GREEN BAY – The Packers' coordinators and defensive assistants met with the media over the past couple of days. Here's a sampling of their key comments:
Special teams coordinator Rich Bisaccia
On K Brayden Narveson noticing something with his mechanics:
It's an issue with his plant foot is what it was. Credit to him, to be honest with you, I think he stood in front of all your cameras after the game and took the lion's share of responsibility. We lost by two, he missed two kicks. So he's had a real good week of practice and yesterday was an interesting wind to say the least. He's practiced really well, he's kicking straight balls on the PATs. He missed two field goals in the game that we would love to have back, but it's certainly in the rearview mirror, and we're moving forward and we'll see what this week brings.
On the Rams' special teams:
They've been through a couple of different return guys and now they have (Xavier) Smith back there and he has a 38-yarder against San Francisco that he actually caught in the red zone. They did a really good job on it and he got the boundary and it actually put them in position to hit the winning field goal. In the 49er game they faked a punt on fourth-and-6 and ended up getting a first down that continued the drive for them as well. Chase Blackburn has done a really good job of working with the culture there, and their play style has become a little bit more like he played. I believe they have seven rookies on their kickoff team right now. So they have a lot of young guys, they look like they're extremely hungry. They have a rookie kicker who's played well. I think he's missed one.
On Keisean Nixon's frustration with lack of kickoff returns:
I've tried to teach Keisean that frustration is kind of a wasted emotion. There's a part in there, the definition of frustration is if you can't change it, it's going to change sooner or later. The thing we're trying to really work hard on are the blocks in front. We've had an opportunity now in pads the last three Thursdays to practice kickoff returns in pads and hopefully those guys up front are getting better. Keisean has made really good team decisions back there not to take it out. He took the kick out in Philadelphia because I told him to. That was my fault and I did a bad job with that and we didn't do a very good job on the blocks. I think his time will come. I think he'll keep making really good team decisions back there and we'll see what happens as the weather changes.
Offensive coordinator Adam Stenavich
On RT Zach Tom:
He's been solid. I think he's taken some steps forward in the run game. There's been some areas that he's been pretty good at the point of attack, gets pretty good movement. And in pass pro he's just a reliable guy out there. No matter who you put out there, he seems to be productive and just hold that edge pretty well. He's just been very impressive.
On RG Sean Rhyan playing the full game now:
Definitely his last game was the best game that he's played. He did a good job. I'm excited for him. He's stepped up every time that we've needed him to and he's definitely showing some improvements – playing with better pad level, being physical, and also being a reliable pass protector. That was one of his bigger issues was that, so he's doing a good job.
On WR Jayden Reed's energy:
I see it when he's on the field. He's a pretty low-key guy in the locker room, in the meeting room. But on the field, he's a wild man. He gets the ball in his hands, he wants to make plays, he wants to be explosive, and you can obviously see that in his play. Anytime he gets the ball he's got the potential to score. So he's a fun guy to be around, a fun guy to coach. Yeah, you definitely see that fire, that intensity and that focus with him when he's out on the field for sure.
Defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley
On DL Rashan Gary's play and how to get more from him:
It goes back and forth. We've got to move him around and we've got to see how teams are going to come out and protect against us and then counter that and change things up in the game. If they're doing one thing to take him away, we've got to find another way to get him involved, and then we have to have our other guys show up or we have to scheme other ways to pressure opposite him and do a lot of things schematically.
On DL Kenny Clark:
I love Kenny. He practices hard every day. We played him a lot of snaps in the last game. He's helping us in the run game a lot and we can do more things to help him get more production in the pass game. Last week we're up here and we're asking how we got eight sacks and now I'm sure everybody wants to know why we didn't get eight more last week. I wish we had nine. I mean, it's how our league is, right? We've got to keep those going. Kenny's one of the best interior D-linemen in the NFL and as this thing shakes out, everybody's going to continue to see that and I can say that with confidence.
On learning more about the personnel:
You're going to continue to learn as the season goes, especially as injuries happen and you have guys playing new positions. You have different guys playing with each other. It takes some time for those guys all to gel. But at the same time, the coolest thing … I learned more about our personnel last week than I learned the first three games of the season and that most teams don't learn (all season). Our personnel and ourselves were down 28-nothing. You know how you ever get punched in the gut and feel like you're going down? Well, our guys got back up and they responded, and we came all the way back and we were a touchdown away from winning the game and we gave up three points in the second half. So, what I learned about our personnel is they believe in what we're doing and they believe in each other and they're never going to quit. That's very rare; very, very rare. As far as learning who are our people are and how they have to play and what they do really well, we're going to continue to find that out. But finding out who are our defense was and what those guys are made of – when you're standing in front of them at halftime and you're losing by 21 points or whatever it was and they don't blink, I think we found out exactly who we are and that should excite everybody.
