GREEN BAY — If Kamal Hadden earns a spot on the Green Bay Packers roster and plays a meaningful role on their defense this season — and make no mistake, there are opportunities to be had in the secondary — it won’t merely be because of the way he came back from the gruesome leg injury he suffered late last season.
More than anything, it’ll be the result of the direct challenges and heart-to-heart conversations head coach Matt LaFleur had with him last season, when LaFleur and the coaching staff saw potential in Hadden — but didn’t see the requisite focus and professionalism to bring it to the surface on a consistent basis.
Hadden, who suffered a near-catastrophic ankle injury against the Baltimore Ravens last December that required surgery and kept him on a scooter for months, was activated from the physically unable to perform list and took part in his first practice on Sunday.
“Man, it meant everything,” said Hadden, who broke his tibia and his fibula and dislocated his ankle on that fateful play. “I was really excited to see everything we put in these last seven months — me, and the trainers — put in a lot of work. It was hours and hours and hours of rehab and ups and downs, emotional times — and they were there for me. They walked me through every step and every phase. It meant everything for me to get back out there.”
Hadden was on the cusp of perhaps taking on a meaningful late-season role on defense. Seemingly frustrated with substandard tackling by Carrington Valentine, LaFleur and then-defensive coordinator went to Hadden at the start of the second half, only to see Hadden injured on his first snap as he went low to tackle Ravens running back Derrick Henry.
“I watched that play almost every other day,” Hadden said. “Some people were like, ‘Mal, I don’t know how you do it.’ When it first happened, I watched it like 100,000 times. But if I could re-do it, man, I would do it again. That’s the way we were taught. I’ve got to go down there and set the edge and set the tone of the game and that’s what I wanted to do and ultimately that’s what I did. It was unfortunate, the outcome, but it’s part of the game.
“All I knew was my leg is supposed to be straight, my ankle is supposed to be straight and one of them is going [the wrong] way. That’s when I started freaking out a little bit, but it was all good.”
Now that he’s healthy again, it’s up to Hadden to show he took last year’s lessons from LaFleur to heart.
After entering the league as a 2024 sixth-round pick by the Kansas City Chiefs, Hadden spent that entire season on the Packers’ practice squad after the Chiefs cut him at the end of training camp. He made the 53-man roster coming out of camp but played in only 10 games, almost exclusively on special teams.
During that time, LaFleur and then-special teams coordinator Rich Bisaccia both pulled Hadden aside to encourage him — strongly — to get his act together and do more to realize his potential.
“I think he’s really matured and handles his business the right way. He was kind of challenged and he answered the bell,” LaFleur said Sunday. “That’s always a really cool thing to see, and I think it’s really impacted his ability to go out and play.”
Asked specifically how he challenged Hadden, LaFleur replied, “He was challenged. We challenge everybody, but, like specifically, I mean, I hit him directly with a few challenges, and he’s answered them.”
Hadden was more forthcoming.
“It was my practice habits, the way I [went] about being a pro, the way [I was] just in general,” Hadden explained. “It’s how you respond. Don’t listen to the way they’re saying it and how they’re saying it. It’s, get the message and apply it to the field, and I feel like I did that.
“They let me be me, and that’s one thing that I appreciate from them. They never once questioned anything about bringing energy and stuff like that because that’s just natural. Nothing about me is fake, and it was nothing like that.
“It was just more so, ‘Kamal we’ll see you stand out maybe like one play, you’ll lock in one play, and it’ll be like wow, this guy looks like he’d be an All Pro.’ But if you show that one time, you could show that all 13 plays. That’s the standard that he wants me at. That’s the standard I want myself at.
“Without coach LaFleur, it might’ve been different. Sometimes you don’t really realize it, you don’t see it within yourself. Once you’re getting it from a different viewpoint, you can turn it up a little bit, and I want to applaud him and thank him for that — because he believed in me and ultimately it pressed through and I believe in myself.”
It’s unclear when Hadden will be cleared for team periods — he managed to dislocate his pinkie finger in his first practice back while catching a ball during an individual drill — but without any ultra-defined roles in the cornerback group and a new defensive coordinator with a new system, he should get the opportunity to show off what he learned from LaFleur’s tough love.
“I like the way this scheme is, and they’ve got me moving around a little bit and not just playing corner,” Hadden said. “I see a great opportunity because I’m real versatile — I can play outside, inside. I’m aggressive, I can tackle. And they’re letting me show that talent and showcase my versatility.
“I’m just ready to do whatever it takes to help this team, ultimately to make the team.”
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