Packers' Bakhtiari: Broncos put it to us
Green Bay Packers left tackle David Bakhtiari co-hosted Monday's Clubhouse Live, Gannett Wisconsin Media's live weekly football show. Packers rookie fullback Aaron Ripkowski was Bakhtiari's guest.
Among the topics they touched on were the loss to the Broncos, film study and being an understudy. The show can be seen live at The Clubhouse Sports Pub & Grill in downtown Appleton or at clubhouselive.com.
Here are select and edited answers from the interview:
REPLAY: Clubhouse Live with Bakhtiari, Ripkowski
Q: It's the obvious question: What happened in Denver? How do you explain the offensive struggles?
Bakhtiari: I don't know a hundred percent. At the end of the day, I know what my job is and what we have to do as an offensive line. We haven't really quite reviewed it, yet. So once we do that, I'll have a better idea. But it just comes down to execution and making plays. Denver made more plays than us, and the score always reflects it. Being in their house on a Sunday night, we knew we were going into a hostile environment, and it was going to be challenging. You have to tip your hat sometimes. They came out, and they were ready to play. And they put it to us.
Q: Is it tough to watch film after a game like that? Or do you look forward to those sessions because of the opportunity to learn, correct and get better?
Bakhtiari: Yeah, you kind of get to see what we could have done, where are mistakes were and how we correct them and move forward. It's always good to go back and watch the film. The film says the most. You watch a game live, and you'll be, 'What happened here? What happened there? That was terrible.' But then you go watch the film and go, 'OK, this is where this play broke down.' It wasn't this because everything is happening so quickly (in the moment). You go back and watch film and say, 'OK, this is where it broke down, this is what happened. This is how we need to correct it.' And then thankfully after that, you go have practice and we do correct it and take it into the next week.
Q: What is the best piece of advice you've received from teammate and fellow fullback John Kuhn?
Ripkowski: When I first got (to Green Bay), he told me to study — to get in the books, start learning right away and not to sit back and wait until you make that mistake and have to worry about catching up on the playbook. The best piece of advice was just get in the books and pay attention to as much as you can, listen and grow wherever you can.
Brett Christopherson: 920-993-7117, or brett.christopherson@gannettwisconsin.com; on Twitter @PCBrettC