Gregg from Arlington Heights, IL

Mike, I wish Barnett would have called a timeout in Philly. To me, he did not look confused, instead, he looked like he recognized they were in a bad defense. I can’t recall, but even if they came out of a timeout, take the 5-yard penalty, reset your defense, and play on. But as they say, the best thing one can say about a freshman is next year they are a sophomore. In the NFL, the best thing you can say about a rookie is next year they are a second-year vet. Alas, to wish and to dream.

I’m not going to relitigate fourth-and-26. It’s pretty well-established it was a questionable call that was poorly executed across the board. Plenty of blame to go around, including on Barnett, who abandoned the middle of the field to pick up a tight end leaking out of a pass pro assignment at the line of scrimmage – 26 yards from the first down.

Jordan Love staying healthy and being productive is the No. 1 key to a successful season. Right behind that is a ferocious pass rush because the reality is, the Packer corners are not proven stoppers. Therefore, Lukas Van Ness, Devonte Wyatt or whoever the pass rushers are, need to have big years. Do you agree with that thinking?

Not entirely. While I believe a steadier, more consistent pass rush would definitely help the defense, I also believe the Packers’ top cornerback group – Keisean Nixon, Nate Hobbs, Carrington Valentine, plus Javon Bullard in the slot – is one they can win with. The question is who’s next when depth is called upon. The Packers have a lot of young, unproven players at corner with a massive opportunity in front of them. Let’s see where things are two months from now.

With the exception of Christian Watson, do you think all 90 players on the roster would be available for camp? Particularly interested in Kenny Clark and how he’s recovering after foot surgery surgery. If anyone needs a bounce back season, it’s Kenny Clark.

Clark was participating in 11-on-11 snaps during minicamp, so he seemed to be fine. Can’t say for sure on any of the other guys who were hurt this spring, but LaFleur didn’t express that anyone’s injuries were serious.

It seems ex-Packers are in demand. Lots of cut players are on other teams this year. I think it was last year after camp that the Packers had four players claimed off waivers. Not only the most of any team, but more than all the rest altogether. Do you think it will be more this year?

No way to know. Injuries in training camp will influence the Packers’ roster decisions, and there’s no telling what players will put on film in preseason games that will catch other teams’ eyes.

How do coaches handle the completely unexpected injuries that deplete a position in a game? All the planning in the world doesn’t help if three offensive linemen or wide receivers get injured in a game.

It depends on which position group gets hit in that scenario. If three receivers go down, the call sheet shrinks and a lot more two-back to two-TE sets are used. Three linemen can be overcome as long as eight were active for the game, but if guys are forced to play out of position, there’s likely a discussion on the sideline about the kinds of plays with which he’s most familiar and/or comfortable.

I was wondering about your opinion on Jordan’s deep ball. Does he need some work on it, small tweaks or better timing? I grew up with Favre. Watching both him and Rodgers, almost once a game, drop a perfect pass to a streaking receiver for a 50-plus yard TD. What is Jordan’s biggest area of improvement in the deep ball game?

When the protection is there and Love’s got two healthy legs under him, I don’t see any alarming issue with his deep ball. But it does take repetition. I don’t think Favre or Rodgers had pinpoint accuracy on shot plays in their first and second years either. In fact, Rodgers overthrew an open Jennings deep in overtime of his first playoff game at the end of his second season as a starter. Favre had the one to Sharpe in his first playoff game throwing across his body, but he was so wide-freakin’-open it didn’t even need to be accurate (though it was still one whale of a throw). He’ll keep at it, and it’ll come.

I read over the past weekend the NFL will not have a supplemental draft this year. My question is have the Packers ever dipped into the supplemental draft when the NFL had them. If so who have the drafted? Has anyone in the NFL been any good coming out of that draft?

The Packers made three picks in the 1984 USFL Supplemental Draft who didn’t amount to anything. But they made one pick in the 1998 NFL Supplemental Draft, and it turned out to be a gem – offensive lineman Mike Wahle from Navy.

Hi II. Regarding Jeff the So-Cal Angels fan’s observations/questions about baseball players vs football players – one of my favorite baseball memories from my youth was when Tommy Lasorda said, “Give me nine Jimmy Gantners and I’ll win the World Series every year.” Jimmy was good, but not a star – but Lasorda thought you could make a winning team with guys like that. In the NFL of this century, I’m struggling to think of champion teams that didn’t have multiple “star” players. Thoughts?

Sorry, but stars are difference-makers. It was a neat, quippy thing for Lasorda to say, but he knows better. His 1981 World Series champs had six guys make the All-Star team that year (Valenzuela, Lopes, Hooton, Garvey, Baker, Guerrero), with Valenzuela winning the Cy Young and Rookie of the Year. His ’88 World Series champs had the league MVP (Gibson) and Cy Young (Hershiser). Lasorda needed stars to win the World Series just like any other manager, and they’re needed in the NFL, too.