GREEN BAY – The Packers' coordinators and defensive position coaches spoke with the media Thursday. Here's a rundown of some of their key comments.
Defensive coordinator Dom Capers
On confidence in cornerback Kevin King:
Our philosophy is you have to earn it. Kevin has come in and done a good job when we've challenged him and given him different challenges. We think he will continue to progress. He's a confident guy and has good athletic ability. We like a lot of the things he brings.
On defensive tackle Kenny Clark:
When Mike is out of there, Mike is one of our difference-makers. I think Kenny is doing a nice job. I think he's made a lot of progress in Year 1 to Year 2. He's strong and athletic enough to get off blockers and go make a play. Those guys are sometimes unheralded, but he does a nice job of keeping the backers free to flow. Many times we end up with a safetybacker down there.
On what Davon House's possible return could give the defense:
When he's been out there, he's done a nice job. He has that length and experience. We're going to look forward to when he can get back out there. He's heading in the right direction. Since the Atlanta game when (quad) pulled, we haven't had him. He's been kind of the leader in that group.
Offensive coordinator Edgar Bennett
On what kind of offense the Packers have:
We're still developing and improving. Some of the things we talk about as far as the starting point – creating that playstyle. We want to see our offense play at a fast tempo and level, and execute. We want to execute the plays that are called and be extremely productive. We want to be a team that's known for breaking tackles.
On Cowboys LB Sean Lee:
Very instinctive. He's one of their impact players. He's a veteran guy. I think from a communication standpoint, that's probably the starting point. He's one of the veterans of that defense. He's been in that system for some time.
On whether he ever played with broken ribs:
I believe early in my career I did. I experienced it. Obviously every situation is different. Obviously I'm different and the rib injury is a little different. Each case is totally different. You have to continue to go through the protocol as far as the trainers and medical staff.
Special-teams coordinator Ron Zook
On how long snapper Taybor Pepper fared in first game:
He did a nice job. I told him after his first snap, 'Welcome to the NFL.' I was proud of him. I was meeting with him a little while ago. It's not as easy as people seem to think, particularly for guys coming out of college because they don't block anyone in college. He's worked hard at it. You can tell he spent a lot of time working on it. He understands how important it is.
Associate head coach/linebackers Winston Moss
On how Nick Perry is handling the club:
I think he's doing great. I thought he played well with it during the game. It'll get reduced a little bit and he'll find a way to manage it. I thought he played well with it. … We took a precautionary measure going into the game. We started him out on third down and saw how he handled it. He gave us the green light and we progressed him into the more mixed-down stuff. By the end of the game, he was fine. Moving forward, we'll look at it as he's in the rotation.
On challenge of defending against Dak Prescott's mobility:
Always with mobile quarterbacks and we played against one earlier this year and did a good job against him. For the most part, we do have a plan in place to try to corral him and keep him (inside). We want to force him to throw within the pocket as opposed to getting outside the pocket and create.
On Ahmad Brooks:
When he's on the field, very good. He's made some plays. He's been playing very, very tough. It is more of a mode of a playmaker-type. As long as we can keep him healthy, he's going to do some good things for us.
Defensive line coach Mike Trgovac
On Kenny Clark stepping up without Mike Daniels:
Kenny has been very solid. He's done a nice job. Obviously, you always see room for improvement, but he's a really good, young prospect. They were giving him grief the other day, he's legal now after his 22nd birthday. Obviously last year we legal, but they were giving him grief about how young he is still. I've been pleased with his effort and play. He's very serious about his craft.
On Quinton Dial catching up on the defense:
We played him at a couple different positions he's done a nice job of learning our system. It's not the hardest system to learn, but when you've been together for a while, the players might have a code word they use. The other guys were here through most of the stuff we had, so they picked it up all spring and summer. He's done a great job of learning multiple positions. There's only so many things you can call it.
Safeties coach Darren Perry
On resting Ha Ha Clinton-Dix late against Chicago, ending his streak of consecutive snaps:
He's the same way in practice. Morgan (Burnett) is a little more disciplined in that regard. Ha, he's more resistant to it. He wants to play, but he knows it's a long season. I didn't even mention about playing every snap. I think he realizes there's a bigger picture out there.
On Josh Jones:
We've asked Josh to do a lot. He doesn't get a lot of reps at safety. You want to be fair to the kid. We're trying to get him going, closer to the line of scrimmage.
Cornerbacks coach Joe Whitt Jr.
On Kevin King matching up against A.J. Green:
I don't know if we've ever taken a rookie and tried that with him. I know everyone says A.J. had 10 catches, but only four were on Kevin. He really doesn't care. He asks for people. He's going to get beat. He challenges. He's going to get put in some situations that are going to be difficult. He wants to get better. … He doesn't have any mental errors during the regular season.
On Damarious Randall's situation:
It wasn't anything. Coach (Mike McCarthy) has talked about it. Damarious has talked about it. We're moving forward.
On how Josh Hawkins played.
I thought 'Hawk' went out there and stayed with his technique. He had three pass breakups up the field and he tackled well. I was pleased with how he played in those 40 snaps he got.
Assistant linebackers coach Scott McCurley
On Blake Martinez's play this season:
I think we've got what we've been looking for all along – impact from him in the run and pass game, blitz and pressure. He's a guy I trust in any area. He plays the game with such a high level of intensity. He can really overcome any situation. It's been impressive to see him start the season. I think he's still growing. There's still a lot of potential to come. … I think he's all-in. He really understands why he's here and what he wants to get out of the game of football. He has a passion for it and wants to make himself better every day in every way he can.
