WEBVTT - #506 Packers Unscripted: Young and hungry 0:00:00.840 --> 0:00:14.800 Hi, everyone, Welcome to Packers Unscripted from Packers dot Com. 0:00:14.840 --> 0:00:17.919 I am Mike Spofford sitting next to the one and 0:00:18.040 --> 0:00:21.480 only West Hodgowitz. Were coming to you here from our 0:00:21.520 --> 0:00:25.439 studios at lambeau Field West or another day closer to 0:00:26.320 --> 0:00:29.720 the NFC Divisional Playoff. It will be Sunday five ford 0:00:29.720 --> 0:00:33.800 pm Central Time at lambeau Field Packers versus Seahawks. And 0:00:33.840 --> 0:00:37.080 as we had the first really big I guess you'd say, 0:00:37.120 --> 0:00:43.600 media session in the locker room after Wednesday's practice. It 0:00:43.720 --> 0:00:48.920 was interesting because you and I sat here three years ago, 0:00:49.200 --> 0:00:53.040 same exact chairs, same exact chairs talk. As the Packers 0:00:53.240 --> 0:00:57.240 entered the playoffs after regular season. It was the eight 0:00:57.400 --> 0:01:00.400 straight playoff appearance for the Green Bay Packer Is at 0:01:00.480 --> 0:01:03.680 that time, and there wasn't really a whole lot of 0:01:03.720 --> 0:01:06.560 discussion because the Packers have been in the playoffs eight 0:01:06.640 --> 0:01:08.640 years in a row about you know, oh, well, these 0:01:08.640 --> 0:01:11.479 guys don't have playoff experience. They're new to this whole thing. 0:01:12.280 --> 0:01:16.880 You go two years outside of the playoffs, the Packers 0:01:16.920 --> 0:01:20.560 don't get their roster turnover, is what it is. Packers 0:01:20.600 --> 0:01:24.600 obviously changed coaching staffs as well as changing a lot 0:01:24.680 --> 0:01:29.000 of players, and there's a significant portion of this roster. 0:01:29.120 --> 0:01:31.679 Now it's a little bit different narrative with this Packers 0:01:31.720 --> 0:01:34.679 team headed into the postseason. There are more than half 0:01:34.760 --> 0:01:38.560 of the fifty three man roster has not experienced an 0:01:38.680 --> 0:01:42.200 NFL postseason game, and it's an interesting dynamic, a different 0:01:42.240 --> 0:01:44.600 one for Green Bay heading into this. I kind of 0:01:44.640 --> 0:01:46.720 like it too, to be honest with you, because it 0:01:46.720 --> 0:01:48.680 goes back to a conversation that we were having with 0:01:48.800 --> 0:01:51.680 Kevin King in the locker room on Thursday, and King 0:01:51.760 --> 0:01:53.440 is one of the more excuse me on when when 0:01:53.640 --> 0:01:55.960 one of the more introspective players you're going to find. 0:01:55.960 --> 0:01:58.440 When he really thinks into a question, he comes up 0:01:58.480 --> 0:02:01.960 with some pretty tremendous stuff. And you know, he was asked, 0:02:02.240 --> 0:02:05.600 it was by Ryan What initially about his approach to 0:02:05.680 --> 0:02:07.840 this first time being in a game. Other reporters had 0:02:07.840 --> 0:02:10.560 asked him about, you know, what's the most biggest game 0:02:10.600 --> 0:02:12.720 you ever played in? And he didn't really have an 0:02:12.760 --> 0:02:14.760 answer at first, and then finally I think it was 0:02:14.800 --> 0:02:16.480 Bill Hubert that remind him. He's like, well, you played 0:02:16.520 --> 0:02:19.440 in a National semifinal game at Washington. He's like, yeah, 0:02:19.440 --> 0:02:22.640 I guess I did. And going back to what he 0:02:22.639 --> 0:02:25.480 had told Ryan, and his answer was that it's all 0:02:25.520 --> 0:02:28.080 the same. He's like and he used this analogy that 0:02:28.120 --> 0:02:32.560 if I throw you a ball, catch it, Okay, thank you, 0:02:32.560 --> 0:02:35.160 you catch the ball, tell you to catch it. If 0:02:35.160 --> 0:02:36.600 I throw it to you again and tell you to 0:02:36.639 --> 0:02:38.080 catch it, and if you drop it, you only a 0:02:38.120 --> 0:02:41.880 thousand dollars, nothing changes. It's still me throwing you ball. 0:02:41.919 --> 0:02:45.160 I'm not throwing any harder, any faster. Go ah, okay, 0:02:45.200 --> 0:02:49.920 good ah. It's all mental. And that's the same approach 0:02:49.960 --> 0:02:52.640 he takes to this game. Now it's the