Desmond Bishop to attend 'Hollywood Boot Camp'
Posted by Mike Spofford on February 27, 2013 – 4:13 pm
Packers LB Desmond Bishop is among 22 current and former NFL players who will participate in the second annual "NFL Pro Hollywood Boot Camp" at Universal Studios in California.
The four-day program runs from March 11-15 and will cover a wide range of topics in the movie industry, including screen writing, directing, producing and film financing.
Among the industry executives leading the camp will be Legendary Pictures partner/producer Thomas Tull (The Dark Knight, Inception, We Are Marshall), director/producer Peter Berg (Friday Night Lights) and writer/actor/director Robert Townsend (The Five Heartbeats, Hollywood Shuffle).
Former Packers RB Ahman Green participated in the inaugural Hollywood Boot Camp last year. Former Packers FB Brandon Miree, who played for Green Bay only one season (2006), is also scheduled to attend this year.
Tags: desmond bishop, hollywood
Jennings 'pain-free' but no timetable announced
Posted by Mike Spofford on November 12, 2012 – 3:08 pm
WR Greg Jennings declared himself "pain-free" on Monday, about 11 days following surgery on an abdominal muscle, but he's not announcing any timetable for his potential return.
"I'm pain-free, so that's a step in the right direction," said Jennings, who has missed the last five games and six of the last seven. "As far as a timetable for getting back out there on the field, still really just taking it a day at a time. That's all we can do. But I feel really, really good. Really good."
Jennings said he hasn't been pain-free in his abdominal area since originally sustaining the injury in the fourth quarter of Week 1 against San Francisco. He sat out Week 2 against Chicago, then played in Week 3 at Seattle and again in Week 4 against New Orleans before leaving that game midway through. He hasn't played since.
As he did before the surgery, he sounded confident he would return this season, but he's just not interested in saying when.
"I have a target in my own mind," he said. "It's in my mind, and I'm going to keep it right there."
In other injury news, LB Desmond Bishop spoke with reporters on Monday and said all is going well with his rehab. Bishop was lost for the season in the first preseason game due to a hamstring injury that required surgery.
"I foresee me being close to 100 percent, I would say February-ish," Bishop said. "I'm just focused on positive energy to get this leg right and get back to regular form, or even better actually."
In the meantime, Bishop said he's been impressed with his current replacement, Brad Jones, who took over when Bishop's initial replacement, D.J. Smith, was also lost for the season to injury. Jones originally came to the Packers in 2009 as an outside linebacker, but Bishop said he could see even then that Jones was a bit of a natural inside.
"I always knew he was a good player," Bishop said. "When he first came, he did some scout team reps at middle linebacker, and I thought he could actually fit as a middle linebacker. I think he's doing really good."
Tags: desmond bishop, greg jennings
Bishop 'coping' with lost season; Benson to face former team
Posted by Mike Spofford on September 11, 2012 – 5:03 pm
LB Desmond Bishop, who injured his hamstring in the preseason opener against San Diego and is out for the season, spoke to reporters on Tuesday and admitted it's difficult to have to sit out the entire year.
"I'm coping," he said. "There's nothing I can do about it. It is what it is. I'm trying to adapt to the adage that everything happens for a reason. I'm coming along pretty good with that. I'm just hoping the guys do good and I'm with them in spirit."
Bishop had surgery on the hamstring performed by team physician Dr. Pat McKenzie, and McKenzie told him it went well. There was talk before the roster was finalized of Bishop possibly going on injured reserve with the new designation to possibly return by season's end, but Bishop said Dr. McKenzie didn't think that was realistic.
"I thought I possibly could have (come back), but whether or not it would have been smart to risk it is a whole different conversation," Bishop said. He added that it was difficult to watch his teammates lose to San Francisco in Week 1, particularly with the defense struggling to stop the run. Niners RB Frank Gore rushed for 112 yards on just 16 carries.
"Yeah, it was (tough)," he said. "Our guys were out there fighting, and I really wish I could be out there fighting the battle with them. They came up short, but it's just one game."
