GREEN BAY – The Packers' coordinators and offensive assistant coaches met with the media over the past couple of days. Here's a sampling of their key comments.
Special teams coordinator Rich Bisaccia
On P Daniel Whelan's improvement:
He did a lot of work both offseasons. He was with Mike Scifres and Nick Novak out there in San Diego, spent a lot of time with those guys that had played in the league a long time. He's really worked extremely hard at his craft, not only in season what he's done over the last year and a half with us, but what he's done in the offseason to perfect his drop and his hang (time) and his ability to direct to the football. So he's a player on the come and we're excited about the direction he's going.
On Tennessee getting two punts blocked already:
They are NFL players with a lot of pride and I'm sure they're addressing whatever issues they have. I'm really concerned about what we have to do and what our issues are and what our plan will be going into that game. Usually you feel like people corrected their mistakes. The blocks haven't been the same two weeks in a row. They've been different. We are just going to kind of concentrate on raking the leaves in our yard and see if we can put a good performance out there on the field.
Defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley
On whether getting multiple takeaways per game means yards allowed don't matter as much:
No. Absolutely not. There is no masking. There's certain areas where we have to play better. And there's certain areas we're playing really good at times, and it's like 4-5-6 really good plays, and then all of a sudden there's one that we need to play better and we need to coach better on. That goes for a bunch, then we kind of regroup, and we've got to eliminate those ones that are getting out. We are giving up too many explosive plays right now, which goes against the philosophy of our defense. I think again the more we play, the better we coach, the more we're together, I think you'll see those go down.
On the philosophy of rotating players at certain spots:
Ours on defense right now is if guys deserve to play and they can help us win, we're all in this thing together on defense. Every guy in that room, every coach in that room. If we can get other guys developed and experience and playing and keep some guys fresh – this is a long season and we want to peak at the right time and make sure we have other guys ready to play. I think it's important to continue to do that.
On Evan Williams' debut on defense:
I thought he did some really nice things in his first game. Like I said last week, we probably should've played him in that first game. I thought he earned that and we gave him some of those reps. There's some plays where you can see he had it in practice, he knew it and he's close, right? I think as the game went and he got comfortable, he started to see things faster and better. I think that's going to come with time. He did a nice job. I'm excited to see more of him. He's a good football player.
On Quay Walker:
We've all had moments. I've had moments. I love where Quay's at and not where Quay could be – where Quay's going to be, I love that even more. There's some plays you turn on now and you're like, 'Wow. Look at that. That's exactly what we're talking about.' You're also talking about a guy who's playing in a totally different scheme and he's seeing a lot of different things for the first time. The way he works, the way he practiced today, I'm really excited for where he is going to be. I'm very, very pleased with him right now and very confident in him.
Offensive coordinator Adam Stenavich
On last week's successful game plan:
Yeah, there were a lot of things that worked last Sunday, which was cool, but every week's a different week. The better you do in a certain area like running the ball, the more your opponents are going to focus on that. So we've just got to make sure we keep going, we don't get stale, we keep working, we dig at those details that we've got to improve on because there was still a lot of yards left out there, I felt like, and we could've been better.
On RB Emanuel Wilson's progress:
One thing with Emanuel, whatever we've asked him to do so far, he's done a really good job. He had some good pass-protection plays in the last game. Any time we hand him the ball, he runs hard, he protects the ball. So I'm happy with what Emanuel's done and I'm excited to see him as the season progresses how good he can be.
On facing Titans DT Jeffery Simmons:
Simmons is really good. I think it's harder in the pass game to double. When you have a guy like Simmons or Aaron Donald, when they play an interior position, a three-technique, you can slide (protection) at him but there's certain instances where they give you five across, they force you to go one-on-one, and that's where those elite players, they make their money. He is definitely an elite player. He plays with a great motor. He's got excellent talent, all the physical tools. Yeah, he's going to be a problem that we have to understand where he's at.
Passing game coordinator Jason Vrable
On WR Christian Watson not getting any targets last week:
Everybody wants the ball, especially if you believe in yourself, because you think it's going to help the team win. The play where the throw up (by C Josh Myers) occurred, I don't know if you guys saw the tape, but before Malik had to wipe off his hand, Christian was 5 yards behind the corner. That play was tagged for him and I was standing on the sideline saying this is going to be a touchdown to Christian. Corner was sitting flat-footed, we thought we could run by him, he didn't get the ball. But when we watch the tape and talk about it, you ran this route good, you ran that route good, it's going to go to you eventually. His time will come.
On WR Romeo Doubs' leaping catch vs. Colts:
He has really good hand-eye coordination. From the first day he was here, I remember him going against Jaire, making the same catch along the right sideline. He's literally done it since he's been here. He did it in college. He has really good tracking. It wasn't a great route. He could've stayed a little bit tighter to him, could've won a little bit cleaner, all of the above. But in the end as a receiver, tight end, our job is to come down with the football. So when it's thrown to us, we've got to come down to it. The practice habits, he catches like that all the time. All the time. He's as competitive at catching the football that I've ever been around. The ball finds him because it's the way he is.
