Josh Jones was looking like a honey badger (or some equally ill-tempered mammal) and then, after a particularly impressive tackle, exchanged pleasantries with his offensive counterpart and let him know that he appreciated the physicality. Then the refs throw a flag. Whatever. I’m not a big fan of trash talking or other related displays, but I have a much higher tolerance of it from defensive players than I do from offensive players (particularly wide receivers). This didn’t bother me and looked a little tame for a flag. I like the attitude, though, and hope we see more of it in the regular season (sans flags, obviously). Mike Daniels finally seems to have a buddy on defense.
Aaron Jones had a nice run on a surprisingly effective (if terrible unsightly) block by Dick Rodg. It was actually a more effective block than most of the backup line all night. The running back position seems to have plenty of good enough options to complement the top-flight passing attack.
The long snapper job needs to go back to Goode. Voegel needs to hold better – and he can’t boot it into the end zone from midfield when he’s punting, either.
The secondary depth is apparent – they are keeping a lot of DBs this year – and pressure from the front seven was surprising. I think the latter was due to scheme in many cases, though. Receiver, running back, and QB depth all look good as well, but all that just makes the severe lack of offensive line depth even more apparent. If any of the starters go down this year, it could look as bad as (or even worse than) late 2015. The funniest part was when a backup offensive lineman sacked Brett Hundley to take away their last chance.
Brett Hundley looks good. Good isn’t great. Very athletic and comfortable in the pocket with what looks like a solid command of the offense. Still, he doesn’t looks like a guy I’m ready to give up a first rounder for. Maybe I’m just spoiled because the last two times my team gave up a first rounder for a QB, they got Brett Favre and Aaron Rodgers. Hundley bird dogs receivers too much and still misses on some throws that starting NFL QBs have to make, like medium depth out routes. Sometimes his slants are a little behind target, too. He airmailed what should have been a game-losing interception when there was a basket for him to drop it in. Maybe that’s typical for starting QBs on other teams, but I would like to see him improve in those areas. Maybe having a decent line to block for him would help. I’m tough on him from a critical perspective, but I really do like him and his skillset – I just want to see him continue to get better and I’m intentionally dampening any homerism.