GREEN BAY – The Packers' coordinators and defensive assistant coaches met with the media on Thursday and Friday. Here's a sampling of their key comments.
Special teams coordinator Rich Bisaccia
On coaching WR Savion Williams to field the bouncing kickoffs:
Not only is it new to the league, but it's certainly new to him, nothing he's ever seen before. So we've worked really hard on it this past week, how to handle those dirty kicks and hopefully you get a Sunday bounce, and how to square your nose up and your belly button up on the ball, and the decision to make the play. Thing I liked is that he was pretty clear and decisive in the decision that he made. I'd certainly like to have him catch it on the bounce and come out of there, which the future, hopefully, will give us. But that's how we played it in that particular game, and we didn't end up with a penalty anywhere, and we didn't end up back inside the 20.
On the FG protection:
We've put a lot of work into it. This is kind of what you start off with. You're going to teach players what you want and how you want it done. Then you're going to train them to do it in a way in which you taught it to and then you have to trust them to go do it. There's a point where you know the execution has got to come to fruition. So we're in position to work personnel over and over again in different spots to hopefully get that corrected.
On WR Matthew Golden returning punts:
Again, it's new for him, right? My first comment always is, it's the decision-making process, when to and when not to. When's it a fair catch? Where am I on the field? It's a new deal for him every day. We had a good conversation in the bye week about, he wants to do it. He's enjoying being back there. He knows it's work. He's really worked hard at it. So we're excited about the future, both him and Savion in the direction they're going in the return game. It's going to always be a little bit of a work in progress if you've never done it.
Defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley
On facing QB Joe Flacco again:
It's not often you start off the week thinking you're going to play somebody else and you see you're playing against a guy you just played against two weeks ago. Some people will ask how he's going to get ready to play so fast. He's played so many years. He's been a part of so many different systems. It's probably just going to be terminology. Look, I think he fits what they're looking for really well. He gets rid of the ball really quick. He can throw it up. He's got a strong arm. He can see it and they got really good wideouts. I think it's a good move for them. It's a good fit and we get a second crack at him.
I thought our guys did a really good job against him the first time we played. As soon as we found out we're playing him again, I certainly looked back and looked to see what he saw, how we presented things and I think week-to-week we've got to change that. Certainly if we're playing a guy twice in three weeks, we can't just go in and say we're going to run this and give him the same pictures. We have to change that up a bit. I think we need to do that every week but certainly he's smart. He sees it. He's played for so long, so I have a ton of respect for him. Like I said, we'll get another shot at him.
On how things got away in Dallas:
I think it stemmed from (the end of the first half). Certainly I could've done a better job with calling the game in that (second) half.
What I will say looking back, after that half really snowballed, I was really proud of the way the guys played those three downs inside the 10-yard line (in OT), because at that point, everybody probably thought here we go, we're going to give up another score, and we held them on three downs and forced them to kick a field goal. So I was proud of the way we finally said enough. We stopped them.
On making up for the loss of DL Devonte Wyatt:
He's having a great year. I mean, not a good year. He's having a great year. He's been really physical in the run game, but the other thing he's been doing, he's been such a good pocket push guy in his pass rush and he's been so effective collapsing the pocket, so certainly he was missed in that game a lot. But again, it's the NFL. Guys are going to get injured and I hope he's back very shortly, and now you rely on the guys that have been playing too. You've got a bunch of guys in Colby Wooden and Karl Brooks and (Nazir Stackhouse) Stack's gonna have to step up a little bit and Warren Brinson and we'll move some pieces around. We have confidence in those guys. That's part of our jobs is to develop our younger players throughout the year and develop our backups through the year because ultimately you're going to need those guys, right?
On the adversity lesson:
You have to learn lessons from everything that you do, and sometimes it takes a hard lesson like this one right here. So, they went through it, and now they need to understand there are going to be tough moments, and together, they need to be able to hit the reset button, take a deep breath, and go back and be who they are. That's what everybody needs to learn. You don't need to panic. You just need to trust your training and do your job, which is why you've been playing so well and you're a really good player. Don't press.
Offensive coordinator Adam Stenavich
On whether WR Christian Watson looks like he tore his ACL nine months ago:
No, not at all. He looks great. It's been awesome seeing him out there running. Looks fast. I know he's chomping at the bit to get out there, for sure.
He's definitely going to help us. I don't know if (the offense is) going to be much different but his size, his speed, his explosive playmaking ability is special. So, yeah, I'm excited to get him out there. Plus, he blocks his butt off in the run game. He does everything we ask in all the phases.
