Zero2Cool
14 years ago
http://www.packers.com/news/stories/2010/06/18/1/ 


Offseason workouts in the NFL can be a real grind. There are no games to look forward to, and there are no pads and no hitting to spice up the practice action.

But talk to a few of the Green Bay Packers' defensive players and there's definitely some excitement swirling as the offseason winds down with next week's mini-camp. That energy stems from what they see as a potentially expanded playbook in the second year of defensive coordinator Dom Capers' 3-4 scheme.

"We went through the first half of these OTAs and we were just kind of rehashing memory from last year, but now we're learning new defenses," second-year outside linebacker Clay Matthews said. "We're trying to implement new ideas and schemes to see ways in which we can beat teams that we fell short (against) last year.

"We're light years ahead of where we were last year and we look forward to start using all these plays we're putting in."

No scheme stays exactly the same from year to year. Coaches spend the first part of the offseason evaluating all their film from the prior season and looking for things to improve on or do differently.

Then OTAs are the time to start experimenting, and according to his players, Capers is doing plenty of it. That's not to say every new formation or tweak will become a permanent part of the 2010 playbook, but the OTAs accomplish two things in that regard - they provide a testing ground for new ideas, and they allow changes to be introduced long before some of the more detailed work may take place.

"I think now's the time where you can take a look at new things, see how it looks," Capers said. "It gives you a little bit more time to evaluate it. It gets it on tape, guys get a chance to look at it, and then you decide how much of it you want to do during training camp.

"You have to put a lot of volume in during training camp, and you might not use some of that until maybe after the fourth or fifth game, and then you'll save some things for the latter half of the season."

It will be interesting to see just how creative Capers might get. Last year, Packers fans saw glimpses of that when he devised the "Big Okie" package that employed linebacker Brandon Chillar in place of a safety to help stop the run, and then he unveiled the nickel look called "Psycho" with one down lineman, five linebackers and five defensive backs.

Even greater flexibility should be possible this year because all the basic concepts in Capers' 3-4 were installed last year and reviewed again this spring.

"Now we're adding things to the defense that we didn't have last year," former nose tackle turned defensive end Ryan Pickett said. "He keeps stuff coming at us, but at the same time we've got the basics. He built the foundation last year, now we're just trying to add on to it. Everybody is working to get this stuff down so we can be even better than we were last year."

That's a tall order, considering the Packers were No. 2 in the league in yards allowed, No. 1 against the run, and No. 1 in takeaways. But they did struggle against veteran quarterbacks with high-powered passing attacks, so no one is denying there's improvement to be found.

When it comes to expanding the playbook, Capers believes the players' knowledge of the base scheme goes hand-in-hand with the coaching staff's increased familiarity with the players.

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"I think our players know a lot more about our defense and what we expect, and I think we know a lot more about our players because we've been around them and we've seen what we feel their strengths and weaknesses are," Capers said. "So it works both ways, and hopefully that's something we can use to our advantage heading into our second year."

Defensive coaches generally employ the most creativity in devising different ways to rush the passer, and Matthews, who led the team with 10 sacks a year ago, hinted that will be the Packers' approach.

That's why he was not alarmed when the team didn't draft another outside linebacker this year to compete for the job opposite him. Not only does Matthews have confidence in fellow second-year pro Brad Jones and veteran Brady Poppinga to provide a pass-rushing complement, he sees the pass rush as a whole coming from more than just those two spots in year two.

"They have us coming from everywhere," Matthews said. "I know there's a few new wrinkles in which we'll have some inside linebackers coming off the edge, some interior linemen coming off the edge. It's kind of deceiving when you say you have two outside linebackers, because we bring everybody on the defense at one point or another rushing from an outside linebacker standpoint."

It certainly keeps the players interested, and anxious, even after a full month's worth of OTAs.

"We're putting in so many defenses that you have to stay focused," Matthews said. "We're putting in so much more than we put in last year, which I think is going to pay off dividends for us in the long run. It's a grind, but this business calls for that."


