after several Packers players anonymously accused the running back of being
selfish when he didn’t take a knee on the kickoff late in Sunday’s loss.Williams
said he talked to Montgomery after Montgomery fumbled to end the Packers’
comeback hopes.“I’ll tell you what: The people who said that
Womens Kevin King Jersey , it’s unfortunate that they said that,” Williams said, via Tom Silverstein of the
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. “That’s the reason they are anonymous and not said their name. If they want to say it, put
their name by it. That’s them. Whoever that is, it is what it is. But we’re
going to have Ty’s back. I know for a fact he didn’t do it selfishly. It may
look that way, but he didn’t do it selfishly. I’ve been playing for a long time,
and I’ve been in worse situations than he has.”Michael Silver of NFL Media wrote
a story after the game that said: “According to more than a half-dozen Packers
players and coaches who witnessed it, Montgomery had thrown a tantrum of his own
on Green Bay’s previous offensive series, becoming noticeably enraged on the
sideline after being removed from the game. At least one player believed there
was carryover from that incident to Montgomery’s decision to disregard his
coaches’ instruction and return the kickoff.”Packers coach Mike McCarthy
confirmed after the game that coaches had instructed Montgomery to take a knee
if that was an option. Montgomery was 2 yards deep when he decided to run it
out. “We’ve got Aaron Rodgers
Jermaine Whitehead Jersey White , the best I’ve ever seen, and you’re gonna take that risk?” Silver quoted one Packers player anonymously. “I mean, it’s
’12’! All you gotta do is give him the ball, and you know what’s gonna happen.”
The formal and official push for 18 regular-season games has begun. The latest,
and perhaps best, evidence of it comes from comments made Friday by Packers CEO
Mark Murphy at the team’s annual shareholders meeting.“What we do know is our
current preseason is not a good product,” Murphy said, via Darren Rovell of
TheActionNetwork.com. “Our players don’t need four games and it seems like fewer
starters are playing in them. Maybe another way to do this is to add one neutral
site game and one international one for every team, so we can use this to grow
the game.”In other words
Womens David Bakhtiari Jersey , one plus one is two. And 16 plus two is 18.That marks a dramatic reversal for Murphy, who has said clearly and
unequivocally on multiple past occasions that an increase to 18 games won’t
work.“On the 18-game season, with the concerns about health and safety, we can’t
justify increasing the season,” Murphy told Peter King in December 2016.Murphy
made similar remarks at least three times before that.“I think with all the
concern about player health and safety, it would be difficult to go from 16
regular-season games to 18,” Murphy said in 2015.“I think with all the concerns
about the health and safety of players, it’s hard to justify,” Murphy said in
2013. “To go from 16 to 18 regular-season [games] would be a lot more wear and
tear. It would be additional games for your starters.”Here’s Murphy from
2012: “I couldn’t support a move to 18 [regular-season games] and two [preseason
games]. With the focus on player safety
Kentrell Brice Jersey White , it would be really hard to support that.”So what has prompted Murphy to do such an about face? Given that he previousy has
rooted his opposition to an expanded regular season in concerns regarding player
health and safety, Murphy possibly believes that the advances in player health
and safety now permit an increase in the total inventory of games that count.Or
maybe Murphy realizes that, in the context of CBA talks that haven’t happened
since 2011, now is the time to argue that advances in health and safety permit
an increase in regular season games. Regardless, something has caused Murphy to
change his tune so sharply, and that something likely is the same color as his
team’s home jerseys.: Different versions of Murphy’s quotes have emerged,
contrary to Rovell’s. Daniel Kaplan of TheAthletic.com writes that Murphy
discussed 17 regular-season games as a potential idea. Either way, he previously
had been opposed to expanding the regular season at all. He now isn’t.
