{"id":278178,"date":"2025-08-11T00:12:11","date_gmt":"2025-08-11T00:12:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/278178\/"},"modified":"2025-08-11T00:12:11","modified_gmt":"2025-08-11T00:12:11","slug":"special-teams-shine-but-in-fight-to-win-roster-spot-mecole-hardmans-aggressiveness-backfires","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/278178\/","title":{"rendered":"Special teams shine, but in fight to win roster spot, Mecole Hardman\u2019s aggressiveness backfires"},"content":{"rendered":"

GREEN BAY \u2013 A day after the Green Bay Packers<\/a> opened their preseason with a 30-10 loss to the New York Jets<\/a>, special teams coordinator Rich Bisaccia offered his synopsis. Here are some quick highlights:<\/p>\n

Mecole Hardman\u2019s aggressiveness backfires<\/p>\n

Mecole Hardman<\/a> once caught the game-winning touchdown in overtime of Super Bowl LVIII, but he\u2019s hoping to find a roster spot with the Packers<\/a>. In the preseason opener, Hardman showed how much work he believes needs to be done to earn a job.<\/p>\n

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In two punt-return opportunities, Hardman showed the type of aggressiveness that indicated his urgency to make a big play. Both decisions backfired. On the first, Hardman fielded a punt at the Packers<\/a>\u2019 5-yard line and was immediately dropped for no gain. Backed up against their own end zone, the Packers\u2019 drive resulted in Malik Willis\u2019 fumble that led to a Jets<\/a> touchdown.<\/p>\n

On his next punt return, Hardman let the ball bounce in front of him. Instead of clearing out of the way, he tried to scoop the punt. The Jets recovered the muff, leading to another touchdown.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think if you get a Sunday hop,\u201d Bisaccia said, \u201cyou\u2019re going to play ball. He was in good position if he got the Sunday hop, but once he got that little bit of a funky bounce, you\u2019ve just got to do your best to get away from the ball. He got squared up on it, but I think we wish he would\u2019ve caught it in the air.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hardman, a ninth-year veteran, knew both decisions were risky. But they\u2019re the type of choices players on the roster bubble might force this time of year.<\/p>\n

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\u201cThe disappointing thing,\u201d Bisaccia said, \u201cwas the place that he was inside the 10, in practice he\u2019s done a really good job with it. He\u2019s helped our young guys about making a fake away from the catch, or being in a position to block, or letting it go into the end zone. So I\u2019m hoping he was just trying to make too big of a play too early, but really the best decision would\u2019ve been just make the play that\u2019s there. Make the fair catch on one or let it go, and stay away from the one on the ground.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo I\u2019m expecting him to respond the right way and come back and have a good week.\u201d<\/p>\n

Brandon McManus\u2019 hot streak continues<\/p>\n

The best player at the midway point of training camp might be Packers kicker Brandon McManus.<\/p>\n

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The veteran, re-signed this offseason after joining the team midway through last fall, has continued a strong debut season with the team. McManus entered the preseason opener making 48-of-52 kicks in camp. He made both kicks against the Jets, a 46-yard field goal and extra point.<\/p>\n

MUST READ: Packers coach Matt LaFleur isn\u2019t panicking over loss to the Jets<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s obviously a credit to him and who he is,\u201d Bisaccia said of his kicker. \u201cIt\u2019s been sustained over a long time. He has a pure stroke, as you will, and he knows what it is. So when it\u2019s a bad hit, he knows it before anybody else. When it\u2019s a good hit, he also \u2013 he makes noises and all that, he knows it as well. But I give a lot of credit to the battery and the way in which those guys have a certain respect for each other, and the way they\u2019re willing to work diligently at that particular task day in and day out.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe just has a pure stroke. He\u2019s in a really good place at this point in his career, and I just think he\u2019s gotten himself in such a good physical condition at this age, that it\u2019s going to be sustained for a long time.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Green<\/p>\n

Green Bay Packers kicker Brandon McManus and his holder, punter Daniel Whelan, celebrate a field goal against the New York Jets.<\/p>\n

Packers have big expectations for punter Daniel Whelan<\/p>\n

Since he arrived two years ago, Daniel Whelan has showcased the power of his punting leg. His booming punts have changed field position with hangtime that limits return opportunities.<\/p>\n

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Whelan had a strong preseason debut, averaging 52 yards on six punts with a long of 63. Bisaccia said he\u2019s pushing his punter to be a difference maker on the roster.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think he\u2019s capable of being a really good player,\u201d Bisaccia said. \u201cHis understanding of where we are on the field, what\u2019s the situation in the game, how\u2019s the returner playing you, what\u2019s your line, can you stay true to your line, what\u2019s the wind. There\u2019s so many things going on that he has to become more aware of as the game is going on. Is he doubled on one side, singled on the other. Is it double-double on both sides. Is it a six-man front. It\u2019s on and on and on. And then adjusting to a snap that might be just a little to his right, or a little bit at his knee, or a little bit at his number.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a lot of things that go on, but the expectation for him is the standard is the standard, and he has set the standard now. So he has to play above that at all times, and that is what we\u2019ll expect of him.\u201d<\/p>\n

This article originally appeared on Packers News: Packers kicking game solid but Mecole Hardman aggressiveness backfires<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"GREEN BAY \u2013 A day after the Green Bay Packers opened their preseason with a 30-10 loss to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":278179,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2072],"tags":[15095,10095,7,41,345,2514,2513,4097,451,255,6,428,17686,15667,796],"class_list":{"0":"post-278178","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-green-bay-packers","8":"tag-brandon-mcmanus","9":"tag-daniel-whelan","10":"tag-football","11":"tag-green-bay","12":"tag-green-bay-packers","13":"tag-greenbay","14":"tag-greenbaypackers","15":"tag-malik-willis","16":"tag-mecole-hardman","17":"tag-new-york-jets","18":"tag-nfl","19":"tag-packers","20":"tag-preseason-opener","21":"tag-rich-bisaccia","22":"tag-the-jets"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/115007241935458087","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/278178","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=278178"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/278178\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/278179"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=278178"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=278178"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=278178"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}