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go.pack.go.
14 years ago
I'm lovin' it. I really like Dom Capers as our Defensive Coordinator. He really knows how to confuse the QB.
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IronMan
14 years ago
Execution and fundamentals > fancy schemes.
Nonstopdrivel
14 years ago
Amen to that, Dave.
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rabidgopher04
14 years ago

I'm lovin' it. I really like Dom Capers as our Defensive Coordinator. He really knows how to confuse the QB.

"go.pack.go." wrote:



Except Brett Favre.
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Zero2Cool
14 years ago

I'm lovin' it. I really like Dom Capers as our Defensive Coordinator. He really knows how to confuse the QB.

"rabidgopher04" wrote:



Except Brett Favre.

"go.pack.go." wrote:



Only a Favre lover would omit Ben Roethlisberger and Kurt Warner in a statement like that. 🙂
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go.pack.go.
14 years ago

I'm lovin' it. I really like Dom Capers as our Defensive Coordinator. He really knows how to confuse the QB.

"rabidgopher04" wrote:



Except Brett Favre.

"go.pack.go." wrote:



I think he knows how, he just doesn't want to bring the heat because he thinks they will scorch him. That ended up back-firing on him.

Hopefully he realizes the mistakes he made in not bringing pressure on those QB's, and changes his philosophy on playing elite quarterbacks.
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TengoJuego
14 years ago

Execution and fundamentals > fancy schemes.

"IronMan" wrote:



Using fundamentals to execute those fancy schemes=WIN! lol
rabidgopher04
14 years ago

I'm lovin' it. I really like Dom Capers as our Defensive Coordinator. He really knows how to confuse the QB.

"Zero2Cool" wrote:



Except Brett Favre.

"rabidgopher04" wrote:



Only a Favre lover would omit Ben Roethlisberger and Kurt Warner in a statement like that. :)

"go.pack.go." wrote:



I forgot about those games, but the truth is we wouldn't have had to face Warner if we had beat the Vikings because we would have had better seeding in the playoffs.
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Zero2Cool
14 years ago

I'm lovin' it. I really like Dom Capers as our Defensive Coordinator. He really knows how to confuse the QB.

"rabidgopher04" wrote:



Except Brett Favre.

"Zero2Cool" wrote:



Only a Favre lover would omit Ben Roethlisberger and Kurt Warner in a statement like that. :)

"rabidgopher04" wrote:



I forgot about those games, but the truth is we wouldn't have had to face Warner if we had beat the Vikings because we would have had better seeding in the playoffs.

"go.pack.go." wrote:



I remember the playoff loss more than any other loss of the season.

