Sam Barrington - MNF

[SANJAY]

Getting some love from Gruden just now.

[ThePuddingMan]

Until he blew a pass coverage.

[SANJAY]

Until he blew a pass coverage.

I jinxed him.

[hm101]

Usually a solid contributor. Good to see Bulls in the NFL and in the spotlight.

[slick1ru2]

He was talked up in the Pats game. If you have NFL Rewind, check it out.

http://thebullspen.com/topic/98809-sam-barrington/

[GaUSFBull]

Until he blew a pass coverage.

 

Was that right after Gruden was talking about him, and he had to run almost the whole way across the field to tackle Jacquizz Rodgers?  If so, that was a tough play, he almost got there.

[JupiterBull]

He looked pretty good against NE, except getting trucked by Gronk...but that's everyone.

 

Glad to see him getting reps...now, about DeDe Lattimore.  Would love to see him stick around.  He was the biggest loss from 2013, IMO.  We missed his toughness and leadership.  By my read, this is the first time in over a decade we lacked an excellent MLB.  No offense to Sanchez, but he's a HUGE drop off from the prior lines.

[raptorcj]

He looked respectable, and he was everywhere. He lucked out getting to run with GB, those guys from the staff down to the veterans develop the talent instead of cycling players in & out. They'll take care of Sam as long as he's putting in the effort--bright future.

 

[edit] for anyone that didn't hear the comment in the game, I think it was over 90% player retention.

Edited December 9, 2014 by raptorcj

[DELdaBull]

He was a great one for us.

[inTransit]

He's making an impression up there-

 

 

 

Green Bay â€” Players in the Green Bay Packers locker room rave aboutSam Barrington unprompted. The pop. The violence. His presence.

But the second-year inside linebacker admits he wasn't always this way.

"It just happens," Barrington said. "I guess it's survival of the fittest. Tackling guys like Eddie (Lacy), if you're going to tackle him you have to bring something with it."

This element of Barrington's game is relatively new. He's still a work in progress. But the Packers have made it clear they're prepared to see this work in progress through. The last two home wins, Barrington replacedA.J. Hawk in Green Bay's nickel defense.

Defensive coordinator Dom Capers realizes there's still seasoning ahead — but they're counting on Barrington's upside.

"It's not like he has two, three seasons of playing there under his belt," Capers said. "He's going to be an ascending guy that hopefully you see him make certain plays this week that he didn't make last week."

Inside the Packers locker room, Barrington's locker is right next to Hawk's. On Thursday, one spoke right after the other. This situation, Barrington said, only gets weird if you make it weird. They haven't. So as the 24-year-old takes snaps away from the 31-year-old, he realizes he needs to be more consistent.

Sometimes, he admits he asks himself, "What's stopping me from doing good things all the time?"

These last two games, he stuffed the likes of LeGarrette Blount andShane Vereen in their tracks. He also was a step behind Jacquizz Rodgers on a 14-yarder Monday night. The full operation can still go smoother.

"The biggest challenge is situational stuff because you could have a call and it'll be something we never practiced and it pops up into the game," he said. "You have to be the one guy that can get a call out and get guys lined up."

For example, the defense called may expect "nothing but run" in a goal-line situation, he said, and suddenly the offense spreads it out in an empty set.

"What are you going to do about that?" Barrington said. "You have to make an adjustment....There are always going to be teaching moments. But I think I'm doing OK with the opportunities I've had so far."

The reason he's on the field is he's triggering decisions into action with less and less hesitation. Green Bay noticed the change in practice and decided to make the move.

Capers, for one, saw more confidence in Barrington's game.

"We've always seen the quick-twitch and the explosiveness that he's had," Capers said. "But it's hard if you're not confident in your assignments to be able to just go out there and turn it loose. You're more controlled because you don't want to make a mistake and you're not quite sure at times in terms of movement and the gap fills.

"Once you get that down and you're confident, then you're just playing, you're hitting it, and you're playing a lot more, that's when you see his aggressiveness come out."

And with all of this, Barrington first credits...Jermichael Finley? Yes.

In Barrington's first training camp, he battled the tight end regularly.

"Practicing against him when I was a rookie, he was a guy who brought it every day," Barrington said. "So I knew I had to do that. It basically just became a part of my game, and I pride myself on being physical."

Finley did plenty of talking on the practice field, so Barrington learned to talk back. They bashed into the occasional scrum, too. Neither backed down.

Now, the Packers are counting on Barrington to help steer the defense into January.

"He had an acquired state of mind where he knew what he was going to do and knew how he was going to do it," Barrington said. "So I can do nothing but appreciate a player like that because those are the type of players, you're going to get better playing against.

"It's just something I grew into. But that was one of those moments that kept me saying I want to be one of those players because I could have easily let him put me on my back."