Packers' Mike McCarthy doesn't rule out throwing to Julius Peppers again
Green Bay Packers coach Mike McCarthy said he was not discouraged by defensive end Julius Peppers dropping a pass from Aaron Rodgers during Sunday night's loss to the New Orleans Saints, Ryan Wood of PackersNews.com reports.
Peppers lined up as a tight end and dropped a pass from Rodgers in the end zone. McCarthy said the team has worked on the play for several weeks in practice and did not rule out throwing to Peppers again.
"I'm not discouraged by Julius dropping the football," McCarthy said. "I think if you go through preparation phase, and if you had seen the execution of the play over the last six or seven weeks, I think you'd be confident to call it again."
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Peppers, who has never caught a pass during his 13-year career, said he was not prepared for how fast Rodgers threw the ball and Rodgers acknowledged its was a tough pass to catch.
"We ran the slant, and he threw a fastball," Peppers said. "It was a little hot, so I couldn't get my hands up in time to snag it."
"It was a little harder than maybe he was expecting," Rodgers said of his pass. "Yeah, he ran a good route and got his chest on it. Pep's a talented guy. We've ran that play at practice a number of times and he's come down with it. That one was probably faster than he was used to."
Despite Rodgers throwing for 418 yards and a touchdown, the Packers lost 44-23 to the Saints as they turned the ball over three times. Green Bay's defense allowed 495 total yards to New Orleans, including 172 rushing yards to Mark Ingram.
The Packers fell to 5-3 on the season and are one game behind the Detroit Lions in the NFC North. They are idle this week before hosting the Chicago Bears on Nov. 9.
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