GREEN BAY \u2014 With a week of training camp in the books, the Green Bay Packers\u2019 three coordinators \u2014 new defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon, new special-teams coordinator Cam Achord and offensive coordinator Adam Stenavich, met with reporters on Wednesday at Lambeau Field.\u00a0<\/p>\n
With Gannon and Achord being new \u2014 Gannon replaced Jeff Hafley, who left to become the Miami Dolphins head coach, while Achord replaced Rich Bisaccia, who returned to the college game by taking a job at Clemson University \u2014 some questions centered around connecting with their players and installing their concepts, both men also spoke on specific topics from the first week of camp.<\/p>\n
With Friday\u2019s \u201cFamily Night\u201d practice coming up fast and the team\u2019s Aug. 13 preseason opener against the Pittsburgh Steelers at Acrisure Stadium in Pittsburgh right around the corner, here are the most interesting things each of them said. Some of their answers have been lightly edited for clarity and brevity.<\/p>\n
\u2022 Achord delivered a fascinating demonstration of the various ways punter Daniel Whelan must adjust how he holds the football for rookie kicker Trey Smack. But as good as it was, the truth of the matter was that he had explanations for Smack\u2019s inconsistency early in camp but offered minimal reassurance that the sixth-round pick will be fine.<\/p>\n
While Smack\u2019s 8-for-13 start for camp isn\u2019t some sort of catastrophe \u2014 and should probably have been expected given the ups and downs every rookie kicker experiences \u2014 it does feel that head coach Matt LaFleur and Achord are doing their best to downplay Smack\u2019s struggles.<\/p>\n
Maybe they\u2019re right, but whether it\u2019s LaFleur\u2019s decision to not have the practice officials signal whether Smack\u2019s kicks are good or no good, or Achord\u2019s contention Wednesday that he doesn\u2019t evaluate whether the ball goes through the uprights as much as he evaluates how the ball is struck, it\u2019s clear they are trying to publicly give Smack as many lifelines as possible until he hits his stride.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think anytime you have any young guy, whatever position it is, there’s going to be some ups and some downs,\u201d Achord said. \u201cI think it’s [about] the consistency. When you come in and you look at the film, you talk to the guys. \u2018What are you working on, technique-wise? What can you improve on?\u2019 There’s a difference when you look at the kickers. There’s a good miss and there’s a bad miss. It all depends on the contact they make when you really slow it down.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019ve just got to have him be a consistent person every day he’s here and just continue to improve on everything. There’s something to probably tweak or look at every day, and you just want to see him get better. And it’s not so much the makes and misses right now. It’s more so about the ball contact. [That] is what I’m looking at.\u201d<\/p>\n
Achord also argued that the wind patterns at Ray Nitschke Field for practice are more difficult than the winds inside venerable Lambeau Field.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe wind is there [at practice], but when we go into Lambeau and do walk throughs and stuff, honestly, I look at the wind there and I look at it at night, and it’s like, \u2018Wow, you don’t feel anything.\u2019 So I don’t put as much stock on the practice stuff as I will in the stadium stuff. You know, even kicking in there and those elements because it’s totally different. \u2026<\/p>\n
\u201cSo I think a lot of times at practice, the results may not be what we want them to be, or not as good as they could be, or whatever may be. … So I would say I’m going to put more stock into game days and stuff like that. I’ve been around kickers that went 9 for 9 [in a practice] and had a terrible day. When you look at the film, you’re like, \u2018I really didn’t hit the ball good.\u2019 Or they went 3 for 5, and it’s like, \u2018Well, at least you struck the ball well.\u2019 I think there’s more value in that than what we’re doing on the practice field.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2022 Gannon\u2019s installation of his defensive system continues during camp, but what the Packers run in the Sept. 13 opener at Minnesota won\u2019t be the same thing they\u2019re running later in the year when their superstar pass rusher, Micah Parsons, is cleared to play.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s not as if Gannon has created two separate playbooks \u2014 one for the defense without Parsons, and another for one with him \u2014 but obviously the presence of a field-tilting player will alter the dynamic.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think our job as coaches \u2014 and my role specifically as the defensive coordinator \u2014 is to try to put our 11 in the best positions that we can to affect the game in a positive way,\u201d Gannon said. \u201cWhat we\u2019re doing right now is going through our installs, seeing what our guys are comfortable [with], seeing their skills sets, seeing what they can do.<\/p>\n
\u201cObviously we have a pretty good understanding of the player that Micah is and see where he fits into all of that. A player like that, it\u2019s not very complicated in my opinion to use him or deploy him in a way to affect the game in a positive way.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s been awesome. He\u2019s very smart, he understands a lot of things that we\u2019re doing already, how they complement other things that we\u2019re trying to do. We were talking the other day, [and he said] he could see himself in a bunch of different spots in different calls, so that\u2019s kind of cool. Then it will be our job to make sure he gets his touches, which he will.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2022 Stenavich, who was the Packers offensive line coach for three seasons (2019-\u201921) before being promoted to coordinator, is well-versed in the offense as a whole. But certainly his views of the line carry greater weight. And his view of where the Packers stand at left tackle \u2014 both with starter Jordan Morgan, the team\u2019s 2024 first-round pick who\u2019s finally getting to play his preferred position, and the team\u2019s backup options \u2014 was insightful.<\/p>\n
After two seasons of playing just about everywhere on the offensive line except left tackle \u2014 his preferred position \u2014 Morgan is locked in on quarterback Jordan Love\u2019s blind side.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe looks really good. [There\u2019s] lot of technique stuff we\u2019ve got to clean up with him, but he’s out there, he’s playing, he’s looking like a left tackle in the NFL,\u201d Stenavich said. \u201cI think he’s just gotten that confidence that he’s our left tackle and he’s out there to prove it to everybody.\u201d<\/p>\n
Asked if Morgan has to unlearn some of the things he did at the other positions he played while waiting for his opportunity at left tackle, Stenavich replied, \u201cWhen you switch a guy from any position, there’s a lot of little nuances to each position that you\u2019ve got to learn. So for him, moving him from tackle to guard and back to tackle, I think is tough for a young player, especially for him.<\/p>\n
\u201cHis home, where he played in college, was left tackle, so he’s kind of at his natural spot right now. He’s done a nice job just going back over there at left tackle and now it’s just focusing on that.\u201d<\/p>\n
The problem is that, as of now, the Packers have no idea who\u2019ll take his spot if Morgan misses time.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s where we\u2019ve got to figure it out over camp \u2014 [who] is our next-best option?\u201d Stenavich confessed. \u201cWe have a few guys that we\u2019re working over there, so that\u2019s a big thing that we have to figure out.\u201d<\/p>\n
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