GREEN BAY — Evan Williams tried his best to mimic the sound.

“Beh-beh-beh-BEH!” the Green Bay Packers second-year safety interjected as Xavier McKinney was in mid-sentence. “Pshew-Pshew-PSHEW! MEEW-MEEW-MEEW!”

Suffice it to say, Williams won’t be confused for Michael Winslow, the human sound effects machine from those old-school Police Academy movies, anytime soon — even though his attempt got a hearty laugh from McKinney.

“That’s pretty good,” McKinney said.

McKinney, the Packers All-Pro safety and defensive leader, had been in the middle of explaining what’s gone on in the team’s defensive meeting room throughout camp, thanks to an over-the-top emphasis on forcing more turnovers — specifically, forcing more fumbles.

In an attempt to reinforce that directive, defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley conjured up an out-of-the-box idea. He decided to appoint defensive quality control coach Wendel Davis as the czar of the program, dedicating the first portion of every post-practice defensive meeting to acknowledging players on the big screen for their ball-attacking accomplishments and calling out those who pass up opportunities to do so.

Davis’ title? “Ball King.”

“So, I had the idea before training camp,” Hafley explained in advance of Saturday night’s annual “Family Night” practice at Lambeau Field. “I wanted to find a way to emphasize it, and I grabbed Wendel and I said, ‘Hey, I’ve got some ideas, but I want you to run with this.’ And we decided to call him ‘The Ball King.’

“So, they’re not allowed to call him ‘Wendel Davis’ anymore. He’s ‘The Ball King.’ So if you see him, please refer to him as ‘B.K.’ or ‘Ball King.’”

Here’s how the system works, according to Williams and multiple players who joyfully explained it this week:

• The defense is divided into three teams, each with its own general manager. McKinney is the GM for one team, defensive end Rashan Gary another, and linebacker Quay Walker the other.

• Points are awarded for everything from pass break-ups and scooping up the ball after incomplete passes (to reinforce ball awareness habits) to forced fumbles and defensive touchdowns.

• The team that amasses the most points each week wins an award, with Williams’ team having emerged victorious in Week 1 of camp.  

“We have like a little WWE Packers belt that we’ve got, and I was actually the MVP of the team that was winning this week, so I was wearing it over my shoulders all week, strutting around the facility,” Williams bragged. “Definitely, it’s a healthy competition and I feel like everybody’s buying into it.

“For real.”

That much is obvious. The Packers have taken the old NFL adage of “You get what you emphasize” to the nth degree for this, going so far as to install an enormous red light — “Like on top of a police car!” Williams exclaimed — in the ceiling.

In the post-practice meetings, Davis shows clips of players ball-awareness successes and failures. Playmakers are celebrated, missed opportunities are booed and heckled.  Every time a clip is shown of a player earning points, the flashing lights are activated and Davis — er, “Ball King” — sounds the alarm.

“I think it’s GREAT,” McKinney said. “I think it’s definitely added a level of urgency for everybody. Obviously, we already had a high emphasis on getting the ball, but it’s adding more emphasis on punch-outs, interceptions, just takeaways in general.

“I think it’s putting everybody on high alert to get the ball.”

The effect has been undeniable. McKinney and Williams, who are neighbors in a back corner of the team’s newly refurbished luxe locker room, are so all-in on the idea that neither of them could stop talking about essentially every aspect of the “Ball King” operation.

Across the room, cornerback Keisean Nixon sounded downright downtrodden when he confessed that he hasn’t set off the siren a single time so far in camp.

“I haven’t yet. Not once,” Nixon said glumly. “I haven’t gotten too many ‘opps’ on the ball yet. Jordan Love is staying away from me, I guess.”

Asked what the room is like when the siren is activated, Nixon replied, “Excitement. Crazy. Crazy doesn’t even cover it. It just brings energy to the room. It is crazy. It’s funny, but I like it. I really like it a lot.

“You know, even though we’re grown ups, even though we get paid, everybody’s got imaginations and everybody wants to have fun. We’re in a business that’s always serious, but it makes it fun for everybody.”

It’s worth noting that the Packers weren’t exactly inept at forcing turnovers last season, in Hafley’s first year in charge. Their 31 takeaways — 17 interceptions, 14 fumble recoveries — ranked fourth in the NFL, behind only Pittsburgh (33), Minnesota (33) and Buffalo (32).

But Hafley has put the onus on forcing fumbles more than anything else. Last year, the Packers forced 26 fumbles, and Hafley has made 43 the magic number for this season.

“The cool part about our guys is they’re able to have fun with it, and I think it’s bringing them together, but they’re buying into it and you can see that when we go out there and practice,” Hafley said. “We took the ball away last year. We didn’t force enough fumbles and that’s not good enough. So our play style, how hard we’re going to play, how physical we’re going to play, how we run to the ball — that’s non-negotiable. We’re going to attack the football, so we need to emphasize it more. We need to coach it.

“As coaches, let’s be real: We can talk about anything and you could emphasize stuff, but they have to buy in. And they have.”

Official statistics for forced fumbles (as compared to fumble recoveries) appear to only go back to 1991 in the NFL’s database. According to those numbers, the 2010 New York Giants hold the modern NFL record for forced fumbles with 42.

“I think our defense is attacking the ball unlike anytime I’ve seen it in my [tenure], going into Year 7 now,” said LaFleur, who hired Hafley before last season after having Mike Pettine (2019, 2020) and Joe Barry (2021, 2022, 2023) as his previous defensive coordinators. “They’re doing a really good job of taking it to heart.

“We have a lot of fun with it, but at the same time, it’s absolutely critical, and those guys have embraced that and are challenging one another.”

Asked why he felt it was important to get creative with the idea, LaFleur replied, “If you are entertaining in a meeting, I think you’re going to get guys’ attention a lot more.

“Obviously, yeah, we’re serious about it. But it’s kind of lighthearted at the same time. The guys are enjoying those presentations, and Ball King’s done a heck of a job.”

According to linebacker Isaiah Simmons, one of the few defensive players with experience on other teams, the Packers’ dedication to the Ball King’s project is unique.

“Everywhere I’ve been, they emphasized it, but not to this magnitude,” said Simmons, a former No. 8 overall pick who joined the Packers this offseason after three years with the Arizona Cardinals and two with the Giants. “It’s a really, really important thing, and it’s a good way to keep the guys involved and intentional with it.”

Whether all the hullabaloo actually leads to the defense forcing more fumbles and leading the NFL in takeaways remains to be seen, of course. But there’s no doubt that the commitment is there.

“The more you speak something into existence, the more likely it will come [true] and the more people will operate in a way to make that a truth,” Williams said. “That’s something we’re always preaching every day — ‘43,’ ‘43.’

“You see guys come out in practice, anytime they’re close to the ball, anytime anyone’s close to the ball, they’re punching at it. We talk about angry, violent intentions. The picks are great, obviously, but to go earn that forced fumble is definitely different.”

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