Inbox: The Packers can handle either scenario

Paul from Palm Bay, FL

"If I'm diving into a 500-page book, I'm not writing my review after 30 pages." I thought there was NO MATH in the Inbox... Seems to me, someone did the math...1/16 of 500 is, you guessed it...30! Well played, my friends. Well played. GO PACK!

Longfellow couldn't have said it better than Spoff. There are no running game stories when writing a novel. You take each game for what it is and keep moving forward.

Jim from Eau Claire, WI

Spoff and Wes, I'm beginning to think my vocabulary isn't Brobdingnagian enough to read this column.

Gesundheit.

Austin from Manassas, VT

Jordan Loveis questionable!? Unbelievable. Is there anything preventing us from listing him as questionable even if we know he won't play just to give the Colts more to prepare for?

Matt LaFleur talked all week about how the door is open for Love to play in this game and clearly the Packers feel strongly about that assertion. Love even being questionable for this game is promising sign. Maybe he plays, maybe he doesn't, but it's a huge deal it's even a possibility considering how scary things looked in Brazil.

Al from Green Bay, WI

Sure, the Pack let one get away in Brazil, but there is room for optimism in Week 2. Reasons to believe: 1) Home opener, Lambeau Field! And the place will be rockin'. 2) The disruptive Packers defense will be more effective on the stable Lambeau turf. 3) The Packers ran well last week, while the Colts yielded more than 200 yards on the ground in their opener. 4) Spoff says so. From yesterday's Inbox: "This game is winnable no matter who's at QB." 5) Jayden Reed. GPG!

For me, this game comes down to whether the Packers can replicate their second-half success on the ground, or the Colts making the necessary corrections after being routinely gashed by Joe Mixon on their home turf. Obviously, who's playing quarterback for Green Bay is part of the alchemy, but the Packers can handle either scenario whether it's Jordan Love playing through this knee injury or Malik Willis making a spot start.

Phillip from Wonder Lake, IL

What if the Packers' defense takes over for offense and wins the game?

I wouldn't be opposed to it.

Matt from Fitchburg, WI

Just watched a video by Michael Mackelvie, in which they calculated luck in NFL games using four metrics the NFL deems "chance events" (fumbles, dropped passes or interceptions, and missed field goals). They found that luck fairly evens out during the regular season. However, of the top 10 single-game luck scores in the postseason (since they started tracking in 2018), nine of those teams on the lucky end won their game. So, maybe Mike is on to something…

Football is 90% chess. The other half is "Candy Land."

Bob from Grand Rapids, MI

While I love Mike quoting "Big Bang Theory," I pray he is wrong saying Sunday will be rock, paper, scissors, lizard, Spock. The answer is always Spock, and we can't afford to be that predictable on Sunday! Wes, what do you think might be our best surprise option with Willis likely to start?

I don't know what any of this means, but Willis has the ability to test the top of any defense with his arm. He wreaked a lot of havoc with his feet at Liberty but also threw for more than 5,000 yards during his two years in Lynchburg, Va.

Dan from Catonsville, MD

If Jordan Love does not play, it will be interesting to see the effect Tom Clements has on Malik Willis. I know this – Matt Flynn had some terrific games when Clements was on the sideline. Next to ML, Clements maybe one of the most important coaches on the Packers' sideline this week?

I think that's true most weeks regardless of Love's availability. Clements has an encyclopedic knowledge of quarterback play in the NFL and a gift for extracting the most from a prospect's potential. If Willis is the one with the ball in his hands, he won’t be doing it alone.

Ryan from Ripon, WI

What are the chances that Love's MCL strain could be damaged more if he takes a hit, or even slips on the field?

Football is football, but I've also covered this team long enough to have confidence in the medical team's assessment of Love. If Love can't protect himself, he won't be out there. His long-term health is paramount. It supersedes any Week 2 game.

John from Newark, NY

First-timer here, is it a plus or could it be a minus that Willis played in the AFC South? I'm hoping it will benefit the Pack and Willis that he has some experience against the Colts. And the rest of that division. Or can it be a bad omen and those teams will benefit from having played against Willis in the past?

Matt LaFleur was asked this exact question Wednesday and said: "I think there's some familiarity with going against a guy like Gus Bradley and the schemes that he deploys." Willis never played against Indianapolis, but I think there is a benefit to him being part of Tennessee's game-planning meetings for the Colts the past two years. Certainly, he has more experience preparing for Bradley's defense than Bradley had scheming for Willis.

Scott from East Helena, MT

The last column mentioned the chance at making the playoffs being 11-13%, if the team is 0-2. I think those numbers are heavily weighted by previous schedules before division games were pushed back into the season. With all division games ahead, I'd put the chances much better.

That's a salient point, though an 0-2 start puts even more pressure on a team to win five or possibly all six of its division tilts. That's a problem for another day, though. Just beat the Colts.

Jim from Baileys Harbor, WI

I noticed in one of Mike's answers that Lukas Van Ness had the fewest snaps on the DL. That is a guy I was expecting a big second-year jump. Is his development falling behind? Or does that speak to the depth of our DL?

More the latter in my estimation. I also wouldn't compare the edge to the interior. Rashan Gary and Preston Smith ate most of the snaps at defensive end whereas T.J. Slaton, Devonte Wyatt and Karl Brooks all rotated inside with Kenny Clark.

Matt from Keswick, VA

Hello II, a fond childhood memory of mine is being around Zeke Bratkowski at a church youth function. He made a fine career of being backup to Bart Starr. Do backup players start a vigorous warmup in the fourth quarter, knowing they won't have time to warm up on the fly?

Not really. Reserves get a light stretch in after halftime. QBs also will throw to receivers on the sideline between drives. If the starter goes down, you'll often see the backup taking snaps from the center during the injury timeout.

