Coach McCarthy addressed the media moments ago. Here are a few takeaways.

“The film from Family Night was excellent it was excellent teaching this morning we kinda went through that at a pretty quick pace and then jumped into our prep for Philadelphia.”

The Packers play the Eagles Thursday night, which will give them the added bonus of having a schedule run-through for the Packers/Bears game on September 28th. The rookies in particular should benefit from the regularity and the fact that they have been eased into these schedule nuances during the pre-season.

“This is starting the process of preparing for a football game,” coach said, indicating that the reps will be metered out in practice to those who are expected to play which may mean that Aaron Rodgers and other starters will have fewer reps.

All indications, though are that the Packers are ahead of schedule as coach McCarthy said that they usually get to this point in the process after the second pre-season game. The Packers are already working on the season schedule and that should help the team hit the ground running.

Of course, the biggest question had to do with Mason Crosby going 5/11 on field goals but coach sees it as a teaching experience. When asked if the problem was pressure, he responded, “It wasn’t just one thing.”.

There are a lot of moving parts to the field goal unit and coach McCarthy even mentioned that the protection itself may need work. All this tape will be a positive teaching tool when it is for real in September. In the meantime, the team has plenty of time and four games to work out the kinks with a new long snapper and new holder for Mason. Mason, for his part has four games to get out on the field and show the ability that he did just last year in the divisional round against the Dallas Cowboys.

McCarthy was also asked about the outside linebackers and said that one key is to “play with their eyes better”, emphasizing fundamentals like pad level and leverage, footwork, fit and gap control. But McCarthy does see potential in the OLB’s this year reading better and getting underneath blocks quicker which is another hopeful sign.

When asked if the offensive line could be even better than last year, coach respoded “I hope so.” And even with the exit of TJ Lang, the surge that Lane Taylor has made this training camp along with the addition of Jahri Evans could make that a reality. Continuity will be the key. But Taylor was once again getting accolades from the head coach. And he described Evans as a “good fit”.

Richard Rodgers has had “clearly his best camp in his time here” according to McCarthy, which should add to a TE group that may be as strong.

Vince Biegel will not practice today and there was no update on when he will.

But this Packers team is coming together. Pre-season football is upon us and another great Packers season is at hand.

Go Pack!