GREEN BAY – The Packers' defensive and special teams coaches met with the media on Sunday. Here's a sampling of their key comments.
Special teams coordinator Rich Bisaccia
On K Brandon McManus being locked in:
It's obviously a credit to him and who he is. He has a pure stroke, if you will, and he knows what it is. So when it's a bad hit, he knows it before anybody else. When it's a good hit, he makes noises and all that. He's in a really good place at this point in his career and hopefully he's got himself in such good physical condition at this age that this'll be sustained for a long period of time.
On WR Mecole Hardman's tough night:
The disappointing thing was, the place that he was inside the 10, in practice, he's done a really good job with it. He's helped our young guys about making a fake away from the catch or being in position to block or letting it go into the end zone. So I'm hoping he was just trying to make too big of a play too early, but really the best decision would've been make the play that's there. Make the fair catch on one or let it go and stay away from the one on the ground.
He knows he's in a battle. He's been practicing really well. He's come back in good physical condition. He's made good plays in practice for us and he's got some skins on the wall in this league. He's made some big plays and we're hoping he can do the same thing. We'll see how he responds this week. I think we're all expecting him to come back with a great grit and great fight to him and have a heck of a week.
On P Daniel Whelan:
One, I think he's had a really good camp. Two, I just want Daniel to understand that we have really high expectations for his improvement in this particular season. I think he's capable of being a really good player. His understanding of where we are on the field, what's the situation in the game, how's the returner playing you, what's your line, will you stay true to your line, what's the wind … there's so many things going on that he has to become more aware of as the game is going on. He has set the standard now, so he has to play above that at all times and I think that's what we're gonna expect from him.
On LB Kristian Welch:
Three tackles in the game. In our time with him, he just has a knack in space of finding the ball and I think he would've had four tackles except the holding penalty was really against the guy that tackled him to the ground at the line of scrimmage. So I think it's a compliment to him and his ability to find the ball in space, know when to settle, know when to shoot and make the tackle. He also did a good job in protection, did a good job on kickoff return, so hopefully he can just keep playing well.
Defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley
On LB Isaiah Simmons:
He's had a good camp. He's learning a new position, right? So he's playing linebacker. We had him on the outside a little bit. We had him inside in the box a little bit last night. A lot of stuff he's doing for the first time. I thought he did some good things and there's some things he needs to correct, which is what the preseason is for and what camp is for. He's done some really nice things in practice hopefully that will continue and he'll get more comfortable and we'll see that translate to the field. He certainly got a lot of snaps last night, for a reason. He's playing a different position and we want to see how much experience we can get him out there.
On DL Barryn Sorrell:
He's a young guy who's learning how to play the position. You got a guy who has pass-rush ability. He strains. Here's what I saw last night – he got better as the game went on. He made mistakes in the game. In the same drive, he was correcting it, which says a lot, which doesn't really happen a lot of time for rookie players. He was correcting mistakes and he was fixing his own mistakes fairly quickly, which to me might be the most promising thing. He's tough as we know. But certainly we need to keep working with him too. It's early. It's early for all these guys.
On next step for LB Quay Walker:
We gotta get him back at practice. What I love about Quay, he's really locked in and if you watch him at practice he's even further (back) than where I am and he's kind of going through everything. He started doing that last year a lot. I think that says a lot about him. We just need to get him back at practice because there is nothing that is a replacement for that. He needs to see it, he needs to feel it, he needs to get his feet back under him. He started practicing last week. I think we'll take a big step with him this week in the joint practice against the Colts, which I'm excited to see. And from there we'll go.
He listens to me (wearing the helmet speaker) just like he did in the game last night, which is very important. When you're calling a play, sometimes it's a little lengthier too and there's kind of a rhythm to it. So he gets it all and hears it over and over and over, so say I start a call with the first two or three words he can almost finish my sentences and give me the thumbs up. He kind of knows how I'm thinking. What alert am I going to tag on the call? What am I going to tell him to be ready for? So him and I started to really be on the same page.
On CB Keisean Nixon playing full time on the outside:
He's competitive, he can play man coverage, which is important. You have to be able to play man to be on the outside. He can run, he can cover, he can change direction, and I like that he'll tackle. He's a physical guy. Teams are going to try to get your corners 1-on-1 and force them to tackle. And he's going to do that.
Defensive line coach/run game coordinator DeMarcus Covington
On DL Nazir Stackhouse:
I think he's doing a really good job and buying into the defense, buying into his fundamentals, his technique. He's been putting in the work, whether that's starting back in OTAs, getting in shape. Also in the meetings, been good (on) details in the meeting, and then letting it carry over from in practice, too. All teams would love a guy who can play physical with their hands, who can anchor in the middle of the pocket. That's what you're really looking for from a defensive tackle or a nose tackle within this league.