other side 0:02:52.639 --> 0:02:54.320 of this. The reason I say I really like it 0:02:54.360 --> 0:02:56.400 is you've got a guy like Aaron Jones, who played 0:02:56.400 --> 0:02:59.920 in one Bowl game at you Tap, had one winning season, 0:03:00.360 --> 0:03:02.040 has not made it to the playoffs in his first 0:03:02.040 --> 0:03:05.320 two NFL seasons. There's a guy champing at the bid here, yeah, 0:03:05.480 --> 0:03:07.600 to make a run. And I think you see this 0:03:07.680 --> 0:03:09.799 hunger Billy Turner. I wrote about him earlier this week. 0:03:09.840 --> 0:03:11.799 Billy Turner has never been to a playoff game either. 0:03:11.840 --> 0:03:15.119 He got drafting the league in fourteen. I think everyone's appreciative, 0:03:15.240 --> 0:03:18.720 whether it's a veteran a young player, everyone's appreciative. This opportunity. 0:03:18.760 --> 0:03:21.160 But the young players, which make up over half this roster, 0:03:21.360 --> 0:03:24.600 now they're excited to get this first taste of postseason play. Yeah, 0:03:24.600 --> 0:03:27.160 and when we're talking about the young players on this roster, 0:03:27.280 --> 0:03:30.480 we're not just talking about you know, bit players or 0:03:30.560 --> 0:03:33.680 role players necessarily, as much as guys buying into roles 0:03:33.720 --> 0:03:35.040 and all that has been a part of this. But 0:03:35.080 --> 0:03:39.320 you're talking about a duo like Aaron Jones and Jamal Williams, 0:03:39.360 --> 0:03:43.480 a duo like Kevin King and JayR Alexander. You're talking 0:03:43.520 --> 0:03:46.680 about some key lineman like and Elton Jenkins on one 0:03:46.720 --> 0:03:50.440 side of Tyler Lancaster on the other. You're talking about 0:03:50.480 --> 0:03:53.160 guys that do play significant roles on this team that 0:03:53.200 --> 0:03:55.520 are entering the NFL playoffs for the first time. And 0:03:55.560 --> 0:03:58.760 it's interesting because in talking to some of the veteran 0:03:58.800 --> 0:04:02.720 guys are Rogers, Davante Adams, Brian Balagha, guys like that 0:04:02.800 --> 0:04:07.080 who have been through these playoff battles, it was interesting 0:04:07.120 --> 0:04:09.760 because yeah, they're like, yeah, there are messages to deliver, 0:04:09.920 --> 0:04:12.440 but at the same time they're trying to strike the 0:04:12.560 --> 0:04:15.920 right tone with these guys to basically say, yeah, you know, 0:04:15.960 --> 0:04:19.159 the playoffs are different be ready for it. But yet 0:04:19.200 --> 0:04:21.240 you know, and this was the threat of my story 0:04:21.279 --> 0:04:24.440 that I wrote on Wednesday evening. The playoffs may be different, 0:04:24.440 --> 0:04:26.880 but don't play the game any differently. It's still the 0:04:26.920 --> 0:04:29.159 same game. It's it's not about going out to be 0:04:29.240 --> 0:04:31.839 the hero. It's not about heading out there too to 0:04:31.960 --> 0:04:35.800 make all the headlines. And Rogers you know himself. He 0:04:35.880 --> 0:04:40.279 pointed out his very first snap in a playoff game 0:04:40.400 --> 0:04:44.280 as an NFL quarterback, he threw an interception in Arizona, 0:04:44.800 --> 0:04:47.040 and he admitted, like my mind was kind of in 0:04:47.080 --> 0:04:48.880 the wrong place. I'm thinking, I gotta make a big 0:04:48.920 --> 0:04:51.839 splash play early. You know, established this or that whatever, 0:04:52.080 --> 0:04:55.320 that's not the right mentality to take. And by the 0:04:55.360 --> 0:04:59.320 same token, while Rodgers can deliver that message to those 0:04:59.480 --> 0:05:01.760 that at about it and to those that he talks to, 0:05:02.200 --> 0:05:06.080 he can also he also has the experience right from 0:05:06.120 --> 0:05:08.880 that same game of having learned that lesson that he 0:05:09.000 --> 0:05:11.440 bounced back from that early interception went on to throw 0:05:11.520 --> 0:05:14.120 four hundred plus yards four touchdowns. Obviously, it was a 0:05:14.160 --> 0:05:17.680 heartbreaking overtime loss in Arizona a decade ago, but that 0:05:17.760 --> 0:05:21.840 was one of the greatest postseason individual performances in Packers history, 0:05:22.279 --> 0:05:25.200 and he did that starting the game with an interception. 