The Packers have made a few tweaks to their secondary in order to increase the playing time of rookie Damarious Randall, who is fast becoming one of the team’s best players. Randall lined up opposite Sam Shields in the nickel defense when the Packers took the field in the first quarter. Casey Hayward, who began the season as a starter on the perimeter, shifted inside to the nickel spot. Micah Hyde, who occupied the nickelback role in previous years, stayed on the bench as his playing time decreased. Randall also supplanted Hayward in the base defense, which the Packers used for the first time on their third defensive possession. He and Shields — for this game at least — were the top two corners on the depth chart. The dime defense featured Randall and Shields on the outside with Hayward and Hyde playing in the slots. Rookie Quinten Rollins, back from a neck injury, played sparingly and only took the field in the dime defense when Randall was evaluated for a groin problem. Defensive coordinator Dom Capers said the cornerback rotation moving forward will depend on the opposing offense.

8) Benched for portions of the last two games, inside linebacker Nate Palmer responded with a forceful, instinctive performance against the Lions. A third-year player from Illinois State, Palmer was an outside linebacker in college and moved to the inside after the Packers drafted him in the sixth round. Particularly impressive was Palmer’s ability to navigate bodies behind the line of scrimmage and find his way to the football, which has been a problem for him at times this season. Early in the third quarter he emerged from a cluster of players to grab tailback Joique Bell and haul him down for -1 yards on the right side. A few minutes later he shed the block of guard Larry Warford and stopped Bell for a gain of 1. In the fourth quarter he split two linemen and buried Bell for another 1-yard gain. In total, Palmer finished tied for second on the team with 8 tackles and flashed the assertive tenaciousness coaches had wanted to see from him. He still has a ways to go in coverage and making tackles in space along the edge, but it was a much-improved performance. “I think as an inside linebacker it’s all about how many times you’re at the ball at the end of the snap,” linebacker Sam Barrington said. “Teams really try to take inside linebackers out of the play and if you’re successful at doing that, essentially you have a whole in the defense. I thought (Palmer) did a good job of being around the ball once the play was ended, whether he was on the tackle or not.”

I see this as positive.

Randall has proven he can be trusted at corner.

Hyde and Hayward can now move back to where they are comfortable.
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Originally Posted by: buckeyepackfan 

Hayward has always been overrated. Perhaps he can carve a nice niche as a slot corner. That's his best chance to be a borderline starter, imo.

Originally Posted by: DoddPower 

Hayward is just another bust player with tns. The strength of a team is the draft from the 2nd and 3rd round becoming solid starters. This kid is afraid of contact and the only reason people think he is any good is because of the turnovers he got as a rookie. But he isn't making those plays anymore, so why exactly is he on the field when they have two younger players that play hard and can tackle?

As for Hyde, he is a tweener. Imagine that, another square peg placed in a round hole in our defense?

Originally Posted by: DakotaT 

Could be gone next year.

Originally Posted by: nerdmann