David from Minneapolis, MN
Have to admit when I saw Thursday's headline, "He brings it every day he steps into the building," I was expecting to see a photo of Wes when the page loaded.
Carrying my lunch, right?
Dar from Mansfield, TX
In my experience, young QBs like Jake Luton sometimes have successful first games due to opposing defenses not having seen much tape of the player. Game 2 is often not so good (e.g., the Lions' David Blough last year). Do you ever get amazed at how fast the coaches and players can adjust at this level? Truly impressive. I'm obviously hoping Luton regresses this weekend.
I'm never amazed. These players and coaches are the best at what they do. As soon as they see capabilities and strengths, they figure out ways to take them away. It's why true staying power in this league is always what impresses me the most.
Brian from Sussex, WI
Enjoyed the playmaker story regarding Jones and Adams. Is it safe to say you agree with my thought Davante Adams should get extended beyond 2021 creating 2021 cap savings, which could be used to re-sign Aaron Jones? Would be nice to keep those two together as Packers for a few more years.
Under normal circumstances, I'd surmise that would be the Packers' approach. But with the number of front-line players in contract years, combined with the uncharted waters of the diminishing salary cap for next year (and beyond), I really don't know how Green Bay will go about it.
Brad from Oshkosh, WI
So if the Packers and Saints win, and Seattle loses, we'd jump ahead to first place?
Correct.
Derek from Norton, KS
Has Montravius Adams surpassed Kingsley Keke on the depth chart at this point? Or do they tend to sub for different players? He seems to be showing up more during the games I'm able to watch.
Keke is playing more snaps right now. Generally speaking, I think he's been the higher-impact player of the two, but Adams is doing some of the dirty work quite well. Being effective in the role they're asked to play is what matters.
Derek from Eau Claire, WI
Who will be the first Jacksonville Jaguar inducted into the HOF?
Tony Boselli has been a finalist a couple of times, and I believe he'll get in pretty soon here. Maybe not this year, but soon.
Jeffrey from Taylors, SC
49ers CB Verrett is ranked as one of the top per PFF. Did you notice how average Davante made him look?
Not really, because it rarely seems to matter who's across from Adams. Teams that don't provide safety help on him, they're rolling the dice big-time.
Matt from Delavan, WI
II, are there any upcoming games that could feature Davante Adams up against a "shutdown" cornerback? He just looks untouchable right now.
I'm not going to get into the "shutdown" definition, but I'll say his toughest matchups the rest of the way will be Indy's Rock Ya-Sin and/or Xavier Rhodes, Chicago's Kyle Fuller, Philly's Darius Slay and Tennessee's Malcolm Butler. He's plenty familiar with three of those five.
Chris from Rhinelander, WI
I feel a bit bad for Dexter Williams. He may never get a better opportunity than he was about to against SF.
Nobody ever said the game was fair. In fact, it's often cruel. Best wishes to Dexter on a strong recovery.
Seth from Superior, WI
I didn't see Allen Lazard on the injury report. Does that mean he is good to go? I'm excited about this offense's potential as it gets healthier.
He is currently on injured reserve, practicing with the 21-day roster exemption, and is not yet back on the active roster. Players not on the 53 do not have to be included on the injury report.
David from Waterford, OH
I believe that the Packers are 0-7 against the Griese family.
Yes, Green Bay went 0-3 against Bob Griese in the '70s. The Packers never came close to beating the Hall of Famer, actually, getting outscored 85-20 in the three meetings.
Joe from Swansea, IL
"Reports of my duplicitousness have been greatly exaggerated." I hope the rest of II readers chuckled as loudly as I did. Nicely done.
Thanks. The English major in me was kinda proud of that one.
A.J. from Brisbane, Australia
The Prince of Platteville – that made my week! Are we keeping a "Best of Wes" list somewhere?
He's really proud of that one.
Clint from New Berlin, WI
In response to Reza from Janesville's question, I sure hope they never make the play clock reviewable. With how often Aaron Rodgers brings it down to zero, not to mention other QBs, it would only be a matter of time before splitting hairs on "zero" would result in a controversial penalty.
Couldn't agree more.
Robert from Verona, WI
There is a lot of talk about the cap going down next year due to lower revenues, but can you clarify when teams will know the actual cap number? It seems like the Packers have some tough decisions to make, and the sooner they know what they're working with, the easier it will be to finalize their approach to player acquisition and retention.
They'll have a number by the start of the new league year in March, probably not long after the Super Bowl. What's already been agreed to is the revenue loss will be spread out over multiple years, and the cap for 2021 has a floor of $175 million. It won't go below that, which is a drop of $23.2 million from this year ($198.2M). It could be a little higher than $175 million depending on the final revenue calculations and how the spread of the cap hits is finalized.
Duane from Oak Creek, WI
What are your thoughts on the 16-team postseason?
I hope it isn't necessary.
James from Farmington, NM
Insiders, might this be the year where home-field advantage frankly doesn't matter? With the possible expansion to eight playoff teams, will teams just do enough to get in and stay as healthy as possible? You won't have the guaranteed rest and extra preparation being a one seed and the most dangerous teams will be those who figure it out in December going into January.