On rookie S Javon Bullard:
He's done a really good job when we've asked him to do multiple things. He had a really good second half last week. He had a couple pressures, a couple TFLs were big-time plays. We've got to get him around the ball more. You want to talk about what I can do better – I can put him closer to the football in certain ways because he's really good when he's close to the football and we need to get him more involved. He's having a really good first four games and I think steadily you'll see him do more and more.
On LB Quay Walker:
Two weeks ago you guys asked me about Quay and I kind of beamed with confidence, it's kind of how I feel about RG right now. It's how I feel about our whole defense right now. I told this to Quay today, I watched Quay at practice, right now he's moving faster, he's more comfortable, he sees it better, he knows the calls. There was a down and distance where before I could even call it in practice he knew what I was going to call. And I kind of smirked, I was like alright, that's big. That says a lot because he's dialed in and really starting to see it and think faster. I'm really excited. Like it's not coach speak, it's like – it's just, I see it. So I'm excited to see what he continues to do and he deserves it because he's working so damn hard.
Defensive line coach Jason Rebrovich
On the pass rush so far:
The guys have done a really good job of understanding the quarterbacks that we're playing against. Each week you're going to have to set a pass-rush plan to who the quarterback is. Statistically, you're always wanting more. We all do. They do. But from the first two weeks, understanding the first two quarterbacks we went against, their ability to escape, find lanes, to cut that off and not make plays be alive down the field, to me those guys did an ultimate job of the task we were asking them to do.
Then you go into Tennessee, we rattle off as a team eight sacks, have the ability to get after the quarterback. This past week, as we all know, was not up to our standard. We've got to continue to execute it, we've got to get to our basics, our fundamentals … four equals one. We've got to rush together as a group. Each week is going to be different, and our expectation is a very high one for this group.
On the extra attention Rashan Gary is getting from opponents:
It's every week. We've got to develop a plan around him, continue to have different options and matchups to make suer we're utilizing his talents each week. There's chips and what we call thumps on tight ends and running backs, and slide protections to 52 quite a bit.
On Colby Wooden stepping in for Devonte Wyatt:
Devonte Wyatt, his pass-rush productivity this year has been at a good clip, but Colby has those same type of traits. He's quick, he's fast, he's mobile, he can play both interior and a three-technique, and he's played some D-end before in the past. So, I think it's a great opportunity for him, it's a great opportunity for us to give another guy another fresh role in the game.
Linebackers/running game coordinator Anthony Campanile
On Quay Walker's play:
Anytime you're in a new system, there's going to be a progression for anybody. I think he's progressing along and getting better every game, honestly. He didn't play a ton in the preseason, so getting out there those early games, I see a little bit of progress every game. He's doing a really good job. I love coaching the guy.
On Edgerrin Cooper's development:
For Coop, this is his first go-round, and from that first night first game out in Brazil, I think he's progressed each week. I want to say his rep count has gone up each week, maybe with the exception of the Colts game. I see a lot of progress in him as well, just in the uptake of the system. He's working really, really hard, doing as much extra as he can, and he's an explosive athlete.
On dividing up the playing time when Walker, Isaiah McDuffie, Eric Wilson and Cooper can all help:
You go into each game with an idea, a general idea how much everybody's going to play. Sometimes the game affects that, the way the game's being played, even in terms of what personnel (groups) are in the game. That can change from game to game. Honestly I feel super confident that any of those guys we put in the game right now are going to do their job and play well. They each bring something a little bit different. In certain situations in the game, guys have stepped up.
Defensive passing game coordinator Derrick Ansley
On what it would mean to get CB Carrington Valentine back:
Carrington? Yeah, Carrington is one of the top competitors I've been around at the corner position. He tackles well, gets off blocks, he's competitive, smart, and football means a lot to him. So whenever he gets back out there, I'm sure it's going to give us a big lift.
On Nixon playing different spots on defense:
I was proud of Kei last week. We played him outside a lot with Ja being down and CV being down. He rose to the challenge. He had some really good reps on one of their best guys. He's playing inside, playing outside, he's playing special teams. He's blitzing good, he's tackling good. So we've been proud of the progress he's made and we're going to continue to press that issue.
Defensive backs coach Ryan Downard
On S Xavier McKinney's interception streak:
He has great instincts and he can cover a lot of ground and his anticipation is so good. And obviously we teach that and we rep it and we try to keep that sharp, but when a guy has a feel for quarterback mechanics and his intentions … he's very meticulous and he's waiting for that quarterback tape to be sent each week. He's hitting my phone, 'Hey, hey, hey, when we getting that?' So he studies, he pours into it, he invests into it, and so he's able to withdraw some of that, too, when we get to Sunday. It's awesome to watch.
You take his anticipation and then you take his body mechanics, the things you see in individual drills, the way his weight is forward, so he's always ready to come out of his break, that combined with the instincts and anticipation, that's what makes him a special player in the deep part of the field. He's able to range red line to red line.
On not always keeping McKinney deep:
You want to move the pieces around. You don't want them to be able to drill into where we're going to place these pieces. In the same sense, you want to be able to take advantage of what they do best. So, there's a fine line there. It is nice to have that versatility.