0:05:25.320 --> 0:05:28.719 Or you think about Ryan Grant who started his first 0:05:28.720 --> 0:05:31.840 playoff game with two fumbles in the snow against Seattle 0:05:32.000 --> 0:05:34.359 and then rushed for two hundred yards and three touchdowns. 0:05:34.440 --> 0:05:38.400 So it's it's about having your emotions and your mentality 0:05:38.400 --> 0:05:40.680 and everything in the right place at the start. But 0:05:40.760 --> 0:05:44.440 then if things don't go well, to just settle down 0:05:44.560 --> 0:05:47.800 and stay after it, because you still could be the 0:05:47.839 --> 0:05:50.320 hero even if you're not necessarily trying to. Yeah, and 0:05:50.360 --> 0:05:52.160 it's a great point. You're raised. I actually think it's 0:05:52.200 --> 0:05:54.000 so good we probably could just end the show right now. 0:05:54.000 --> 0:05:55.800 I'm not gonna be able to do much better than that. 0:05:56.240 --> 0:05:58.279 But it goes back to something I mentioned I think 0:05:58.360 --> 0:06:01.400 last month, to where it isn't just about Aaron Rodgers 0:06:01.400 --> 0:06:04.120 having that mindset either, right he was a young guy 0:06:04.120 --> 0:06:07.400 then or an older gentleman now. It's about you know, 0:06:07.480 --> 0:06:11.120 you look at maybe in a Marquez Veldes scantling maybe uh, 0:06:11.320 --> 0:06:15.360 you know, Robert Tonyan or Jay Sternberger. Jeff Janis didn't 0:06:15.400 --> 0:06:18.200 walk onto the field at University of Phoenix Stadium back 0:06:18.240 --> 0:06:20.680 in two thousand and fifteen and say today I'm gonna 0:06:20.680 --> 0:06:22.640 have a hundred and sixty receiving yards and catch a 0:06:22.680 --> 0:06:24.640 hail Mary right at the end of the fourth quarter. 0:06:24.800 --> 0:06:27.120 That's just the way the game played. No one could 0:06:27.120 --> 0:06:30.400 have anticipated Randall Cobb falling on his back on a 0:06:30.440 --> 0:06:33.000 deep grab and having the mic that he was miked 0:06:33.080 --> 0:06:35.279 up with, end up injuring yeah, end up bruising his 0:06:35.360 --> 0:06:38.280 lung and sending him to the hospital. So everybody has 0:06:38.320 --> 0:06:40.640 to have that mentality. And when you have that approach 0:06:40.720 --> 0:06:43.880 from the top down, that's what tells the young guys 0:06:43.880 --> 0:06:46.880 on this roster, Okay, this is the way, because until 0:06:46.920 --> 0:06:49.320 you're in that environment, this is a pressure cooker. Mike, 0:06:49.520 --> 0:06:51.760 You've seen it. You've covered these teams over the past 0:06:51.800 --> 0:06:55.080 decade every single week. Should the Packers win on Sunday, 0:06:55.240 --> 0:06:57.480 there's going to be more pressure for an NFC title game. 0:06:57.520 --> 0:06:59.680 Should they win that, they'll be more pressure for a 0:06:59.760 --> 0:07:04.120 Super Bowl. There's more eyes, there's more visibility. But at 0:07:04.120 --> 0:07:05.920 the same time, it's also the beauty of the game. 0:07:05.960 --> 0:07:08.440 There's eight teams left, there's twenty four that are sitting 0:07:08.440 --> 0:07:11.280 at home. You want to keep this run going in 0:07:11.320 --> 0:07:14.320 the best way to approach that is by keeping that 0:07:14.400 --> 0:07:16.600 same approach you've had walking in the building every single 0:07:16.680 --> 0:07:19.400 day dating back to April. Yeah. I thought Davante Adams 0:07:19.400 --> 0:07:21.680 had an interesting message too, because I had asked him 0:07:21.720 --> 0:07:27.640 specifically about his playoff debuteen Divisional round against the Dallas Cowboys, 0:07:27.720 --> 0:07:30.160 and he went out there as a rookie, seven catches, 0:07:30.240 --> 0:07:32.200 hundred seventeen yards a touchdown. He was one of the 0:07:32.240 --> 0:07:35.400 stars of the game as the Packers moved on and advanced, 0:07:35.920 --> 0:07:38.680 and even he said he doesn't really remember so much 0:07:38.680 --> 0:07:40.240 about the week leading up to the game, but he 0:07:40.280 --> 0:07:44.800 remembers taking the field and not really realizing how much 0:07:44.840 --> 