If it comes to that, I think you'll see some teams take that approach. It could depend on teams gauging their potential advantage at home, weather-wise or travel-wise. Taking five-hour, coast-to-coast flights still isn't ideal, even with no fans. If they decide to implement a playoff bubble, then all bets are off. In a seven-team field, the two through seven seeds won't matter at all in that case. In an eight-team field, none of the seeds will.
David from Janesville, WI
Insiders, I must confess that when the Packers went on their spending spree in free agency before last season I was most surprised by the Billy Turner signing. Not that offensive linemen are generally well known, but it seemed like a lot of money for a guy who bounced around a bit both from team to team and position to position. Versatility, it was said, was his strong point. Well, I guess whoever said that was right and maybe that Gutekunst guy is pretty sharp.
It was an eye-opening contract at the time, but so far it has paid for itself in even more ways than the Packers probably envisioned.
Dwight from Brooklyn, NY
Not that I have any sympathy for Seattle, mind you, but their play-calling strategy of "Give the ball to Wilson and let him work his magic" seems awfully reminiscent of the late McCarthy years here.
The overall construction of your roster has a lot to do with how much falls on your franchise quarterback. The overhaul of personnel in Green Bay since 2018 is rather pronounced, wouldn't you say?
Melissa from Woodbury, MN
I've often wondered about travel after road games and how late the team gets back to Green Bay. How long after a game does the team have to wait until their plane takes off to return to Green Bay?
In my 14 seasons traveling with the team (this is the only year I haven't traveled), the plane was usually wheels up and on the way home about two hours after the game clock hit triple zero.
Jim from Woodbury, MN
Next week, the Packers play the Colts who will be coming off a "mini" bye. The following week they play the Bears, who will be coming off a bye. On Nov. 1, the Packers played the Vikings, who were coming off a bye. I'm not hollering "Conspiracy!", but how common is it for a team to face two teams coming off a bye in a single year? It would mean that one team in the league would face no teams coming off a bye week. Throw in the mini bye the Colts get, sure seems like a bad scheduling break.
It is, but that's the luck of the draw. I don't think the schedule-makers really take that into account. On another note, do you know Melissa? Just curious.
Tom from Woodbury, MN
Watching the Masters without fans giving energy to the players is very odd. In golf, fans do not really give anyone a home-field advantage, but there are fan favorites. Lack of fans in other sports eliminates a big part of the home-field advantage. I feel this is especially the case in college football. In what major sport do you think the home fans provide the biggest advantage?
College football and college basketball. Hey, do you know Jim and Melissa?
Luc from St. Thomas, Canada
In the practice photos, I noticed all the players had the face shields on their masks. Is this part of the intensive protocol the Packers are in until the end of the week? Or have they now mandated all their players to utilize this going forward?
It's part of the intensive protocol. Once the Packers are out of the intensive protocol, they remain optional.
Eric from Arlington, MN
I never hear much about Adrian Amos. I can't help but be impressed with the job he does every week on defense. He is Mr. Consistent and a total team player. Can you think of a more valuable person on defense halfway through the season? I think he has big games ahead of him, for some individual notoriety.
Amos is the steady hand for the back end that every defense needs, and the Packers needed one after a lot of upheaval at safety in the years prior to his arrival. We'll see if he's due for some big plays. But due respect to Amos, at this point I'd have to give the defensive MVP to either Za'Darius Smith or Jaire Alexander.
Nick from Hopkins, MN
When credit is given to the proficient offense of a team whose HC is also its playcaller, the OC usually gets a lot of praise, too (e.g. Eric Bieniemy). However, when the Packers are discussed, I rarely hear Hackett mentioned. How come?
Because you didn't check out the rest of Thursday’s content?
Tony from Cary, NC
If you were told the Packers would be 12-4 at the end of the season, would you take it?
In a heartbeat. At this point, the only way they wouldn't be NFC North champs with that mark is if both remaining losses are to the Bears, with Chicago running the table.
James from Chicago, IL
I don't have a question, but I just wanted to send my appreciation for how the Packers organization has dealt with their COVID response. I approve of not allowing fans in the stands or allowing tailgating, and I appreciate the Packers showing leadership. I know how important the gameday experience is to Green Bay, and I respect the difficult decision the organization has made to keep fans safe.
Personally I think it's the only responsible thing to do. If individual responsibility could be trusted more, our area and the country as a whole wouldn't be in such rough shape.
Johnny from Tillson, NY
As a huge fan of trivia, I appreciated the inclusion (and format) of the little quiz we got in the Wednesday Inbox. I'd be fully in support of that becoming a regular feature. A question: Could you comment on the Notre Dame field-storming tradition continuing in a global pandemic?
I believe I just did. As for the trivia question, if you're not aware, there's a weekly trivia challenge on our website. You can find it on this page as one of our fan promotions. I change the question every Tuesday. There's also a weekly 10-question trivia contest in the Packers app if you want to sign up.
Laura from Arlington, VA
I am predicting Aaron Jones will have a banner day against the Jaguars. What do you think his chances are?
Didn't I already do that?
Matt from Chesterfield, MI
Every time I hear poetry in II, my inner Blutarsky wants to smash a guitar.
We can try to pre-empt Wes and the Saturday column, but I don't know if it'll work. How many poems would I like published in the II? In the spirit of Bluto, zero…point…zero. Happy Friday.
