GREEN BAY, Wis. (WBAY) - Year one under Jeff Hafley saw the Packers defense sacrifice the sixth-least yards per game. Entering year two, that unit is ready to take it to the next level.
In the secondary, Jaire Alexander’s availability remains uncertain. He is still under contract, but has yet to report to voluntary offseason team activities. If Alexander leaves the team, Keisean Nixon is eager for the opportunity to be “CB1″.
“I don’t feel like I’m an old guy yet,” Nixon said. “I’m on year 7 but my body feels like I’m on year 4 because with the Raiders I don’t feel like I was on the team for real. I was just making money I guess. That’s just what it was. When I got here I felt like I was a rookie. My first year here was year 4, but it don’t change nothing.”
Nixon has worn many different hats in his time in Green Bay. Last year, he shifted primarily to outside cornerback, but has also played extensively in the slot as well as in special teams via the return game.
“I’m here to work and show that I am who I am and what I can do outside,” Nixon said. “I showed that last year. Just complete my resume. Everything I’ve done that they asked me to do, I’ve done it at a high level, whether it was just play kick return, I went All-Pro at that, played nickel, I got paid at that. I’m here to play corner, that’s just what I wanna do.”
One thing that could be key to the success of the Packers secondary is just how potent their pass rush can be, particularly if they can generate pressure by rushing just four defenders. New defensive line coach DeMarcus Covington is tasked with doing just that.
In 2024, the defense finished with 42 sacks, which tied for the eighth-most in the league. But in order to generate that pressure, Hafley’s unit blitzed 45.2% of the time on 3rd and long, the second-highest mark in the NFL, which was not necessarily a part of the plan headed into the season.
“We were kind of going into this thinking we were gonna rush four and play a lot of zone coverage, give the guys the ability to look at the quarterback and play off the quarterback’s intentions and really break on the ball,” Packers head coach Matt LaFleur said. “I think a lot of teams that generate a lot of takeaways tend to do it that way. It’s more vision based. Then we morphed from that. A lot of the coverage principles were similar, but just how we generated pressure was different. I think in today’s world of football, the more versatility you show, I think it’s harder to prepare for. I think the challenge is there’s a fine line in terms of, what is too much? Yeah you wanna be versatile, but you wanna get good at what you do as well.”
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