The Green Bay Packers have begun camp with a bang, and with lots to talk about both on Defense AND on Offense.

DEFENSE:

On defense there are some surprises. One being that with the new 3-4 defense being installed, you would think the defense would behind the offense this early into camp relative to accumen, but it's the other way around. The offense has struggled early on with the defense making plays and flying around the ball; something that you couldn't say in 2008. It appears that all the work in the O-T-A's, and the mini-camps are paying off.

Another one is that after resting a sore hammy, 1^st round draft pick Clay Matthews has stunned coaches and teammates by being inserted into the starting rotation. He's running with the starters at outside linebacker, ahead of Jeremy Thompson. Thompson has had the edge in the competition throughout the OTAs and minicamp. Thompson ran with the ones for three practices but now, because of Matthews’ development in the scheme, the coaches plan to rotate the two.

The last one to mention this week is that Charles Woodson is loving life as he looks like a natural in Dom Capers’ 3-4 scheme. He picked off quarterback Aaron Rodgers Sunday and no longer is sounding the alarm about the Packers needing some new blood on defense. All in all, he feels better than he did the day after the 6-10 debacle of 2008 ended. The Press Gazette reported on Monday the following:

What seems to have placated Woodson most is the switch to the new defense. Even though Woodson thrived in defensive coordinator Bob Sanders’ man-to-man scheme, not everyone else did, and the result was consistent inconsistency all over the place. Perhaps most encouraging to Woodson was what happened after the draft and OTAs; he started to see his teammates warm-up to a scheme that allowed for more than one way to play coverage, sent pressure from all over the field, and most importantly, wasn’t predictable. The biggest change is that he and starting mate Al Harris have gone from playing man-to-man coverage every down to playing a great deal of zone. That means lining up off the line of scrimmage and facing the quarterback. For Woodson to have a better year than he did in 2008 (79 tackles, a career-high seven interceptions, two touchdowns, 20 pass break-ups and three sacks, most of it done on a badly sprained big toe and some of it while playing safety) he’d have to make a deal with the devil, or Dick Cheney. No such pact was made as far as anyone knows, but when Woodson broke in front of Donald Driver on a deep in-route and caught Rodgers’ pass square in the chest, it sure looked that way.

Safety Nick Collins, who reported to camp early in the week, also joined the interception pool, picking off Aaron Rodgers Monday.

End　Johnny Jolly　went down in a scary-looking heap midway through Sunday’s night practice, but he emerged with only a sprained ankle and returned to practice after getting re-taped (insert Vicodin joke here: ____________.).
Defensive back　Jarrett Bush　sustained the only other injury, an abdominal strain, in the morning session and didn’t practice at night. He’ll be OK though. Several other players — most notably, end　Justin Harrell (a potential bust in the making)　and outside linebacker Jeremy Thompson — dropped out at various points in the night session because of cramps. Harrell also dropped out of the second morning practice Wednesday with a left calf cramp. Four vets coming off surgery, RE Cullen Jenkins, S Atari Bigby, LT Chad Clifton and C Scott Wells were placed on a one-a-day practice schedule, meaning they sit out the morning sessions on days with two practices. NT Ryan Pickett sat out the night practice for rest.

The Offense, while not looking as great as the DF at this point, looks decent. Here too, there are surprises. One of them (much to the delight of Ted Thompson and the fans) is Jermichael Finley. In each of the first four training camp practices, Finley has made at least one play that has made people take notice.

On Monday, he provided a couple. During a run blocking drill, he flattened linebacker Jeremy Thompson, driving him to the ground. It left Thompson with a stinger and temporarily knocked him out of practice. That was indicative of the improvement Finley has made as a blocker, although he has a a long way to go. Finley makes his mark as a receiver, and he made perhaps the play of the day during the all-important 2-minute drill. With the offense facing a third-and-2 and under a minute remaining, Finley blew past linebacker A.J. Hawk and was open down the seam. Aaron Rodgers’ pass was slightly underthrown, and Hawk managed to get a hand on the ball. But he tipped it right to Finley, who gathered it in for a 33-yard gain, setting up first-and-goal from the 9. Two plays later, Finley nearly capped the drive with a touchdown catch. Look for big things from him this year. He might be worth a late-round flyer. Also good news: in the first live 2-minute drill of training camp, the offense pulled it out. Trailing 17-13 with 1:11 remaining and one timeout, the offense needed every second of it. After Finley’s play got the offense to the 9, Rodgers spiked the ball leaving 10 seconds. He threw wide of Donald Driver for an incompletion on second down, and then Finley’s incompletion set up fourth down with 1 second to go. Tight end Donald Lee used a quick step off the line to beat linebacker　Brandon Chillar, and Rodgers found him for the touchdown.

Running back　DeShawn Wynn, who is off to a good start, made a nice run to the left and broke free with a spin move. He then ran over linebacker Desmond Bishop, but a defensive back came in from behind the stripped the ball loose.　While the fumble is what caused him to find the dog house, he has been running hard in camp, and is pushing Brandon Jackson. Wynn may find up being a short yardage specialist.

PK Mason Crosby missed his first three run-on field-goal attempts from 40 yards in the night session, then got a sarcastic cheer from fans when he converted the fourth. Be careful here fellow fantasy owners, Crosby might be getting jittery.