On Thursday night, RB Cedric Benson will be facing the team that drafted him No. 4 overall in 2005, the Chicago Bears. Back in 2009 while playing for Cincinnati, Benson rushed 37 times for 189 yards and a TD the first time he got a crack at his former team. The Bengals crushed the Bears that day, 45-10.
Benson said he feels no extra motivation facing the Bears again this week, saying his years in Chicago were a long time ago and he holds no personal grudges.
"It's extra incentive every weekend for me," he said. "The fact that they're a former team, you always want to do great against those guys, but that's not the driving force here. Every week is always extra incentive to get the job done."
That's especially true coming off his disappointing nine-carry, 18-yard Packers debut last Sunday. Benson was hoping to get more carries in that game, but he understood the game plan and the way the game unfolded didn't call for that.
"There's some work to be done," he said. "I've got to set guys up to create some explosiveness in the run game. And we can't get behind, because we have to play catch-up then and we don't get to run as much. For me personally, I have to be patient and also be explosive."
For more of Tuesday's coverage, click here.
Tags: cedric benson, chicago bears, desmond bishop
League, players' union agree to new IR rule
Posted by Mike Spofford on August 30, 2012 – 3:36 pm
The NFL and the NFL Players' Association have agreed to a new injured reserve exemption that had just been rejected by the players' union last week. The two sides also agreed to move back the annual trading deadline two weeks.
The new IR rule will allow one player placed on IR to be eligible to return to the active roster during the season, following a minimum of eight weeks. The player must be designated as a possible returnee when he is placed on IR, and each team gets only one such exemption.
Because teams have already trimmed their rosters to 75, teams could still designate a player already placed on IR as their one exemption, but they'll have to follow a special procedure to do it. That player will have to be removed from IR and placed on the 53-man active roster at the cutdown deadline, by 8 p.m. CT Friday night. Then, after 3 p.m. CT on Tuesday, Sept. 4, that player can be placed back on IR with the exemption, and another player can be signed to take his place on the 53-man roster.
There had been speculation that Packers LB Desmond Bishop could be a candidate for the new IR rule. He was placed on IR earlier this week as the Green Bay roster was reduced to 75, and GM Ted Thompson indicated that Bishop's situation wasn't affected by the potential rule change. Now that the rule has been approved, if the Packers do indeed want to give Bishop a chance to return this season, he'll have to be one of the 53 players on the active roster at the cutdown deadline Friday night.
As for the trading deadline, it has been moved back to the Tuesday following the Week 8 games. It had previously been the Tuesday following the Week 6 games.
Tags: desmond bishop, ir rule, trade deadline
Posted in Packers.com Blog, Training Camp
Hayward right in the mix
Posted by Mike Spofford on August 1, 2012 – 2:05 pm
Rookie CB Casey Hayward's strong practice on Wednesday came mostly while defending the biggest receiver on the roster, 6-4 Tori Gurley.
Matching up against big targets is nothing new to Hayward, who played at Vanderbilt in the SEC, but doing so at the NFL level does present its challenges.
"No doubt, because he's a big guy," Hayward said of Gurley. "He kind of reminds me of a tight end, but he moves very well to be that big. You can't let him get his hands on you."
Hayward admitted he's still making some rookie mistakes out there, but he's trying to use any mistake as a chance to learn. He's certainly right in the mix for playing time at cornerback with a competitive group that also includes Jarrett Bush, Davon House, Sam Shields and Brandian Ross.
"Certain calls I'm playing full speed," Hayward said. "Sometimes I question myself, but I shouldn't, because I know the plays."
Other notes from Wednesday's practice:
–K Mason Crosby went 2-for-2 again in a FG period, hitting a pair from 45-plus. Crosby has yet to miss a FG in camp through six practices.
–TE D.J. Williams has been getting plenty of attention thus far in camp, and rightly so, but fellow second-year TE Ryan Taylor is starting to show up, too. Taylor made a couple of big catches during team drills, including one where he dove toward the sideline as he finished a crossing route and hauled in the pass with a linebacker trailing in coverage.
