Jan. 4, 2008

After appearing to be firmly entrenched in the No. 3 WR role for three-quarters of the season, third-round rookie James Jones has been relinquishing playing time the past month or so to both Koren Robinson and Ruvell Martin. But that’s not to say Jones won’t re-emerge as a key weapon in the team’s passing attack in the playoffs beginning this weekend. Team insiders believe the reduction in Jones’ playing time has more to do with the improvement by Robinson and Martin than it does with any of Jones’ particular shortcomings. Robinson, a proven commodity on the rebound from off-the-field problems, has developed an increasingly strong rapport with Brett Favre, who struggled to overcome his own off-the-field demons. Martin, meanwhile, has continued to make his presence felt, despite not having as much raw talent as either Jones or Robinson. Word is Martin has established himself as the scrappiest blocker in Green Bay’s WR corps, in addition to displaying deceptive speed. As for the team’s usage of five-wide sets, it will be interesting to see to what extent head coach Mike McCarthy features them in the playoffs after cutting down on them significantly the final month of the season.