On RB Josh Jacobs' leadership:
(In practice) he finishes, he's competitive, he wants every rep to be game-like but for every position. So he kind of can talk to guys and go over to them and have this conversation. Usually you see guys then the rest of practice pick up the standard if it ever is slacking. Coaches can say all they want but the best teams have always been player-led teams, forever and a day. He says the right words at the right time and he's not afraid to also speak his voice when stuff isn't there. And I think you can only convey it that way if you're doing it yourself.
Quarterbacks coach Tom Clements
On getting QB Malik Willis ready:
Malik did a good job. Connor Lewis and Sean Mannion also spent a lot of time with him, extra time, after practice or early meetings, and Malik was very diligent in trying to pick things up for only being here for a couple weeks. Then the things we did in the game, we had a lot of different types of motions, a lot of different types of ballhandling for him, and he executed it very well. So that's a credit to him, because he spent a lot of time trying to pick things up.
On the TD pass to Dontayvion Wicks and if it was almost intercepted:
Well, the throw was good. There was someone a little bit more open, but if you can be good with your feet and good with the throw, the defensive man made a pretty good play on it but the throw was good, it was a good route and sometimes that happens. So, it's one of those you're saying, 'Oh no … oh, good!' It worked out.
Wide receivers coach Ryan Mahaffey
On Tennessee's DBs:
They're a physical secondary. I think they do a really good job of challenging you at the line of scrimmage and down the field. You have to go out there and earn each and every single opportunity that you get. They're very experienced across the board. Those guys have played a lot of football, so they're sound at what they do and they have a lot of confidence with their fundamentals. The biggest thing is these guys are going to be physical and they're going to be willing to challenge you every single down, so you have to get yourself prepared for that type of game.
Offensive line coach Luke Butkus
On C Josh Myers vomiting on the football:
I don't know about you guys, but once I puke, I'm done, I'm no good anymore. That guy was doing it while he was snapping the ball. I've never seen anything like that before. But that's who Josh is man. He is tough, physical, he loves the game. That shows right there, along with every other snap he took on Sunday.
On a game plan like last week's being an O-line's dream:
Whatever it takes. Whether we have to throw the ball, whether we have to run the ball, whether we have to run screens, that group of guys in there are selfless and will do whatever it takes. But yeah, you kind of get an extra good feeling when, hey, you're running the ball behind me? That is a good feeling. We have a lot of things to clean up, fundamentally-wise. We thought we left some stuff out there, but the guys battled. Running the ball 53 times in a game is pretty cool.
On the heightened urgency to protect Jordan Love once he's back out there:
Yeah, that's the pride in them, right? Whether it's Jordan, whether it's Malik, our job is to protect that quarterback. It's to run the football and protect the quarterback, and if you know some of our guys, Elgton Jenkins, Josh Myers, they're very prideful in what they do. In practice, it's a red jersey. It'll be the same color jersey on Sunday that they're wearing, but yes, they take it upon themselves, they put that on their back, and they're going to work at it, whatever it takes.
Tight ends coach John Dunn
On TE Tucker Kraft:
He's improved tremendously, and he's really done a nice job. I mean, a big part of his game is physicality and he invites it and he loves it.
On Kraft and TE Luke Musgrave in their second seasons:
Last year feels like a million years ago. Both of them have grown and improved and developed, and with that, the offense evolves, too. So there is more variance with things they both can do, (with) all of us knowing them better in terms of game-planning. It's such a unique position and what are we facing defensively, what are the challenges there, just so much goes into it, and I think you saw both of them were on the field quite a bit last Sunday. So those things they ebb and flow constantly. It's a long season and the snap-count part, I mean, it's based on what are we trying to do and accomplish that game. Some it'll be balanced, some it'll tilt one way or the other and that's just how games play out.
Running backs coach Ben Sirmans
On Jacobs getting 32 carries:
It's always a good luxury, especially if they can handle it. He's proven to be that type of guy. Even in training camp, when you give a guy a certain amount of reps and then you're taking a guy out and he's asking for more, that is a luxury knowing and understanding here's a guy who has the endurance to handle that many carries, even when it goes late into the game.
On his early fumbles:
We kind of reset our fundamentals with him because he doesn't have a huge history of putting the ball on the ground. There's ways that he carries the ball, even in practice, that I would say, 'Oh, man.' But sometimes you give a veteran the benefit of the doubt if they don't have a history of doing something. But, after two weeks in a row, it's something that we've definitely addressed. 'This is how you're going to have to carry the ball moving forward' because now he's a target now. Everybody that we play are going to be trying to attack the football now.
On Wilson's workload possibly increasing:
I think he's very ready for it. He's been getting better every week. Our trust in him, that part of it has grown whether it's pass protection, understanding what he's doing, his role – he's being more aggressive as a runner. I think it took him some time to gain that type of confidence and more importantly for us to gain that type of confidence in him. But now I put him in the game whereas in the past I could've been a little concerned. I'm not concerned about it anymore.
