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GREEN BAY – Last week, Brian Gutekunst said the decisions he's making as general manager of Green Bay Packers relate primarily to performance, not sending messages to players.
"I do not necessarily think the message is sent to the locker room," said Gutekunst after exchanging half Ty Montgomery to Baltimore Ravens and security Ha Ha Clinton-Dix to the Washington Redskins. "I think the decisions we make are always in the best interest of our team, not just in the short term but in the long term."
But it's hard to watch two of the Packers team's last moves – exchanging Montgomery against a conditional choice of the seventh round for 2020, and to publish the security, Jermaine Whitehead Tuesday – and not to think that the mental errors or the undisciplined actions of these players are at least taken into account in their abrupt departures.
There were surely other factors involved, but there is no doubt that their mistakes hurt the reputation of every player on the list.
"I think you take everything into consideration when you make these kinds of decisions," Gutekunst said last week. "But the performance comes first. It is always the major factor in these decisions. Everything is taken into account, but it's never a thing. "
After swapping Whitehead two days after being sent off Sunday night against the Los Angeles Rams on October 28, Montgomery traded Whitehead two days after being sent off Sunday night against the Los Angeles Rams. Patriots at Gillette Stadium, the Packers went from two players who started the season as significant contributors.
In fact, in the case of Whitehead, he had made 359 total catches – 221 in defense and 138 in special teams – and the coaching staff apparently considered it an important part of their subsets for the defense and cover units. special teams. As recently as the Rams game, Whitehead was a key part of the defense, scoring 75 of 78 defensive shots.
His ejection against the Patriots, which occurred after hitting the center of New England, David Andrews, with a 15-yard penalty that led to a touchdown of the Patriots, left the Packers shorthanded, especially after the departure of Clinton-Dix last week. Coach Mike McCarthy said on Monday that Whitehead's mistake was blamed on Andrews, who appeared to be behind the incident.
"I think the Whitehead penalty was clearly a classic reaction from the first player. And they catch the second guy, "McCarthy said. "Whatever your feelings, the severity of the sentence is a different subject. But you can not have that. You can not react to that kind of thing. We must be better there. "
McCarthy was also unhappy with his team's high number of mental errors against the Patriots, saying they were "out of reach."
After the Whitehead ejection and Kentrell Brice's ankle injury, the Packers only had one real security man, Josh Jones, in the second year at the end of the match. Veteran cornerback Tramon Williams went to safety and took the place of Clinton-Dix against the Patriots.
The Packers called for Ibraheim Campbell's safety when the New York Jets waived Monday, and they used the Whitehead team's spot to promote cornerback Will Redmond in the 53-man roster. , Tuesday.
Campbell entered the league as Northwestern's fourth round pick in 2015 with the Cleveland Browns, whose head coach was now the Packers defenseman's coordinator, Mike Pettine. Campbell played in 43 games with 11 starts with four teams in his first four years in the NFL.
Redmond joined the Packers training squad on September 11 after being cut at the end of training camp by the Kansas City Chiefs. He entered the league as a third-round pick choice by the San Francisco 49ers in 2016, but missed his rookie season with a knee injury. He also missed the first half of last season with an ankle injury and has not played in an NFL regular season game yet.
Thompson receives Hall's call
Former General Manager Ted Thompson, who took his place in the off-season to play an advisory role in promoting Gutekunst as General Manager, will be inducted into the Packers Hall of Fame in May.
Thompson, hired as general manager in 2005, has chosen quarterback Aaron Rodgers with his first draft pick; made the decision to separate from professional football Hall of Fame quarterback Brett Favre in 2008; built the roster of the winning team of the 2010 Super Bowl XLV; signed two so-called members of the Professional Football Hall of Fame as independent players (Charles Woodson in 2006 and Julius Peppers in 2014); and used his design and development philosophy to form Rodgers-led teams that made the post-season franchise record for the eighth consecutive year.
"It's one of those things that is too important to think about, really, for one person," said Thompson in a filmed interview recorded on Packers.com – Thompson's first public comment since his transfer to his position as adviser. "You just do not think in these big terms. I had a hard time believing that it was true.
"You think of all the great players who came here and did great things, and you do not belong to them, they are great idols and I am just a scout. Was very excited about it.I mean, it surprised me.But I was very very enthusiastic. "
Allison at IR
As expected, the Packers placed No. 3 wide receiver Geronimo Allison on the injured list because of a central muscle injury revealed last week. Allison would have the right to return from the IR for the playoffs if the Packers reach the playoffs.
The Packers did not immediately occupy the Allison post, and it is not known whether they will use either of their two IR forwarding designations on the former UW-Whitewater wide receiver, Jake Kumerow, or on the wide receiver. / kick kicker, Trevor Davis. Both players have been on the injured list and can return if the team decides to bring them back.
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