The Green Bay Packers are hoping better play on first down will allow their tight ends, especially Jermichael Finley, a bigger role in their offense as the season goes on. After an impressive training camp, Finley appeared to be a new weapon for the Packers, but through three games he hasn’t been a regular target in the passing game and his production has been average at best. In Week 2 against Cincinnati, he was the intended target on seven passes and caught four, but he was shut out in the passing game last week against St. Louis (no passes thrown to him) and had only one reception (one ball thrown his way) in the opener against Chicago. “I really think some of it’s circumstances, the situations we’ve been in,†said Joe Philbin, the Packers’ offensive coordinator. “I’m not saying the tight ends aren’t good options, but when you’re in a second-and long, third-and-long game, that takes away some of the — a lot of times you want to hit a tight end on a crossing route, you want to hit a tight end against a safety, you want to hit a tight end against a linebacker. When teams go nickel your matchups aren’t as good. A lot of it has to do with down and distances we’ve been in.†Source: Green Bay Press-Gazette
