GREEN BAY – The Packers' offensive assistant coaches met with the media Monday. Here's a sampling of their key comments.
Offensive coordinator Adam Stenavich
On Jacob Monk:
I really like him. He plays with a lot of effort, plays with a lot of intensity, finishes his blocks. He has technique stuff to clean up, that most young guys do. But from what I've seen from him this first game, I was really excited about watching him.
On Jordan Love's improvement with the deep ball:
Early last year, he was kind of forcing balls down the field. Once he just understood, 'OK, it might not be there. Bang, hit your checkdown,' … he was hitting a lot more checkdowns. And then, when the open balls were there, he was hitting them. He wasn't forcing it. It was just basically taking what the defense gives you and having that understanding of being patient. That was big for him.
On the multitude of offensive weapons:
You try to find … not necessarily what they're best at, but what does a defense allow you to take from them, and then just piece it all together in a game plan. The good thing is you have a lot of weapons, so you can be pretty creative, and you can change it up a lot and still have all kinds of guys getting the ball. The thing that we were successful with last year was we really didn't force the ball to anybody. We just let it happen, and everyone gets their touches and it kind of evens out. That's the one thing that's nice about what we have, is you really don't have to say, 'All right, this play has to go to this guy.' You just let the play develop and Jordan can read it out. Whoever's open can get the ball.
Passing game coordinator Jason Vrable
On Dontayvion Wicks' long TD:
One of his emphases in camp is winning on the deep ball. He's just been working on it in practice – his stride and tracking the ball up over the top of the shoulder. He just didn't have a lot of opps last year, and I think that will take his game to the next level.
On Grant DuBose:
He's always had that physical mentality. If you ever knew about his backstory, where he came from, he has a chip on his shoulder, he plays that way all the time. He has a good frame on him, he uses his hands and plays with good technique. There were a couple of blocks in that game if you watch the All-22 where he was putting DBs on the ground and finishing his blocks, so it was exciting to see that. Matt (LaFleur) showed a couple to the team about this is the effort and standard that it takes to win and play here.
On the top four WR:
I feel like every day in training camp one of them has just been like, 'Whoa.' They were dominant in one-on-ones, they were dominant in practice and they're all pushing one another, which is what I like. You look over your shoulder and if you have a bad day, the other guy is going to go and steal your spot that day. When you leave the practice field, you'll be like, he was the guy who was the best in the room that day. They're second- and third-year players – that's all they are – so it's not just going to be, hey, I'm at the top of my game, I should win every rep. They still have their bad reps and we have some growing pains.
On using Josh Jacobs in the passing game:
When we got Josh from the Raiders, our running backs coach put together all of his past targets and we sat down as a staff and watched them. There's not a route, I would say, that he can't run. Sometimes in their offense they didn't want to really throw the ball to him as much. It was more ground and pound with him. But we've tried him out in camp, we've spread him out, we've scatted him from the backfield. I would say the most impressive thing above everything has been his hands. They've been exceptional. He's a hands catcher for a running back and he has a big catch radius and hopefully we can continue to grow in what we've tried with him this training camp, and I think he feels comfortable back there. He's one of those guys who knows the route tree and can do anything that we need him to do.
Quarterbacks coach Tom Clements
On Love's deep passing game from last year to now:
You can call deep passes and, if you get the right coverage, then you have a shot to take it downfield. If you don't get the right coverage, you can't force it downfield. I think maybe at times we were trying to go downfield when the defense didn't allow it. From midyear on, we hit a lot of checkdowns to the backs for big yards and that was when the defense dropped in zone, we didn't have the downfield route. And then if we got an indication they were going to be in man and we had a deep pass available, we took a shot. When you get one-on-one, it's easier to throw those deep balls. He always had the ability. It was just a matter of doing it at the right time.
On Sean Clifford:
Sean struggled a little bit the first week or so of practice. As a group collectively on offense and especially the QBs, we weren't protecting the ball as well as we need to; that's gotten better. Sean did a better job, probably Family Night was one of his better practices, and then he had a good game. That was kind of Sean last year. He practices hard but sometimes in a game you just have that extra little spark to make you play a little better, and everyone else is trying to play as well as they can. He has that quality about him.
Offensive line coach Luke Butkus
On Monk:
Watching that film from the game on Saturday was an awesome – not a surprise because I know he's a tough kid and he works his butt off. But before the game during warmups, the look on his face, he was ready to rip somebody's lips off. That's the way he played, and it was fun to watch. He loves playing the game. He loves the physicality of it.
On Jordan Morgan:
He's a rookie playing against Kenny Clark every single day. Ten-year vets might struggle with that a little bit. Ups and downs, and he knew that, but he came in every day to work. We need to get him back, right? That's how you get better. You practice. Little setback but he'll be fine when he gets back. He'll work at it. He's in his playbook. He's smart. He's doing whatever we ask him to do to get back.
Tight ends coach John Dunn
On Tucker Kraft improving as a run blocker last year:
It's well documented his growth was really good. I think towards the end he had a really good feel of doing it, the effort, the toughness, all those things are there. And then so much of the run game's about technique, and footwork, and hand placement, hat placement. He had a pretty good understanding of that. Now it's getting back into the saddle and doing it again and feeling it out. But I thought he grew a lot there. Obviously he can continue to improve, but that's something that he works at daily.
Running backs coach Ben Sirmans
On Emanuel Wilson's improvement:
The main thing is just understanding the offense. He's not out there thinking as much before each play like he did last year – which can happen to a lot of rookies. So he's put himself in position just through his ability to study and ask questions and see things and have reps at different things. That's what you're seeing, that he's a lot more comfortable back there because he has a better understanding of what he's doing and what we're trying to do in the offense.
On whether MarShawn Lloyd is falling behind due to injuries:
It makes it extremely difficult, especially as a rookie because you need the reps. It's one thing to sit in the classroom, learn it, or even when you're behind seeing other guys run the exact plays that you're going to run and you're trying to take mental reps. It's a lot different than hearing the calls made in the huddle, lining up properly, doing all those things. So, he, like most young players, needs a lot of reps. But it's going to come. I'm not overly concerned about it. It's my job to make sure that he's right and ready when his time comes. He's very eager, he's here early in the morning getting his body right, he's sitting at the cafeteria studying and going through things, so because he has that as part of his DNA, I think at the end of the day he's going to be fine.
Wide receivers coach Ryan Mahaffey
On DuBose:
As he's gotten healthier here, compared to last year where he was at, he's been playing with great effort, he plays with great strain, he's very diligent, very competitive. It's been fun to watch him as he's able to get more comfortable in the system, as he's been able to build his confidence with more reps, go out there and be able to capitalize on some of those opportunities.
On Wicks' growth in Year 2:
Coach Vrable does a great job of spearheading the room in terms of trying to get guys to understand how they fit into what all 11 are trying to do out on the field, and I think as you gain experience, those nuances, those details of understanding how your assignment impacts the other 10 guys out there collectively, just (provides) a broader perspective. Obviously you see his talent, his ability to run routes and separate.
