Mayfield Sports client, Packers Jamari Lattimore, looks like starting LB

Packers Jamari Lattimore tackles Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford on Sunday. Lattimore will probably start against the Bears."

Mark Hoffman

Green Bay— Nothing will be cast in stone until Friday, but based on the Play of Jamari Lattimore

The Packers have their weekly game management meeting on Friday, at which time they'll decide whether Jones is healthy enough to play. He returned from a two-week absence due to a thigh strain, but he has not been a full participant in practice, which in most cases is a requisite for starting.

Lattimore, who started against the New York Jets and Detroit Lions, has performed well enough at inside linebacker that the Packers don't need to rush Jones back into the lineup.

In fact, a question still remains as to whether Jones will get his job back after a poor performance to start the season. Much of that will depend on how well Lattimore plays this weekend against the Bears.

"I like the way Jamari has played," defensive coordinator Dom Capers said. "I think he's done a good job."

But for those who think Lattimore is the perfect replacement, there are enough instances where he wasn't as sound as he needed to be.

"Some good plays and some plays he can improve on," is how linebackers coach Winston Moss assessed Lattimore's performance thus far.

In two starts, Lattimore is third on the team in tackles with 20 and has zero sacks, pass breakups, forced fumbles or penalties. He has given the Packers a more physical player defending the run, but he isn't as experienced dropping into coverage as Jones.

Against Seattle, Jones was bad in all phases of the game and was quickly shut down the following week so the thigh injury, which had been bothering him through the latter part of training camp, could heal completely. Now he is working to get back into football shape.

"I think once Brad gets back and is healthy, it will give us more flexibility," Capers said. "I like what Jamari has done. It gives us another athlete. We'll see where Brad is from a health standpoint."

Added Moss: "Brad has only been limited in practice, how we want to integrate him back in the scheme, that's still up in the air."

Ready to roll: It appears Clay Matthews is not going to miss his first game this season due to a groin injury he suffered against Detroit

At least that's what he says.

Matthews came into the locker room — along with many of his teammates — as the media was being herded out and was pressed by a couple of reporters on whether he would be available Sunday.

One asked, are you going to play?

"Yeah, I'll be out there," Matthews said.

Listed as a limited participant, Matthews practiced for the second straight day and didn't look like he was taking anything half speed.

Coach Mike McCarthy made it seem as though Matthews was limited to individual drills only, so how much more Matthews did after reporters were kicked out of practice isn't known. But Matthews was in pads and apparently passed whatever test he felt he needed to pass to play Sunday.

Injury report: The Packers had five others on the injury report, but everyone took part in the full-pads workout Thursday.

The only players who were limited were Matthews, Jones and linebacker Nick Perry (wrist).

The Bears injury report was far more extensive.

They had seven players who did not take part in practice at all.

They were: end Jared Allen (illness), center Roberto Garza (ankle), receiver Brandon Marshall (ankle), linebacker Shea McClellin (hand), cornerback Sharrick McManis (thigh), defensive tackle Jeremiah Ratliff (concussion) and guard Matt Slauson (ankle).

The Bears did not practice Wednesday after returning home late from a Monday night game against the New York Jets.

No worries: Until Sunday, running back Eddie Lacy had not fumbled since his fifth carry of his first professional game.

That's 326 consecutive carries (including playoffs) without a fumble.

Lacy coughed it up on his second attempt against Detroit when he ran into the back of center Corey Linsley. The ball was returned 40 yards for a touchdown.

Running backs coach Sam Gash said he hasn't spoken to Lacy about it.

"I'm not worried about Eddie being a fumbler, not by any stretch of the imagination," he said. "He knows he's a good ball carrier. He's very secure with the ball.

"It hurt him more than it hurt anybody else. That's the type of player he really is where it bothers him. And my job was to keep him coming back, and he came back and played fairly well in the game."

Gash said there has been too much focus on Lacy for failures in the running game against the Lions. He said the entire offensive group has to shoulder the blame.

Packers Jamari Lattimore

Mayfield Sports Marketing is Wisconsin’s premier sports marketing firm and booking agency. Specializing in Green Bay Packers’ Players' appearances at community events, Packers’ Players' motivational speaking, Packers’ Players keynote speaking engagements, Packers’ Players autograph sessions and Packers’ Players attending non-profit events, our athletes take great pride in every event they attend.