James from Appleton, WI

The Eagles didn't bite on misdirection plays, which generally took so long to unfold that they lost yards. Did Jayden Reed's running touchdown succeed mostly because it was sudden, it was misdirection or he's so darned fast?

Reed's vision and ability to make defenders miss are what make him special. Yes, he is dynamic in the open field, but there's so much more to Reed's game than space. Emanuel Wilson and Josh Myers had terrific blocks to set up the end-around. From there, Reed saw through the smoke and accelerated through the narrowest of holes to take an explosive play and make it a scoring one.

Mark from Petersburg, TX

I really like what I have seen of Emanuel Wilson. I was thinking that he reminds me of former packers RB Gerry Ellis. I always thought that he was great and very underrated. Both were let go by their first teams in their rookie years. They have amazingly similar height and weight and both wear No. 31. What do y'all think?

That's a lofty comparison, but there's a lot to like about Wilson's game and overall upside. He's a hard runner with good vision and underrated speed. To make it in the NFL, undrafted free agents must keep proving themselves every time they take the field and Wilson continually does that. He reminds me a lot of Sam Shields, too, in that Wilson is a quiet, humble guy but plays with a massive chip on his shoulder.

Chas from Modena, WI

How long will it take Edgerrin Cooper to become a starter on the defense?

It's a balance between Cooper getting up to speed on the defense and the coaches giving the rookie the latitude to learn in the heat of battle. The talent is there, though. In my story on Cooper, I rattled off some of the snaps previous Packers rookies had in their debut and I can't think of anyone who did more with what he was given than Cooper's three tackles and a PBU on 11 defensive snaps.

Cynthia from Asheville, NC

Hi Insiders, and thanks for your good work. I'm curious about Luke Musgrave this season. Last year he seemed to be quite the find. I thought he showed good speed, blocking, and hands last year, especially for a rookie TE. Now I'm reading Tucker Kraft has surpassed him significantly. That might just be clickbait, but Musgrave's play count was sure low. What do you see?

I don't get the consternation over the tight-end snaps in Brazil. To me, it's no big secret why Kraft played more. The Packers didn't run much "12" personnel but still wanted to run the ball and Kraft is a solid blocker. It's the role he filled last year before becoming a bigger part of the passing game during Musgrave's absence. Perseverating over snaps is a great way to give yourself a headache over minutia. It's a matchup league and gameplans are week-to-week.

Ray from Phoenix, AZ

Anxious to see if our front four on defense can have a better pass rush. Also, need for Christian Watson and the other receivers help out Reed. What aspect are you most anxious to see?

Packers fans sure have a short memory regarding how badly Jalen Hurts, um, hurt Green Bay with his feet two years ago. The Eagles had 363 rushing yards in that game. Three hundred and sixty-three! Hurts had 126 by halftime. So, it was valid to be leery about forsaking rush lanes in pursuit of Hurts. Could the Packers have rushed better? Of course, but be careful drawing parallels between that pass-rush plan and how Green Bay will get after the QB this season.

Jeremiah from Middleton, WI

I think they should clarify the intended criteria for Coach of the Year, similar to how they just clarified Comeback Player of the Year. Reason being, there are too many COTY winners that are shortly after fired 'cause turns out they weren't that great. The award should be not about "exceeding expectations" for an assumed bad team but rather the coach that actually overcame setbacks to still have their team succeed. Recent examples that fit are Kevin Stefanski (2023), Bruce Arians (2012). Thoughts?

Talk to the Associated Press and its voters. This has nothing to do with me other than my established stance that the NFL Coach of the Year has turned into the flavor of the month award over the last six years. It's their ice-cream shop.

Craig from Sussex, WI

I would rather have our injury situation with Love than what Miami is dealing with Tua. Tua is in a bad place with repeated concussions, he may have to step away from football. Didn't Miami just sign him to a big, long-term deal?

The Dolphins did but that doesn't matter right now. That was yet another brutal visual for a quarterback who's already had some very visible and scary concussions. I'd feel uneasy about seeing Tua on the field again this year regardless of what any independent neurologist says. If a UFC fighter goes down like that, any athletic commission worth its salt would say that's 90 days without contact.

Vickie from Two Rivers, WI

Who decides where and who will play in overseas games?

The man behind the curtain to whom you should pay no attention.

Jennifer from Middleton, WI

Of all the things that could stun me in this column, Mike's thoughts on artificial sweeteners and diet soda are up there, though still lower than the "No Beer, No Cheese" Boy Wonder. Why was I thinking that was his non-alcoholic beverage of choice? OK, now I have to ask…what beverage is most commonly found in Mike's cube at 1265? Should I know this answer? Has it been covered? As a self-proclaimed II expert, if you answer and it triggers an "of course" and head smack, I shall punish myself accordingly.

I don't think I've seen a soda or a coffee on Mike's desk in 8½ years working with him. He might have had an apple cider or hot chocolate in the press box during a moment of weakness, but otherwise it's just water or juice. Mike drinks the IPAs and I handle the lattes. Together, we're your average American male in the 18-49 demo.

Keith from Middleton, WI

Concomitantly? Say what?

Did I stutter?

Linda from Lakewood Ranch, FL

Good morning, Wes. Are you looking forward to this weekend's games as much as I am? Big home games for both the Badgers and Packers. I'm looking for a double.

Hopefully by the time this column posts I'll have made up my mind on whether I'm going to the Wisconsin-Alabama football game.

Chuck from Henderson, NV

I forget, which one of you is rude and which one is dismissive?

Yes.

Ken from New Berlin, WI

Who is going to step up this week?

Anyone and everyone. Enjoy the game, folks.