Packers May Have Trouble With Jolly

As the Green Bay Packers prepare for the upcoming season, they are also awaiting the results of their makeover on defense. Coordinator Dom Capers was brought in, and the installation of the 3-4 defense likely holds the key to Green Bay's chances in the NFC North.

The Packers have leaned quite a bit on younger players long the defensive front in recent years. One of those younger players is 2006 sixth-round pick Johnny Jolly, who has done a nice job at defensive tackle, but now is staring at a felony trial that starts Friday.

Last July, Jolly was arrested in Houston. He and two friends were picked up in a car. That car had a large amount of codeine in it, along with soda and cups of ice. Those are ingredients in a street drug known as Purple Drank.

As a result of this arrest, Jolly is facing the first felony trial involving an active Green Bay Packer since 1987.

Jolly has maintained his innocence, and his lawyers think they have a strong case, saying that the codeine wasn't Jolly's. The attorneys haven't been willing to discuss a plea bargain in the case. However, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel notes that the organization isn't pleased with the mess Jolly is in.

Two sources said Jolly was repeatedly told by the team to be careful about whom he associated with in Houston when he returned to his hometown.

But because of that error in judgment on the evening in question, Jolly's future with the Packers remains in doubt and, worse, he is facing possible prison time.

The Packers have long held reservations internally about Jolly, from his personal habits and sometimes questionable demeanor to his role in the recent switch to the 3-4 defense.

Obviously, part of the lawyers' strategy is to help Jolly avoid punishment from the NFL. Commissioner Roger Goodell would likely pounce at a plea deal, even if Jolly avoids jail time.

While a plea bargain could lead to a short suspension for Jolly, a conviction could bring something much worse: prison time. It's not a lock that Jolly -- with no previous convictions on his record -- would end up behind bars, but anything is possible. That prison time could be destructive for the career of a player who has yet to "strike it rich" in terms of his contract.

Not only that, but his mere involvement in this mess is a likely deterrent for the Packers. Unless Jolly emerges from this a smarter person who is less willing to associate with a questionable group of friends, it's not likely he will ever get a big-money, long-term deal from the Packers.