0:07:47.120 the intensity level was going to ratchet up. Now, he 0:07:47.200 --> 0:07:51.440 still performed, had a tremendous game, but he admitted he 0:07:51.520 --> 0:07:54.360 wasn't even necessarily quite ready for that intensity level. So 0:07:54.400 --> 0:07:57.520 what he's trying to pass along to these other receivers, 0:07:57.560 --> 0:08:00.280 because he's the only receiver who's playing regular for the 0:08:00.320 --> 0:08:02.760 package who's been in the postseason. He's talking to Vold 0:08:02.760 --> 0:08:08.000 this scantling and to Jake Kumero and to Alan Lazard 0:08:08.440 --> 0:08:11.520 about you've got to be ready for that intensity level 0:08:11.560 --> 0:08:14.720 to wratch it up. But if you've had his messages, 0:08:14.760 --> 0:08:18.080 if you've had that focus and attention to detail all 0:08:18.120 --> 0:08:21.160 along through the regular season. That's just what you need 0:08:21.160 --> 0:08:24.239 to keep going. It's not about, as I said before, 0:08:24.280 --> 0:08:26.240 it's not about trying to be a hero. It's not 0:08:26.320 --> 0:08:31.000 about trying to do something spectacular other worldly. It's about 0:08:31.200 --> 0:08:33.800 doing what you're doing, but just being ready and have 0:08:33.960 --> 0:08:37.080 the knowledge of what it might feel like and obviously 0:08:37.120 --> 0:08:39.160 what's at stake. And the best part about this, we'll 0:08:39.200 --> 0:08:42.160 talk about this, I'm sure on tomorrow's show too. If 0:08:42.160 --> 0:08:44.920 you're following the forecast right now for this game, it's 0:08:44.920 --> 0:08:48.600 going to be a quintessential lambeau Field January football game. Now, 0:08:48.600 --> 0:08:50.760 it looks like most of the snow and I've seen 0:08:50.800 --> 0:08:53.280 those numbers range anywhere from six to ten inches now 0:08:53.320 --> 0:08:56.520 at this point, most of that snow is gonna land beforehand, 0:08:57.040 --> 0:08:59.400 but it's gonna be chilly. I think the current forecast 0:08:59.400 --> 0:09:01.680 is under twenty degrees. These are all the things that 0:09:01.679 --> 0:09:03.920 when the Packers talked about having a home field advantage, 0:09:03.960 --> 0:09:05.520 this is what they were talking about. They weren't talking 0:09:05.559 --> 0:09:09.880 about forty two degree day in lambeau Field on January twelve. 0:09:10.280 --> 0:09:13.760 They were talking about fifteen degrees, flurries, those type of conditions, 0:09:14.320 --> 0:09:17.200 And if you think about it, Mike, with them having 0:09:17.200 --> 0:09:20.240 the cold early in October, these guys are there. They're 0:09:20.320 --> 0:09:24.040 forged for that now. And I just that shifting mentality 0:09:24.040 --> 0:09:26.480 of how these guys approach it both in the locker 0:09:26.559 --> 0:09:29.440 room on the field. I've said it all along. I 0:09:29.480 --> 0:09:32.320 just feel like this team has built itself up for 0:09:32.360 --> 0:09:35.880 this moment and here we are now days away from it, 0:09:36.200 --> 0:09:38.440 them trying to get their first playoff victory now in 0:09:38.480 --> 0:09:40.440 three years. Yeah, it is going to be interesting to 0:09:40.480 --> 0:09:43.280 see as the forecast the temperature has kind of dropped 0:09:43.320 --> 0:09:45.160 a little bit in terms of what they're projecting. You're 0:09:45.160 --> 0:09:47.640 talking about the snow that's going to be coming in 0:09:47.720 --> 0:09:50.040 at some point over the weekend. So we will see 0:09:50.440 --> 0:09:53.280 how much the weather ultimately has an impact. And as 0:09:53.360 --> 0:09:56.360 we're sitting here on Thursday taping this, I mean by 0:09:56.360 --> 0:09:59.240 the time Saturday afternoon rules around, the whole forecast could 0:09:59.240 --> 0:10:02.040 be different too, So we'll we'll just have to see. 0:10:02.040 --> 0:10:06.760 In that respect, I want to get back to your conversation. 