We offer a wide range of players from the Green Bay Packers, Milwaukee Brewers and other professional athletes for public appearances, autograph sessions and football camps, as well as other paid appearances or endorsement deals. Contact us today for more information at262.366.8188 or please complete the booking form.  Proud to work with numerous professional athletes from your favorite team. Book a player for your next event. Ask about players such as Eddie Lacy, Ha Ha Clinton-Dix, Jarrett Boykin, John Kuhn, Mike Daniels, DuJuan Harris, Gilbert Brown, William Henderson and more. Visit our client's page for a more extensive list.

Sept. 25, 2014

Packers' Jamari Lattimore has hunger to be successful NFL starter

Jamari Lattimore has played mostly special teams for the Packers since signing as an undrafted free agent in 2011.
By Tyler Dunne of the Journal Sentinel

They do not dream of playing on special teams for three seasons. Yet here was Green Bay Packers linebacker Jamari Lattimore — Under Armour hoodie over his head, hands in his pockets — dismissing the idea that he's any hungrier for Sunday's starting opportunity against the New York Jets. Again and again.

"No, nope," Lattimore said. "Hunger's always there. It never leaves. The three years, I gained a lot of experience. When experience comes, the confidence level shoots through the roof."

Fair enough. Lattimore is a no-nonsense type, one who'll never make a bold proclamation. But, yes, that hunger is rising. In fact, he's beyond hungry.

Ask the man who knows him best.

"I think he's starving. Starving," said Rick Stockstill, Lattimore's head coach and father figure at Middle Tennessee State. "I talk to him all the time. He works his tail off. He wants to be great. He wants to be a starter. He wants to be All-Pro. He wants to be in the Hall of Fame. He's driven, he's motivated. He's a competitor.

"For him to get the opportunity, to get scrimmage snaps, I guarantee he's champing at the bit. He can't wait for Sunday to get here."

That's because this Sunday, Lattimore replaces the injured Brad Jones. Sunday is Lattimore's chance to prove he deserves to be the starter long term over Jones, a chance he's been waiting for.

Yes, he started four games in 2013. But battling an illness, with Jones entrenched, Lattimore was still banished to special-teams duty. On Friday, coach Mike McCarthy virtually challenged Lattimore in saying that "some of the greatest careers were started because of an injury."

Now, this 6-foot-2, 229-pound linebacker can release any hidden, pent-up frustration that's been building.

"For me, yes, it's an opportunity, but it's just doing your job," Lattimore said. "What they brought you in here for, for you to do your job, for you to play that position."

And to be sure, Lattimore understands the full scope of this opportunity.

Many of Stockstill's players at Middle Tennessee State hail from rough upbringings, from single-parent households. Lattimore was no different. Mom and Dad weren't around — Lattimore was raised by his grandmother. From Miami, Fla., to Dodge City Community College to the Blue Raiders, Lattimore appreciated the little things. Because, well, the little things were in fleeting supply.

Stockstill remembers his first team dinner. From the buffet, Lattimore tried to take at least three steaks back to his hotel room. Survival mode kicked in.

"He loads his plate up like this is the only time he'll ever get to eat this kind of food," said Stockstill. "He asked, 'Can I take this to the room?' I said, 'Jamari, we'll have a snack tonight.' He says, 'You mean we eat like this all the time?' 'Yeah, we eat like this all the time.'

"Little things like that we might take for granted, he didn't have growing up."

The very nature of Middle Tennessee State — a Division I football safety school of sorts — elevated the hunger. In three seasons, totaling 20½ sacks and three forced fumbles, Lattimore became a product of his environment.

That edge Packers teammates see in every blood-thirsty, half-line drill was cultivated in Murfreesboro, Tenn.

"All the guys coming through our program have got that edge," Stockstill said. "We don't have 5- and 4- and 3-star recruits. Our guys — most of them — it was come to Middle Tennessee or nowhere. So we've got that chip on our shoulder that we have to go out there every day and prove we're a good player, prove that we're a good team."

Undrafted, Lattimore transitioned from end to outside linebacker to inside linebacker, serving on special teams all along the way. To this point, his career has mirrored Desmond Bishop's wait.

Those four starts in 2013 were a taste, an appetizer, and he brought a raw violence with 35 tackles and two sacks. Teammates still remember the crushing hits at Baltimore. And who spoke up at halftime when the Packers were getting embarrassed in Dallas? Lattimore.

He brings a rare emotion to each practice, fully knowing it'll tick off some players.

Through training camp, Lattimore was the pest cranking up the volume. He taunted receivers. He picked a fight with guard Josh Sitton.

"When he's on the field, he carries the energy for the defense," Lang said. "He's always talking, chirping. Us going against him, it's annoying. Also being his teammate, it's something you like to see. He's a guy who has taken advantage of the playing time he's gotten."

