GREEN BAY – The Packers' coordinators met with the media Thursday. Here's a sampling of their key comments.
Special teams coordinator Rich Bisaccia
On K Brandon McManus hitting the 55-yarder Monday night:
It's in his wheelhouse. He kind of gave us the line going both ways in pregame. He had a really good pregame set. He felt comfortable at that distance, at that spot, and Coach was good with it. I thought the operation was good, the protection was good, so the rest was up to him.
On Minnesota's special teams:
The biggest thing always is protecting the punter. We go into every game with that in mind. These guys have been a really good punt rush team. They've got a good punt returner. They've got a really good punter. Their rookie kicker's playing really well. So it's always a challenge to go play there, with the noise and the crowd and the fan base they have. It's a great rivalry game, so that's the challenge. Go on the road, play a great rivalry game with two teams it means a lot to.
On LB Eric Wilson playing so many snaps on both defense and special teams:
For Eric, it's become, he's playing a high school game. He never comes off the field. He doesn't want to come off the field. That's the other thing. He's played multiple positions for us on punt. He plays all over the place for us on kickoff. He's a stalwart blocker for us on kickoff return, and then he kind of runs the punt return team, him and Zayne do it both depending on the calls. I know he's in supreme physical condition. He's always mentally prepared to do all those things in a game, and he's really just having a heck of a year, certainly as a great teammate, as a leader, not only on special teams, but what he's doing for us on defense.
Defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley
On DL Brenton Cox Jr.'s progress:
Right before he was about to get in and we wanted him to get in, I clearly remember the day watching him on the look team and our guys were having trouble blocking him. It's a guy buying in, getting better. He gets better, and he takes advantage of his reps against our starting offensive line. Then all of a sudden, it's like whoa, they had a tough time blocking him today and the conversation becomes this guy has earned the right to play. That's our job, right? To play the guys who are improving and show us they're getting better and bought in and help us win games. He earned the right and it doesn't surprise me what he's doing right now. He's getting game reps, and the jump he's made from his first game until now that he's actually played, we keep playing him more and more and he keeps showing up. He knows what he's doing, he's confident in what he's doing, and he's playing really fast. I love the way he practices every day. He had another day like that today. Just coming from watching the film, he was so disruptive again. He's athletic, he's got speed, he's got good speed to power, he's strong and he showed that he can finish, and he's getting good at running games, too, which has been fun to watch.
On the Vikings having TE T.J. Hockenson back:
It makes it hard with the ball distribution, whether it's going to (Justin) Jefferson or whether it's going to (Jordan) Addison or whether it's going to (Aaron) Jones, and now you have the tight end to worry about. He's big, he's athletic. It's like having another big wideout out there, and he's a great target for the quarterback to get the ball to. I think anytime in football you've got good wideouts and you have the element of the good tight end, kind of like we do, it's a threat and you've got to be aware of it. Whether it's in zone or man, who's going to match up on him in man. There's certain zones where you've got to get him down, too. He's a strong runner.
On DL Rashan Gary's production lately:
He just looks more comfortable because he's playing faster and he's thinking less. We have a better grasp of who he is and what he can do well, and I think he has a comfort level right now in what he's doing. And he has played better and he's gotten a lot of pressure, but he's playing the run game better too, and that's the sign of an unselfish player. He's using his hands, he's setting edges, he's getting off blocks, he's running to the ball. There's complete buy in right now which is awesome to see. And it's a credit to him.
Offensive coordinator Adam Stenavich
On Minnesota's defense getting a lot of INTs:
I think Murphy, (number) 7, has got excellent ball skills and does a really good job tracking it. Anytime – and it happened in our game the last time we played them – a quarterback gets into trouble and just tries to throw one up, these guys do a really good job coming down with the ball so we really have to be on top of it as far as the decisions that we make with the football so that we don't turn it over. But these guys do a really good job just getting the quarterback to make a bad decision and then make him pay with their guys in the back end. Also you see a lot of batted balls up front. Their D-line does a good job getting their hand on the ball as it's coming out of the quarterback's hands, and they've gotten a few interceptions that way too where the ball's batted up and they've got their guys there to pick it off. Yeah, they're very ball aware.
On Vikings edge rusher Andrew Van Ginkel:
You can tell he's a very intelligent player because of the different roles that they use him in, where he'll be on the edge doing his thing there, then they'll bump him back to linebacker, they'll play him in different personnels. And then he's just an extremely instinctive player. You can tell he studies the game, he can kind of get a feel for what's happening, he's got a knack for the ball. I talked about guys getting interceptions, he's one of those guys that has a couple, so yeah, he's a really good player. He's got good size, good range, but yeah, he's a problem.
On getting TE Luke Musgrave back in action:
For him, just the confidence of going out there, getting 10 snaps or whatever he got, and running around, I think that was Step 1. Now, we can build from there and increase his workload every week until he's normal. And I anticipate him playing more snaps and being more involved in the game plan this week. Yeah, it's been great. I'm excited for him to get out there and play some ball.
On RG Sean Rhyan locking down his spot:
It's a tribute to him and I'm proud of him. He works so hard and is such a good team guy that you're happy for guys like that. As they progress in their careers, you can just see the player that they're becoming, and they're doing a good job. Yeah, I'm proud of him and how he's worked and the work he's put forth to get where he is, it's a tribute to him, for sure.