0:10:06.840 --> 0:10:09.720 Along with some other reporters. You were at Kevin King's 0:10:09.720 --> 0:10:13.120 locker for quite a while on Wednesday after practice. He 0:10:13.200 --> 0:10:15.080 was he was holding court a bit. As you said, 0:10:15.120 --> 0:10:20.760 he can be very both entertaining and introspective, and his 0:10:20.760 --> 0:10:23.880 his thoughts not only on him entering up, you know, 0:10:23.960 --> 0:10:26.240 the playoffs for the first time and all that, but 0:10:26.320 --> 0:10:28.439 he had a he had a good perspective on kind 0:10:28.480 --> 0:10:32.680 of what has helped this Green Bay secondary, which, aside 0:10:32.720 --> 0:10:37.319 from Tremont Williams, is full of all kinds of young guys. Um, 0:10:37.360 --> 0:10:40.320 but this is uh, this is a group that has 0:10:40.400 --> 0:10:44.840 that has held itself together and is you know, quite frankly, 0:10:44.840 --> 0:10:47.720 playing some pretty good football. And I sat down after 0:10:47.760 --> 0:10:50.079 I finished my night, I wrote in box and I'm 0:10:50.080 --> 0:10:52.120 working on this story about the defensive backs, and I'm 0:10:52.160 --> 0:10:54.840 reflecting on two thousand fourteen, and there's a lot of 0:10:54.880 --> 0:10:57.199 negatives that people remember about four team. But I was 0:10:57.240 --> 0:11:00.600 looking at the roster construction and it's fascinating to me 0:11:00.640 --> 0:11:02.960 that the Packers in that year started the season with 0:11:03.000 --> 0:11:05.480 the same ten defensive backs that they finished the season 0:11:05.480 --> 0:11:07.680 with actually end up being eleven because then Chris Banjo 0:11:07.800 --> 0:11:10.040 was added to the roster as well after starting the 0:11:10.080 --> 0:11:12.719 year on the practice squad. All eleven of those same 0:11:12.720 --> 0:11:14.360 guys played until the end of the year. Now, there 0:11:14.360 --> 0:11:16.280 were some injuries in between, but they finished the year 0:11:16.320 --> 0:11:21.959 with that unity. This year's team is a little bit 0:11:22.000 --> 0:11:24.720 tiny different because Tony Brown was released two weeks ago 0:11:25.000 --> 0:11:26.920 and Raven Green is on i R, although he has 0:11:26.960 --> 0:11:30.520 the potential to potentially be activated for this game on Sunday. 0:11:30.559 --> 0:11:32.520 But there are a lot of parallels when you look 0:11:32.559 --> 0:11:34.800 at how the depth has worked out for them. They 0:11:34.880 --> 0:11:36.760 have a lot of depth to begin with, and then 0:11:36.760 --> 0:11:38.280 the fact that those guys have been able to stay 0:11:38.280 --> 0:11:40.080 on the field. If you look at the dime defense, 0:11:40.160 --> 0:11:42.800 four of the six starting defensive backs in that formation 0:11:43.080 --> 0:11:46.680 have played in all sixteen games. Darnell Savage missed two, 0:11:46.920 --> 0:11:49.840 Kevin King sat out against Washington and came back. And 0:11:49.880 --> 0:11:52.319 I think having King, you know, kind of be able 0:11:52.360 --> 0:11:54.280 to shake off these injuries, not just play through them, 0:11:54.280 --> 0:11:55.880 but shake them off. He hasn't been on the injury 0:11:55.880 --> 0:11:58.320 report here the last few weeks. Has been so critical 0:11:58.320 --> 0:12:00.800 to his success because we've seen since a very beginning 0:12:00.800 --> 0:12:04.000 how talented he is. Packers didn't draft him for no 0:12:04.080 --> 0:12:07.000 reason at number thirty three almost three years ago. Now. 0:12:07.360 --> 0:12:10.719 They drafted him because they saw six ft three, you know, 0:12:10.840 --> 0:12:13.720 quarterback that can run a four four and when he's 0:12:13.760 --> 0:12:15.640 at the top of his game at this defense is 0:12:15.640 --> 0:12:19.600 playing at an optimal level. And this game, if you 0:12:19.640 --> 0:12:22.319 look at it on paper, DK metcalf is standing out 0:12:22.320 --> 0:12:25.079 there at six ft four pounds or whatever he is, 0:12:25.360 --> 0:12:27.920 Kevin King looks like a really good asset to defend that. Now, 0:12:27.960 --> 0:12:31.240 he wasn't getting into that conversation, but I think talking 0:12:31.280 --> 0:12:33.559 to King and where his mindset is at and how 0:12:33.600 --> 0:12:35.520 he's been able to kind of free himself of all 0:12:35.960 --> 0:12:38.200 the things that have happened in the past, I just 0:12:38.280 --> 