GREEN BAY – The Packers' offensive assistant coaches met with the media Wednesday. Here's a sampling of their key comments.
Passing game coordinator Jason Vrable
On whether there's a role for Savion Williams:
Yeah, there definitely is. He's powerful, strong, big. I think right now he's in the 220 range, and he's a big guy who's powerful and fast. He had the foot injury, and it's never an excuse, but I think to get better, you have to practice. And you have to practice hard, and you have to do some stuff that maybe you're not good at, over and over again, to get out of your comfort zone. And when you're injured on and off throughout the year, and you don't get to practice enough, I think maybe that set him back a little bit for maybe where he wanted to be at the end of the year.
But he's come back in better shape. He's trained for the last three months. He's catching the ball extremely well, and above all of everything, he knows the playbook. And we're really excited about him. I think when the pads aren't on, you might not know how dominant this guy can be.
On Matthew Golden in Year 2:
When he came back, he said, 'I watched more tape on myself,' just like guys around the league in our offense, and he's like, 'My biggest jump, I already know, is just the mental part.' The details and like, how they matter, why they matter, and being able to play fast. Because he's like, 'I was watching the tape, I just wasn't playing as fast as I wanted, and I could see it on tape, just a little bit of hesitation at times.'
He's always been able to catch the ball and run through the football, and that's what great receivers do. His hand-eye coordination, I'd say, is one of the better ones I've been around. So he can do that, but now the mental part, he's starting to become a lot more confident. And I can feel it, you know? But I've always said, 'If you don't know the playbook, guys, inside and out, and every adjustment and every route conversion and when the quarterback's going to throw it,' I think it's hard to play fast all the time, because there's always a little bit of doubt. And just doing the reps over and over again and competing the way he does, we're all fired up about him.
Quarterbacks coach/assistant head coach Luke Getsy
On Tyrod Taylor:
He's only been here a couple days, but the cool part when he walked in the room, you could feel the presence, the confidence, the composure. He's seen a lot. He's been in a lot of different systems, so (you can see) how quickly he's able to pick up on things. He showed up when we're going right to drills and he's a true pro and it was pretty cool to see. As far as the juice, he's definitely still got that.
On the differences with Jordan Love from when Getsy left to when he came back:
When I stepped away, it was just two seasons with him, so a pretty big difference in maturity, of the command of the offense. It was just a lot of fun when I step back in it and got to see him really running the show and him in complete control and the comfortability. I think one of his best traits is just that his cool, calm, collected mentality, and then just seeing that match with all the high-level functionality of the mental part of the game, it was really cool to see that when I got back, just a natural growth for his game.
You're in a meeting, it's him standing up, it's him making comments, it's him talking about the situation where, last time I'm here, it was him just taking the notes and listening to everything. So, he's done a really nice job of taking that next step and taking the lead, and not just in the quarterback room but in that entire unit.
Offensive line coach Luke Butkus
On Jacob Monk's performance in Week 18 at Minnesota:
I mean, throw the film on the Minnesota game, it's pretty cool to watch. We're spending time watching cut-ups right now, and there's some really great examples of him coming off the ball and moving defenders. It was Minnesota's starting defensive line, so some of the things he did of managing the game, and his physical ability to move people off the football was really, really cool.
On Aaron Banks last season and moving forward:
Flashes, and I think he'll tell you the same, and he will never make an excuse. I'm not making an excuse for him either. He was banged up, he was in a new system, you could say all that stuff, but he'll be the first one to tell you, it doesn't matter. He's going to come to work. Did we see some really good things? Absolutely. And then there's some things we need to clean up, and that's our job as coaches, his as a player, to have a vision of what he needs to do to get better. But it's in there, and coming back for the second year, again, I think he's a guy that's going to be really good for us, and really good for the younger guys in the room. He has seen it done and he's done it at a high level.
Tight ends coach John Dunn
On how Tucker Kraft is doing:
He's working hard and is in great spirits. Our training staff does an unbelievable job and obviously we trust their process. He's a great human being. So whenever he does get back, we look forward to that.
On Josh Whyle:
Versatility. Josh is really smart. He's a good athlete. He's tough. It goes back to this position; we ask him to wear a lot of different hats. Mentally, you have to be able to do that. From a technique standpoint, you gotta be able to do that. What's cool for him is he comes in and really started to play more and more every week. As he got the offense, the more he played. It's cool to have him in the offseason where he can really (start at) ground level.
Running backs coach Ben Sirmans
On MarShawn Lloyd:
He talked about how much stronger he is just in his lower half of his body. Stronger than he's ever been. So with all those things, it's giving him confidence and he's got a regimen that he does before we even go out to practice. We're very optimistic, but we've all been optimistic before, so we just gotta wait and see what's going to happen. But he feels confident, I feel confident that he's finally gotten to that point where he can be in there and be ready to play a full season.
On Josh Jacobs:
Josh is a warrior. Obviously we all know, he played in a lot of pain last year. Fighting through it. But he looks about the same, to be honest with you. Because he takes care of his body, he understands his body, and what he needs to do. He's still first in line. He's still going through the drills full speed, making explosive cuts, so he still looks the same. He's going to have the same ability that he did the first year, where he was obviously a Pro Bowl-caliber player. That's my expectations of him. He still looks as effective as he did when he first got here.
Wide receivers coach Noah Pauley
On growing up a Packers fan and now coaching here:
Yeah it meant a lot. It probably hit me this week, first time going on the grass and practicing with the guys that, hey, I'm living out a dream. To call it what it is and only being five hours away from family, it's been pretty special, so I've been excited for the opportunity.
On reconnecting with Christian Watson:
Yeah it's been really cool, the opportunity to be able to see and coach a guy from the age of 18 to 22 years old when he's trying to just grow and mature and do those things, and have the opportunity to come back 4, 5 years later and reunite with him and see him at a different stage of life, he's married, has a kid, you know what I mean? To see his growth and where he's grown within the (receiver) room, as well. So it's been really cool.
