1) vs. Cubs right-hander Jameson Taillon (2-0)
** Sunday: Brewers right-hander Freddy Peralta (3-0) vs. Cubs righty Javier Assad (2-0).
The combined stats for the starting pitchers gives a slight edge to the Cubs, although none of Chicago’s starters has the stuff or the cache of Peralta, the Brewers’ ace.
Milwaukee’s starters are 4-4 in 13 starts spanning 68.2 innings. They have allowed 59 hits, 32 earned runs, 9 home runs, 22 walks and 77 strikeouts for a 4.19 ERA.
Chicago’s starters are 6-0 in 10 starts covering 60.1 innings. They have allowed 43 hits, 11 earned runs, 4 home runs, 13 walks and 42 strikeouts for a measly 1.63 ERA.
The Brewers’ defense, speed on the bases and bullpen are significantly better than the Cubs in those areas. Chicago’s Nico Hoerner (.272) and Michael Bush (6 HRs in 98 at-bats) have been hitting well. The bane of the Brewers’ existence – switch-hitting Ian Happ – has struggled with just one home run in 124 at-bats. Milwaukee is hoping Happ stays cold at least until the Brewers are on their way out of town.
If the Brewers can win one of the first two games they’ll have a great opportunity to capture the series with Peralta pitching on Sunday.
As much drama as the Brewers have endured the past three games, including multiple ejections and dreadful umpiring, the vibe feels like Brewers-Cubs is going to be all about baseball rather than nonsense.
** BUCKS BATTLE PACERS TO EXTEND SERIES
Milwaukee’s 115-92 blowout victory over the Indiana Pacers on Tuesday night was a profile in courage. The Bucks were without Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard but still managed to stave off elimination with a gritty team effort.
Bobby Portis and Khris Middleton scored 29 points each against a listless Pacers team that played like it couldn’t wait to get it over with and return to Indiana for Game 6 of their first-round matchup.
The undermanned Bucks were happy to oblige.
Middleton accurately assessed Milwaukee’s predicament.
“We have to find a way to win, whatever it takes,” he said. “We’re still confident. Our backs were up against the wall (on Tuesday) and we had a great home crowd that got us going. So we’re going to have to find a way. That’s the only way to put it … find a way to get this one and force a Game 7.”
If the Bucks survive there’s a chance Antetokounmpo and/or Lillard could be available if there is a Game 7 on Saturday at Milwaukee.
Bucks coach Doc Rivers said both are “very, very, very close” to returning to game action.
Antetokounmpo has been out since April 9 with a strained left calf. Lillard has missed the past two games with an Achilles injury. Lillard averaged 32.3 points in the first two games of the series.
The Pacers haven’t won a playoff series since 2014.
Indiana All-Star guard Tyrese Haliburton – a Wisconsin native and Oshkosh North graduate – offered the opposing viewpoint.
“We’ve just got to understand that they’re a team that’s on the brink of their season being done,” Haliburton said. “They’re playing desperate and they’re playing hard, as they should be. At the end of the day, they out-competed us (in Game 5). They played harder, they played better. They kind of just dominated us in every facet of the game. We’ve got to be better. It starts with me and that first group, but we’ve just got to be better top to bottom.”
The Pacers are a hefty 8-point favorite going into Game 6.
Then again, the Bucks are familiar with facing long odds. It has been that way ever since Antetokounmpo went down wincing and massaging his left calf before limping off the court 23 days ago.
It’s up to Antetokounmpo’s teammates to stay alive until he and Lillard are able to return. If that happens everything is still on the table, including a run to the NBA Finals. If that doesn’t happen, and the Bucks lose, it will bring an end to a disappointing, injury-riddled season.
Packers fill needs with
talent at OL, LB and S
By Chris Havel
Special to The FAN
GREEN BAY, Wis. – A cold, rainy Monday in northeast Wisconsin can’t dampen fan spirit across the state’s pro sports landscape.
The brash young Brewers remain in first place in the NL Central, the brave but battered Bucks are still clinging to life in the NBA playoffs, and Green Bay is officially on the clock to host the 2025 NFL Draft.
Meantime, the Packers spent the weekend infusing speed, youth and (presumably) talent to fill a handful of needs in this draft.
Packers GM Brian Gutekunst followed a script similar to the one that transformed the tight end room into a force in a single draft.
If adding one player at a position is good, and adding two is better, why not make it three?
Packers head coach Matt LaFleur is a co-signer on the concept.
“I’m a firm believer that you can never have enough competition,” he said. “It’s going to bring out the best in somebody in that room. I do think when our guys are pushing one another they’re going to get better.”
Gutekunst needed two offensive tackles, including one capable of competing to start on Day One, and an interior offensive lineman.
He didn’t overthink it.
He drafted Arizona left tackle Jordan Morgan at 25, Duke center/guard Jacob Monk at 163 and Georgia State tackle Travis Glover at 202.
