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Green Bay — Every player on the roster obviously craves first-team reps. But when those don’t come, snaps on the scout team, the “look” team, can remain valuable in Green Bay.

Case in point, Josh Boyd.

The fifth-round pick made the 53-man roster last summer, yet wasn't part of the rotation for 3/4's of the season. Each week, Boyd played the role of somebody else. And eventually, coach Mike McCarthy couldn’t help but notice No. 93 causing problems. So after going six of eight weeks as a game-day inactive, the raw Mississippi State defensive tackle started getting snaps.

Including the postseason, Boyd had 10 tackles (five solo) in his final five games. So with his latest project, Khyri Thornton, position coach Mike Trgovac is using Boyd as proof that scout-team reps have value.

“Very similar, very similar,” Trgovac said. “That’s kind of what I told him yesterday when he was going through the look team, that that’s a lot where Josh got noticed. Josh was noticed on the look team and just taking that serious because he gets a lot of reps over there."

Even though he was running another team’s plays, Boyd caught the eye of his head coach.

Unlike several other head coaches, McCarthy calls the plays. When someone disrupts, he’s the one who notices first on the film.

“The one thing I always tell them is, on the look team — you know around here and it’s not that way everywhere — who watches the tape the most? The head coach,” Trgovac said. “If you’re on the look team and you’re kicking butt, the head coach is going to notice you. That’s a good thing.

“Mike watches all the tape. But he watches the offense. I don’t know what his schedule is, but you know he’s watching the offense. If one number keeps showing up, he’s going to look to see who that is.”

Boyd’s work ethic stood out. Chances are, this is will be Thornton's first step, too.

Green Bay doesn’t necessarily need the Southern Miss defensive lineman in its rotation quite yet — he was more of a projection pick. His last two seasons in college, Thornton totaled 75 tackles (39 solo) with 1 ½ sacks. Green Bay liked his size/speed combo, fully knowing this could be a project.

There are promising early sighs.

In one half-line drill, Thornton bench-pressed third-year lineman Don Barclay and then rag-dolled him to the ground to tackle the ball-carrier. Trgovac said Thornton has shown “flashes.” Honing the right technique on the defensive line is a process.

Raw and inexperienced, he can follow Boyd's lead.

“Has a ways to go, just like we knew he would,” Trgovac said of Thornton. “He’s got some good ability. We’re just working through his fundamentals right now.”

About Tyler Dunne Tyler Dunne covers the Green Bay Packers. He has been on the beat since 2011, winning awards with the Pro Football Writers of America and Milwaukee Press Club.

(Journal Sentinel photo by Mark Hoffman)