Packers are instead counting on the development of several young players

Rather than make major personnel changes on defense after last season's 579-yard playoff debacle against the San Francisco 49ers, the Green Bay Packers are instead counting on the development of several young players whose efforts in 2012 were incomplete at best. Atop that list is linebacker Nick Perry, who was a part-time player in the first six games of his rookie season before missing the rest because of knee and wrist injuries.

As a result, Perry was on my list of players to inquire about earlier this month at Packers minicamp. The bad news was that he was still wearing a brace on his left wrist, which he had surgery on last November. But he was participating throughout minicamp and coach Mike McCarthy said he is expected to be at full strength by the start of training camp.

Outside linebackers coach Kevin Greene, who last year detailed for us the long road Perry had in front of him as he transitioned from defensive end, rained effusive praise when asked about his development.

"He looks different," Greene said. "He moves different to me. He moves with more sense of urgency and purpose. His eyes are different. His gaze is different. I can just look at his face and look at in his eyes and know he's not happy with what transpired last year and he's determined not to let that happen again this year."

Perry played only 198 snaps in six games before his injuries, a modest average of about 33 (or roughly half) per game. But in looking back to that relatively short stint, Greene said he felt confident Perry had made progress -- most notably in the unfamiliar realm of pass coverage.

Greene pointed to the Week 5 game against the Indianapolis Colts as evidence. Perry, of course, had one sack in that game and lost another due to penalty. But what caught Greene's eye was an effort in pass defense against Colts receiver Reggie Wayne.

"He carried Reggie Wayne vertical up the field in a Cover 2 concept and it was as good as I can coach it," Greene said. "He carries an All-Pro vertical up the seam in a hip-trail position. That tells me: You know what, he can do everything coverage-wise. He progressed during his time last year as a player."

Proficiency in pass coverage will keep Perry on the field in 2013. But his pass rush and speed on the edge are why the Packers drafted him last season and how he can best help them address the issues that surfaced in the playoffs. Greene sees them as all part of a larger picture.

"This position takes a little time to settle into," he said. "It's hard to come out of the gate at this position because there's so much involved with the eyes. Nick is going to get better with more time on the job. That's the bottom line. He's got to be in the cleats. Smelling the grass. Having fun. Opening his eyes. Making good plays. Building confidence. And that's just the natural progression of a player."

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Family seeks answers in death near Hernandez home

Facing what he drolly called a ``complicated international problem,'' Vladimir Putin says he's ready to give the New England Patriots' owner custom jewelry to compensate for the Super Bowl ring that some imply the Russian president pocketed.

The Super Bowl ring changed hands in 2005 when Robert Kraft was visiting Putin with a business delegation. At the time, he said he gave it as a gift, but last week he was quoted by the New York Post as saying Putin just took it.

Putin said at an economic forum Friday he didn't remember Kraft or the ring. But ``if it is so valuable to him,'' Putin would order a piece of jewelry of precious metal and stones be made for Kraft.

At least one company yanked an endorsement deal from New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez on Friday as puzzled family members of a friend found slain a mile from Hernandez's home sought answers about how he died.

Police have searched in and around Hernandez's sprawling home in North Attleborough, not far from where the Patriots practice, but a court clerk said that as of Friday afternoon no arrest warrants had been issued in the case. The Bristol County district attorney has not released any information, other than saying the death of semi-pro football player Odin Lloyd was being treated as a homicide.

A jogger found Lloyd's body in an industrial park Monday. Family members said Friday that Lloyd had been dating Hernandez's fiancee's sister for about two years. They said the two men were friends who were together the night Lloyd died.

Police in nearby Providence, R.I., said they had assisted Massachusetts state police and North Attleborough police with activity related to the Hernandez investigation at a strip club named Club Desire. It was unclear if they believed Lloyd and Hernandez might have been at the club in the days before Lloyd died. A reporter was escorted out of the club Friday afternoon before she could speak with employees or patrons.

Family members have said Lloyd, 27, was never in trouble.

``I want the person that killed my son to be brought to justice,'' said Lloyd's mother, Ursula Ward. ``That's my first-born child, my only boy child, and they took him away from me. ... I wouldn't trade him for all the money in the world. And if money could bring him back I would give this house up to bring my son back. Nothing can bring my son back.''

Family members said they had heard from Lloyd's girlfriend but not from Hernandez after Lloyd's death. They are anxiously awaiting an arrest in the case.

``We're just hoping for justice,'' cousin Marsha Martin said. ``We don't want Odin to have died in vain.''

Hernandez's attorney Michael Fee has acknowledged media reports about the state police search of his Hernandez's home but said he wouldn't have any comment on it.

Attleboro District Court clerk magistrate Mark E. Sturdy said three search warrants were issued in the investigation earlier in the week but have not been returned, meaning they're not public. He said no arrest warrants had been filed in state courts by the time court closed at 4:30 p.m. Friday.

Hernandez was gone from his home for most of the day Friday, including when two state police officers knocked on his door. He returned home with his attorney around 5 p.m.

Patriots spokesman Stacey James has said the team does not anticipate commenting publicly during the police investigation. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell was waiting for the legal process to take its course.

CytoSport, a Benicia, Calif.-based company that makes Muscle Milk and other supplements for athletes, said Friday it was ending Hernandez's endorsement contract, effective immediately, because of the investigation.

The Patriots drafted Hernandez out of Florida in 2010. Since then, he has combined with Rob Gronkowski to form one of the top tight end duos in the NFL. He missed 10 games last season with an ankle injury and had shoulder surgery in April but is expected to be ready for training camp. Last summer, the Patriots gave him a five-year contract worth $40 million.

Hernandez said after he was drafted that he had failed a drug test while with the Gators and had been upfront with NFL teams about the issue.

Earlier this week, a man filed a lawsuit in South Florida claiming Hernandez shot him in the face after they argued at a strip club there.

Alexander Bradley's lawsuit accuses Hernandez of negligence, among other things, suggesting that the shooting may have been accidental. Bradley said he lost his right eye and suffers many other lingering effects from the shooting.

A spokeswoman for the Palm Beach County sheriff's office said Friday that investigators would need to speak with Bradley to move forward with a criminal investigation and cannot rely on the claims he made in his lawsuit. The spokeswoman, Teri Barbera, said Bradley repeatedly refused to cooperate in the criminal probe after he was shot in February, telling detectives he didn't know who shot him.

Hernandez's attorney did not respond to a request for comment on the lawsuit.

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