Packers notebook: Busy day leads Brett Goode back to Green Bay
GREEN BAY - There’s a reason the Green Bay Packers didn’t wait any longer to sign veteran long snapper Brett Goode.
If they had, Goode might very well have been playing somewhere else.
Goode visited the New York Jets for a workout Monday and was drawing interest from some other teams, he said, when the Packers gave him a call. They rang him up shortly after the exhibition opener against Philadelphia on Thursday night and signed him on Saturday.
“Not really in the spring,” Goode said of receiving interest. “But as soon as training camp hit we started hitting really big. I told my wife it was kind of funny, we didn’t hear anything all spring, she goes into labor and we get a bunch of calls.
Goode’s wife, Monica, gave birth to their daughter last Monday, the same day the long snapper had to fly to New York to meet with the Jets. He was there for the birth, worked out for the Jets and flew immediately back to his home in Arkansas.
The Packers called because first-year long snapper Derek Hart hasn’t been consistent and they didn’t want to leave themselves vulnerable for the regular season. Goode and Hart, who both are represented by agent Kevin Gold, will compete for the long-snapping job.
“Even when I’m by myself I’m still competing,” Goode said. “It’s just the same thing as me getting called to work out at other places. Once the regular season hits, I think you’re still competing every week because this is a business you’re not guaranteed anything."
Defensive end added: Less than a week after releasing Letroy Guion, the Packers added a defensive lineman to their 53-man roster.
With rookie Montravius Adams still sidelined after foot surgery, the Packers were down two players on the defensive line and needed to bring someone in to help fill out the position. So they claimed Shanell Jenkins off waivers from the Seattle Seahawks.
The 6-3, 295-pound Jenkins, who played at Division II Shepherd University in West Virginia, was an undrafted free agent who signed with Denver in 2016. He was cut in August, signed by the Dallas Cowboys and then released on the final cutdown.
He joined Seattle’s practice squad in December and went through their offseason program and training camp before being released Saturday.
Jenkins had impressive testing numbers coming of college. He ran the 40-yard dash in the 4.8-second range, had a 20-yard short shuttle time of 4.5 seconds, did the three-cone drill in 7.25 seconds and performed 24 reps of 225 pounds on the bench press, according to NFL analyst Gil Brandt.
Jenkins probably will play end in the base and defensive tackle in the nickel. He had 13½ sacks as a senior and was named Mountain East Conference defensive player of the year.
Calming the nerves: Rookie fourth-round pick Jamaal Williams was the second running back to enter last week's exhibition game against the Philadelphia Eagles. He waited his turn behind starter Ty Montgomery and took the field at the start of the second quarter.
Williams was nervous, but the former BYU star has an interesting method for calming himself down.
"You’re gassed up, ready to go and then you’re sitting there waiting for your turn to go," Williams said. "But mostly I get my nerves out by the first carry, running straight into somebody. Put your helmet right in their chest and just bang. After that, then you’re good to go, ready to go, you already got the contact done. So now it’s just having fun out there."
He finished the game with four carries for 14 yards on a night when the Packers threw it much more heavily than they ran it. But the pressure is gone now. By Saturday, when the Packers visit Washington, Williams says he will be ready to roll.
"One thing is I’m not as nervous as the first time you get the ball on your first carry," he said. "Once we’re going into the Washington game, all the nerves about playing in NFL games and being in NFL stadiums is gone now. Now I feel like I’m ready to play, ready to go out there and just try to produce."