Stick turns, fakes, the gifts, sets in the pocket's got time stepping up.

Now the pressure comes.

Getting a hick going to go down our Foudin Mohammed got him not in time, sacked him back.

At the thirty nine Yard Live.

It is week one of the regular season, and that means the twenty in the Huddle podcast is back, and I thought the special occasion of week one you have to bring in.

You know, one of the ringers here from from the podcast is t J Lang always love to have you on.

Is that what it is?

It's well, it's it's everything obviously up there's some there's some question marks with the offensive line obviously, so you're an expert there.

So there's a lot of reasons why it makes sense to help on.

But number one is your one of.

My favorite guests.

Oh so that's just where it wears on until like week.

Fourteen last year, something changed.

Yeah, thanks for having me.

No, I'm excited about it.

And look, let's start with this.

Obviously you did play in Green Bay.

They haven't had a Week one opener there for I think it was like four or five years.

They've started on the road.

I'm just curious they are loyal fans there just as much as Detroit.

What's that environment like Week one at lambeau Field in Green Back?

Yeah, rowdy, you know, especially after what's happened in the last ten days up in Green Bay.

Imagine it's going to be a lot of enthusiasm, much like any team.

I mean, you want to see it's a new year, right, There's thirty two teams out there, thirty two fan bases that feel like, man, like, this is our year.

We got a chance to go do it.

Green Bay no different, and they are one of those teams that you know, I think is going to be a contender now, you know it's I love starting I always like starting early in the season with the Vision matchups because it's like here we go, you know what I mean, Yeah, we can't ease into this.

Yeah, and an opportunity for both of these teams really to see where you measure up against the other.

I mean, green Bay is getting obviously a lot of love after the Micah Parsons trade, and know we'll get into Detroit's looking at it saying and we were six and zero in the division last year.

We've got back to back you know, division championship titles is sitting on our mantles.

So you know, we know it's division is always going to be a battle, but these are always games that players talk about all the time.

Right, it means more means a game and a half means two games.

Right, we can win our division games.

That's where we get to your first goal of you know, ultimately securing that division.

Happens week one.

We get to see both these teams pretty healthy, which you don't always get in those late season division games.

And I think it's just an opportunity to go out there and see where you stack up.

Man Like, this is going to be a heck of an opportunity for the for the Lion Sunday afternoon.

Yeah, and for Green Bay it's you can send a message, hey we're here, Yeah, we're we're in the division hunt.

You mentioned the six and zero last year.

For Detroit, it's hey, we're still top dogs.

This division still goes through Detroit.

So to your point, there's so much on the line here for a Week one game with sixteen more games still to go, it's a big game Week one, it is.

Yeah, you mentioned Parsons, let's get into that right away.

Just what was your initial thought of the trade little bit unlike green Bay giving up future assets, first round picks to go kind of get a guy.

I'm gonna have Rob damofsky On a little bit later and we talked about it a little bit too, just he made the point it's kind of like they're they're going for it, right, They're they're all in there.

They think they're one piece away from from really making a run.

I was just curious your perspective on the deal and what Micah brings to that defense.

I was shocked at first, not not because it was Green Bay, but because you know, the last couple of years, you always hear rumors about you know, Max Crosby, right like, you know out there in Vegas, is he happy a Trey Hendrickson?

You know, Miles Garrett went through his dispute where it was very similar, I'm not gonna play for Cleveland anymore.

And then you know, here's a bag of cash.

Okay, you know I feel better, right Like that's kind of what this Michael Parsons thing felt like.

You know, I got the back injury, you know, Okay, here's you know, let's play your guy.

You don't get rid of premier pass rushers.

So that's why I was shocked.

And then with Green Bay, I wasn't so much shocked it was them because of everything you said.

I mean they even before they made the trade, I was viewing them as maybe a sleeper team, maybe a team that's not getting talked about enough, a team that's young but has still has a lot of experience, It still has playoff experience and everything really I mean healthy, right, Like Jordan Love last year, I think they kind of undersold maybe some of the things that he was playing through.

I know he had that thumb injury that missed a couple of weeks of training camp, which you know that that's not a great situation.

But I think that when you look at that Green Bay team in totality, it's like, man like that, Yeah, they're gonna be tough, Like they're gonna be a tough out again.

Adding Micah Parsons just kind of solidified that, like, Okay, maybe that you can't consider them a sleeper anymore.

Maybe they're not really going to be a contender.

And you know, I can't imagine that.

You know, anybody in this building wasn't excited when that happened, because you want to play the best teams.

You want to have the best division.

You want everybody looking at the NFC North and the Black and Blue that it used to be, you know, back in the nineties and two thousands, where everybody's just beating up on each other.

You know, like you love it that ways.

And when you look at you know, get rid of Kenny Clark, like, I can't imagine that.

You know, that won't hurt a little bit.

Maybe on their interior, their defensive line and from a leadership perspective that he brought over ten years.

But you bringing a guy like Micah Parsons, Uh, definitely a top three pass rusher in this league.

He just got an ability to change the game.

So you know, good good part is, you know, we've got two pretty damn good tackles here in a couple of Pro Bowl guys with some experience of playing against Michael Parsons.

So anytime you play a premier guy, all pro type of guy for the first time, you're pretty nervous because you're like, I just don't know what to expect.

I haven't had my chance to put my hands on Hi yet.

I haven't had a chance to measure up his speed well both these guys have, right and I imagine that like always that guy that moves around the line a little bit.

But I would think that, you know, that would give Pena and Taylor a little bit of confidence, knowing that they've had raps against him, knowing that they've played a couple of football games against him on the road already, Dallas Green Bay a little different.

You're going from turf to grass.

