Morning Buzz: Minicamp kicks off

Welcome to your Morning Buzz, rounding up news and views regarding the Green Bay Packers and the NFL from around the web and here atPackersNews.com. Grab a strong cup of coffee and get caught up on everything you need to know about the Packers on the first day of their three-day minicamp.

We start withMichael Cohen’s overview of the offseason. This is a great look at what we’ve learned so far since the Packers reported back to Lambeau Field back in April.

From Michael:

Preparations for the 2017 season began in mid-April when players returned to Lambeau Field for their first workouts. Since then, the Packers have signed veteran guard Jahri Evans, welcomed 10 draft picks to the organization, signed more than 20 undrafted rookies, released last year’s starting punter and collectively gawked at the sheer size of tight end Martellus Bennett.

 

But OTAs are still OTAs: There is no live contact, players do not wear pads and rookie cornerback Kevin King, the Packers' top draft pick, spent the last month in Washington finishing his spring semester. Although King will be available for minicamp, quarterback Aaron Rodgers and other Packers veterans with five or more years of experience will be excused for the second straight year.

 

In other words, only so much can — and should — be gleaned from a set of practices that are only a notch or two above walk-throughs. Nonetheless, here are a few noteworthy items from the last month...

Be sure to read the whole thing.

Michael also visited with NBC 26 to talk some Packers:

In a repeat from last year, Mike McCarthy has excused his veteran players from minicamp:

Elsewhere, Good Morning Football looked at the running back battle heading into camp:

Former colleague Bob McGinn spoke with Peter King about his time on the Packers beat:

From Bob’s interview:

I could never stop thinking about the team I covered. I was a beat man. I could never stop thinking about what [GMs] Ron Wolf or Ted Thompson or the coaches might be thinking or plotting. I tried to put myself in their shoes. That’s important. You can’t cover a beat like this unless you know how every man on that 53-man roster is playing, what his value is. If you don’t know that, you can’t write intelligent stories. You have find a way to know how each guy is playing. And you do that by learning the game yourself and talking to experts in the field— scouts, assistant coaches for other teams, Packer people.

Mike Daniels sang Vic Beasley’s praises (and took some shots at the media) for NFL Films:

Aaron Rodgers was in the house for Game 5 of the NBA Finals last night:

Rob Demovsky writes on Kevin King finally being able to show up:

Cheesehead TV looks at the depth at wide receiver:

Fun idea here from The Power Sweep:

I loved this story on Lynn Dickey from Jason Wilde:

Speaking of Wilde, Mike McCarthy stopped by his radio show with Mark Tauscher: