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Green Bay — This time of year, most reports out of NFL minicamps are glowing.

Player A wants to rush for 2,000 yards. Coach B expects a “career year” out of Player C. So on and so forth.

But when Tom Clements speaks up, you tend to listen. Not one for one-liners, the Packers offensive coordinator says this summer’s lot of wide receivers is the “deepest” he’s seen in Green Bay — Clements has been with the Packers since Mike McCarthy arrived in 2006.

Even without James Jones and Jermichael Finley, he sees a deep arsenal around quarterback Aaron Rodgers.

“We have a large group now at receiver,” Clements said. “We have a large group at tight end. There’s going to be outstanding competition and the guys who finally make it are going to be very good players. So I think the wide receiver group is probably the deepest that I can recall. There are some young guys who are performing well.

“And the same thing really with tight ends, Jermichael’s not here so that’s a presence that we miss but we have a large group of tight ends who are doing well and young guys who have done well. When it’s all said and done, we’ll have enough weapons to do what we want to do.”

High praise for the wide receivers. It's hard to see any combination of wideouts topping what the group did in 2011. That unit ranked No. 1 in yards (3,667), touchdowns (38) and all five wideouts had at least 25 receptions.

Asked when his WR group has been at its best, position coach, Edgar Bennett, said it's "to be determined."

Randall Cobb, Jordy Nelson and Jarrett Boykin, Myles White, Chris Harper, Kevin Dorsey, Davante Adams, Jared Abbrederis, Jeff Janis and Alex Gillett make up this year’s group. Beyond Cobb, Nelson, Boykin and the second-round pick Adams, it'll be fairly wide open come late July.

Green Bay has to be encouraged so far. At Tuesday’s practice, young receivers took turns making plays during 11-on-11 periods.

White ran a nifty, looping route inside-out to tie up a cornerback and pluck a pass high. The seventh-rounder Janis hauled in a long ball from Matt Flynn up the left sideline. Harper was one of this spring’s standouts before a hamstring injury.

And to the backdrop of loud cheers nearby, Abbrederis ran a deep cross and pulled down a high pass from Scott Tolzien.

Maybe most noticeable has been the play of the second-year receivers, the younger options that were easy to forget when general manager Ted Thompson loaded up in the draft.

“They’ve all gotten better,” Clements said. “Kevin, because of his injury last year, didn’t have a lot of time practicing. But he’s the body type you like. He’s explosive. He can run. He works hard. It’s good to see him out there. He has improved. Chris Harper was having a great spring and he just tweaked the hamstring a little bit. He’s a much different guy than he was last year. So we’re anxious and excited about him. And Myles is a smaller guy, but he’s gotten a little bigger. He’s quick. He’s hard to handle in there in the slot because of his quickness and speed.

“They all have their talents and they’re doing well.”

Granted, we've talked about back-up wide receivers aplenty summers past in this space. Tori Gurley and Diondre Borel never stuck.

This year's group, however, has at least set up a legitimately intriguing battle come training camp.

(Journal Sentinel photo by Mark Hoffman)