But you know that probably gives those guys like, Okay, no problem, Like we played great, great pass rushers every week, you know, right, Like it's nothing new for tackles in the NFL these days.

But I think that it's definitely a luxury to have those two guys.

He didn't play in the game last year, the Detroits blowout win, but a couple sacks and four quarterback hits.

I went back and looked in twenty two and twenty three when they played against him.

So obviously some experience there to your point.

And that's a nice combo there with with Sean Gary now too, seven and a half sacks led Green Bay last year, so now you had a guy who averages thirteen.

That's twenty sacks between those two guys on average gives gives them a little something something in in their pass.

Rush for sure, no doubt.

And it's you know, the Lions are obviously this offensive line will be ready for it.

I mean they you know, Week one is always tough because you get unscouted looks.

Yeah, right, you don't see a lot during the preseason.

That's something that you know, it could either be a disadvantage or you could use to your advantage.

I mean, you know, even talking about you know, with with John Morton, what he wants to do offensively, is he going to show a lot of the things that Ben Johnson did last year?

Is he going to change a lot of things up and say, man, they haven't had the tape to watch these plays on scotted looks go both ways and you're gonna have to adjust.

You're gonna have to communicate.

But personnel wise, yeah, you're gonna have to know where number one is for the defense.

If he's out there, we'll see, you know obviously, how that that back holds up.

Maybe on a pitch count, maybe not.

Maybe he's full go, but definitely a guy that you're gonna have to notice nowhere he's at every single play.

All right, You brought it up, so let's talk about it.

The Detroit Lions offensive line.

You know, obviously you had the Frank rag Now retirement.

There's no replacing Frank Right and all appropriateer the top one of the top two centers in the league, and in my opinion, but you get experienced guy Graham.

Grasco started thirty eight games at center.

You know, it's not like this is his first rodeo and he snapped ball to Jered Goff.

He's played center in Detroit.

How big of an impact do you think that move in particular is replacing Frank with Graham?

Yeah, I mean, look, it's it's unfair to compare anybody to Frank Right, to one of the best centers this game scene in the last you know, five six years.

So you know that's not a knock when you say, you know, you take Frank out put somebody else in there, that it's not gonna be as good, you know, but maybe it does have potential to be good.

We obviously know and this isn't a knock against Frank either.

We know that he played through a lot of injuries and Frank I don't think was ever really at one hundred percent over the last maybe year and a half.

Right, Yeah, Graham.

You know, he's a veteran guy, but like you said, he's got a ton of experience there.

And I think when they made that switch, when Tate was getting all the reps in the offseason and to start training camp and then they decided to move Graham back, I don't think that was, you know, anything negative about either guys.

I just think that that maybe was their best combination and maybe a little bit more comforting knowing that, you know, you Graham does have that veteran experience at playing that position, especially with the schedule that they have and the road games that and it would talk about Green Bay, but the couple of road games you have to do after this, like, that's tough for aokie center.

It's not easy for a rookie guard, but it's not for a rookie center when you're out there trying to communicate in some of those environments.

So I think that that was just probably the right move, and I think probably Gave I would imagine Jared probably was more comfortable with it as well, having a veteran guy up there that he can trust to get you in the right offense, make the right identifications, you know, read the defense get you whether it's run game, pass game.

Identifying the right people probably probably makes Jared feel better too, So I think solidifies those guys.

But certainly, yeah, we got to see what that looks like, right, got to see what that combination looks like.

And we talked about the tackles Mahogany.

I loved what he did last year.

I mean he started in a in a playoff game, right right, so like and played we'll talk about and played really well.

And you talk about getting thrown in the fire, it's like, well, good luck.

Like and he went out there and, like you said, played well.

So I'm excited to see him take another step, especially with having his first NFL training camp under his belt because he was out the first couple months last year.

Tate, I mean obviously that the they're a guy that they're excited about, they're they're high on.

If they didn't feel like he had the capability to go out there and play you know, consistent football and give them some positive value.

You know, this is a team that you look at with a ton of cap space and high app they'd go out and get somebody else, right, They didn't do that because they feel confident.

Now.

There's always going to be ups and downs with the always with every single young player.

It does not matter.

Do I expect Tate to go have a you know, all pro game or like, you know, all pro season.

No, like, there's gonna be up and down.

But the good part is, I think more so when you're playing on the interior, you can kind of manipulate what you want to do with your run game, with your pass protections to maybe help a guy out, to let him get his feet wet a little bit, to say, Okay, Graham, you know we're gonna slide you a little bit more to the right this week to get some double teams and mahogany man, like, you're gonna have to step up and you know, handle most of one on ones because you've had experience doing it.

Right, Let's let take get his feet wet.

Let's let him get that real taste of NFL action and then you know, see how and then okay, now we can start opening things up a little bit more.

So there's definitely ways where you can help and just get like guys, get his feet under him a little bit, especially as young players.

But expectations haven't changed in that room.

I mean you look at you know, opening roster from last year.

Three get three new guys playing three new spots.

But the expectations have not changed.

We know that this offense and this team really takes on the identity of those five guys up front, and they know every single weeks can be a challenge.

This week is no different.

I'm excited to see how, like what that first chapter looks like for him, you know what I mean, Like, I don't think I'm expecting you know, just like seventy plays of kick ass football where everybody's getting bad.

It's like there's gonna be some okay, you know, I got to work on that, but real good opportunity to go out and I think calm a lot of people's mind when it comes to that offensive line position.

We'll take you back to two thousand and nine when you were coming into this league.

What's this?

What's this week like for Tea?

Is it excitement?

Is it?

Is it nerves?

Is it?

What was that week like for you Long?

I mean it's like your first start is early in the week.

I think you're excited.

I mean, obviously you try to level your emotions.

You get better at it, you know, the older you get in, the more experience you have.

