FanHouse AJ Hawk

The Green Bay Packers have spent the first part of the offseason fine-tuning their coaching staff, especially on defense. Anyone who watched the team play in 2008 knows this was work that needed to be done.

With Dom Capers in as defensive coordinator and former Carolina defensive coordinator Mike Trgovac now coaching the defensive line, things were looking up. Capers and head coach Mike McCarthy weren't done, however, and they've now made a hire that could be fairly described as "interesting."

This just hasn't been Green Bay's year.

Many fans are going to trace it directly back to the day the Packers decided to go with Aaron Rodgers as the starting quarterback, even though future Hall of Famer Brett Favre was contemplating a return from his short retirement.

Others will look -- more accurately -- at the day general manager Ted Thompson traded hulking defensive tackle Corey Williams to Cleveland to avoid giving him a huge contract. Or the day Thompson decided that second-year tackle Justin Harrell would be able to fill that void.

Coming from a Packer fan, there are too many people to point fingers at on this one.

While Rodgers is not at all immune, he's handled the spotlight very well. His teammates have praised his play on the field, and they've praised his off-field presence. This fan believes you couldn't have scripted a better transition from Favre to the next guy. Rodgers didn't ask for it to go down this way, and nearly all the criticism that's been thrown his way has been completely unfair.

He's played well. Others who carried high expectations into the season have not. The reality is that the Packers are 5-7, an extreme longshot for the playoffs, and Sunday's fourth quarter was a microcosm of the season to this point.

With the upcoming Texans-Saints game matching Mario Williams versus Reggie Bush, Houston Chronicle columnist Jerome Solomon did a do-over of the 2006 draft. Here it is:

#1 Houston Texans - Joseph Addai, RB
#2 New Orleans Saints - Maurice Jones-Drew, RB
#3 Tennessee Titans - Vince Young, QB
#4 New York Jets - Jay Cutler, QB
#5 Green Bay Packers - Laurence Maroney, RB
#6 San Francisco 49ers - A.J. Hawk, LB
#7 Oakland Raiders - Reggie Bush, RB
#8 Buffalo Bills, Donte Whitner, SS
#9 Detroit Lions, Ernie Sims, LB
#10 Arizona Cardinals, D'Brickashaw Ferguson, T

Hmmm. Redrafts are always hard because of what you should consider. Marketing? The failures or injuries of other players on the team yet to happen? And whether these players would have the same success for the redrafted team as they do on their current team.

For example, if the Texans knew for a fact that even after working with Gary Kubiak, David Carr was going to struggle as much as he did, they wouldn't have renewed his contract in February 2006 for three years. With no David Carr in the picture, the Texans would have had significantly more fan pressure to pick quarterback, and specifically Vince Young with the first pick in that draft. Nationally, NFL fans thought that the Texans should have picked Reggie Bush, but in Texas the sentiment was mostly behind Young.

I mentioned Sunday that Larry Johnson injured his ankle on an A.J. Hawk tackle in the Chiefs' loss to the Packers. It looked pretty bad at the time, and it wasn't clear what LJ's status would be not only for this week, but for the rest of the season.

Yesterday, FanHouser Dan Benton wrote that Johnson was iffy for Sunday's division game against the Broncos, and now we have confirmation ... kinda:

Chiefs coach Herm Edwards today all but ruled out running back Larry Johnson for Sunday's game against the Denver Broncos.

"It will be difficult for him to play this week," Edwards said after getting preliminary results from a foot/ankle sprain Johnson sustained in last Sunday's 33-22 loss to Green Bay. "He's got a swollen foot ... that's not good."

No, a swollen foot isn't good when your job entails a lot of running. Edwards said pending further tests, LJ could miss more than one game. Which means Priest Holmes will be making his first start in more than two years, with rookie fifth-rounder, Kolby Smith, backing him up. Jason Whitlock has to be ecstatic.

Hat tip: Arrowhead Pride

As anyone who watched the 2005 Fiesta Bowl knows (read: "had forcibly etched into parts of their brain that could have been used for something productive"), AJ Hawk is married to Brady Quinn's sister. And now the Big Lead brings us, well, this:



This is Brady Quinn dressed up like the biker from the Village People. You can't make this stuff up. Photoshopped?

Two Buckeyes were named Big 10 Player's of the Week for their performances againt Texas this past Saturday.

James Laurinaitis was named the Defensive Player of the Week. He had 13 tackles, an interception, and two forced fumbles. He reminded me quite a bit of AJ Hawk on Saturday, and I think he has every chance of being as good in the next few years. Very easy to forget when watching him that the guy's just a Sophomore. Now if his dad would just show up to a game wearing some spiked shoulderpads, I think my life would be complete.

AJ Trepasso was named the Special Teams Player of the Week, and it was well deserved. Texas had terrible field position all night on Saturday, and AJ was the unsung hero of the night. He punted six times with a 50.8 yards per punt average, and he also had two inside the 20 kicks. The Buckeyes field goal kickers might be scary this year, but the kicking game isn't all bad.

I have no idea how Troy Smith didn't win Offensive Player of the Week, but I guess Matt Trannon blowing up against Eastern Michigan was a bigger deal. Or the Big 10 didn't want the Buckeyes sweeping the awards, whichever.

More: Laurinaitis and Trapasso Named Big Ten Players of the Week Following Ohio State's Win Over Texas - CSTV.com

Here's a quick look at how former Ohio State Buckeyes fared in NFL's week 1:

• Nate Clements (Buf): 3 tackles
• Donte Whitner (Buf): 8 tackles, 1 Int
• Mike Vrabel (NE): 4 tackles
• Mike Nugent (NYJ): 1-3 FG, 2-3 XP (ouch)
• Santonio Holmes (Pit): 1 rec, 6 yards, 2 KR 24.5 avg, 1 PR, 2 avg
• Michael Jenkins (Atl): 3 rec, 77 yards, 1 TD
• Chris Gamble (Car): 7 tackles, 3 PR, 4.3 avg
• Terry Glenn (Dal): 4 rec, 81 yards
• AJ Hawk, (GB): 5 tackles, 1 pass defensed

I'm sure I forget a few former Bucks, so let me know in the comments and I'll add them next week.