Morgan will wear No. 77 and compete with Rasheed Walker to start at left tackle, with whoever falls short serving as the swing tackle.
“If you can protect your quarterback, particularly one like we have, you have a chance to win the football game,” Gutekunst said.
It’s an undeniable fact.
Gutekunst set out to acquire a left tackle and he got one he preferred.
He also got another offensive tackle with terrific potential.
Glover (6-6, 317) has a great deal of experience at left tackle and the small-school product stood strong at the all-star games.
Glover was one of eight Senior Bowl participants drafted by Green Bay. The Packers put a premium on small-school players with the confidence to test their mettle against the very best.
“The willingness to compete and put themselves in that environment … that’s not an easy thing to walk out onto that Senior Bowl practice field with all these NFL people judging you,” Gutekunst said. “To a) choose to do that and b) compete at a high level when you’re out there, if none of that’s going to phase you that says something to me.”
Monk (6-3, 308) is a powerful (33 reps at 225 pounds), smart and seasoned interior lineman. Monk will work at center behind Josh Myers and at right guard behind Sean Rhyan, at least for now.
The Packers also needed help at linebacker and safety.
The Packers’ switch to a 4-3 base defense under first-year coordinator Jeff Hafley requires no less than two linebackers with the range, speed and tackling ability to cover a lot of ground in the 4-2-5 alignment.
This draft gives Green Bay’s Quay Walker and Isaiah McDuffie a pair of potential sidekicks.
So Gutekunst stepped up and selected Texas A&M linebacker Edgerrin Cooper, who was widely rated as the top player at his position, at 45. Then he doubled down with Missouri linebacker Ty’Ron Hopper at 59.
Cooper, who will wear No. 56, runs the 40-yard dash (4.51) like a running back. Hopper, who will wear No. 59, didn’t test as well, but he’s rangy, instinctive in pass coverage and an instant asset on special teams.
Cooper was among the top athletes in the entire draft.
“His speed is different,” said Jon-Eric Sullivan, the vice-president of player personnel. “When he hits the gas and he’s running things down, there’s a ‘whoa’ factor to that.”
In addition to linebacker, the Packers also needed help at safety.
The thunderbolt free-agent signing of Xavier McKinney gives the safety room a bona fide lead dog. Now they’ve got a significantly upgraded cast to follow their Pied Piper.
At 58, Gutekunst went down to Georgia looking for a safety to steal. He got one of the draft’s top-rated defenders in the Bulldogs’ Javon Bullard.
Bullard, who will wear No. 20, ran a 4.47 40-yard dash and is an aggressive tackler. He is a wonderful athlete at 5-10, 198, who is only 21 years old. He started as a sophomore on Georgia’s top-ranked defense, which is no small feat.
Gutekunst wasn’t done yet.
He doubled-down at 111 by selecting Oregon safety Evan Williams and then tripled-down at 169 by taking Oregon State’s Kitan Oladapo.
The Packers liked Williams enough to trade up 15 spots to select him.
Green Bay’s West Coast scout, Sam Seale, explained why.
“He’s smart. He’s instinctive. He’s a good kid and he makes tackles,” Seale said. “He makes plays around the ball. He’s always around the ball. He’s a football player.”
The Packers’ Sullivan said they were also pleased to add Monk and Oladapo.
“We’re excited to add Monk and Oladapo to the equation,” the Packers’ vice president of player personnel said. “Monk, we see as an interior offensive lineman, guard/center, swing … (he’s) quick, strong. Elite wiring when you talk to the people at the school there, two-time captain, alpha, all the things you want in a guy like that.
“And Oladapo the same … played a lot of football, smart kid, very versatile player.”
The Packers’ other three draft picks included USC running back MarShawn Lloyd, Tulane quarterback Michael Pratt and Penn State cornerback Kalen King.
None other than retired Alabama head coach Nick Saban sang Lloyd’s praises after the Packers selected him.
Saban called Lloyd the “second-best back” he evaluated in the draft, and predicted that he would be an immediate factor in the passing game.
Lloyd, who will wear No. 32, ran a 4.46 40-yard dash. He also showed strength with 25 reps at 225 pounds and explosiveness with a 36-inch vertical leap.
The 5-9, 220-pound back played one year at USC after transferring from South Carolina. He will serve as Josh Jacobs’ primary backup.
Pratt will be working next to Sean Clifford in a reserve quarterback role.
King, a feisty 5-11, 191, is determined to prove his detractors wrong after having an excellent career as a Penn State cornerback. He ran a 4.55 40-yard dash at his Pro Day workout.
King was the only cornerback the Packers selected, with Gutekunst noting how well 2023 seventh-round pick Carrington Valentine played in his rookie season.
“Our league has a long history of guys who felt they were overlooked and use that as motivation to drive themselves and hopefully that’ll be the case here,” Gutekunst said while referring to King. “Certainly, he was a guy that we expected to go higher, and as we went through it, we felt very fortunate to be able to pick him where we did. He’s got a really nice skill set.”
