Paul Bretl | 11/1/2024
GREEN BAY, Wis. — Up next for the Packers is a pivotal divisional matchup against the high-powered Detroit Lions’ offense, and Green Bay may find themselves short-handed in the secondary for this game.
Cornerback Jaire Alexander would sustain a knee injury late against Jacksonville, while safety Evan Williams exited the game with a hamstring injury. Based on reports, neither injury appears to be long-term, but as of Friday morning, neither player has practiced yet this week.
“It is what it is, said Matt LaFleur about game-planning with uncertainty in the secondary. “No different than what happened the other day. When you have installed a game plan, you’ve got to be ready to adjust. Bottom line is you’ve got to put in whatever plays or schemes or whatever is you’re trying to attack somebody with, whether it’s on offense or defense, to give you the best chance to win. You’ve got to use your best judgment in terms of the execution and how you’re going to go about that and have successful plays.”
Once Williams exited the Jacksonville game, there was a domino effect to the rest of the Packers’ secondary, setting off a chain reaction–forcing players to move to positions that they haven’t been getting game reps in. Javon Bullard to move back to free safety, a big jump mid-game for any rookie to make, especially without what I’m guessing are practice reps during the week in that role.
Keisean Nixon then went from playing the boundary to the nickel, which then put Eric Stokes and Carrington Valentine on the boundary. Stokes’ playing time has diminished in recent weeks with up-and-down play, while Valentine has been a primary special teams player.
The end result was more pass-catchers were running open, there were breakdowns in communication, and missed tackles, resulting in chunk plays for the Jaguars’ passing game. Bullard, in particular, took his lumps, but a lot was being put on his plate in that situation. For any player, let alone a rookie, asking Bullard mid-game to make a complete position change when he didn’t get any practice reps during the week at free safety is a big ask and put a lot on his plate.
“Last week, Bull had to play both, which is definitely not easy for a young guy,” said defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley. “The thing with Bull last week, you give him a lot of credit, I said to Bull last week, I thought he had his best week of practice at the nickel position.
“And then what happens? Then he’s got to go play safety and he hadn’t really practiced at that position. For a rookie, that’s hard. It’s like everybody wants to ask and play the rookie here, play the rookie here, put this guy here. It’s not always the easiest thing to do. So, I give Bull a lot of credit for what we’ve asked him to do.”
The Packers coaching staff remains confident in the depth that they have in the secondary, including the cornerback position, but the play of Stokes in recent weeks and the lack of defensive snaps for Valentine gives pause to at least those on the outside.
In Week 5, against the Los Angeles Rams, Stokes allowed seven receptions on 10 targets for 65 yards and a touchdown, according to PFF. In Weeks 6 and 7, his playing time was significantly reduced, seeing just 23 total snaps. Then, this past week, Stokes surrendered two receptions on three targets for 43 more yards.
With Valentine, prior to the injury to Williams in Jacksonville, he hadn’t seen any defensive snaps since Week 5 when the team was without Alexander. Between those two games, Valentine played 33 coverage snaps and was not targeted. Despite the wide-ranging outcomes for Valentine and Stokes as of late, from the sounds of it, the game-to-game matchups are dictating playing time right now.
“I know he can handle it,” said Hafley of Valentine. “I have total confidence in him. I know you’ll start to see more and more of him. I think he’s practicing extremely well, I think there’s great competition in that room right now and depending on who plays, what packages we decide to go with, what personnel groupings they send on the field.
“Like last week, we saw again, there’s two weeks in a row we saw a lot of big people. So there’s less DBs on the field but I’m very confident in him and I’m excited as this season progresses to see what he can do and I’m confident. He’s got great energy, he’s competitive, he’ll tackle, so I have total confidence in him.”
Awaiting the Packers’ secondary this week is one of the more explosive passing offenses in football. As a unit, the Lions are averaging a league-best 33.4 points per game and have generated the sixth-most explosive plays. Leading that charge is quarterback Jared Goff, who is playing at an extremely high level, completing over 84 percent of his throws over the last four games while still averaging an impressive 11.4 yards per pass attempt.
“He’s playing the position as well as anybody in the game right now,” said LaFleur of Goff. “That’s, just look at the numbers. They tell you everything. And then you watch the tape and it backs it up. So, I think he’s doing a great job, he’s a guy that if you give him time, he’s going to make you pay.
“He’s going to find the right guys. If you give him a sliver of light to make the pass, he’s going to take advantage of that. So just always been a big fan of his; just won’t be a big fan of his on Sunday.”
Regardless of whether or not Alexander and/or Williams is available, any sort of success for the Packers’ defense is going to begin in the trenches with the pass rush. Disrupting the timing and rhythm of the play will be a must, and different pressures or disguises can help facilitate that, but ultimately, asking any secondary to routinely defend this Lions’ passing offense for 3-4 seconds at a time is a tall task.
“We’ve got a lot of competition,” said Hafley. “If you look right now in the corner room, we’ve played a lot of guys and we’ll continue to do so. There’s guys that have stepped up in practice and had a really good week, just like last week, and we’ll rotate those players as we see fit.”