McCarthy Won't Name Starter Opposite Collins

Mike McCarthy refused to name his starting strong safety for Sunday nights game against the Vikings.

I found this exchange interesting during McCarthy's press conference this afternoon:

How comfortable are you with Anthony Smith and what you’ve seen from him this week?
Anthony has jumped right in. He’s really picked up where he left off. He still has excellent recall of the defense.  Special teams, him and Shawn Slocum have spent a lot of extra time together. Anthony will be part of our 45 on Sunday.

Is he your starter there?
He’ll be part of our 45 on Sunday.

Charlie Peprah, who has started the last two games after rookie Morgan Burnett was placed on I.R., has done an adequate job filling in, but his limitations in coverage have been pretty obvious. Anthony Smith is no panacea by any means. I would tend to think they would opt to stick with Peprah, knowing that they'll most likely need Collins in full-on ballhawk/coverage mode, meaning they'll need the opposite safety to fill in hard on the run, something that Peprah has actually been quite good at.

I only know one thing for sure - neither choice is particularly comforting right now. And no, I don't think we'll see Bigby quite yet.

 

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Comments (15)

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G-Town Mike's picture

October 22, 2010 at 02:19 pm

Surprised? McCarthy really doesn't answer any questions. . . .

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NoWayJose's picture

October 22, 2010 at 02:51 pm

Ah, McCarthy's pressers. Here's another choice bit of his nonsense:

Q: Will there be any benefit to limiting Clay’s role, like just using him in the nickel, or if he goes, would you just go with him the whole time?)

A: Good question. That’s really part of the communication today. [. . .]

Part of the communication today? Who talks like that?!? So, you mean the coaching staff is talking that over? It's being discussed?

WHY DO HAVE TO TALK LIKE A FREAKING ROBOT PROGRAMMED IN A FOREIGN COUNTRY???

Do you think this crap somehow makes you a good coach?

Good grief.

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lars's picture

October 22, 2010 at 03:07 pm

Why should McCarthy reveal anything to the media nimrods 'NowayJose'? How does that help the Packers? He's just saying what most coaches say before a game, which is as little as possible. Sorry if he upsets your intense curiosity.

Now, with Thompson---his reticence borders on the pathological and silly at times. But, MM would be foolish to reveal anything of use to the Vikings through media gossip-mongers.

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NoWayJose's picture

October 22, 2010 at 03:29 pm

I'm not criticizing the amount of substantive information he gives out to satisfy anyone's "intense curiosity."

My point is that it is perfectly possible to talk like a human being whose native language is English and still be a head coach. Just say "I talked to him." Don't say "the communication from the player was that he is feeling better."

Honestly, could a guy who talks like this possibly be inspiring the players?

Let's just say I don't think any budding scriptwriter on Broadway is penning "McCarthy" right now...

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lebowski's picture

October 22, 2010 at 03:54 pm

I agree NoWay, McCarthy-speak is beyond ridiculous. I think he's trying overly hard to sound like a football coach. I thought it would get better after a year or two of press conferences, chalking it up to nervousness or something, but it seems to get worse.

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SpartaChris's picture

October 22, 2010 at 05:00 pm

I think you're all reading way too much into the way he talks. At least he hasn't busted out the "Stream of consciousness" bit yet..

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Oppy's picture

October 22, 2010 at 06:09 pm

Do you really think he talks like this to his players? To his friends? His family?

There is, without doubt, a very guarded, skeptical and cautious persona that is donned by MM when he is dealing with the media. No coach or GM wants to talk to the media (With exception to the occasional ego-maniacal persona such as Jerry Jones, perhaps).

While it will never be said by anyone in any front office in the league, THE MEDIA IS THE ENEMY. Nothing good comes from talking with the media. Their are only two outcomes from talking to the media, in regards to possible effect on the upcoming game: 1) None, or 2) Negative.

The pressure to win is enormous in the NFL. These guys hardly get time to spend with their wives and children. They do not want to talk to the idiots in the media- and yes, I'm pretty sure they think the questions they have to routinely field are idiotic- especially since 90% of the questions are either inflammatory, ignorant, or would require an answer that would tip the team's hand to the opponent.

He talks like a robot to the press because that's exactly what he is when he's addressing the public: He's working hard at not saying anything he shouldn't, and he doesn't want to be there in the first place.

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WoodyG's picture

October 22, 2010 at 06:32 pm

This isn't "McCarthy-speak" ..... It's "HC-speak" ....... Just about (if not all) HCs use weird non-informative communication when talking to the media ......

MM will have to get better if he ever expects to be seen on a Coor's commercial.

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davyjones's picture

October 22, 2010 at 03:19 pm

Absolutely agree that he should keep opponent guessing whenever possible...sooo, how about some playcalling that isn't completely predictable??

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jeremiah's picture

October 22, 2010 at 04:36 pm

can you remember anyone other than smith who is also not named collins intercepting a ball over the middle last year? granted, smiths was int the preseason, but still.

smith got cut because of his attitude and his unwilingness to play STs. he may not be as good in run support as peprah but is far less of a liability in pass coverage. so when trying to decide who is better the verdict is smith IMO.

what do you feel better about?

A. our front 7 vs the run with suport from A safety.

B. smith in coverage against moss/harvin

C. peprah in coverage vs mos/harvin????

put them in order.

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Oppy's picture

October 22, 2010 at 06:20 pm

I think Smith got cut for the same reason It's rumored he got benched in PIT and it's probably the same reason he didn't play in STL, maybe why he was so easily let go by the Jags:

The guy lacks discipline and gambles way to much to make any D-CO feel too confident.

He's talented, but he's a bit of a loose cannon. When you are often called upon to be the last line of defense, being out of position because you are sticking your nose where it doesn't belong greedily looking for the glory play can quickly lead to the opponents getting a quick 6 on the scoreboard.

Everyone remembers the flashy picks by Smith in preseason, everyone forgets all the times he was not even close to being where he should have been- because he was trying to force a play on a ball he had no business being anywhere near at the time.

That's my opinion. There's always the chance he's matured in the last year, and gets it now. But I think he's a depth guy more than anything, or perhaps a guy they will use situationally and put him in position to completely sell-out.

To answer your question, Smith's talent in coverage- from an athletic stand point- far outweighs anything Peprah could offer. But Smith's impatience and poor decisions his displayed during last year's pre season make me far more comfortable with Peprah back there.

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Tarynfor 12's picture

October 23, 2010 at 05:54 am

A variation of the "pick a straw game"but these straws are all short,not fair.

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PackersRS's picture

October 22, 2010 at 05:01 pm

IMHO Peprah has been nice on short yardage. Really good, actually, remember a couple of stops he made on 3rd down. Solid tackler, and always around the ball within 15 yard range.

But he's a damn liability on sole coverage, so to use him, we have to take away everything that leaves him covering deep...

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zub_a_dub's picture

October 22, 2010 at 07:42 pm

IMO a philosophy of MM is that he has 45 starters on game day, meaning they run so many different formations utilizing the strengths of their players.

In reality in his mind he has 15 to 18 starters on defense, all equally important thats serves a vital role.

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jack in jersey city's picture

October 24, 2010 at 12:05 am

i just saw on nfl.com that neither harris nor bigby will be activated for the vikings game

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