A couple weeks after the season ended, Green Bay Packers passing game coordinator Jason Vrable called Alex McGough.
The team’s No. 3 quarterback throughout the season, McGough spent most of his practice weeks playing receiver and tight end. Vrable wanted to get McGough’s thoughts on a full-time move to receiver. Not long thereafter, quarterbacks coach Tom Clements and assistant quarterbacks coach Connor Lewis followed up.
“They called me and asked me and I said, ‘Yeah, whatever I can do to help the team, if they think that’s the best move for me,’ which everyone did. So, I was like, ‘Yeah, let’s do it.’”
With that, the 28-year-old McGough, who entered the NFL as a seventh-round pick by the Seattle Seahawks in 2018 and won USFL MVP for the Birmingham Stallions in 2023, for the first time in his football life was no longer a quarterback.
“It was pretty easy,” he said of the decision. “Obviously, I like to run, use my athleticism. So, receiver, obviously, that’s all you pretty much do. I kind of almost expected it.
“So, backstory, Houston, they moved me to the Taysom Hill-ish role, but then COVID hit and we never got a chance to practice it, so it didn’t pan out there. I was doing it all year [playing other positions for the Packers last season], so when they called me, I wasn’t surprised by it.”
With Jordan Love and Sean Clifford atop the depth chart, McGough understood that a position change might provide the best chance of extending his career. However, the learning curve will be steep and the competition will be stiff at arguably the Packers’ strongest position group.
“Obviously, it’s just completely different from what I’m used to,” McGough said. “But it’s good. Everybody’s helping me out, teaching me little things here and there. Watching the vets – not that we really have any vets – but watching the guys who have done it their whole life, it’s been good.
“Obviously, there’s so much that I need to learn and so much that goes into it that I didn’t even know about. Kind of just doing what I thought was the right thing [at practice last year]. There are all these intricate details that you don’t know about until you get in a room and you get taught them. It’s been helping a lot.”
From one perspective, McGough’s experience as a quarterback should help in that he knows how to read coverages and anticipate weaknesses in coverage. On the other hand, it’s one thing running a route as drawn on a card for the scout team. It’s quite another to run that route with nuance. It’s like the difference between being a cook and being a chef.
“Being a quarterback, I know the play, so it’s not like I have to learn it,” he said. “It’s just the intricate details on how to run a route vs. just a quarterback knowing he has that route. You know, the splits are my hardest thing to do as far as where to line up, when to steal a step in, when to steal a step out, things like that.
“And then, obviously, the run blocking part, I’ve never blocked anybody in my life. So, that’s going to be new; still haven’t really because it’s OTAs. But we’ll see. It’s fun. I’m excited. That’s probably the best thing about it. I’m really excited to get this started. Let’s see if I get my freaking legs moving.”
Yes, those “freaking legs” are one more hurdle. While reporters were present for Week 1 of OTAs, McGough was running a downfield route during individual drills. He made the catch but clutched his hamstring. He missed the last week of practice – not exactly ideal for a player who can use every rep possible to learn a position that the other players vying for a roster spot have played for years.
“I’m progressing,” McGough said. “I’m a naturally fast healer. I heal fast for everything, so it is what it is. I’m taking it day by day, just kind of letting my body tell me where I’m at.
“Obviously, I’ve got to change up some things. I eat clean, eat right, do all these things, but I just think the volume of running at a high speed is so much different than what I’m used to. So, I’ve got to figure out how to get my legs to figure out [his new position]. I’m the oldest guy in the room by like two years, so I’m kind of a little behind the 8-ball there, but I’ll figure it out. I still feel young, so we’ll see.”
