Chili from Pacific Beach, CA

Country? C'mon now, you know Mike is more of a Disco type. He must have a closet full of polyester.

This has officially gotten out of hand.

Johnny from Nasewaupee, WI

II, was the Denver trip, "The Lost Weekend?" Seems that it would be challenging for coaches to make personnel decisions when not much went right in the Mile High City. What areas of the game provided some basis for meaningful evaluations?

There's always value in the assessments. One game doesn't define any player but it becomes part of his body of work. That aside, the biggest positive to come out of it might be the intense focus the coaches can emphasize is necessary for this final week of training camp.

Joe from Ormond Beach, FL

Gentlemen, count me amongst the crowd that is happy the Packers got it handed to them their entire stay in Denver. The team has been fed all offseason that they are the greatest thing since sliced bread. A little serving of humble pie is just what the doctor ordered. This is one time I approve of eating dessert before the main meal. Time will tell if any lessons were learned.

I haven't gleaned any sense of entitlement or purchasing of silk pajamas from this bunch, but as it relates to the starting units from Friday's joint practice, it was meaningful in his pregame remarks Sunday that LaFleur referred to it as a "wake-up call."

Dennis from Oak Ridge, TN

Is there that much talent difference between starters and second units to justify Sunday's performance. Hope not.

There is when it's all starters vs. all backups. If you don't understand that, you don't understand the NFL. There is no justification for what transpired after Denver pulled its starters, though. The Packers should've responded better, and that's what didn't sit well.

Will from South Jordan, UT

Not a question, but a follow up to Steve from Hurricane, UT and his question about the 1's, 2's, and 3's. Just as there are differences in the top 1% of athletes to normal people, there is a big gap between the top 1% and top 0.01% of athletes.

True that.

William from Newburgh, IN

It always amazes me when poor play is deemed acceptable since it was backups vs. first-stringers. Yes there can be a drop off between the two levels but many of those backups are one play away from being a starter.

Also true, but if they're asked to go into a game, they're still surrounded by starters.

Ethan from La Crosse, WI

"If Jordan Love goes down, this team is toast." If Love goes down, our backup QB will step onto the field with 10 other regular starters, not an entire string of backups. Use your brains, people.

Moving on.

Ryan from Bloomer, WI

I assume Sean Peyton, with the task of bringing a rookie QB up to speed to start this season, put forth a little more game planning and scheming against GB and played the starters to rep a regular-season week. Makes sense. Conversely, LaFleur is working on churning the bottom half of the roster with little prep and a simple call sheet so he can evaluate how the men fighting for a job respond in the heat of battle and test their fundamentals. I think both teams got what they needed in this game.

It was instructive that before Tuesday's practice, LaFleur walked back his comments on the missing "effort, strain, grit" he saw from the team Sunday night. After a detailed film review, he saw way too many mental errors and a general lack of basic execution.

Paul from Northglenn, CO

Preseason games don't count but they certainly matter. Besides avoiding any serious injury, what matters MOST this week?

Basic execution.

Al from Green Bay, WI

Way back in my college days, cramming for finals was a thing. With only days remaining before the roster cuts to 53, what (if anything) can the bubble players do to "cram" in the final days?

Physically, leave it all out there. Mentally, know the playbook backwards and forwards so on any call, you have no question about your assignment or responsibilities so you can play without thinking. That's how you play your fastest and sharpest.

Dave from St. Michael, MN

As much as I want to keep the kickoff in the game, wouldn't the simplest (safest) thing be to eliminate the free kick? Just give the team that got the safety the ball at their 40-yard line and move on. It penalizes the team giving up the safety and removes a kick from the game.

I could live with that.

Aaron from Fort Wayne, IN

The fans clamoring for a vet backup QB make me chuckle. When you are paying top QB money to your QB1, you have less money to dole out. A vet at QB2 effectively makes the same as a 2nd/3rd depth chart WR I'd imagine. So take your pick, extra weapon for QB1 or insurance policy in case he goes down. I bet I know what choice these types of fans are going to be clamoring for when many of our talented WRs are up for a new contract next year. Can you have every ideal situation under the salary cap?

You answered your own question.

Caleb from Knoxville, TN

Who is your favorite player to watch thus far in the preseason?

There have been several – Javon Bullard, Evan Williams, Grant DuBose, Emanuel Wilson, Kristian Welch, Jacob Monk. But the one who jumped to the top of my list after seeing him in game action for the first time is Ty'Ron Hopper.

James from Ottawa, Canada

Jeez, it's good to have James Campen back with the organization. Some things in life just feel right, and Campen back in Green Bay is one of those things.

Preach.

Rob from Prospect, KY

Hey Mike, do teams put together a "waiver board" similar to a draft board in order to help with decision making after cutdown day? It seems like there would be a lot of chess pieces all moving at the same time.

