Bush up for the challenge
DB says he's ready for Cards' elite receivers
By Tom Silverstein of the Journal Sentinel
Posted: Dec. 31, 2009
Green Bay There's no getting around it.
When the Green Bay Packers play Arizona, be it Sunday and/or the Sunday after that, cornerback Jarrett Bush is going to have to cover one of the Cardinals' talented trio of wide receivers.
The Packers will probably do what they can to limit his match-ups against all-world receiver Larry Fitzgerald, but they can only do so much, and at some point Bush will have to hold up under the weight of playoff football. He'll get a dress rehearsal on Sunday when the teams meet in the regular-season finale.
He expects to be tested.
"Any challenge, I have to make them pay," Bush said Thursday, less than a week after getting his first NFL interception. "I'm pretty sure they're going to come after everybody. I'm pretty sure they feel strongly about all their receivers, Larry, Anquan (Boldin). So, everybody's going to be challenged.
"I wouldn't think it would be just young guys. This is the NFL, we all have to play to our ability and play like we know how."
It may be a little bit of wishful thinking to assume that quarterback Kurt Warner will attack Charles Woodson the same way he would Bush, but Bush is correct in thinking the Cardinals will take their receivers matched up against anyone in the NFL. They line up as though they don't care what the coverage will be, using Fitzgerald, Boldin, Steve Breaston and running back LaRod Stephens-Howling in multiple positions along the line of scrimmage.
But there is a method to coach Ken Whisenhunt's madness and it often has to do with finding the weakness in the opponent's secondary. If he wants to try to exploit Bush, he'll have all kinds of ways to do it.
"He'll try to scheme you and try to take advantage of the best match-up possible," said safeties coach Darren Perry, a member of the Pittsburgh Steelers coaching staff when Whisenhunt was offensive coordinator there. "What he decides to do in terms of attacking us, we'll have to wait and see.
"But I know he'll try to find whatever our weaknesses may be. Whatever you see early, that's going to be his game plan. He'll stick with it. We got a little taste of that in the preseason."
The gusto with which Whisenhunt attacks the Packers will depend on whether the Cardinals are vying for the No. 2 seed in the playoffs. If Minnesota loses to the New York Giants in a noon game Sunday, the Cardinals won't be able to rest players or back off on their game plan because if they win, and the Dallas Cowboys beat the Philadelphia Eagles - a game that starts at the same time as the Packers-Cardinals - then Arizona gets the second seed and the first-round bye that comes with it.
The Packers aren't going to lie down in this game, but it's unlikely they'll use all the defenses they've practiced this week in preparation for the Cardinals. In some ways, the Packers will be feeling out the Cardinals to see how they react to some of their coverages, hoping to learn something that might help them if the two teams meet the following week.
"I wouldn't say this will be a training session," said Bush, who has extensive duties on special teams as well as his cornerback assignment. "We have to play to win. It's not a simulation. It's a real game. You can say we'll know them a lot better, but the reality is that we have to line up and play. It counts."
Bush has been the target of opposing quarterbacks since taking over the nickel position from Tramon Williams, who moved into a starting position when veteran Al Harris was lost for the season with a knee injury. Over the past five-plus games, he has allowed five pass plays of 20 or more yards, including three of 45 or more, and has allowed three touchdowns.
That's the most big plays any member of the defense has given up during that stretch, but not by a considerable amount. Williams has given up four plays of 20 or more yards, but just one touchdown. Woodson has given up 1 plays of 20 or more, but three touchdowns.
The thing that has made Bush's lapses so noticeable is that he has had decent coverage in some of those instances, but wasn't able to make a play on the ball. He has looked more like a special-teamer than someone with natural cornerback skills.
"I think it's natural but I think it's experience," Woodson said of playing the ball. "He's been asked to do a lot this year for us. I think the experience will make him a better player. I don't think you can tell anybody (how to do things) and they're automatically going to get better.
"They have to be in the fire a little bit. He's been thrown in the fire. But we expect him to play well for us down the stretch."
Against Seattle last Sunday, defensive coordinator Dom Capers took some pressure off Bush by frequently using him as the blitzing corner instead of Woodson. Bush blitzed five times to Woodson's zero, the idea being that Woodson and not Bush would be the one isolated in man coverage.
Two or three times, quarterback Matt Hasselbeck got rid of the ball on a three-step drop, well before Bush could get there. The other times, Bush wasn't able to beat a one-on-one block.
At 6-foot and 200 pounds, and with plenty of kamikaze special-teams skills, he has the potential to be a decent blitzer. But being effective requires using special techniques and Bush is learning on the job with that, too.
"It's just another challenge," Bush said.