the group that appointed a \u201cBall King\u201d<\/a> and installed a flashing red light and siren in the defensive meeting room for emphasis.<\/p>\nAnd so, the Packers three defensive stalwarts were asked, if you get what you emphasize, and nobody emphasizes takeaways more than you guys do, why on earth do you enter Sunday\u2019s game against the Cincinnati Bengals with just two takeaways \u2014 TWO! \u2014 through four games?<\/p>\n
\u201cUh \u2026 um \u2026 uh \u2026 man \u2026 I don\u2019t know. I think \u2026 I think sometimes the ball goes your way, and then sometimes it don\u2019t,\u201d said McKinney, the team\u2019s star safety and team captain who was a first-team All-Pro last season with eight interceptions \u2014 but has just one so far this year (at the end of the first half against Cleveland).<\/p>\n
\u201cWe know we don\u2019t have a lot right now but we\u2019re going to keep trying to stick with the same routine, the same plan, and hopefully those turnovers start to come.\u201d<\/p>\n
Williams took even longer to answer.<\/p>\n
\u201cI guess that\u2019s what we\u2019re all trying to figure out right now. That\u2019s the question,\u201d said Williams who has the team\u2019s other takeaway, an interception against Detroit\u2019s Jared Goff in the opener. \u201cI do know that they come in bunches, so the more you focus on it, the more the opportunities will come.<\/p>\n
\u201cSometimes you just go through dry spells. But I feel like that result shouldn\u2019t deter you from putting the effort forth. We have to keep putting it as a main point of emphasis, and as long as we keep that mentality, I feel like good things will happen eventually.\u201d<\/p>\n
And Gary? He was no help, either.<\/p>\n
\u201cAh, I really got no reason, man,\u201d said the veteran defensive end, who leads the team in sacks (4.5) but hasn\u2019t generated a turnover play. \u201cThe process has been good, the motivation and the hunger have been there, the will has been there.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve got to be consistent in getting more ball attempts \u2014 shots at the ball. The more shots that you take, it\u2019s going to end up happening.\u201d<\/p>\n
Despite a training camp-long emphasis on forcing more fumbles \u2014 with the publicly stated goal of forcing 43 fumbles, which would be an NFL single-season record \u2014 the results aren\u2019t there.<\/p>\n
Entering Week 6\u2019s games \u2014 the Packers, Chicago Bears, Atlanta Falcons and Pittsburgh Steelers all had their byes last week, so they\u2019ve played one fewer game than the other 28 teams in the league \u2014 the Jacksonville Jaguars lead the league in takeaways with 14 (an NFL-best 10 interceptions, four fumble recoveries) while the Steelers have 10 (and are tied for the NFL lead in fumble recoveries with five) and the Bears and Detroit Lions have nine.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, the only team in the league with fewer takeaways is the 0-5 New York Jets, who have gone five games without forcing a single turnover.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think there’s been a couple more out there for us that we haven’t quite capitalized on,\u201d LaFleur said as the Packers (2-1-1) prepped for Sunday\u2019s matchup with the Cincinnati Bengals (2-3) at Lambeau Field. \u201c[Give] credit to the teams we’ve played; they’ve done a nice job of not allowing us to get a bunch of takeaways \u2014 just like our offense has done a fairly decent job of not giving the ball away.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt just hasn’t rolled our way up to this point. Now, we’re going to continue to emphasize it and continue to work on it. I do think it’s a matter of time before we get a couple to go our way.\u201d<\/p>\n
To LaFleur\u2019s point, the Packers have turned the ball over only twice this season, albeit both crucial ones: Quarterback Jordan Love\u2019s late fourth-quarter interception in the Packers\u2019 Sept. 21 loss to the Browns, and Love\u2019s late first-half fumble that set up a touchdown for the Dallas Cowboys in the teams\u2019 Week 4 tie.<\/p>\n
Last season, in their first year in Hafley\u2019s system, the Packers finished fourth in the 32-team NFL in takeaways (31), with 17 interceptions (tied for third) and 14 fumble recoveries (also third). They finished tied for third in the league with a plus-12 turnover differential.<\/p>\n
Which is why Hafley believes it\u2019s only a matter of time before things change \u2014 even after the Bengals benched fill-in starter Jake Browning, who\u2019d thrown eight interceptions in three-plus games following Joe Burrow\u2019s toe injury, in favor of Joe Flacco, whom they acquired from the Browns on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
\u201c[If] you’re process driven, you put in a lot of work, and you do it over and over and over again, and you emphasize it, and you coach it. And if it falls up short, you don’t give up on it,\u201d Hafley said. \u201cNow, maybe you tweak certain things that you’re doing, or maybe you have new thoughts, and you look hard at yourself why they’re not happening.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut we’ve emphasized that more than we’ve emphasized it last year. It just so happened last year at this time, I think we had nine, and my belief is that they’re coming.<\/p>\n
\u201cI mean, we’re swinging at the ball more than we did last year. And that’s the truth, because we’re even charting that. But, yeah, I want to get more takeaways. We want to get more takeaways. I don’t think anybody’s sitting here happy with that.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo if you want to think about something that we need to do better \u2014 and there is other things we have to clean up, and I think we can play better \u2014 that’s one of them And I’ll do my best to make sure we get \u2018em.\u201d<\/p>\n
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