The question now appears to be, do you cut Ty Montgomery or do you just bench him?
We all know about his ill-advised kickoff return in the Green Bay Packers’ loss to the Los Angeles Rams. It cost the Packers a chance to win the game. Coach Mike McCarthy said Montgomery was instructed to down the ball if it went into the end zone.
It turns out, Montgomery had thrown a tantrum on the sideline shortly before making this dipshit move.
This comes from Michael Silver.
“They took him out (the previous drive) for a play and he slammed his helmet and threw a fit,” one Packers player said. “Then (before the kickoff) they told him to take a knee and he ran it out anyway. You know what that was? That was him saying, ‘I’m gonna do me.’ It’s a fucking joke.
“I mean, what the fuck are you doing? We’ve got Aaron Rodgers, the best I’ve ever seen, and you’re gonna take that risk? I mean, it’s ’12’! All you gotta do is give him the ball and you know what’s gonna happen.”
Rodgers would have gotten the ball with 2:05 on the clock, down two points at the 25 if Montgomery downed the ball.
Instead, fumble, game over.
And Rodgers was pissed.
“Aaron was hot,” one Packers coach said. “And he had a right to be. He yelled, ‘Take a fucking knee!’ He was very, very mad.”
So what happens to Montgomery now? He’s clearly lost respect among teammates and coaches.
Let’s look back to last year. Cornerback Damarious Randall sits and pouts after being removed from a game against the Bears. McCarthy sends him to the locker room, not to return. The team’s veteran players wanted Randall to be released after the incident. The Packers really had no choice but to keep Randall, however. He was their best cornerback in a terrible group. So that’s what they did. Then they traded him in the offseason.
The Packers do have other options at running back. In fact, Montgomery is third on the depth chart, behind Aaron Jones and Jamaal Williams.
As for the return game, they have the option of activating Trevor Davis from the physically unable to perform list. Not only is he a better kick returner than Montgomery, he’s a better punt returner than Tramon Williams.
It seems like a pretty obvious path. The Packers don’t always take the obvious path, but it’s hard to see how they can’t in this situation. It’s hard to see Montgomery ever recovering in the locker room. You can’t have someone like that around when you’re on the brink of being a losing football team.