jpzx
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First this...
A.J. Hawk, the Packers' first-round pick in 2006, is being outplayed at his linebacker spot by Desmond Bishop, who was the second of two sixth-round picks from Cal in the same draft. At the very least, Capers has another linebacker toy to play with in his 3-4 scheme.
Per Kevin Seifert, NFC North Blogger for ESPN
Now...
[h1]A.J. Hawk to see reduced playing time?[/h1]
Posted by Gregg Rosenthal on September 1, 2009 5:52 PM ET
An inside linebacker taken in the top five of the NFL Draft has certain expectations to meet.
The position isn't usually taken that high, so a team is expecting to get a player that will ideally contend for Pro Bowls annually; a player they can plug in the middle of their defense and leave him there for a decade.
At the very least, you expect the linebacker to play every down.
It's a cruel business, but Packers linebacker A.J. Hawk is starting to fall short of expectations.
As Green Bay transitions to a 3-4 defense, the Green Bay Press-Gazette writes that Hawk is looking likely to lose most of his snaps on passing downs. That would cut the 2006 number five pick's snaps in half if it happened.
The Packers beat writers have been hinting at this story for weeks, noticing that Hawk often played with the second-team nickel defense. His snaps with the first team were reduced to nothing by Monday. The return of starter Nick Barnett to practice has likely expedited the process.
Still, the loss of reps would be a disappointing career step for Hawk, who has generally received acceptable, although not overwhelmingly positive reviews thus far in his career. Green Bay's coaching staff are the only critics that matter in the end, and they will say how they feel about Hawk with playing time.
AJ Hawk = yet another OSU bust