Off Topic » The Green Bay Packers went back to work

GREEN BAY Ryquell Armstead Jersey , Wis. — Monday following their bye week knowing they’ll have their hands full with the undefeated Los Angeles Rams on Sunday.But before they worry about the Rams, they focused on another team: Their own.“Today’s about self-improvement,” McCarthy said after his players went through various meetings on their first day back at work after five days off. “And that’s all I talked to them about in the team meeting. Even the things we are doing pretty good statistically is not good enough, and that’s always been the approach here.”More Packers coverage from FOX Sports WisconsinPhotos of the Week: 7/21/19 – 7/27/19Packers rookie Gary’s biggest critic is himselfTop Tweets: Former Badger TJ Watt has impressive four-year transformationPHOTOS: 2019 Green Bay Packers training campPackers’ Rodgers, LaFleur ironing out offense, building chemistryAmong the meetings players attended Monday were what McCarthy calls “across-the-hall” meetings, in which defensive coaches give offensive players their observations and pointers and vice versa.McCarthy said each meeting was roughly an hour and a half long and paired up various positions so coaches and players could engage in evaluation of the information gleaned from the staff’s bye week self-scouting.For example, left tackle David Bakhtiari said he and the other offensive tackles, along with the tight ends, met with their outside linebacker teammates Monday. With offensive line coaches James Campen and Jeff Blasko coaching up Clay Matthews, Nick Perry and the edge rushers, while linebackers coach Winston Moss shared his findings with the tackles and tight ends.“It’s breaking down, if they were to play us this week, ‘This is how I’d approach you. This is what I’m seeing on film http://www.jaguarsauthorizedshops.com/authentic-gardner-minshew-ii-jersey ,'” Bakhtiari said. “It’s a different viewpoint instead of just your offensive line coach.”Added veteran cornerback Tramon Williams, whose group was paired with the wide receivers: “Those guys are talking about the things that give them trouble, we’re talking about the things that give us trouble.“We go over film and look at some clippings of what we’ve done well or what we might not have done so well, and I think it just helps everybody in general to know that, ‘OK, going forward, this is the way the defense is looking to attack us.’ Or, ‘This is the way the offense is looking to attack us.'”Of course, now it’s a matter of taking that intel and putting it to good use against the Rams, who come in as the NFL’s lone remaining undefeated team at 7-0 and leading the NFL in total offense (445.3 yards per game) and ranked second in scoring (33.6 points per game).Sunday’s game at the Los Angeles Coliseum kicks off a brutal stretch for the Packers (3-2-1), who play four of their next five games on the road and will travel to New England to face the Patriots and Tom Brady after their matchup with the Rams.McCarthy said Monday the team will travel to Southern California on Friday, a day earlier than usual, and will have their most arduous practices of the week on Tuesday and Wednesday — a day earlier than normal.“For us, it’s one week at a time Christian Wilkins Jersey ,” Williams said. “We know that we have an obviously undefeated Rams team this week, who a lot of people think is unbeatable.“Obviously, we know they’re beatable at some degree. But they are tough, a tough team. Everything they advertise to be, they are. And we haven’t been who we say we were. We’re still working on that. But we feel confident about our chances going into LA, though.“We have to face all those teams. But we can only do it one at a time. We can’t look ahead to next week and talk about Tom Brady right now. It’s the Rams. We understand what’s coming up, but that starts out with the Rams, so that’s what we’re focused on.”The Packers are a significant underdog, even with Aaron Rodgers at quarterback.The Packers are hoping that Rodgers, who has been playing through a painful left knee injury sustained in the Sept. 9 regular-season opener, is the healthiest he’s been since the injury, and his improved mobility could mean more options for McCarthy as an offensive play-caller.McCarthy said if Rodgers’ knee is significantly better, he’ll be able to line up under center more often, which should lead to more carries for the running backs and more effective play-action passing.“When you throw the football http://www.dolphinsauthorizedshops.com/authentic-michael-deiter-jersey , especially the normal down-and-distance, you want to be higher in action-pass than you are in drop-back,” McCarthy said.“The drop-back component of throwing the football has been the strength, but the action-pass is where you want to do a better job, especially (with) the run game. The run game needs attempts. That’s really the biggest thing that came out of the self-scout.” CINCINNATI (AP)The Bengals tried to tiptoe around the importance of another season-defining game in Pittsburgh by ignoring the series’ history of lopsided outcomes and ugly moments. They wound up with more of both. A 29-14 loss in Pittsburgh on Sunday reinforced the gap between the longtime rivals. The Bengals (2-4) managed only one first down while getting dominated in the second half and losing to the Steelers (5-2) for the fifth straight game and the 13th time in their past 16 games. They came away defending their most volatile player, something also familiar after a Steelers game. Linebacker Vontaze Burfict refused to shake Steelers’ hands when he came onto the field for the pregame coin toss. He kicked at the Steelers’ Roosevelt Nix at the end of a play in the first quarter and wasn’t penalized, but he could be disciplined by the league. ”Well, I think the player pushes Vontaze back after the play, and Vontaze, you know, whatever,” coach Marvin Lewis said Monday. ”The official’s right there and warned (Nix) not to do that, so I don’t know.” Steelers running back Le’Veon Bell – who has his own history with Burfict – retweeted video of Burfict’s kick and said, ”man dude gotta go man … that’s not football AT ALL!!” Burfict made a twisting tackle on Bell during a game in 2015 that left the running back with a torn knee. The Steelers took exception to the way Burfict celebrated after the play. Later that season Garrett Bradbury Jersey , Burfict’s shot to Antonio Brown’s head drew a 15-yard penalty that set up Pittsburgh’s winning field goal in a playoff game, and the NFL suspended Burfict for the start of the next season. On Sunday, Burfict was in for all 69 defensive plays but had only four tackles, no sacks, no pass breakups and no tackles for loss. Instead of exchanging trash talk long-distance last week, Bengals players generally sidestepped questions about the series’ history of nasty moments, which includes an on-field scuffle during warmups before a game in 2015. Different approach, same result. The Steelers dominated. ”We’ve been through it where we get super amped up for it and have the pregame scuffles and that stuff, and it still doesn’t come out on the right end,” running back Jeremy Hill said Monday. The Steelers’ defense controlled the second half, holding the Bengals to one first down and 19 total yards. Andy Dalton was under constant pressure, threw two interceptions and was sacked four times in a span of five plays. ”When we faltered, we weren’t able to kind of gather our steam back,” offensive coordinator Bill Lazor said Monday. Dalton also aggravated his sore left ankle http://www.vikingsauthorizedshops.com/authentic-irv-smith-jr.-jersey , injured two weeks earlier against Buffalo. He walked with a slight limp on Monday. Rookie running back Joe Mixon was frustrated by the Bengals’ decision to rely on passing in the second half. Mixon carried seven times for 48 yards in the first half, but didn’t get a run in the second half. Overall, the Bengals had just five running plays in the second half, including two scrambles by Dalton. Mixon questioned the play calling after the game. Lazor wasn’t surprised by the reaction to so few runs, which he said was partly a factor of how the game unfolded and Cincinnati’s need to score points quickly. ”Not everyone is going to be happy with their (role) all the time,” Lazor said. ”And I’ve done it before, so I understand. Some guys handle it better than others. Some of them it shows by the look on their face, some of them by their body language, you can tell. It’s not the first time.” —