But you know, going back, you're like, man, like, is it Sunday yet?

You know what I mean?

And it's like Tuesday and it's your off day.

But you're like, yeah, okay, Like I wanted the red zone plan, I want the third down plan, I want the two minute but you know what I mean, like I just want to get this thing going.

You really have to, and I know it's very cliche.

You have to balance your emotions right, Like you can't get too high, you can't get too low.

The week of preparation, you got to trust that what you're doing is is the right plan.

You got to trust your teammates, you know, are helping you and putting you in a good spot.

You got to trust that your coaches are giving you the right game plan and giving you the right keys, the right things to look at and to look for.

So when you get out there on Sunday, it's like, hey, boom, like we went over this, you know I remember on Wednesday, like stairs in the walk through, Okay, I'm good, right, Like those mental reps that you take, you got to make sure that everything you do during the week of preparation matters and that you remember it because when you get out there on Sunday, it's very easy to just kind of get in that zone where it's like blackout.

I just want to go kill some Oh then oh I missed the linebacker, right, and that was my guy.

Oops.

Right, So you just have to bounce your emotions.

And I you know, talking with Tate throughout training camp and watching him play, I mean, I know it's preseason football there in Atlanta.

The couple series that he gots here, you're like, okay, like I see a guy that can control himself a little bit, Like he doesn't look like the moment's too big where it's you know, I got to go like overdo things.

I'm excited to see him play though.

I mean, he's got a ton of talent.

He's a big dude.

He's strong, he's physical.

Uh, he's very quick, he's agile.

You know, he's great in the run game.

We know that, you know, they know there's probably some new wrinkles this year, but this isn't an offense that you look at and say, oh, they just run zone.

Oh they just run power.

Oh they just run this.

They have to do everything, and Tate fits that mold of being able to you know, go reach block at three tech, go double team this guy up to a linebacker, Go pull out on the edge, you know us, use your athleticism, get up the sidewalk and go, you know, get a safety twenty yards down on the field.

Excited to see the planet, damn and excited to see you know what he what his first chapter looks like as a rookie in this league.

How much will play next to Pennee help him a ton?

I mean for both the guards.

I mean, you know, Graham obviously being a tent to your guy and having a ton of experience, and then you look at your right and it's like, okay, I got Penny Sue the man like and then even for Mahogany too, who started games last year, but you know, looking at the same thing.

Okay, I got Graham, I trust him.

Oh I got Taylor Decker, Like, Okay, I trust these guys.

Right.

Definitely put your mind at ease a little bit.

And I think that if there are moments where you get caught or you miss a play, or you miss a check or you miss a call, like he's a guy Pena you can look at and be like, hey, well like give it to me again, and it's bam, Okay, I got it.

I'm good at thanks because you have you know, you have that veteran presence next, So that definitely definitely makes it easier.

I would say having a having a guy of that that stature, you know, two feet to.

You, right hey, But before we continue one too, I want to say you did.

A great job on the broadcast.

I appreciate it.

Season Yeah, yeah, that was a great little duel there is that is that kind of what you see yourself doing.

Do you want to have a future?

I've never I've never wanted to get into, you know, the TV world.

I always wanted to kind of do the radio because you know, I get to I get to stay home half the season, right like, I get to drive down to Ford Field Sunday mornings and I'm back for dinner on Sunday nights.

The TV stuff, Like I kind of got a taste of it and it was like, man, like, I think I could do it.

Yeah, with the schedule and the travel, you definitely could do it.

You can't pick your own game.

Now.

If I was like, hey, can I just do the Lions home games, like to stay home with my kids and my family, but you know, it's obviously a big sacrifice you have to make for your family.

Yeah, maybe down the road, I mean, you know, I know we're obviously still a long time a year away from you know, next preseason.

But if that's something that I can continue to, you know, maybe build raps at and see if there's a passion there, like'll certainly will be something I explored.

But I really enjoyed doing the radio, so right now, yeah, all right, before.

Where we finish, I want I want to go to the other side of the football because I know you as an offensive lineman, you watch the defensive line.

You watch the defense too, and just from the outside looking in every day at practice, I was really impressed with Calvin Sheppard and what this defense looked like.

I mean, if you were to give the win to the offense defense every day in training camp, I would probably say there are more defensive wins than offensive wins route camp.

That's pretty natural, I think for most teams around the league.

Yeah, and it's just I don't think that you know scheme and I'm not trying to disparge the defensive coordinators or players.

But the scheme that goes into defense isn't as you know, advanced as I would say offensively.

So I think that offensively, especially in training camp preseason, there's a lot more thinking that goes on and that can slow you down a little bit.

The defense gets to really dictate, you know, what they want to do, and uh, brilliant.

I kind of remember even last year, like going back to Week one, not a lot of high scoring games.

You know, kind of felt like defenses were ahead and you really don't have a lot of film like I know that Green like we mentioned Green Bay's defense, probably having an unscouted looks that you're gonna have to communicate and prepare for.

Kelvin Sheppard has the same advantage.

I mean, he's you know, he's gonna have different wrinkles than Aaron Glen did.

You can't just look and say, okay, what they do on third down last year, like Calvin's going to have his own little stamp that he wants to put on things as well.

So I think defenses are just generally, you know, they get to early in the season just play a lot faster, I would say, right, and just like take a little bit off.

You know, just go beat a guy in front of you, go win.

You're one on one.

It becomes more physical than it does mental.

Mental really starts to you know, for defense, get down the line when now you got film on.

Now you have to adjust.

Now you've got to the defense knows what you're doing.

Okay, Now I've got to how do I outsmart them in that little cat and mouse game.

Then you have to start thinking a little bit more my my perspective, my kind of opinion on it.

