GREEN BAY -- The Packers' three coordinators met with the media on Thursday in advance of the trip to Los Angeles to play the Chargers. Here's a summary of their key comments.
Special teams coordinator Shawn Mennenga
(on JK Scott's off night)
He was trying to kick it close to the sidelines, and the wind was stronger than we anticipated, and it picked up over the course of the game. We have to do a better job protecting for him. I don't think he sees those things, but he feels stuff around him. Anytime the wind can affect your drop, you're not going to hit it where you want to. He'll be better.
(on Mason Crosby still going strong)
He takes really good care of himself. He's a pro. He has his routine, his stretching, his diet. Hopefully the routine we have throughout the week allows him to be good on Sunday. He knows his body and knows what he needs to do. A good veteran knows when to back off when he's feeling sore and when to press so he's feeling good. He's in a good spot.
(on Desmond King)
He's a risk taker. He's got a lot of confidence back there and thinks he can score anytime. He's got really good vision and sets up his blocks. He runs through contact.
Defensive coordinator Mike Pettine
(on giving up explosives on first and second down)
I do think offenses are doing a better job of throwing it on run downs and vice versa. We chart them and always look back when we have the explosives and look at why. Was it the scheme? Was it the technique we were playing? Was it personnel? Over time you get an idea of how to address it. It's a lot of different things. Typically when you give up an explosive it's more than one player making a mistake.
(on facing a new offensive coordinator)
I think it would be difficult to revamp the offense entirely, and I've been involved in situations before where you have a change in play-caller. I don't know how much their inventory is going to change. It's what's being highlighted and what they choose to have up against us. With Anthony Lynn being a running backs coach in Buffalo, he wants to run the ball. Looking at his history, he's been creative in finding ways to be productive in the run game. There is some unknown. We don't want to chase ghosts. We want to prepare for what we've seen on tape, and just like any other game if we get some unscouted stuff, we'll have to adjust.
(on being where you want to be if the explosives are limited)
That's a lot of teams. It's easy to say hey, just take out these five plays and it's 150 yards. For good stretches of the game, we are playing how we want to play, and we've talked about it in our room. We are where we are record wise and we're thrilled about that, but our thing is our guys know how much better we can be. That's at the heart of it. A big part of doing your job is knowing your job, so the prep part of it is big, and having the ability to go out and execute on a big stage. We just haven't been consistent enough and looking forward to the second half of the year.
(on turnovers)
We've almost reached the number of takeaways we had all of last year, and I don't think that's by accident. That continuous emphasis on it, especially in practice, going back to the spring but still now, we stress it. Our guys have bought into it and we've gotten results.
(on Rivers)
I don't know if there is anything he hasn't seen. Just his ability to process and understand what you're in, anticipating what you're in. He's one of the best at identifying it pre-snap, and he's one of the best post-snap. He sees it all. He's likely going to know what we're doing, and we have to be better than that. This is a guy that's seen it all. We don't necessarily see this game as a big scheme deal. It's much more execution than anything else.
Offensive coordinator Nathaniel Hackett
(on Davante Adams' return)
It's fun to have him out there. Anybody we get to have out there on the field we're excited about. When you put a guy of that caliber out there, it's going to make everybody better and it's good for the whole team. We're excited to have him.
(on David Bakhtiari and Bryan Bulaga)
I'll give credit to both of those tackles. Both of those guys have done a great job this whole year. You always want to continue to help them, no matter who they are. You don't want to put a guy on an island over and over again, leaving him alone too much. We want to protect Aaron as best we can. That's the mindset.
(on Jones and Williams)
We've been in position where we've been able to get some matchups we've liked, and they've been able to take advantage and do some good things. That's what this league's about. This league is about getting matchups as much as possible. Aaron being able to identify that, and them being able to make it happen, that's what you're looking for.
(on guys not asking for the ball)
I think it's character. I think we've got a really good character group of guys. All these guys understand it's about winning a football game. When Davante gets back, he's going to fit right into that mold. It's not about just one guy. That's something we always preach. That's what we want to be about as an offense, we want to be balanced as much as we can, and then you ride the hot hand. It's the ebb and flow each week.