0:12:41.319 think he is just the epitome of this entire secondary 0:12:41.320 --> 0:12:43.880 and how they've been able to really ramp this thing 0:12:43.960 --> 0:12:46.199 up during the second half of the season month of 0:12:46.240 --> 0:12:50.120 December sixty one nine passer rating for opponents, four touchdowns, 0:12:50.120 --> 0:12:54.800 eight interceptions during that span, completion percentage and more than 0:12:54.800 --> 0:12:57.480 anything else, only two or eight yards per game allowed 0:12:57.520 --> 0:12:59.640 through the air. The Packers have cut down on those 0:12:59.640 --> 0:13:01.960 explore some plays and that's what has allowed this defense 0:13:02.000 --> 0:13:04.040 to really settle in. That's what I was going to say, 0:13:04.120 --> 0:13:06.839 is to me, and and yes, the interceptions certainly helped 0:13:06.840 --> 0:13:09.719 turnovers our big plays. To me, the most impressive thing 0:13:09.800 --> 0:13:12.200 that this secondary has done over the course of the 0:13:12.280 --> 0:13:15.400 season as we've seen this defense go through some ups 0:13:15.400 --> 0:13:18.480 and downs. Is the cutting down on the explosives. I 0:13:18.520 --> 0:13:21.680 think that's I think that's what's really changed the look 0:13:21.760 --> 0:13:25.280 of this Packers defense down the stretch through the month 0:13:25.320 --> 0:13:28.280 of December, and Mike Petton has mentioned it at the 0:13:28.320 --> 0:13:31.880 podium multiple times that really the whole key to that 0:13:32.440 --> 0:13:34.800 in cutting down on those big explosive place has been 0:13:34.800 --> 0:13:38.280 the communication that, you know, the Packers are becoming a 0:13:38.360 --> 0:13:41.600 noisy defense. Pre snap, guys are yelling and barking back 0:13:41.640 --> 0:13:45.760 and forth at each other because guys guys who are assertive, 0:13:45.800 --> 0:13:48.280 guys who are noisy, they know what they're doing and 0:13:48.320 --> 0:13:50.920 they're confident in what the call is. They're confident in 0:13:50.960 --> 0:13:54.120 communicating that to their teammates. And that's what's getting everybody 0:13:54.160 --> 0:13:56.320 on the same page. Because through the middle portion of 0:13:56.360 --> 0:13:58.320 the season, when the Packers were giving up a lot 0:13:58.400 --> 0:14:01.560 of those explosive plays, the coaching staff, the players, they 0:14:01.559 --> 0:14:04.080 went back and looked at it, and more often than not, 0:14:04.320 --> 0:14:08.240 it was some level of miscommunication where somebody's doing one 0:14:08.280 --> 0:14:11.160 thing when everybody else is doing something else. And that's 0:14:11.200 --> 0:14:13.440 the thing about defense, That's the thing about this game 0:14:13.480 --> 0:14:16.120 of football. If ten guys are doing one thing, but 0:14:16.200 --> 0:14:18.679 one guy is doing something else, it can wreck the 0:14:19.400 --> 0:14:24.960 whole plan. And so getting that communication squared away. And 0:14:25.240 --> 0:14:29.000 as Patton said, a noisy defense is a confident defense, 0:14:29.040 --> 0:14:31.640 and noisy defense is a good defense. He likes hearing 0:14:32.040 --> 0:14:34.480 all the barking and the yelling and everything pre snap 0:14:34.560 --> 0:14:38.160 that goes on out there, and it's worked for this team. 0:14:38.200 --> 0:14:41.040 It's worked for this unit to turn things around from 0:14:41.040 --> 0:14:43.120 where they were in the middle portion of the season 0:14:43.320 --> 0:14:45.840 when those big plays were happening all too often. Yeah, 0:14:45.840 --> 0:14:48.120 and Savage even said too, I believe it was Savage 0:14:48.320 --> 0:14:50.600 that you know, guys could be barking stuff around, you 0:14:50.680 --> 0:14:52.600 might even know what the call is, but there's still 0:14:52.640 --> 0:14:55.440 a benefit to being able to have that kind of communication. 0:14:55.480 --> 0:14:58.600 And Yeah, Petton has even said it's about over communicating. 0:14:58.600 --> 0:15:03.720 There's there's no there's no demerit points for over communicating. 