So I'm not trying to defend the offense when you say ahead of them, But I think that's a pretty common thing across the league.

And I'd tell you the one thing like that's non negotiable when you play for Kevin Sheppard.

And this was really no different than Aaron Glenn, like, you're you better play violent, you better play physical, you better play fast, you better get to the football right, you better like show some passion and enthusiasm out on that field.

Yeah, or else you can't play for this defense.

And they've got the guys that that do that, And especially when you look at the the front four, just the violence that that they can play with and what do you think.

I Look, I think Tyleek's got a ton of potential.

I do, and we only got to see him for you know, what, was it, maybe twelve fifteen snaps against Atlanta like a month ago.

Yeah, you know, I think that Tyleek missed a lot of the offseason, right this guy, Remember, like we talked about it before the show, this guy played sixteen games last year.

Yeah, I mean that's a full NFL season, right almost.

I know they're seventeen now, but like, that's that's a lot to be able to.

Okay, now I'm going right into the combine.

Now, I'm going right into the draft.

Now, I'm going right into ot is.

Now, I'm going right into the Like, you don't really get a time off.

So I'm not trying to say it's a neg, but I think ty Leak is like probably glad that the season's finally here and like I get to finally get into a rhythm, you know what I mean.

I'm not like you're still going to be in that grind phase.

Don't get me wrong, but it's not like it is, you know, in the offseason in training camp when you're a young player and there's just so much coming at you.

I think the game's going to probably start slowing down for him a little bit.

But I love the potential that he has, especially when it comes to stop in the run.

I think that's going to be maybe his bread and butter early on, much like it was with a Lee McNeil when he was a young player.

Was like, dude, go out there, eat up blocks, free up our linebackers.

Don't get pushed, you know, three yards off the ball.

Just go hold your ground and get off blocks and make some plays.

And he's shown the ability to do that, and I think that that's what this defense, especially in the run game, really revolves around.

Its you have a linebacker as a defensive coordinator, a lot of the thing is going to be, hey, like, our linebackers are here to make the tackles.

You guys go eat up the blocks and let the linebackers clean it up.

Let him go finish it up and entire League's definitely a guy that fits that mold.

So I'm excited to see what he can bring.

I'm excited to see what DJ reader taking that next step.

It sounds like Coach said, man like just kind of a sneaky dominant.

The camp play, yeah, like just a sneaky like yeah yeah, dominant training camp out of a veteran guy like Roy Lopez, another guy that excited to watch what he can bring.

I think that, you know, if those guys all stay healthy and they can play the style of football that Kelvin wantson to, they're gonna be really really tough to run the football on.

You're gonna have to find really unique and creative ways as an offensive coordinator to find some holes on that defense.

And especially like we already mentioned, you know, with the linebacker group they have, and with the safeties that they have that aren't afraid to come get their nose dirty.

And you know, same with the Meek Robertson.

I mean, everybody on that defense, they're not afraid to tackle.

It's a pretty requisit.

They almost take it like personal when you try to run the football on it, you know what I mean, take it like a slap in the base, like you're gonna try to run the book.

So but I love that attitude.

I love the I love the uh, you know, kind of the characteristics that Kelvin Shepard wants to build on that defense.

And they've got a good test this week with Josh Jacobs as a top five rushing attack from Green Bay last year.

And just to finish up your point on ty Leak too, is he can impact the game without eating up the stat sheet, you know, Oh yeah, And that I think will be the one thing that you watch with ty Leek playing on the other side of line of scrimmage, you know, forcing disruption of plays.

Maybe you don't make the tackle, but you make the back go the other way because you're on the other side of the line of scrimmage.

You take up those that double team to allow the linebacker or someone else on that defensive line to free up.

So it might not look crazy on the stat sheet, but he can impact the game otherwise.

And that's just being you know, a role player.

Like nobody's expecting you to come out and go get two sacks and ten quarterback hits and you know, four PFLs, Like you're not expected to do that as a young player, doesn't matter, first round draft pick, undrafted gat like, go out there, know your role in this defense, and then we can start throwing things more things at you when you can go prove that you can be that consistent player.

So I'm with you.

I mean it doesn't.

You know, a lot of people they look at the statue, Oh yeah, zero tackle, zero quarterback hits like yeah, you know, like he didn't have he didn't do anything.

But then you watch the film and you're like, man, like the guy wrecked the game without even having a tackle.

Like that's demoralizing, right.

So I think he's definitely got that ability to go out there and you know, play that role and you know, dude do whatever he can to help this defense start out with the banguns Sunday.

I'm excited.

It's Week one, it's lambeau Field, it's intra division.

Beautiful weather, beautiful weather.

Yeah, it's it's it's exciting.

That's football's back, no doubt, no got we got football rolling.

I appreciate you taking the time as always, very informative, one of my favorite guys to have on.

Appreciate you always.

Thanks thanks for having me.

Welcome back to the twenty M Huddle podcast.

I am very happy to welcome in one of my favorite NFL beat reporters in the entirely, Rob Damowski does a great job covering the Green Bay Packers for ESPN.

Rob, thanks for joining me so not much really, happening in Green Bay over the last week.

Huh oh dam, I'm just all quiet, just getting ready for the season.

They didn't trade for a all pro pass rusher, they didn't pay him one hundred and eighty eight million dollars.

They didn't give up two first round picks and one of their Pro Bowl defensive tackle.

Oh wait, they actually did to get to Mike H.

Park to get Micah Parsons here.

Yeah, just your first initial thoughts of the trade.

Obviously you lose a player in Kenny Clark who here in Detroit.

He was a guy that these coaches raved about, that you had to prepare for, that was in the center of that defense.

Obviously a Pro Bowl player.