Truth being spoken, we could have still faced the Cardinals if we beat the Vikings just once. It'd have been Warner or Brees. Which one would you rather have went against? lol
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Fan Shout
dfosterf (17m) : How long until Jeff Sperbeck's family sues John Elway ?
Zero2Cool (2h) : Packers are exercising the fifth-year option on DT Devonte Wyatt, locking in a guaranteed $12.9M for the 2026 season.
beast (7h) : Sounds like P Luke Elzinga has a rookie try out opportunity from the Titans
dfosterf (9h) : Luke Elzinga Punter Oklahoma stil unsigned. Green Bay has been mentioned as good fit
beast (17h) : The Packers re-signed three exclusive rights free agents WR Melton, P Whelan and RB Wilson.
Zero2Cool (29-Apr) : February 5, 2002 (age 23) ok no. packers.com is wrong
Zero2Cool (29-Apr) : Micah Robinson is only 19??
Zero2Cool (29-Apr) : 6 first rounders on Packers defense now
Zero2Cool (29-Apr) : LB Isaiah Simmons. Signed. Called it!!! Oh yeah!
Martha Careful (29-Apr) : ty bboystyle...fat fingers
bboystyle (29-Apr) : Tom*
Martha Careful (28-Apr) : RIP Packer Safety Tim Brown
beast (27-Apr) : Yeah, but also some of the wording suggestions Jax only pranked called the QB, not the others... and if he had an open spreadsheet & 3 calls
beast (27-Apr) : Thank goodness he's not leaving the Turtle in the Red Tide
Mucky Tundra (27-Apr) : Cowboys 1st round pick Tyler Booker will indeed be bringing his pet turtle to Dallas with him
Mucky Tundra (27-Apr) : that contained all prospects info and contact
Mucky Tundra (27-Apr) : beast, according the Falcons statement Jax came across it on an ipad. If I had to guess, probably an open spread sheet or something
Zero2Cool (27-Apr) : Simmons put up an emoji with cheese.
beast (27-Apr) : Not sure anyone is interested in Isaiah Simmons... Collin Oliver might of taken his potential slot
beast (27-Apr) : I'm going with Jax Ulbrich is not telling the whole truth... he accidentally came across it? Why would a defensive coordinator have a QB #?
Zero2Cool (27-Apr) : He's not that great, but final piece of the script.\
Zero2Cool (27-Apr) : If we add Isaiah Simmons, book your Super Bowl tickets
Mucky Tundra (27-Apr) : Colts 1st round TE Tyler Warren also got prank called, was that Jax Ulbrich as well?
Zero2Cool (27-Apr) : Jax Ulbrich, Jeff Ulbrich’s son, released an apology for his role in the Shedeur Sanders prank call.
Martha Careful (27-Apr) : apparently he did not participate in practice or play on the east west shrine game nor the NFL combine. The kid was a mediocre spoiled brat
Mucky Tundra (27-Apr) : Yeah that one that was a super wounded duck that Sanders supporters are highlighting to prove a point
Zero2Cool (27-Apr) : Shough is the guy who missed guys at combine isn't he?
beast (27-Apr) : It's not official until I'm dead! I have a chance still! (Not really)
Mucky Tundra (27-Apr) : I could feel my body decomposing in real time when I read that
Mucky Tundra (27-Apr) : @MIKEYSAINRISTIL Tyler Shough will officially be the last person drafted to the NFL born in the 1900’s
Mucky Tundra (26-Apr) : saw the tweet, he meant the city
Mucky Tundra (26-Apr) : Was that for the team or the city?
Zero2Cool (26-Apr) : Adam Schefter @AdamSchefter · 3m Draft grade is in: Green Bay gets an A. The people, the city, the venue were all superb. NFL Draft’s next
Zero2Cool (26-Apr) : Matt LaFleur says Jaire Alexander is participating in #Packers offseason program, which has been conducted virtually during this first week
Zero2Cool (26-Apr) : ✅ ...
buckeyepackfan (26-Apr) : Check
Zero2Cool (26-Apr) : Matthew Golden cahanged 81 to 22??
TheKanataThrilla (26-Apr) : Sam Howell to Vikings...guess no Aaron
Martha Careful (26-Apr) : 1 round 7 min, with one extra minute if there is a trade. 2nd round 4 minutes, 3rd -3, 2 thereafter IMO
Martha Careful (26-Apr) : Agree
dfosterf (26-Apr) : Great idea imo
dfosterf (26-Apr) : 1st round to 7 minutes with one extension
dfosterf (26-Apr) : NFL comissioner wants to shorten the 2st
Mucky Tundra (26-Apr) : @jalenreagors They’re discussing if Sheduer can go back to college on NFL Network LMFAOOOOO
beast (26-Apr) : Great point Martha
beast (26-Apr) : Buddy Ryan used to say if a candy bar goes missing, there are two to blame, Rex and Rob 🤪 jk 😁
Martha Careful (26-Apr) : Bum Phillips used to say there are two ways to get better. Get better players or get players to play better. We have a new DL coach
Zero2Cool (26-Apr) : Yes. Look at the losses last year. They can win.
beast (26-Apr) : Can Packers win with their current DL?
bboystyle (26-Apr) : waiting for a pass rusher.
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