0:15:03.800 --> 0:15:06.240 It's it's hey, you know, even if everybody knows it's 0:15:06.240 --> 0:15:08.480 say it again anyway, you know that that's the approach 0:15:08.520 --> 0:15:11.440 that and this is an outspoken secondary too. If you 0:15:11.520 --> 0:15:16.280 go flashback to where in two thousand fifteen to where 0:15:16.280 --> 0:15:17.680 they are now, I mean, you have a lot of 0:15:17.800 --> 0:15:20.800 extroverted type of personalities. Now they're different types of extroverts. 0:15:20.800 --> 0:15:24.120 I don't think Jay Alexander is the traditional extrovert, but 0:15:24.440 --> 0:15:27.400 within his within his group, and within his position, you 0:15:27.400 --> 0:15:30.960 can tell, you know the kind of the the court 0:15:31.040 --> 0:15:33.440 that he holds with that group, and it probably honestly 0:15:33.480 --> 0:15:36.120 starts a lot with Tremont Williams and in the kind 0:15:36.160 --> 0:15:39.040 of leadership that that he provides at that spot. But 0:15:39.240 --> 0:15:42.120 it's it's it's been very telling, I think when you've 0:15:42.160 --> 0:15:45.120 watched this team mature throughout the course of the year. Yes, 0:15:45.160 --> 0:15:47.720 they lost Raven Green, but then they got Ibraheim Campbell 0:15:47.760 --> 0:15:50.600 back that allowed adrianame Is to play deep safety again 0:15:50.920 --> 0:15:53.920 or play more into that strong safety role. Darnell Savage 0:15:53.920 --> 0:15:56.760 has a full season under his belt now, J Alexander, 0:15:56.800 --> 0:16:01.680 only the more that that group plays together, the stronger 0:16:01.720 --> 0:16:04.760 it's going to become. And you know this is totally 0:16:04.760 --> 0:16:07.200 true for the offensive line probably more than any other position. 0:16:07.200 --> 0:16:09.400 When that group plays together, there's a benefit to that. 0:16:09.880 --> 0:16:11.640 But I really think something that we don't really don't 0:16:11.680 --> 0:16:13.360 talk enough about is that when you can get us 0:16:13.400 --> 0:16:17.120 an entire secondary together playing as one, you talk about 0:16:17.200 --> 0:16:20.600 ten playing as a you know, one guy being off script, 0:16:20.600 --> 0:16:23.400 and what can happen when when you play that many 0:16:23.400 --> 0:16:26.200 snaps together, some of that stuff gets to be sort 0:16:26.200 --> 0:16:29.240 of you know, you know, ironed out. So it's gonna 0:16:29.240 --> 0:16:31.920 be fascinating to watch because this is a game where 0:16:31.960 --> 0:16:33.880 you look at how it it's structured, and we'll see 0:16:33.920 --> 0:16:36.800 exactly what this forecast ends up looking like Sunday. But 0:16:36.840 --> 0:16:38.920 the harder you make it for Russell Wilson to get 0:16:38.920 --> 0:16:41.480 the downfield passing game going, the more beneficial it's going 0:16:41.480 --> 0:16:43.920 to be to this entire defense and this team, because 0:16:43.920 --> 0:16:45.640 that's the one area right now I think with the 0:16:45.680 --> 0:16:48.520 Seahawks not having their traditional run game where they can 0:16:48.560 --> 0:16:50.400 really hurt you as if you allow them to get 0:16:50.400 --> 0:16:52.600 that going well, And this is the other thing I'll 0:16:52.600 --> 0:16:55.440 say too, as we wrap up this discussion about the secondary, 0:16:55.560 --> 0:16:59.320 I think we'd be remiss if we didn't talk about 0:16:59.360 --> 0:17:01.920 one of the key things I think that has that 0:17:01.960 --> 0:17:04.919 has benefited this group as they've ironed some things out 0:17:05.080 --> 0:17:08.679 is Mike Petton. Certainly, over over the back half of 0:17:08.680 --> 0:17:13.080 the season particularly, he has not had to rely on 0:17:13.840 --> 0:17:17.800 blitzes and sending extra rushers to get pressure on the quarterback. 0:17:17.920 --> 0:17:20.960 And if you can rush for the vast majority of 0:17:21.000 --> 0:17:23.560 the time, sometimes it's three and even dropping an eighth 0:17:23.560 --> 0:17:26.760 guy into coverage if you're covering with seven guys most 0:17:26.840 --> 0:17:29.280 of the time, and then that communication is on point. 