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Kicker Mason Crosby underwhelms in Packers' Family Night Scrimmage
Saturday, August 3, 2013
7:30 p.m.
RB Eddie Lacy
In his first appearance at Lambeau Field, Lacy gave Packers fans good reason to be excited about the team's running game this season. Lacy ran with the power that he's known for, but he again showed that he can do far more than that.
On one run, Lacy hesitated for just the right amount of time behind his blockers before exploding through a small hole for a first down. Later, when the offensive line created a big hole (which were the type of looks he frequently saw at Alabama), Lacy turned it into a 20-yard gain and showed off his speed.
"I think Eddie's definitely picked it up here over the last 3-4 days," coach Mike McCarthy said. "This is our longest stretch of practices in a row and it's important for guys to take that step and he's definitely getting more and more comfortable with the things we're doing. He's had a productive few days."
K Mason Crosby
Having a bad day doesn't even begin to describe Crosby's performance. Facing competition in training camp for the first time since his rookie season, Crosby was clearly outperformed by Giorgio Tavecchio -- and it wasn't close.
Crosby's poor 2012 season (in which he had the NFL's worst field goal percentage) seems to have carried over to this year. He made only 3 of his 8 field goal attempts during the scrimmage, including going 2 of 6 to conclude the night when going head-to-head with Tavecchio.
Crosby's night started by hitting the right goal post on a 48-yard attempt and it was mostly all downhill from there. Crosby did initially respond by connecting from 40 yards out, but that's when the field goal competition began.
Crosby's first attempt into the south end zone was a miss from 37 yards; Tavecchio then made that kick. Crosby was good from 47 yards out, which Tavecchio missed. Crosby followed it up by missing from 53 yards, a kick that Tavecchio made by bouncing it off the bottom post and in.
Switching to the north end zone, Crosby missed from 33 yards and 43 yards before finishing with a make from 53 yards. Tavecchio, from those same distances, made all three.
"Mason Crosby is competing for a job on our football team, like everybody else," McCarthy said. "He definitely didn't take a step in the right direction with his performance. ... He's definitely got to do better than that because that's not going to cut it.
"I'll say this for my conversation with Mason: I think there's, just from a fundamental standpoint, I mean, he's got to do better than that."
Added Crosby: "I'm obviously disappointed with how I hit it, but I'm obviously going to have some film to look at and evaluate. I hit the last ball the way I wanted to, so I move on from there. But, yeah, I was definitely disappointed with how the lines I picked, I thought a couple were going to come back. I thought I picked a good line, and just a couple of them stayed out there.
"I've been hitting the ball well. Obviously I'm extremely disappointed with how I hit it tonight."
- The Packers broke the Family Night attendance record with 63,047 fans through the gate. The previous record was set in 2006 with 62,701.
- The No. 1 kickoff coverage unit consisted of: Jeremy Ross, Terrell Manning, Jarrett Boykin, Morgan Burnett, Micah Hyde, D.J. Williams, Sam Barrington, Ryan Taylor, Jarrett Bush, Robert Francois
- Marshall Newhouse started at right tackle but was replaced midway through the first drive by David Bakhtiari. It didn't take long for Bakhtiari to make an impact play, leveling Nate Palmer in pass protection.
- James Starks started at running back, but when the offense reached the red zone, Lacy came in and finished off the touchdown drive.
- Aaron Rodgers' only drive at quarterback resulted in a touchdown when he connected with D.J. Williams for the score.
- The second-string offensive line was, from left to right: Newhouse, Greg Van Roten, Don Barclay, Andrew Datko, Bakhtiari.
- M.D. Jennings got the start at safety, continuing the trend of swapping back and forth with Jerron McMillian. Both safeties played a lot of snaps with the starters, but Jennings was ahead of McMillian on this night.
- Jeremy Ross had a nice kick return when he took off for 49 yards. McCarthy is still waiting for Ross -- or anyone else -- to perform well consistently so the team can take Randall Cobb off of special teams.
- Rookie linebacker Sam Barrington did a good job reading a screen pass from B.J. Coleman to Johnathan Franklin, stuffing the play behind the line of scrimmage for a loss.
- Datone Jones almost forgot that he wasn't supposed to hit quarterbacks (who were wearing red jerseys) when he came flying at Coleman. Jones let up in plenty of time, but with the speed he was going, it was a good indication that he'll likely get in a few big hits on quarterbacks this season.
- Cornerback James Nixon had one of the biggest plays of the night, intercepting a pass from Coleman that was intended for Ross and running it back 66 yards for a touchdown.
- Coleman later threw another interception, this time with undrafted rookie Brandon Smith picking him off in the end zone. This pass was also intended for Ross.
- Graham Harrell led a touchdown drive that was finished off with a swing pass to undrafted rookie running back Angelo Pease. After making the catch, Pease made a nice move to get past outside linebacker Nate Palmer. This capped off what was a really quality drive by Harrell.
- During a two-minute drill late in the night, Straks dropped a pass in the flat from Coleman. That was really Starks' only negative play in the scrimmage. Later in that same drive, Starks had a nice catch-and-run for a 23-yard gain.
- Loyce Means was called for pass interference twice in one drive, both while defending Tyrone Walker.
* TE Ryan Taylor (Leg -- Left early and was carted to the locker room)* WR Jordy Nelson (Knee -- Consecutive Missed Practices: 2)* TE Andrew Quarless (Quad -- Consecutive Missed Practices: 2)* S David Fulton (Knee -- Consecutive Missed Practices: 2)* LB Jamari Lattimore (Illness -- Consecutive Missed Practices: 2)* OLB Dezman Moses (Toe -- Consecutive Missed Practices: 4)* CB Tramon Williams - (Knee -- Consecutive Missed Practices: 5)* WR Charles Johnson (Left Leg -- Consecutive Missed Practices: 6)* WR Kevin Dorsey (Leg -- Consecutive Missed Practices: 6)* CB Casey Hayward (Hamstring -- Consecutive Missed Practices: 8)* DE Mike Neal (Abdomen -- Consecutive Missed Practices: 8)* RB DuJuan Harris (Knee -- Consecutive Missed Practices: 8)* OL Derek Sherrod (Leg -- Consecutive Missed Practices: 8)* S Sean Richardson (Neck -- Consecutive Missed Practices: 8)* OL J.C. Tretter (Ankle -- likely out until midseason)* DL Jerel Worthy (Knee -- likely out until midseason)* WR Sederrick Cunningham (Wrist Surgery -- Return date unknown)
* LB Brad Jones (Finger -- Returned after leaving Friday night's practice early)
* Monday, August 5 - 1:50 p.m. (Training Camp Practice No. 9 -- Closed to the public)
* Tuesday, August 6 - 8:20 a.m. (Training Camp Practice No. 10)
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