{"id":278484,"date":"2025-08-11T03:00:12","date_gmt":"2025-08-11T03:00:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/278484\/"},"modified":"2025-08-11T03:00:12","modified_gmt":"2025-08-11T03:00:12","slug":"green-bay-packers-defensive-coordinator-jeff-hafley-wants-to-see-more-effort-to-create-turnovers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/278484\/","title":{"rendered":"Green Bay Packers defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley wants to see more effort to create turnovers"},"content":{"rendered":"

GREEN BAY \u2212 For all of training camp, Green Bay Packers<\/a> defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley has emphasized the need for the defense to force takeaways.<\/p>\n

Hafley dubbed defensive quality control coach Wendel Davis the \u201cBall King<\/a>\u201d to focus on every turnover the defense creates.<\/p>\n

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Attacking the football is the way Hafley wants his defense to play. It\u2019s why the Packers<\/a> finished fourth in the NFL with 31 takeaways last year.<\/p>\n

In the Aug. 9 preseason opener against the New York Jets<\/a>, the second-year defensive coordinator didn\u2019t see enough attacking in the game.<\/p>\n

\"Green<\/p>\n

Green Bay Packers linebacker Kristian Welch tackles New York Jets wide receiver Jamaal Pritchett.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think it translated over as we\u2019ve been practicing,\u201d Hafley said. \u201cTake the win or take the loss out of it, that\u2019s probably the one thing that we take the most pride in and I don\u2019t think we were good enough.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe haymakers that we saw in practice and the way we were we attacking the ball, it didn\u2019t show up.\u201d<\/p>\n

The lack of attacking the football could be attributed to the number of young, inexperienced players that took most of the snaps in the game.<\/p>\n

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However, Hafley didn\u2019t make any excuses, saying, \u201cWe\u2019ve got to fix that, and it has to be better the next time we play in a preseason game.\u201d<\/p>\n

Here are some other takeaways from his Aug. 10 news conference:<\/p>\n

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

Jeff Hafley encouraged by the newcomers on the defensive line<\/p>\n

The Packers<\/a> went with Kenny Clark, Devonte Wyatt, Rashan Gary and Lukas Van Ness as the starting defensive line in the preseason opener and they played a limited time together.<\/p>\n

Coaches took the opportunity for the others to get some playing time.<\/p>\n

When asked about players who stood out on the front, Hafley mentioned several, including newcomers Nazir Stackhouse, Warren Brinson and Barryn Sorrell.<\/p>\n

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\u201cI thought they did a nice job,\u201d Hafley said. \u201cThere\u2019s things they need to get better at, but I thought they competed. I thought they played really hard and strained.\u201d<\/p>\n

About Sorrell, Hafley said, \u201cHe\u2019s a young guy that\u2019s learning how to play the position. You\u2019ve got a guy that has pass-rush ability. He strains.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe got better as the game went on. He made mistakes in the game and in the same drive he was correcting them, which says a lot. That doesn\u2019t happen a lot for rookie players.\u201d<\/p>\n

From preseason: Special teams shine, but in fight to win roster spot, Mecole Hardman\u2019s aggressiveness backfires<\/a><\/p>\n

Expect more reps for Bo Melton<\/p>\n

Bo Melton, the Packers receiver-turned-corner, saw extended time in the preseason opener, posting two tackles.<\/p>\n

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It\u2019s a position Melton<\/a> hasn\u2019t experienced in the NFL, but his new position coach, Derrick Ansley, has enjoyed the process of molding the three-year utility player.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been fun,\u201d Ansley said. \u201cHe\u2019s a blank slate with not a lot of bad habits.\u201d<\/p>\n

The upcoming joint practices \u2212 Aug. 14 at Indianapolis and Aug. 21 vs. Seattle \u2212 will give Melton additional reps to get comfortable with the position.<\/p>\n

“The guy gives you everything he has,\u201d Hafley said. \u201cWe just need to keep playing him.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe needs experience. He needs time. I\u2019m pleased with what he\u2019s doing right now.\u201d<\/p>\n

This article originally appeared on Packers News: Packers Jeff Hafley pushing for his defense to focus on turnovers<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"GREEN BAY \u2212 For all of training camp, Green Bay Packers defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley has emphasized the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":278485,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2072],"tags":[1970,23191,2792,1156,474,7,41,345,2514,2513,53734,2004,8628,5394,3998,451,3956,255,6,428,17686,3996,237,2531],"class_list":{"0":"post-278484","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-green-bay-packers","8":"tag-barryn-sorrell","9":"tag-bo-melton","10":"tag-defensive-coordinator","11":"tag-defensive-line","12":"tag-devonte-wyatt","13":"tag-football","14":"tag-green-bay","15":"tag-green-bay-packers","16":"tag-greenbay","17":"tag-greenbaypackers","18":"tag-hafley","19":"tag-indianapolis","20":"tag-jeff-hafley","21":"tag-kenny-clark","22":"tag-lukas-van-ness","23":"tag-mecole-hardman","24":"tag-nazir-stackhouse","25":"tag-new-york-jets","26":"tag-nfl","27":"tag-packers","28":"tag-preseason-opener","29":"tag-rashan-gary","30":"tag-seattle","31":"tag-warren-brinson"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/115007902786063725","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/278484","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=278484"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/278484\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/278485"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=278484"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=278484"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=278484"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}