Dave from Milwaukee, a great friend and follower of ours, sent me this link this morning from the Journal Sentinel that the offense cleared some air after watching film on Monday.  Greg Bedard reported that veteran offensive players took turns addressing the unit.  It sounds like Aaron Rodgers was called out on holding the ball too long, the line wasn’t blocking well enough, receivers dropped too many passes, running backs not getting that extra yard or two.  Stuff of that nature.

That is great and I’m not here to rip on this meeting because it needed to happen and is something very good teams do.  Constructive criticism from your co-workers is essential for success in any line of work.  In football it is what makes good teams great.  Look at Peyton Manning and the Colts.  You always here stories of how tuned in he his to every aspect and position on his offense and constantly addresses their problems and areas of improvement.  I’m not comparing Rodgers to Manning in any sense, but that is a reason why the Colts are title contenders every year and will be until Manning retires.  You could argue that at the skill positions the Packers have just as much, if not greater talent than the Colts.  You have to get better as a team first before you can individually.

The only question I have about this meeting is why did it take so long to have it?  Daryn Colledge called it, “A come-to-Jesus meeting.”  I guess that is all you really can call it after the team’s most embarrassing loss in recent memory.  It is really only after those kinds of losses you hear about these type of meetings.  What bothers me is that it sounds like it took a loss like this for players to finally call out their teammates on their flaws.  That should be happening on a daily and weekly basis no matter if you win or lose.  This is done at every level of sport.  Like a lot of you, I played high school football (oh the glory  years) and every week watching film we would call out each other, be very open and critical and everyone took it as a positive.  And we were in high school! You tell me that professional players have issues calling each other out on a weekly basis?  If a lineman isn’t blocking for you or the quarterback doesn’t get rid of the ball, you let them know how you feel so it doesn’t become a constant problem.

According to the story, and to no surprise, Donald Driver was one of the most vocal ones in this meeting.  “If we don’t win – and I mean now – they are going to fire all of our (butts) at the end of the season,” Driver said. “I’m serious.”

That quote got me thinking of which Packers are actually safe going into 2010?  We all know about the problems and transitions on defense, but what about offense?

Well, the number is actually quite low on how many players you can guarantee will be back next year on offense.  Rodgers, Driver and Jennings for sure.  Probably Quinn Johnson and Jermichael Finley because of their potential. Same goes for T.J. Lang, Josh Sitton and Spencer Havner (special teams stud).  But realistically that’s it.  Hardly anything is guaranteed in the NFL and  Ryan Grant could even be cut before he gets his roster bonuses in March.  James Jones and Jordy Nelson have shown flashes, but there are plenty of guys around the league that do that and then take the next step (see Austin, Miles).

So Driver hit on the head that (almost) everyone is playing for their jobs.  Maybe that is the fire that everyone needed to hear because it is not like there will be starting jobs waiting for any of these guys elsewhere they aren’t brought back.  Dallas is a must win-game without question, so it is good that this meeting took place.  I am just wondering what took so long.

Andy Somers is a Staff Op/Ed Writer for Wisconsin Sports Online. Visit his blog, Ol' Bag of Donuts, for more interesting reading.

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