–The "old" guys continue to make plays on a daily basis. CB Charles Woodson had a diving interception over the middle on a fourth-down throw by QB Aaron Rodgers, and WR Donald Driver got open deep behind S M.D. Jennings and caught a perfectly thrown deep ball from Rodgers.
–WR Greg Jennings turned in what was probably the play of the day in his first day back after missing a few practices with an elbow bruise. Jennings caught a ball right in stride that deflected off TE Jermichael Finley and may have been deflected by CB Tramon Williams as well.
–LB Desmond Bishop and FB John Kuhn both must practice two times in shells before they can put full pads on, and they got their first day in on Wednesday. If they practice in shells again Thursday night, that would make them eligible to put pads on for Friday's Family Night scrimmage, but it seems unlikely they'll do so.
"You know I would if they let me, but I'm not sure how that would work," Bishop said. "I don't foresee them letting me the first day in pads go in the scrimmage. So I'm guessing Sunday."
–In addition to Commissioner Roger Goodell, other big names in attendance at Wednesday's practice included former Packers GM Ron Wolf and Hall of Fame head coach and former broadcaster John Madden.
Tags: aaron rodgers, casey hayward, charles woodson, d.j. williams, desmond bishop, john kuhn, ryan taylor, tori gurley
Matthews vows defense will improve
Posted by Mike Spofford on July 28, 2012 – 2:03 pm
LB Clay Matthews spoke to reporters after Saturday's practice for the first time in training camp, and when asked whether the Packers' defense would improve in 2012, he basically said the Dom Capers-coordinated unit has no choice.
"We need to be better," he said. "Obviously when you finish 32nd, that's not acceptable, especially for the way in which we played the first two years under Dom's scheme. So we need to get better, we will get better, and I think the guys we brought in here, the attitude, the learning experience from last year, I think we will be better."
One of the guys brought in, of course, is Nick Perry, who has been with the first unit at outside linebacker opposite Matthews since the day he arrived. When he's not in the middle of a play or drill, Perry is often seen either chatting with Matthews or position coach Kevin Greene, and Matthews complimented his willingness to learn.
Mentoring a younger player is a bit of a new role for Matthews, but he's embracing it so far.
"We work in unison together, so obviously he needs to look to me to give him advice," Matthews said. "We're going to be working together on the field a lot, so I need to be a mentor towards him, whether I want to or not. But I think that's the natural progression of not only having the same position on the field, but me, as far as my maturation, going into my fourth year, and believing that I can be a leader."
–LB Desmond Bishop admitted he's a bit frustrated with his recurring calf injury. He's dealing with it now after having missed three games last season with the same problem. He said he didn't have a timetable for his return, but he said he's in no way concerned about this latest problem lasting until the start of the regular season.
"Minor setback," he said. "It's not as bad as it was last year. That's the positive."
–One player quietly off to a strong start in camp is WR James Jones. He has made multiple catches by leaping high over defenders to haul the ball in, including one Saturday over CB Sam Shields. The only blemish on Jones' first three days of camp was his fumble on Saturday, when he was stripped by CB Davon House after making a reception. Jones admitted House "got me good."
"Aaron has been throwing the ball up pretty good, letting us go up and make some plays," Jones said. "That's good, because when the games come, it's going to be a lot of jump balls, a lot of competitive balls, so to get them started in camp early will help us out down the road."
–Undrafted rookie RB Marc Tyler has changed uniform numbers. Through the spring and the first two days of camp, he was wearing No. 27. On Saturday, he switched to No. 26, which had been S Charlie Peprah's number. Peprah was released on the eve of camp.
Tyler wore No. 26 in college at USC. That was also the number worn by his father, Wendell Tyler, a former Pro Bowl RB for the L.A. Rams and San Francisco 49ers.
Tags: clay matthews, desmond bishop, james jones, nick perry
Desmond Bishop chat transcript
Posted by Duke Bobber on May 3, 2012 – 2:02 pm
Packers linebacker Desmond Bishop chatted live with fans on packers.com on Thursday, May 3. Read the chat transcript to see what Bishop said.
Tags: chat transcript, desmond bishop, live chat, packtalkback