But you pick up a guy on Micah Parsons that you can now pair with Rashaan Gary, guy who had fifty two and a half saxes first four years and league's average thirteen a year.

Just what does it mean for Green Bay's defense?

Yeah, a couple of things.

Let's say Kenny Kenny Clark's first great player, but look, he was about to turn thirty years old, didn't have his best year last year.

You know, the Packers like to be young.

They're probably going to be the youngest or one of the youngest teams in the league again this year, so that part of it made sense.

The part that was so unpackers like was giving up two first round picks, Like they don't.

This is a draft and develop organization.

The last time that they traded a first round pick for a player was when they traded one for Brett Favro in nineteen ninety two, so it does not happen very often, and then they traded two of them.

But look, the biggest weakness in my opinion, and I think in a lot of people's opinions coming out of last season, was the pass rush, and they really didn't do anything significant in free agency in that regard.

They didn't draft a pass rusher until Day three, and the only real significant change they made was that they changed defensive line coaches and brought in DeMarcus Covington, who had been with the Patriots for quite a while, to try to get guys like Rashan Gary and Lucas van Ness to be more productive.

But that was basically it.

So going into the season, it was still a at least a perceived weakness on this team, and they sure waited until the very last minute, but I guess better late than ever, and certainly to get a player of Parsons caliber.

You mentioned the numbers.

The last time the Packers had a one player with a double digit sack season was the year before Michael Parsons came into the NFL.

So Rason Garis had some nice production, but I think he's had nine nine and a half a couple of years.

But the last double digit sack guy I believe was Zadarius Smith in twenty twenty.

What is a fan base thought about this edition because from the outside looking him from a guy from Detroit, I look at this and I think, Wow, the Packers think they're one player away.

You know, obviously they've got some of the pieces on offense, really steady offensive line, some of the pieces on defense.

Was this a move that was made kind of like, Hey, I think we're one piece of way where we can challenge Detroit for the NFC North and we can we can get to a Super Bowl.

The thing is General manager Brian Uncuns has said in the past, but we've talked about trade deadline stuff that he didn't He's like, we're never one you're never one player away.

Well, he said it again after this trade, and it's one of his go to lines.

But it sure does seem like they thought this was the final or one of the final pieces to get them there in terms of like popularity.

The draft was here, right, they drafted Matthew Golden in the first round, and he walked across that stage here and it was chaos, Like people went crazy because, as you know, the Packers haven't drafted a receiver in the first round here since two thousand and two, like the longest and any team has gone without a first round receiver, and the crowd went crazy for that.

If they had set up that same draft stage in the parking lot of Labou Field on Friday when Micah Parsons arrived and walked him across, I think it would be just as kick crazy of a reaction, if not more so.

I mean, people here are I don't think they could be more excited than they are about those two moves.

Especially will those fans get to see Michael Parsons on the field when they kicked that ball off at four to twenty five Eastern time on Sunday.

It's a great question.

Obviously, you know he didn't participate in any of training camp or really any of the off season stuff because of either the contract and or a back injury one or both of those.

You know, people have questioned whether he has a back injury.

Of his agent, you know, said this week that he does have a back injury, and then he received started receiving treatment for it when he was with the Cowboys.

I can tell you that the plan is for him to play on Sunday, but the question is how much it'll depend on how he feels by the end of the week.

But the start of his time here, he was able to do some individual drills and from what talking to a bunch of the players, that was expected to ramp up as the week went on.

So, you know, unless there's a setback, I would expect him to play at least some.

I mean, he's not going to play sixty or.

Seventy plays, but it wouldn't surprise me if he played fifteen twenty twenty five snaps on Sunday.

All right, Rob, enough of that default stuff.

Let's get do the fun stuff, right, the skill positions on offense and the thing everybody wants to talk about, right, Jordan Love dealt with a thumb injury.

I believe it was missed a lot of training.

Gamp.

How is he for Week one and any concerns there at all.

Well, it's his left thumb, and as everyone knows, he's a right handed quarterback.

So I mean it's you know, if you're.

Gonna if you're gonna hurt a finger on any of your hands, it's better to be the non throwing hand right now, it does, you know, he he was handing off a little weird like balls that he would normally hand off like this way he's with his left hand.

He sort of had to turn sideways and use his right hand, and they were sort of deciding if that's the way he was gonna have to do it uh in the game, or or if they were just trying to protect it from any contact and practice, he did say he's gonna have to have it braced up, which is gonna limit some of the mobility.

But he was able to take snaps, you know, from the center, was able to catch shotgun snaps from what we've seen, with no issues.

So I wouldn't think there'd be anything from an injury standpoint.

Now you mentioned he you know, he missed so much time in camp.

That's that's part of it that might be a concern.

But the second part of that is most of their receivers have been hurt or missed so much time during camp.

Jane Reid barely practiced during training camp, D'antavian Wicks barely practiced.

Christian Watson, of course, is out will will miss at least the first four weeks and probably a little more while he's recovering from the ACL injury.

So it basically left Romeo Dobbs as the only real returning experience receiver that was there every day.

And I mentioned Matthew Golden, the first round pick.

He has been everything that they could have wanted so far.

I mean, Tim, I don't think he dropped a pass in any practice that we saw the entire summer.

He runs routes smoothly, he catches it clean, he gets open.

You know, obviously he's a rookie, he's never played in an NFL regular season game before, but from what we've seen, he looks to be the real deal.

So there is that.

But again, he has not had a ton of reps with Jordan Love either, So I think the question with the offense and the quarterback is not so much the injury, but just the time away this summer, you.

Know, And to your point, you looked at Green Bay and the receiver corps.

I think seven and a half percent drop percentage that was number one in the NFL last year.

I think twenty five drops were third overall.

That was an issue.

So they went and got Matthew Golden.

