
Packers beat reporters Jim Owczarski and Ryan Wood analyze how Green Bay will deal with heavy injury hits to the offensive and defensive lines. USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin
GREEN BAY – Despite seeing deep touchdowns thrown in Kentrell Brice’s coverage area over the last two weeks, Mike McCarthy’s confidence in his starting safety has not waned.
“No, I’m all for Kentrell,” the Green Packers coach said Monday. “I think in the big picture of things you’ve got to look at his whole body of work. I really like the way he’s taken his opportunity and what he’s done with it throughout the spring and the summer. Had a fast start there.
“I mean, we had some tough moments in the game. If you look at the defense, it was a tale of two halves and some of the things, part of it is a little bit the new system and going through the tweaks of that. But nah, K.B. will bounce back and I think our defense as a whole, the performance in the second half is exactly what you’re looking for. They gave us a lot of opportunities and so we’ll grow from this experience.”
Brice has been in the vicinity of a 75-yard touchdown pass by Minnesota two weeks ago and a 46-yard touchdown pass by Washington on Sunday, and he deferred schematic questions to the coaching staff after the game.
On that play, Brice looked to be in proper position but he eventually drifted into cornerback Jaire Alexander as he attempted to track the ball.
“It’s a passing league,” fellow safety Ha Ha Clinton-Dix said. “We’ve got to be able to make plays on the ball. Those guys are good, too, so it’s just about capitalizing on the plays we get a chance to make plays on. Like I said, they’re good too, so they’re going to make plays, but us DB’s, we’re hungry. We want it. We’re going to continue to challenge ourselves.”
Posted!
A link has been posted to your Facebook feed.








































































































































Interested in this topic? You may also want to view these photo galleries:
1 of 136
2 of 136
3 of 136
4 of 136
5 of 136
6 of 136
7 of 136
8 of 136
9 of 136
10 of 136
11 of 136
12 of 136
13 of 136
14 of 136
15 of 136
16 of 136
17 of 136
18 of 136
19 of 136
20 of 136
21 of 136
22 of 136
23 of 136
24 of 136
25 of 136
26 of 136
27 of 136
28 of 136
29 of 136
30 of 136
31 of 136
32 of 136
33 of 136
34 of 136
35 of 136
36 of 136
37 of 136
38 of 136
39 of 136
40 of 136
41 of 136
42 of 136
43 of 136
44 of 136
45 of 136
46 of 136
47 of 136
48 of 136
49 of 136
50 of 136
51 of 136
52 of 136
53 of 136
54 of 136
55 of 136
56 of 136
57 of 136
58 of 136
59 of 136
60 of 136
61 of 136
62 of 136
63 of 136
64 of 136
65 of 136
66 of 136
67 of 136
68 of 136
69 of 136
70 of 136
71 of 136
72 of 136
73 of 136
74 of 136
75 of 136
76 of 136
77 of 136
78 of 136
79 of 136
80 of 136
81 of 136
82 of 136
83 of 136
84 of 136
85 of 136
86 of 136
87 of 136
88 of 136
89 of 136
90 of 136
91 of 136
92 of 136
93 of 136
94 of 136
95 of 136
96 of 136
97 of 136
98 of 136
99 of 136
100 of 136
101 of 136
102 of 136
103 of 136
104 of 136
105 of 136
106 of 136
107 of 136
108 of 136
109 of 136
110 of 136
111 of 136
112 of 136
113 of 136
114 of 136
115 of 136
116 of 136
117 of 136
118 of 136
119 of 136
120 of 136
121 of 136
122 of 136
123 of 136
124 of 136
125 of 136
126 of 136
127 of 136
128 of 136
129 of 136
130 of 136
131 of 136
132 of 136
133 of 136
134 of 136
135 of 136
136 of 136
Fackrell, Gilbert see more time
In the days leading up to the game Sunday, Packers defensive coordinator Mike Pettine acknowledged he needed to work in outside linebackers Kyler Fackrell and Reggie Gilbert to ease the burden on Clay Matthews and Nick Perry. Through the first two games, Matthews played 56 snaps and Perry 40 — or 77 percent and 55 percent of the Packers’ total defensive plays, respectively.
Against Washington, Fackrell played 23 snaps and recorded one tackle and Gilbert was on the field for 24, making two stops.
“As the game kind of progressed it really got to where we were taking either a whole set of downs or a whole series,” said Fackrell, who had seen the field for just 13 snaps over the first games. “So that helps when you’re able to kind of get into that flow rather than just either doing first and second down.”
Neither recorded a sack or hit on Washington quarterback Alex Smith, however.
“It’s definitely up to us to kind of look at our group and look at our front as a whole and what we can do a little bit better to get some more pressure,” Fackrell said.
Packers continue to talk Matthews
On Monday, McCarthy was asked if he has had any discussions with Packers president and CEO Mark Murphy about the three consecutive roughing-the-passer penalties that have been called on Clay Matthews. Murphy sits on the National Football League’s competition committee, which has enacted new use of helmet rules and emphasized others such as the “full body weight” element of landing a quarterback.
“There’s a normal process regardless of what’s going on in the league during the in-season as far as the officials and the opportunity to communicate with them,” McCarthy said. “I know Mark has had more communication the last two weeks and it’s stating the obvious, yeah, we’re all talking about it internally and going through it because at the end of the day, the league office, the officials, the players, the coaches, I mean everybody wants the same thing. So, you want some clarity and how can we communicate and maybe make it more of a clearer situation. So, but yes, Mark’s been very involved from that perspective, yes.”
More Packers-Washington coverage:
Box score | NFL scoreboard | Standings
DOUGHERTY: Packers may have lost much more than just a game
SILVERSTEIN: Packers lose their grip on offense
Matthews says NFL ‘getting soft’ after latest roughing penalty
Packers defense breaks down in first half, allowing four touchdowns
NOTES: Shaky outlook for offensive line after another round of injuries
INSIDER: Thumbs up to Kenny Clark, down to Randall Cobb
QUICK TAKES: Washington 31, Packers 17
Join the Conversation
To find out more about Facebook commenting please read the Conversation Guidelines and FAQs
Comments