Monty Incident Indicative of a Larger Problem (and perhaps a less apparent one)

oakleaf

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This is a quote by Monty yesterday when discussing the play that a teammate accused him of throwing a tantrum:
"However, I got a little frustrated. I wanted to make a play. I wasn't playing very much and I wasn't able to make a play and I was frustrated about that. I don't fully understand what my role is right now, what I'm supposed to be doing, how I'm supposed to help this team. And it's frustrating when I want to help the team and I get limited opportunities and it didn't happen on that play. So I came off frustrated about it."
The most telling part of that comment was, "I DON'T FULLY UNDERSTAND WHAT MY ROLE IS..."

If this is the truth, and I believe it is, then this indicates the problem all of us fans here already know exists. That is, there is a leadership (head coach) issue. If Montgomery doesn't know his role, how many others don't know theirs? How about Aaron Jones? He runs seven times for 45 yards in first quarter and only touches the ball once in quarter two? He's got to be thinking, "What more do I have to do?" Or Rodgers where his more frequent passive aggressive comments to the media seem to be saying, "If the game plan in the 4th quarter is so effective, why don't we bring a bit of that philosophy in the beginning of the game?"

All of this leads me to believe there is a less apparent problem or cause, and that is McCarthy's unwillingness to share and/or communicate his game philosophy, strategy and management effectively. It appears to me this is out of stubbornness because it's not working and his stubborn nature refuses to try or be told to try another approach.

What is McCarthy's approach based on observation this year?
  • Conservative play.
  • Wait until the end to become aggressive when we're down.
  • Defer the opening kickoff when winning the coin flip rather than going on the offense right off-the-bat and hopefully make the opponent play from behind at the beginning.
  • If we get ahead, rather than keeping the foot on the gas, rest your stars, try to hold status quo and go even more conservative. (This was a HUGE issue for me in quarter two of the Rams game and had me most frustrated.)
  • With any sort of lead, play conservative while allowing the opponent back in.
  • If we get down at the end, give the game management to Rodgers. (This one seems to be happening more frequently!)
All of this is leading to a frustrated team leading to Monty trying to prove something, a teammate throwing Monty under the bus, Rodgers post-game innuendos, etc.

It's time McCarthy shows he's the leader. He can start off by making everyone know that his #1 RB is Jones and his backup is Williams. He needs to either let Montgomery go (after the NE game so BB doesn't grab him for Intel, LOL!) or sit Monty down and let him know under no uncertain terms that his position and focus is Special Teams and that he will only play RB in case of injury (and admit to himself the Monty RB experiment didn't work). McCarthy needs to attack at the start and keep the foot on the pedal the whole game or at least until they're up by three scores in the fourth. I'm serious about that one. He needs to let Zook know his ST expectations and consequences if he fails to meet them. This team has talent and the GOAT QB that won't be around much longer to not play with urgency FROM THE START. Hopefully it's not too late.
 
I think part of Montgomery issue is he thinks he is a starter and partial pissed off that he is now a guy who is a KR and rarely touches the ball is a RB.
 
after the NE game so BB doesn't grab him for Intel

i don't think you have to worry about that. if monty doesn't know what his role is, what are the chances that he knows what other players roles are?
 
This is disingenuous from Ty. When he says "I don't know what my role is", he's really saying that he believes in his head that he's good enough to be a starter, but in real life his role is diminishing because the two other guys are better. "I don't know what my role is" is his expression of that dissonance.

MM is a squishy coach, in more ways than the physical. He's insisted that Ty is a running back and seems hell-bent on having the move work out despite all evidence to the contrary. That doesn't help Ty's overinflated sense of his roster importance. Define the roles of your players with authority and be decisive. Ty hasn't worked out as a RB; he's often injured and unreliable; he's a fumbler; he disobeyed an order to take a knee in the endzone. Cut him and move on. Backs like him are a dime a dozen.
 
I think part of Montgomery issue is he thinks he is a starter and partial pissed off that he is now a guy who is a KR and rarely touches the ball is a RB.
I think Montgomery WANTS to be the starting RB, it hasn't been made clear who the starting RB is, and he is "pissed off that he is now a guy who is a KR and rarely touches the ball as a RB" as you said.

My point is that this is indicative of larger problems - lack of leadership and direction. This is on McCarthy. Players apparently don't understand his game management, their roles (so it seems) and there is clearly confusion in the locker room.

Players are competitive guys. Do any of you think there isn't a locker room atmosphere where players are feeling that McCarthy is not coaching aggressively enough to win and compete, so they'll make something happen? I don't fault Monty's competitiveness (competing for a role as #1 or backup RB, roles he should have been told are Jones and Williams by now), and trying to make something happen. I DO fault Montgomery for a stupid decision, and if he was insubordinate he should be gone, and at the least benched. If McCarthy doesn't demonstrate leadership by letting Monty go, or at least benching him and clearly making his role (and all roles and strategy known), this season is over. Period.
 
MM for awhile had been nothing more than a glorified OC with s big paycheck. How many times have we heard from him over the years about not knowing what goes on during the game cause he's too worried about offense playcalling?

The leadership void starts with the HC. He is not that great an OC and not a team leader. Why would you want someone like that leading your team?

As for Monty. I can understand his frustration. I read those words as saying MM has been jerking Monty around ... Probably telling him he'll be used more or differently and not following through.
 
Montgomery has only himself to blame a guy who has been hurt a lot had just nothing but a role player guy when he is in there. Has been given chances and has failed to take the brass ring. He may hate it by he's just a guy nothing more.
 
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