On dealing with Bengals DE Trey Hendrickson with LT Rasheed Walker injured:
We've got a lot of guys that have a lot of playing experience now up front, so we'll kind of see how the week goes and see how it plays out, but yeah, whenever you've got a rusher like Hendrickson, he's another great rusher that we've faced so far his year. He's got elite get-off, great motor. You can tell he's a really intelligent player, so yeah, you're going to have your hands full no matter who's playing.
On the running game producing in Dallas:
It takes a little time in the run game to just get things going and the more opportunities you get the more momentum you can build. When you're able to give Josh (Jacobs) the ball that many times, he's going to start popping some and he's going to wear people out. Fortunately we were having a lot of success in the pass game, too, getting some explosive passes and things like that, so I think that always loosens up the defense as well.
On using checkdowns:
The great thing about Josh and Tucker (Kraft) is they may not be the downfield guys going for the home run shots, but anytime you can check the ball down to those guys, you know something good can happen because of their playmaking ability and their ability to break tackles. It's never a bad idea to get the ball in their hands.
On WR Romeo Doubs in the red zone:
He just has really strong hands, good range, and just the violence that he runs his routes, he really gets on DBs very fast, and down in the red zone with a lot of tight windows, guys with really good hands, they've just got to be really strong with those hands and make those plays. Yeah, he's been great so far this year.
Defensive line/run game coordinator DeMarcus Covington
On DL Karl Brooks:
The tape is what the tape is we always talk about. I think he's done a really good job of winning his one-on-ones. He's done a really good job of being around the quarterback. Being effective, gaining weight this season, and now being a good combo run player and pass player. So he's done a really, really good job of getting his body right, being effective in both phases of the game. Early down, third down, passing situations. I look at him as a guy we can lean on to win a one-on-one rush.
On DL Warren Brinson's potential opportunity:
Warren's been doing a really good job within practice, whether it's on scout team or with us on defense, and in the classroom. He's been growing as a player in really making sure he's in tune with the game plan, whether he's active or inactive for the game. He's been approaching it as if he's going to play every single week.
Linebackers coach Sean Duggan
On LB Quay Walker:
He's playing fast, he's playing confident. It's been fun to watch him these past couple weeks. There's always going to be room to improve. I think he would agree with that. But the start he's had has been fun to watch. I spoke to this before the season, (he's) just being comfortable in the defense. He knows what's going on, not only his job but guys around him. I think he's having a lot of fun playing football right now. You can see it, just the way he plays the game.
Defensive pass game coordinator Derrick Ansley
On preparing for Flacco stepping in at QB with WRs Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins as his weapons:
You've got to trust the tape. Zac's been there 6-7 years, Taylor, so they're not going to change much I wouldn't think route-structure wise, but I don't think they're going to have their full display of their offense either.
I don't think it's an advantage for us or a disadvantage for us. I think we've got to trust our eyes. We've got a lot of respect for Ja'Marr and Tee. Both those guys are really good players, so we have to do a good job of matching their intensity and covering those guys.
More on Chase, and tackling him:
We watched a highlight film of him this week. The catch and run is very dangerous with this guy. In my opinion, he's more like Tim Brown, he can take something little and go a long way. It's all over the tape for these last 4-5 years in the league. We have to gang-tackle the guy, multiple people. You can't assume the first man is going to make the tackle. You have to assume the second and third man will make the tackle. If you carry that mindset, you can get enough hats to the ball to try and slow him down, because nobody's really ever stopped this guy. We have to make sure he doesn't wreck the game.
On S Javon Bullard:
He brings the physicality every day in practice, and you see it on tape. One of his best attributes is he loves football, and you can feel that by the way he plays on Sundays. I just think he's got a big-time future ahead of him, very proud of him. He had some rough spots last year, and he's continued to get better this year.
I think the arrow's pointing up for him. You saw it at Georgia. I had a relationship with him coming out of high school when I was at Tennessee. You always saw that guy that's got that chip, that plays with that extra little bit of edge, and I think that's his superpower. He brought that to Georgia and he beat out a lot of guys to be a starter there for three years, and he's done the same thing when he came here. He's the player we thought he could be.
Defensive backs coach Ryan Downard
On emphasizing turnovers but not getting them:
What do we do? We keep emphasizing it and we stick to the process, and we have a little bit of mental staying power and we don't get deterred and think oh, what are we doing wrong. It hasn't been that way where we're like oh, what do we do? We don't have takeaways. Because we know our process is right and we know we're emphasizing it.
On pressing when the results aren't there:
I think that's a natural human tendency, but we're going to coach against that, to just do your job, because when you do your job, you get rewarded. Younger guys typically, it's a little bit harder for them to buy into that, so you just keep stressing that. Just keep doing your job, man. Just stay the course, and hopefully they do, and hopefully the takeaways come and then you can say, see, and then that helps you coach. So let's get some this week and then that'll help me.