On containing running QBs:
That's a point of emphasis that we need to be better at, period. There were too many times where the quarterback was getting out of the pocket last night. So, for us to be good as a unit, really, this season, it's a lot of mobile quarterbacks that we're going to have to face. It's more mobile quarterbacks in the league than there are not. So, we've got to do a good job of rushing as a unit, trapping the quarterback, our rush communication, all the above and building a trap … whether it's an early down, whether it's third down, whether we have a pressure, it really doesn't matter. That's definitely going to be a point of emphasis going forward.
Linebackers coach Sean Duggan
On LB Ty'Ron Hopper in Year 2:
It's a lot to do with confidence. He knows what he's supposed to do, he knows where he's supposed to fit. So now he's able to play a little faster, a little more free. He's a big, physical guy. One thing I really respect about him is when he hits you, he's going to knock you back. He's playing faster and that's starting to show.
On LB Isaiah McDuffie playing different spots:
The more you can do to help us win games the better, right? Whether it's Mike, Will, Sam, whatever it may be, he's the kind of guy that whatever you ask him to do he's going to do it 100 miles an hour, and he's going to give unbelievable effort doing so. The amount of respect I have for him and I think all the coaches would agree with that, he's a great leader. It's been a fun camp for him so far and, again, there's stuff he can improve on. I don't think he's reached his ceiling yet, either.
Defensive pass game coordinator Derrick Ansley
On CB Kalen King:
Year 2 there's a lot of growth; physically for one and mentally he's done a really good job of learning outside corner and inside nickel and being able to do those jobs at a pretty good level right now.
He's always had confidence. You see the confidence on tape coming out of Penn State. You see it last year in the preseason where he made some good plays. He just needed a year to develop and you're seeing some of those dividends starting to pay off for him.
He's always been a physical player. Even when he was at Cass Tech in high school. I actually got a chance to scout him a little bit and he's always been physical, he's always been tough; very instinctive. I think that's the biggest trait you see out there – he knows how to get in and out of blocks, reads zone coverages well. He just has a knack for the ball.
On CB Carrington Valentine:
C.V. is taking a jump this training camp. He's having a really good training camp. We talked to him after the season last year just about making the routine plays look routine. He's always been an ultra competitor. He plays hard, practices the right way. If you ever need an example of how to practice, you just look at '24.' He's usually doing things the right way.
On CB Nate Hobbs' injury:
We definitely miss Nate out there. He's a cornerstone of the secondary. He's an ultra-competitor. He has the competitive stamina to do it down-in, down-out. If you got a ball of clay and you just could carve up a defensive back, you're probably gonna come up with Nate Hobbs somewhere in that mold. We love how he plays. He brings really good energy. Just trying to get him well.
Defensive backs coach Ryan Downard
On S Kitan Oladapo:
KT is obviously a big safety who can really run. You see when he turns it on he can really go. He's done a good job with his communication. He's very smart individual, smart football player, has good instincts. (With the injuries at the position) this will be a good opportunity for him to get more reps, and the more the better for his development.
On S Xavier McKinney's leadership:
For our room, he's created an environment where there's obviously very high competition, which is a great thing, because there's so many good players in our room, but they're ready to help one another. He will speak to, it doesn't matter who in the room, about how to look at certain things and here's where your eyes should be and here's what your thought progression should be, so when he sets that example from the top down, the other guys start to realize, OK, it's all right to talk to this person even though we're in a cut-throat competition for our jobs. Within that meeting room, we're helping one another. He's also established an environment where every man in the room knows if they earn a seat in that room, they're going to be called upon at some point in time, and they're going to have to perform for the sake of the defense and the team.
On S Zayne Anderson:
He just is so adamant about getting things right and getting the reps that he needs, whether he's out there on the practice field, or if we're walking through, he'll be the guy that's behind getting the rep, maybe if X is in or 33 is in, he's still back there getting the reps. So for him, he's really set the example for the rest of the guys in the room that this is OK and this is expected. He's become kind of that example of when your time is called upon, you gotta step up. He's really the definition of preparation plus opportunity equals luck, right, and he was ready for his opp. He just continues to prepare that way. I'm really impressed by him as a player and his approach as just a man towards his craft.
On what S Evan Williams has to do next:
Just his job. You don't want to press to make plays. You want to do your job and then the plays present themselves and they'll come to you, and you've got to capitalize on them when they do. There's opps around that you can't miss, and typically when you do your job, you put yourself in position to make plays. For him, it's just again, can you just do your job every play? I know that sounds cliché, but that is what is successful in this league.
He's so smart that it helped him in Year 1 to be able to catch on as a rookie. That's hard to do in this league as a rookie safety. And the other thing that he offers is he's just not fazed. He just doesn't get rattled. He's poised. Even in adverse times or no matter how I try to poke and prod him, it's like he's locked in, and it's hard to get him off base, even though I try my hardest, and try to rattle him so he's ready for the games.