When Lattimore speaks, teammates listen. The guy who also kicks teammates' butts in the soccer video game FIFA carries a booming presence.

Safety Sean Richardson labels it an "electrifying" presence.

"He's energized," Richardson said. "He's one of the guys that's a vocal leader. Everybody likes it. When he talks, everybody pays attention.

"It's respect because he brings it each and every day. He doesn't just talk it — at practice he lays it out on the line every time. When you're giving it your all and players see that, players respect that."

Lattimore says the reason he stays in fifth gear is because some players, frankly, don't enjoy practice. It's natural. And, really, that's been his only chance to flex his muscles as a linebacker in the defense.

And at his locker, Lattimore doesn't consider Jones' injury his big "break." His number is being called, so he has to step up.

"Simple as that," Lattimore said.

For all the talking he does on the field, he does next-to-no talking off it. In college, Stockstill often forced the conference player of the year to speak to reporters. And earlier this week, the linebacker bee-lined across the locker room and turned down one request. He's not a talker. Heck, he wouldn't even tell anyone about the illness that bothered him all last season.

On Friday, Lattimore described it as a stomach virus mixed with an allergic reaction that went undiagnosed.

Now, he's healthy. With a chance.

Stockstill offers a window into Lattimore's true hunger this week. You bet sitting...waiting...wondering if he'll ever get promoted has been frustrating at times.

"Sure," Stockstill said. "He's such a fierce competitor. You're constantly working, you're constantly practicing, you're constantly lifting weights. To not be able to get out there and play is frustrating — especially the competitors. Jamari loves to compete. So, yeah, it's definitely frustrating when you put in all that work. They get 16 days of rewards.

"I'm sure it's frustrating for him not to get scrimmage plays as much as he would like."

To which, Stockstill's message is constant: Never relax. Lattimore was given the low, $1.431 million tender in the off-season as a restricted free agent.

As Stockstill explains to him, replacements are always in the bullpen. That hunger cannot fade. Several times to his teams, he's brought up a conversation with Brian Dawkins, the six-time All-Pro he coached at Clemson. When Dawkins was going on his 13th year in the NFL, the coach asked him how he lasted this long.

The key, Dawkins said then, is treating each day of practice "like a rookie," like a starving rookie terrified to lose his job. In August, Stockstill repeated those words to Lattimore.

Hence, the screaming maniac you saw at Ray Nitschke Field.

Stockstill doesn't see Lattimore relinquishing this starting spot without a fight. They text, talk nearly daily. Yes, Jones is the one who signed an $11.25 million, three-year contract in 2013. Lattimore is the guy on a one-year, prove-it deal.

If he performs, nothing else matters. Sunday is his shot to stick.

A shot he's been waiting for.

"Nobody ever heard of Lou Gehrig 60-70 years ago," Stockstill said. "And he got his chance. Wally Pipp never got back out there. I know Jamari will do everything he can. He'll play hard. He'll work hard. He'll prepare hard to stay on that field as long as he can because that's the kind of man he is.

"He'll embrace this opportunity."

Mayfield Sports Marketing is Wisconsin’s premier sports marketing firm and booking agency. Specializing in Green Bay Packers’ Players appearances at community events, Packers’ Players motivational speaking, Packers’ Players keynote speaking engagements, Packers’ Players autograph sessions and Packers’ Players attending non profit events, our athletes take great pride in every event they attend. 

We offer a wide range of players from the Green Bay Packers, Milwaukee Brewers and other professional athletes for public appearances, autograph sessions and football camps, as well as other paid appearances or endorsement deals. Contact us today for more information at 262.366.8188 or please complete the booking form.  Proud to work with numerous professional athletes from your favorite team. Book a player for your next event. Ask about players such as: Eddie Lacy, Ha Ha Clinton-Dix, Jarrett Boykin, John Kuhn, Mike Daniels, DuJuan Harris, Gilbert Brown, William Henderson and more. Visit our clients page for a more extensive list.

Appearances by Green Bay Packers Current and Retired Players

Mayfield Sports Marketing athletes (Green Bay Packers Current and Retired Players)  are committed to each event they attend. Throughout 2013-2014, Mayfield Sports Marketing athletes and celebrities had the opportunity to make numerous appearances. Green Bay Packers’ Players public appearances included nonprofit fundraisers, school visits, motivational speaking engagements and many other events and programs.

Those interested in scheduling an appearance with a member of the Mayfield Sports Marketing Team can contact at www.MayfieldSportsMarketing.com/quick-quote/

Call Now
linkedin facebook pinterest youtube rss twitter instagram facebook-blank rss-blank linkedin-blank pinterest youtube twitter instagram