If nothing else, at least Scott Wells has had an eventful training camp. He turned heads his first week of camp by holding his own in practice and showing a feistiness particularly in the in 1-on-1 drills.
Wells was dealt a setback shortly after that, however, when his reoccurring elbow injury caused him to miss several practices and the preseason game against the Saints. He returned to practice last Monday, played in the Packers loss to Jacksonville and now appears locked in a roster battle.
The team announced the first round of cuts Sunday and although Wells avoided those, he is not taking anything for granted. He will have another week of practice and a game against Tennessee to show his worth to the Packers. In the fifth installment of his training camp diary, Wells talks about his chances of making the final roster, his final week of training camp and what he expects going into the season.
Scott Wells: The cuts that were made Sunday kind of increase the stress a little bit more because I know we have another cut coming up and it's going to be the big one. This next cut will decide if I make the roster so I just have to approach it like I have been and try to do what I can on the field. They have me working at right guard now, which is kind of a new position for me. I haven't played it since I was a sophomore in high school, so it's been a long time for me but I am looking forward to the opportunities I have there.
I don't think of this last week as an audition though. I see it as another chance to build on what we've worked on. It gives me another opportunity to eliminate some of the mental errors I've made in the past and prove myself at another spot. I think I've proved myself at left guard and center and now it's time to prove myself at the right guard spot. Hopefully they see me as being able to play three positions and it gives me an even better chance of making the team.
It was tough to see some of the other guys get cut. The offensive line is always a close-knit group. We've been together now for over a month because a lot of those guys were with me in mini-camps as well. It's tough, but at the same time I try to say that it's part of the business. It could have easily been me and I feel for those guys, but I try to maintain focus for myself in order to survive the next cut.
At first I was kind of worried (about getting cut) because of how well Grey Ruegamer has done. We are competing and he's done an excellent job filling in for Flanagan. I was just curious of whether or not they were going to keep three centers. Right now I just want to keep on doing what I am doing and try not to think about it. I guess that's about all I can do.
The good news is that the elbow is doing real well. It's still sore but it's the normal aches and pains that I'm dealing with through treatment.
Even though it was a preseason game, traveling with the team was the same as any other game. There was so much at stake so it was a good time and a good experience to see how the team does things on road games.
I think I did alright against Jacksonville. I had an average performance -- nothing exceptional. It's hard to stand around that long and then get in the game, but I did alright.
I'm actually pretty relaxed and calm about Friday's game. I'm excited about the opportunity to go play in my hometown, against a team that I grew up around, so that's exciting to be able to go back to Tennessee where a lot of people know me. I'm kind of looking forward to that experience and I'm also looking forward to learning the right guard position even more and being able to play all three positions.
I don't think it will be a distraction to play at home because all those people will get to see me, but I won't see them. I have friends on the Titans that I went to college with and I look forward to seeing those guys, but right now I'm more concerned about this team and what we need to do in order to improve from last week.
There might be a chance I get to play guard in Friday's game. If Mike Flanagan is playing a lot this weekend at center they will work me wherever. That's fine with me because I'm going to need game experience if they are going to want me to play guard down the road. Throughout camp, my goals have stayed the same. I want to work into a valuable backup role to start with and then work into the starting lineup down the road.
I think the biggest adjustment has been time management. It's a lot more time consuming than college football was because I get up at about 7:00 a.m. everyday and I don't get home until 9:00 or 9:30 at night. It's just a very time consuming job that lets you know how important it is and how much they expect you to know and do for what they are paying you.
My family and friends back home have been very supporting of me. My senior class at Tennessee is still pretty close-knit. All the guys who played together on offense still keep in touch. We want each other to be successful because it helps our school as far as accolades go.