The personnel department is studying other rosters and preseason game film to try to anticipate players who might become available when decisions are made. There can always be surprises, but they try not to be surprised so they can act quickly if required. They always keep their original scouting reports as reference points, too.

TK from Grafton, WI

Years ago it was fairly common for a leading running back to have over 300 carries in a season. Is today's game too brutal for that?

I don't know about brutality. The game becoming more and more pass-oriented factors into fewer backs reaching that mark. I also think teams are understanding it's difficult to have your top running back at the top of his game late in a 17-game marathon (and for the playoffs beyond) if he's overworked the first three months of the year. Last season was the first I can ever recall the league leader in carries had fewer than 300, as Derrick Henry led with 280. ATMR (WCBW), back in 2006, there were 10 running backs with at least 300 carries. From 2019-22 combined, there were nine over those four seasons. The last time there were more than three in a season was 2012.

Mike from Ames, IA

A lifetime of watching preseason football (it's only 3-4 games a year, but feels like a lifetime) has convinced me that, after quarterback, the position where the NFL has the biggest depth problem is offensive line. Does that seem like a fair assessment? Or are those simply the two positions where consistency is most important?

I'd say it's difficult for any team to be as deep as it would like to be on the offensive line because the unit requires five and finding/developing five capable in reserve is a tall order. In that vein, I liken it to cornerback. Offenses like to dig into a defense's corner depth by putting four and sometimes five receivers on the field to see if the opponent has an answer.

Bill from Menominee, MI

I tried focusing in on the offensive line during the Sunday night exhibition. Overall, it consistently looked like the line was pushing the defense back, however only four of five on each play. It didn't appear to be the same four each time either. It appeared strength was not a concern as much as cohesiveness and consistency. Two preseason games in, this shouldn't be surprising. I think there are some jars on the shelf.

Agree on the jars. I like what Sean Rhyan and Monk have done this preseason, while Kadeem Telfort and Caleb Jones have made strides but aren't there yet, and Travis Glover is just getting started. I won't go so far as to say "four of five" when looking at the film of the O-line, but the point is still valid that when one guy gets beat up front, it can wreck the play and makes the whole unit look bad.

Jack from Chicago, IL

It looked like Andre Dillard was the first OT after Walker and Zach Tom since he started the game at LT and was the first OL to rotate out during the game. Would you say he has the edge in the swing tackle battle? From what I saw he played well without a lot of support in pass pro.

That's probably a fair reading at this point, but he wasn't practicing Tuesday due to a shoulder injury. So stay tuned I guess.

Keith from Springfield, MO

Is the flight plan to Brazil finalized? Enough fuel and runway for a nonstop flight? The Navy used to fly us submarine crews from Maine to an advanced base in Rota, Spain. We were overweight on one flight, and I saw the airport fence about 20 feet below as we departed. Our commanding officer said, "The most useless thing in the world is runway behind you." I am concerned for flight safety for II and the team.

I'm not privy to the specifics, but I heard arrangements have been made for an aircraft that can take off from Green Bay's shorter runway and fly nonstop to Sao Paulo.

Kerry form Lakewood Ranch, FL

There seems to be a frequent last to first team in the NFL. Last year it was the Texans. Who is your candidate for this year?

Frequent seems a little strong, but I'll play along. My pick would be the Bengals, and if that's not fair because Burrow got hurt last year, then I'll take the Chargers.

Brian from Madison, WI

Listening to you two talk about Isaiah McDuffie made me wonder, in terms of scouting the later rounds, if the Packers don't put so much emphasis on measurables, but more on how they look on the field.

No draft pick in the late rounds is the complete package, that's why he's still on the board then. So as Wes has written several times in this space, when it comes to the late rounds, you're looking for something to build on for a player to be able to stick in the NFL. It might be a specific athletic trait, the measurables, his college game film, or something else. In McDuffie's case, the production was there on the game film, and he's proven he could take his game to this level.

Dan from Richmond, VA

After reading about locker room ping pong (or table tennis as the pros like to call it), at least one inquiring mind needs to know: Which Packer is currently at the top of the leaderboard?

I haven't seen everyone play, but in the brief amount of competition I've witnessed, Bo Meltonand Anders Carlson look pretty darn good.

Evan from Middleton, WI

Packers Perks is awesome! I just won sideline passes for the game this weekend. The only downside is that my wife and I are bringing our three kids to the game and there are only two passes. How do we figure out who gets to use them?

Two kids head to the sideline, the other raids the cheese curd stand?

Jon from Guttenberg, IA

Hi Mike. I really enjoy your writing (and grammar). Do you have any aspirations to author anything like a sports biography, short story or a novel? If you could make time of course.

Fiction would not be my thing if I continue writing beyond this job. Whether I tackle some sort of non-fiction sports book would depend on my level of energy when I hang up the day-to-day of football beat coverage.

Jeff from Littlefork, MN

"Brazil can't get here soon enough." I thought we had to travel TO Brazil.

Happy Wednesday.