And from what you're saying, he's your version of Jamison Williams and how they can use him.

And we know here in Detroit just what that means for an offense and what it means for everybody else.

But I'm curious about save On Williams too.

He's a guy that I liked, your third round draft pick, A big body guy.

How has he been and how of Matthew and Savean kind of worked themselves into the mix.

So Savan Williams is another guy who's missed a ton of time.

He's when he first got here in the after the draft, was going through the offseason stuff, he was wearing a red jersey, which here means no contact because he had his shoulder injury.

They were easing him back in from that, and then early in camp had a hamstring injury.

So has missed a ton of time.

He is back and has been back here for the last little bit practicing.

But again, a guy who hasn't had a lot of work, hasn't had a lot of reps.

But I can tell you from just a physical standpoint, like he's the biggest, longest, lankiest, you know, just big bodied looking receiver that they have on this roster.

But he's also athletics, shifty and all that.

It's not like he's big and slow.

He is big and fast, and it would not surprise me if they try to find ways to use him in you know, jet sweep and end around, you know, even out of the backfield stuff.

But again, the problem there is that he just doesn't have a lot of reps under.

His belt right now.

So he could be a guy who if he does play and is able to go, it's it's again it's a small package of fifteen twenty plays or something like that.

That'll be one of my favorite matchups to watch on Sunday is just how those new weapons and especially after what you described, you know, see him from Golden and how he fits in this Detroit secondary is probably the best secondary that I've seen in my sixteen years covering the team going into a season just from a talent and depth standpoint, so that should be a fun matchup.

Rob.

I'm curious on this those smart people in Las Vegas when once you guys made the trade for Micah Parsons, all of a sudden, Green Bay clicked ahead of Detroit as the favorite for you know, the NFC North title.

I'm curious, how are people responding in Green Bay to kind of that?

Yeah, I think, and you know, Tim, what the expectations are around here.

I mean, they call this place title town.

And while most cities, probably a lot of fan bases would be fine and be happy with the trajectory that the Packers are on.

You know, they made the quarterback change obviously to Jordan Love.

The first year, they win nine games and win a playoff game.

Last year they win eleven games.

But I'll tell you what, people are impatient around here.

And I think that you know, even before or the Mica Pyson's trade, I mean, they were from at least from the fans from the outside, there were a lot of there was a lot of pressure on this team.

You know, they've they've sort of done step A, but they really haven't taken step B.

Or c and that's you know, getting to an NFC championship game or get into a super Bowl.

And to me, like, you know, there's some people who call this entitled town because the fans think they're entitled to, uh, you know, twelve thirteen wins every year and playing for a chance to go to the super Bowl.

But that is the reality here and that's the expectation.

So I do think this is a bit of a it's not a make or break year, but it's definitely an important year, uh for this organization and to see where they're going as a football team.

All Right, I want to end with this one, and I like to end this one quite a bit.

But Rob, I'm curiously being the first week of the season, there's a lot of new faces, a lot of guys change change spots.

Is there a guy that maybe is an onlines fans radar that that maybe jumped out to you a little bit in camp, or somebody that can play have an impact Sunday that maybe isn't isn't kind of one of those guys you go in game planning.

For, will he give you a two real quick one on each side of the ball.

Luke Muskraves is a third year tight end, has been hurt a ton and you guys have seen Tucker Kraft make a bunch of plays.

Well, they think they have both those guys healthy.

Now.

Musgrave is more athletic than Kraft, to be honest with you, but they haven't been able to show it.

So don't be surprised if you see eighty eight Luke Muskrave getting a lot of opportunities.

And then on the other side of the ball.

He's new to the other side of the ball, but he's not new to fans.

Bou Melton was a receiver here in the last two years.

He made the transition to cornerback and they didn't do it until the last week of the offseason program.

So the June Mini caamp moved into cornerback.

He not only made this team, but right now is probably either number three or four on the cornerback depth chart.

You knew him as number eighty as a receiver, You're gonna see him as number sixteen as a cornerback.

And keep in mind his brother Max Melt a cornerback in this league for the Cardinals, so there's cornerback in the family.

But he had never played it before in college or the NFL, and he's going into one his third or fourth NFL season.

I love those stories.

I love the fact that it's Week one, that we're talking about real football and we've got a monster NFC North matchup Week one.

One of these teams is going to be able to send a message to the other into really the rest of the NFC North, whether it's hey, we're still on top Detroit or Green Bay saying hey look at us two, we've arrived.

It should be a fun one.

Rob.

Thanks so much for taking the time.

You are absolutely one of the best in the business in my book, and I appreciate it.

No problem at all.

It's my pleasure him.

Welcome back to the twentyment of Huddle podcast The Man Next to Me.

No, it needs no introduction.

In the Left Tackle Extraordinar Taylor Decker.

Ten years Is that crazy to think about ten years?

Yeah, because you know, I still feel young, at least when I get going after my warm up.

But to think it's like it's almost been a third of my life I've been in the NFL.

That's that's crazy.

And ten years is always a big goal of mine.

So I've been super fortunate.

You know, you know, I've worked hard, but I've also been fortunate and lucky in other instances.

Max out that pension, right, Yeah, yeah, big dude, I gotta we got to talk about it to your kids.

You.

I love it in training camp when the families and the kids come.

Your daughter is getting big and your your son eight months old standing up?

Now, just how has having kids, having a family?

How's that grounded you a little bit?

How's it?

How's it changed you?

It's a big perspective shift, because when you go home, you like, if you had a bad day, it doesn't matter, and it's not because it doesn't matter, but you want to go be there and you want to be present with those kids.

And you know, when your daughter's shown you rocks that the groundhog left her in the front yard because she left cauliflower out for him, Like, how can you not be excited about that?

