Hi guys, thanks for all you do. Could you see Josh Jacobs getting on track this week?

If Devonte Wyatt can’t go on Sunday, we are left with two rookies as backups on the D-line. Is there any chance that the Packers would move an edge rusher like Lukas Van Ness to the inside for significantly more plays? (Get your best four on the field strategy.)

Perhaps. More likely in passing situations than early downs.

Jeremiah from Middleton, WI

If the concerns on our kicker being available are true, we might just beat the record from last time and have six missed kicks between the teams.

I don’t expect to ever see something quite like that again. That aside, Brandon McManus sounded pretty confident on Thursday that he’d play. He’s dealt with this same type of quad injury before and didn’t miss that week’s game.

Hi Wes & Mike, I remember all the talk early in preseason on how the Packers were going to focus more on stripping/punching the ball to create more turnovers this season. I have yet to see that aggressiveness shown by the defense. Was this just some ear candy? The numbers don’t lie, the Packers are not producing turnovers on defense. I really haven’t noticed a lot of punching the ball by our defenders. Can you explain why? Thanks.

Hafley tells us they chart the attacks on the ball and they’re doing more of it than previously. They’re just not getting results.

Tyler from Cross Plains, WI

Hey guys, thanks for the “covering up the tackle” explanation! What is the purpose of this rule, just so the offense can’t put everyone over to one side of the formation?

That, and it goes hand-in-hand with the rule requiring seven players on the line of scrimmage. Only three players aside from the QB can be off the line or in the backfield.

Apologies if this has been asked/answered in the past. Game ball. Is it only awarded in victory? Only one awarded or is one awarded for both the defense and offense? Who decides the recipient(s) and when is the decision made? Is the ball “decorated” with name, date, score, etc., or is it “just” the ball? Finally, when was this tradition initiated in pro football and is a game ball (or puck) awarded in other sports? Thanks for making my morning reading fun!

I can’t speak to other sports. In my experience here, game balls are awarded only after victories, and the head coach decides who’s worthy of them. Usually an actual ball from the game is handed out in the locker room after, and then later a commemorative, decorated ball is made and given to the player(s).

Thomas from Cedar Rapids, IA

Mike, I recall Sterling Sharpe, on a snow-covered field against the Lions, mistaking the 5-yard line for the goal line and the ball getting knocked out of his hand. Fortunately, he recovered in the end zone. I expect that was before young Weston was but a twinkle in Pa Hod’s eye, but do you recall?

That was at Milwaukee County Stadium if memory serves.

The conversation about how does Xavier McKinney get All-Pro votes when no one will throw in his vicinity leads me to think the best voters for All-Pro are the players and coaches. They really know. Is there an official players/coaches All-Pro poll?

No. Players and coaches count for two-thirds of the Pro Bowl voting, with the fans counting the other third. But I don’t know how seriously they take it, to be honest.

I wholeheartedly agree with the change to protect the QB in the head and neck area and even from low hits to an extent. However, I feel the rules of protection for the QB have gone beyond meaningful player protection and into scoreboard protection. One of the big draws of my childhood was marveling at the toughness of QBs to take hits in order to deliver a pass. Favre was the best at it but I wish they protected his head, though.

The league had to start protecting quarterbacks more because the game became so quarterback-driven that losing a starter denigrated the product on the field and competitiveness of games. If that’s what you mean by scoreboard protection, I concur.