0:17:29.600 --> 0:17:33.000 That makes things really difficult for quarterbacks, especially on third 0:17:33.000 --> 0:17:35.440 and eight and third and ten and stuff like that. 0:17:35.520 --> 0:17:38.120 And you just look at you look at the numbers 0:17:38.160 --> 0:17:41.800 West and obviously the Packers this year, they didn't actually 0:17:41.920 --> 0:17:45.920 rack up a big, huge sack number compared to last year. 0:17:46.000 --> 0:17:49.000 The sack numbers are somewhat similar in terms of the 0:17:49.359 --> 0:17:52.879 total team number at the end of the regular season. 0:17:53.400 --> 0:17:55.719 But we all know from the eye test and when 0:17:55.760 --> 0:17:58.200 you look at other stats from Pro Football Focus about 0:17:58.200 --> 0:18:02.400 pressures and things like that, it that this defense is different. 0:18:02.480 --> 0:18:04.679 And I think one of the biggest differences is the 0:18:04.720 --> 0:18:08.800 ability to get sacks and then or I should say, 0:18:08.800 --> 0:18:12.000 to get pressures and then sometimes sacks without having to 0:18:12.119 --> 0:18:14.560 blitz and without having to put that secondary in a 0:18:14.600 --> 0:18:18.400 compromising position. Where Mike Pettness saying, we've got to speed 0:18:18.480 --> 0:18:21.440 up the quarterback. But if you don't, if you don't 0:18:21.480 --> 0:18:23.840 have to, uh, if you don't have to compromise the 0:18:23.880 --> 0:18:26.960 coverage in order to do that that makes your defense 0:18:26.960 --> 0:18:28.920 look a heck of a lot different whether you're sacking 0:18:28.920 --> 0:18:30.960 the quarterback or not. I guess is my point in 0:18:31.000 --> 0:18:33.320 the statistic I keep going back to because you're absolutely 0:18:33.400 --> 0:18:35.359 right about the sacks. The sacks are basically on par 0:18:35.480 --> 0:18:37.000 with what they were last year. But if you look 0:18:37.040 --> 0:18:40.000 a little bit deeper into that quarterback hits this year 0:18:40.000 --> 0:18:43.160 for the Packers defense, they had seventy four last year, 0:18:43.560 --> 0:18:46.080 and Kyler Faccrol for having ten and a half sacks, 0:18:46.080 --> 0:18:49.359 only had twelve quarterback hits in the quarterback. It's been 0:18:49.400 --> 0:18:51.919 a constant barrage of pressure that they've been able to 0:18:51.960 --> 0:18:55.280 throw against these things. And I know Aaron Nagler, friend 0:18:55.280 --> 0:18:57.760 of the show, you know, he always talks about the 0:18:57.840 --> 0:18:59.600 kind of the three man rush by in the bane 0:18:59.640 --> 0:19:01.720 of his egg existence, and in most cases he's right. 0:19:02.680 --> 0:19:04.359 I always felt like the most the only time you 0:19:04.359 --> 0:19:06.479 really could really count on it consistently is when you're 0:19:06.520 --> 0:19:08.720 in the red zone. You have more guys that defend 0:19:08.800 --> 0:19:11.560 less area of the field. But I'll say this about 0:19:11.600 --> 0:19:13.879 this year's defense, they've gotten as much pressure with a 0:19:13.960 --> 0:19:16.560 three man front is I can ever recall, at least 0:19:16.640 --> 0:19:18.280 during my time on the beat and that's a credit 0:19:18.359 --> 0:19:20.719 is that area Smith and and Kenny Clark standing at 0:19:20.720 --> 0:19:23.679 the front of that. And you're absolutely right because when 0:19:23.720 --> 0:19:25.920 you can get pressure with for not only are you right, 0:19:26.000 --> 0:19:28.240 does that give you more options in your secondary? I 0:19:28.280 --> 0:19:30.280 actually think it also is what makes the blitz is 0:19:30.280 --> 0:19:33.120 more effective. You've seen then, Okay, now when you said 0:19:33.119 --> 0:19:36.040 Adrian Amos or when you send a slot cornerback at 0:19:36.040 --> 0:19:39.040 the quarterback, now you're getting a little bit more exotic 0:19:39.160 --> 0:19:42.080 rather than all right, we gotta go five on five here, 0:19:42.080 --> 0:19:43.720 it's our only way to get home. That's been a 0:19:43.760 --> 0:19:46.760 big difference for this defense. Yeah, I think so too. 0:19:46.800 --> 0:19:48.520 I think I think that when you look at the 0:19:48.920 --> 0:19:52.200 bigger picture, everything in totality not you know, taking nothing 0:19:52.240 --> 0:19:54.720