Right?

It's been you know, a good like stressfully for me to be able to go there and be able to kind of turn off the football player and and just be dad.

And like, my wife's the same way.

She's like, you know, whenever you're done, she's like, don't feel any pressure for me like, you got to keep playing.

I just want you to be happy and do what you want to do.

So and then you get the little the little babies and you get to see them growing, and it's definitely perspective shift.

Does it change you as a player a little bit?

Yeah, I mean it's made me want to like go home, Like like I'm gonna do my work when I need to here, but when it's time to go home, I'm gonna go home.

We're not going to stay here and just to stay here and just do extra stuff, just to do extra stuff to prioritizing.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, it's it's it's allowed me to prioritize and then also prioritize my family because when I can pour into them, they can pour back into me and I can give more as a player.

You know, we've been so used to the offensive line kind of being that that steady force, right and no question marks.

We know they're gonna be you know, that unit one of the best units on the team.

Put three new starters on the offensive line, there's a few question marks going into the season.

Obviously, Graham is a veteran guy.

He's played thirty eight you know, snap or thirty eight games at center, but just curious how you've seen it come together with three new starters, and and and just kind of what your guys approach is heading in the season.

Well, I think the big thing is when you play next to guys for a certain amount of time, you get that nonverbal communication that we're just kind of used to.

And I think when you start out next to a new guy, that nonverbal has to start out as verbal until you get a bead for you know, what's this guy going to do?

How is he going to play this block?

Does he understand the concept of this play or the technique of this defensive tackle, whatever it may be, and then it turns into nonverbal.

You know, for me, Christian, I got to play next to him last year and then he was obviously on the team last year, so I was I was excited to play next to him because you know, I see he's got he's got some ability.

But I think the big thing leons communication because those guys have the talent and the physical ability, but we need to function as a group.

And we saw him get a couple of starts and he played terrific when he got the opportunity.

Where have you seen him maybe make his biggest jump from year one to year two, because you remember, yeah, being back, you know in the day, that's usually where a player takes their biggest leap is your one to year two.

Where's Christian maybe made that jump?

In your opinion, I would say his footwork, like, let's slow down your footwork and let's get it clean.

Because he he is a physical presence out there.

He has confident in his ability out there.

That's huge if you want your guards to be physical players who want to go out there and hit people.

And he has that.

He's got every bit of that, which makes me excited to play next to him because that benefits me.

Yeah, and you know, I even told Hank last year, you know, I would love to play next to him, you know, And I only have to play one game next to him, but I saw, like some like I saw what he wants to be as a player, and I know he will only get better from there.

So I was excited to be able to play, to be able to start camping, be able to play next to him.

Not that I was practicing early camp, but I knew that that's what the plan was.

And then it was up to him to you know, earn the spot, and he did that, so I'm excited to play next to him.

From my perspective, that line really started to come together once you came back and that you were out, you know, the first week dealing you know, with the shoulder rehab from from the off season surgery.

But it really started to gel and you guys got a good month of work in training camp.

You feel like that unit's had a good spot right now.

Absolutely week one.

Yeah, absolutely, And I you know, not to you know, give myself too much credit, but I played in this offense.

I've played with these guys.

I've played with Graham, I've played with Pine, I've played with Jared.

There's a level of familiarity there.

And then there was some guys kind of in and out of the in the lineup at that left tackle spot.

And then I think it's helpful for our young guys too to be able to play in between veteran players.

So Christian gets to play in between, and Take gets to play in between guys who have played a lot of ball and me, Graham and Pe have played a lot together.

Yeah, so I think it's you know, just a level of familiarity with everybody and then yeah, I think it kind of started to take off.

But I don't think that's all credit to me.

I think we were just growing as a unit as well.

Yeah, what do you thought of Tate the first time we saw him?

I think we got a peak of him in Atlanta, had that kind of pancake.

Block and you see, they called him a dirt.

Bag, you know, coming into into the league, and you smile because you love that about an offensive lineman, and you talked about you love that about a guard.

The physical physicality, what have you seen in the rook and is he going to kind of just step right in and is he a fit in that room?

Oh?

Absolutely absolutely.

I think the big thing about him, similar to Christian is he wants to play physical and he will play physical, and he is confident out there.

Like similar to Christian, I feel like their mindset's pretty similar out there where you kind of got to go out there and do the dirty work.

Hey, we're going to ask you to pull and kick out this defensive end ten times, and they want to do it.

So as far as his demeanor, like he may have been nervous at times, or he may have been you know, mentally fatigue or something like that, but you would never know it based on how he carries himself, very professional about how he goes up about his business and as far as like assignments and picking that up.

For a lot of rookies that can be an issue because we're a complicated offense.

He's been just fine.

Maybe one of the more underrated moves of the offseason.

With Ben obviously going to Chicago and Aaron going to New York, you kind of thought maybe there'd be some staff members leaving and stuff.

Just how big was it that.

That Hank returned to you guys, especially with kind of some of the new newness you guys got going on that line.

But to me, that was one of the more underrated moves this offseason was retaining him.

He's one of the best offensive line coaches in the league.

What does he mean to that room and how big was it to get him back.

I mean, you cannot overstate how important Hank is, not only for his prowess and his knowledge as an offensive line coach, but how well he manages the guys in our room.

Being a guy that played a long time in the NFL, the way he manages us and manages motivating us like.

He's phenomenal, and I don't I don't want to play for another offensive line coach because I've been with him.

For a long time.

Yeah, and we have a level of trust and we have a good level a good sense of communication with one another.

I mean, he's he's brilliant as an offensive line coach.

That's why it's really good if you're an interior alignment to be in this offense.

You get to work with Hank, You're gonna learn a lot and he's gonna put a lot on your plate.

