who coached Gunter at UM?
The problem under golden is NOT development. The guy was coached very well here. It is bad game day coaching, inept scheming, and dumb strategization.
Foxborough, Mass. — The play panned out as something of a recreation from the first day of a training camp, an unexpected glimmer from an unknown player, although
his exploits have become more and more routine.
It began with a play-action fake near midfield, a backup quarterback working through reps the New England Patriots hope will prepare him to replace the potentially suspended Tom Brady. Jimmy Garoppolo feigned a handoff to the running back, turned to face the field and zipped a bullet toward the left sideline.
The pass arrived with four hands there to meet it, two from intended receiver Josh Boyce and two more from LaDarius Gunter, a cornerback for the Green Bay Packers out of the University of Miami. Leather of ball met leather of gloves in an entangled heap. The ball squirted free.
Gunter pounced, just as he has done all throughout training camp, and with two hands he secured the first Green Bay Packers interception of the 2015 season. A 28-yard return set up the go-ahead score one play later, and the Packers exited Gillette Stadium with a 22-11 win thanks in large part to an impressive performance from a pair of young corners. Their efforts, buoyed by a stout defensive effort across the field, limited Brady and Garoppolo to less than 170 passing yards combined.
"We're getting our hands on a lot of balls," coach Mike McCarthy said. "As a secondary, it's happening a lot more this year. You can see it in the practices and it definitely carried over to the field."
With the cornerback position an obvious area of need following the off-season departures of Tramon Williams and Davon House, the Packers opted to solve the problem with youth. With 1st round draftee CB Randall injured, the beautiful Massachusetts night belonged in many ways to Gunter, an undrafted free agent from the University of Miami. Gunter made headlines on the opening day of training camp when he logged the first interception of Aaron Rodgers during 11-on-11 drills. His extremely physical play throughout camp — cornerbacks coach Joe Whitt Jr. said Gunter excels with hand placement at the line of scrimmage —
bothered some of the Packers' most veteran receivers.
With his team trailing 11-9 early in the third quarter Gunter made a mid-route adjustment to intercept Garoppolo. What he initially believed to be a "go" route morphed into a quick stick along the sideline. Gunter stopped, broke back toward the line of scrimmage and thrust his hands into the midsection of Boyce. Using the same hand strength that enables him to jam receivers, Gunter launched the ball into the air in front of the Patriots' bench. He snagged it at waist height and bolted the other way.
"I just tried to sit down when he sat down," Gunter said. "I actually went to bat the ball down, and it popped up in my hands." Assuming Sam Shields and Casey Hayward start on the outside, Gunter could find a role in the nickel or dime packages as a rookie. Randall should be in the mix, as the Packers rebuild their cornerback depth following the departures of Tramon Williams and Davon House.
On that opening series of the third quarter, Gunter practically stole the ball from Boyce and then raced 28 yards the other way, setting up a TD run by rookie running back Alonzo Harris two plays later. Boyce ran a “stick route,” and Gunter transitioned out of his backpedal and broke on the ball perfectly.
It was
the type of play Gunter has been making in practice, and now he showed he can make it in a game as well.
“I went to bat the ball down, but it kind of fell in my hands, and I just went from there,” he said. “It’s always a big deal when you can transfer your practice habits to the game and make plays.”