GREEN BAY – The Packers' coordinators met with the media Tuesday. Here's a sampling of their key comments.
Special teams coordinator Cam Achord
On defending Bears returner Kalif Raymond:
That's going to be a great challenge for our coverage units. We've got to do a great job spreading the field, getting out there covering, and it's up to everybody. It's all 11 out there. It's a really good unit for them across the board, not just him, but he does some really good things with the ball in his hands. Obviously has acceleration and speed, so we've got to do make sure we're coming under control making open-field tackles.
On LB Nick Niemann:
He's obviously the quarterback of our punt team. So he's the communicator. He does a really good job relaying what we're going to do out there on the field, and then communicating what he's seeing in the game out there, so he does a really good job not only in the game but also in practice. He takes pride in it. When you have a guy who takes so much pride in the kicking game, it elevates not only his own game, but elevates those around him.
On K Trey Smack:
He trusts what he sees in the pregame throughout the week, the contact. He has all the confidence in the world. Every time he goes out there, you know you have confidence he's going to make the kick, and he has the confidence, too. I think he does a great job of just literally refocusing after every kick, whether he's kicked the PAT or the field goal and then he comes off, immediately gets the kickoff and now it's like, 'All right, I've got to get ready for the next field goal,' situation most likely. He does a great job of resetting his mind on the sideline.
Defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon
On losing LB Edgerrin Cooper:
Yeah, I mean, tough. He's a really good player, can do a lot of things for us as you guys have seen through four weeks. My heart hurts for him. Nobody wants to be out for the year. This might sound cold, but to me it's kind of a known-unknown. You know guys are going to get injured. You don't know who, and you don't know how long it's going to be. With him, it's a tough break. Hard to replace a guy like that obviously, but we've got to collectively do a good job.
On LB Zaire Franklin:
Yeah, Z does an unbelievable job. I thought he's been playing very well. He's making plays for us. He's running the show. Obviously you guys know he's the green dot. We put a lot on his plate and he handles it well and I think he's doing some really good things in the run and pass game. We mix and match those guys in training camp and OTAs for a reason. We do that with all our guys because, like I said, it's a known-unknown. Sooner or later you're going to be playing with somebody else out there. I'm sure he feels good about who's going to be next to him.
On CB Keisean Nixon:
I thought Keisean played extremely well. He's playing with the right play style. I thought he covered extremely well. Made some plays. That one in the red zone was a huge play, where he's on his own there.
On the Bears and their ball-control offense vs. Jets:
I think it was like 90 plays to 35 plays, right? Time of possession was like 42 to 18 or something like that. It's a really good offense, man. Ben (Johnson) does an unbelievable job. I think his coaches do an unbelievable job of getting their guys to schematically execute, technically execute plays the right way. It's … they block really well, they run really well, they throw and catch really well. And he puts them in positions to put the defense at a disadvantage. That's why he is who he is. So we've got a big-time challenge. We got to play good, sound football. But I always say, it's always going to come down to the fundamentals of the game, and we've got to do those at a high level.
On the safety trio:
You can put a lot on their plate, and they can handle it typically. But that's always … kind of a give-and-take. Like, how much is too much? Where, you're making them think too much, and not just play free and fast? So, I always think, 'What's the intent of the call? What's the strength? What's the stress?' As long as they know that and they can go get to the technique that they need to use by what their eyes are seeing, then you feel pretty good about doing some of the things that we're doing.
Offensive coordinator Adam Stenavich
On Travis Glover starting at RG:
The last couple weeks he had been practicing really well, so Coach Butkus came into my office last week and said, 'Hey, let's give Glover a shot.' I thought he did a nice job. He competed hard. There were some plays I'm sure he'd like to get back. He had a penalty. But other than that, played hard, did a nice job in protection. He's a physical player, so it was good to have him out there, and I'm glad he was able to step up for us.
On Laken Tomlinson starting on short notice:
Yeah, incredible job by Coach Butkus, Coach Gordon and Coach Kolone to get him ready to go. Obviously, he did have familiarity with some things, but like, all the different scenarios, all the different calls, the plays, how we do things, the cadences, everything like that, for him to come in and do that, it's a testament to him and his work ethic and what kind of guy he is and a testament to those coaches getting him ready to go.
On the Bears' defense:
Really good defense. They can test you on the edges with their DBs. They're going to have an extra hat in the box a lot of times in the run game. They're physical up front. They do a nice job of playing their gaps, being physical. They're a well-coordinated defense. They do a nice job tying their secondary with their linebackers and their front, just making it hard for you to run the ball. In the pass game again, they're going to contest you and they have some really good players.
On the running game at Tampa Bay:
We hit some nice ones. There were a couple plays I wish we could've gotten to but it just didn't work out. Felt like we had a couple drives, especially in the second half, that ended quickly because of penalties and we weren't really able to get into a rhythm. There were still some plays out there that I felt like I would've wanted to run against those guys. But there were positives. I felt like we did a better job in the run game. Our O-line was physical. Our tight ends did a nice job. They were physical and the backs just keep pressing, keep going. But we do need to do a better job of protecting the football for sure.
On RB MarShawn Lloyd still getting in a flow:
He'll probably tell you that, too -- that there's more out there. The one run that I saw that got me excited was a third-and-1, we ran an inside zone to the right, he bounced it left, made a guy miss and just had a really nice play. That's kind of what I'm expecting to see from him, so that was good to see him just create a play like that. It was really good.
On whether the offense is close:
Yeah and I think that's the frustrating thing from a coach's standpoint is you can see it. We're close, so we just want to make sure we do those things that we can control so we can maximize our drives and our point total and help the team win. So that's the biggest thing.