But it's gonna be good for you down the road.

And then just me just being able to work with him again.

Again, I'm so used to him, I don't want to work with anybody else.

Yeah, Yeah, what have you seen from Hutch and Marcus?

You know, going against those guys for for a month.

We obviously didn't get to see Marcus a lot last year because of injury.

But that's the twin Towers over there.

And look, you and Penney are are one of the best tackle duos in the league.

What's the potential for Aiden and Marcus on the other side in terms of an edge duel.

I think they could be one of the best in the NFL as well.

Really, obviously, you know everybody was question Mark is aiden going to be healthy?

He was healthy and ot as I had.

I did some of the OTA practices.

I I remember the first practice like, oh, he's just fine.

And I remember I think I saw Shep had a media day where he was talking about I see a better player.

I do too.

Really, I mean, he he just.

Turned it up a notch and it's really unbelievable.

You know what he was able to do with his recovery to not only get back to where he was but also improve.

And then with Marcus, I'm of the opinion that when healthy, he is the best athlete on the defense.

Really, I think he is a phenomenal athlete.

You look at some of his measurables and his numbers in the weight room and running.

I mean, he's off the charts.

He just he's just had bad luck with his health, right, And I think the way he plays the game, he plays the game hard and he is super physical, so he beats up his body.

So as long as we can keep him, keep him going, I think he's going to be super valuable because I get a lot more reps in him than Aiden, right, and he's got a ton of ability.

I just hope he's able.

To show it.

By the way, that was a buck guy given a kudos to a wolverine.

Maybe real quick.

Just to finish up, I asked you about the defense as a whole, because from the outside looking in every day at training camp, it looked to me like a defense that's really improved.

Obviously they've got to stay healthy, but really they've got talent at all three levels Taylor, and the secondary is maybe the best secondary that they've had since I've been covering the team in two thousand and nine.

So just your your thoughts of the defense, what you saw over training camp, and what they could potentially be.

It feels to me, I don't know all their calls, it feels to me that they're more aggressive than they've ever been.

And I think that's because I'm sure Shep believes I got the guys who can handle this.

Yeah, I have guys who can hold up in man coverage if I need them too.

I have guys that can win one on ones or beat double teams in the pastors if I need them to.

Like you said, there's guys that ever level who are arguably the top at their position.

So they seem very aggressive and and they're they're going on the attack.

So it's it's been a challenge and there were some I mean, there were definitely some growing pains for us as an offense early on in camp.

Once we were able to iron those out, it was good for us.

How do you like Giants offense?

Well?

For me and as part especially as part of as far as the run games concerned, Hanks, the run game coordinators, So not a lot of that has changed for me.

And then past game is like, it's your pass blocking, you're past blocking.

So I know there's things that from from from Johnny's background that he's gonna like and he's gonna want to bring.

Yeah, I know that there's concepts that you know, I'm not gonna like, Oh this is the concept.

There's concepts that he likes, and there's philosophies that he has as far as how we're going to operate as an offense.

But I think bringing him in was the idea was we're not gonna scrap everything.

Yeah, we're gonna let him out his flavor and he's gonna do his thing as the OC but we also know what we've been good at here, So where's gonna be some continuity as well?

And I thought he said it good when we first talked to him.

He said, look, this was the number one offensive league last year.

I just don't need to screw it up.

You know, I'm gonna have some things that I like to do.

A lot of the pre snap motions and getting guys in space and creating one on one matchups.

You know, that's the Gruden era, that's the West Coast offense.

That's what he does.

But I think he was smart to say, look, we've got a lot of talent, let's just do what we've been doing that successful.

You're going to add your wrinkles.

And I don't think that the normal fan we'll see a whole lot of differences in the I.

Don't think they will.

No, I don't think they will is And a lot of it's it's the nuance.

Maybe it's like route detail, route depth, yeah, something like that.

Maybe it's man beaters versus zone beaters.

Maybe it's different checks against zero that he likes.

You know, there's gonna be a lot that people aren't They're not going.

To reice it.

You know, all right, let's finish with this one.

Division matchups are big, but how big is this one?

Week one?

Not only just to set the tone for the season, set a statement to the to the division, to the rest of the NFC, but look, according to Vegas, these are the two teams that are favor to win the NFC North.

How big of a test is this week one?

How important is this game Week one?

You still got sixteen after it, so it's not make or break.

But does it down there to you guys?

Does it seem like a bigger Week one than than normal?

Bigger than normal?

You know, I'm not going to, like, you know, blow it up to be bigger than it is.

I mean, it's a football game, but yeah, is a divisional game, and those divisional games are very important, Yeah, as far as you know later in the season and postseasons concerned.

And this is a team that we know, they're super talented, they're super young, and they got playmakers, so it's gonna be fun and playing there, like, we get to play in the field and that's a good home field advantage.

You know, we've had some success there over the years, But that doesn't make it any easier to go in there and try to get a win, especially week one, so you know it's it's it's gonna be a great matchup and I expected to be ager game.

What does Micah bring to that defense?

I think the biggest thing.

Obviously he's a superstar, superstar pass rusher.

But now they have two guys on the edge.

Obviously getting rid of Kenny Clark, like you know, you don't have as big of a presence in the interior, but there are also some young guys on the interior.

But when you have two guys on the edge, like a lot of teams just have one, and it's like you can game plan for that.

But then they got Rashaun Gary on the other side who's been a pro bowler, So that's you want to stay ahead of the sticks basically, yeah, and you want to go first down, second down, first down if you can, and then when they're out there, you have a planform.

Well, it should be fun.

Football is back Green Bay on a Sunday lambeau Field Week one.

There doesn't really get better than that.

Taylor, thanks for taking the time, good luck this season.

Thank you