GREEN BAY \u2014 On opposite sides of the Green Bay Packers luxe locker room inside Lambeau Field, two players \u2014 both of whom wear the captain\u2019s C on their chests each game \u2014 were issuing bold, public challenges to their teammates.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In the aftermath of an ugly 13-10 loss to the previously winless Cleveland Browns and in advance of what the Packers (2-1) believe should be a prime-time bounce-back against the Dallas Cowboys (1-2) at AT&T Stadium, both tight end Tucker Kraft and safety Xavier McKinney felt the need to speak out.<\/p>\n
For Kraft, the team\u2019s emerging offensive star, it was time to challenge his teammates on that side of the ball to do more to complement a defense that entered this week\u2019s games ranked No. 1 in scoring defense (14.7 points per game) and third in total defense (232.3 yards per game).<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have the best defense in the NFL, so we just have to help them out,\u201d Kraft told a gaggle of reporters around his locker. \u201cThe defense needs us to play like that so we can play complementary to them. They held a team to 13 points in the fourth quarter. It was 10-0 up until the fourth quarter. That\u2019s remarkable. Not a lot of defenses are doing that.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re fed up with our own mistakes and we\u2019ve got to limit those in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n
At roughly the same time, McKinney was holding court with another group of reporters. And while he was clearly perturbed by the effort the team \u2014 defense included \u2014 had delivered against the Browns, he also found himself thankful that such an effort had come when it did.<\/p>\n
\u201cI said it before we played the Browns, that I just felt like we got too carried away with being 2-0. And I think we felt like we had won the Super Bowl,\u201d McKinney said, referring to the Packers\u2019 convincing victories over the Detroit Lions on Sept. 7 and the Washington Commanders four days later, both at Lambeau Field.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a long season. You have your ups and downs. But you learn from everything, you learn from losses all the time. I think that was something that we learned from and I\u2019m glad that it happened early rather than late. So that\u2019s just a lesson that you learn and you keep moving forward.\u201d<\/p>\n
And the primary lesson?<\/p>\n
\u201cNot to be complacent. Not to think just because you won two games in a row that the season is finished, the Green Bay Packers are Super Bowl champions. No,\u201d McKinney said. \u201cIt don\u2019t work like that. So I wish that [were true]. It would be a lot easier if it did, but it don\u2019t work like that. And I think we all understand that 1759041189.\u201d<\/p>\n
As for Kraft\u2019s pronouncement moments earlier about the offense holding up its end of the bargain, McKinney said the defense would appreciate the sentiment but said he didn\u2019t want his compadres on that side of the ball to view the team\u2019s dynamic quite that way.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve still got to know that we\u2019ve got a job to do. Because if we don\u2019t prepare the right way, then anything can happen on Sunday,\u201d McKinney said. \u201cSo we appreciate that from the offensive guys, but at the same time, we don\u2019t ever want to let our guard down or think we\u2019re too good that we can\u2019t be scored on or we can\u2019t have a bad day.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s possible for anybody to have a bad day. So for us, we just try to keep the same mentality of staying locked in on our job and going out there and executing.\u201d<\/p>\n
To McKinney\u2019s point, while the offense has certainly had its issues with getting the running game going, finding consistency on the offensive line and figuring out which would-be pass-catchers need to be more involved than others, the defense has one glaring weakness through three games: A lack of takeaways.<\/p>\n