Pack93z
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15 years ago
Kind of what I commented on Monday.. there was a notable difference in Hawk today verse Hawk of the last 22 games or so.. I hope it continues.

http://www.jsonline.com/blogs/sports/59384197.html 

Giving Hawk his due
By Greg A. Bedard of the Journal Sentinel
Sept. 15, 2009 4:10 p.m.

Green Bay - Packers linebacker A.J. Hawk has had plenty of criticism laid at his doorstep.

Specifically in this space.

Far too often in his still-young career, Hawk has been way too tentative. For whatever reason, Hawk has preferred to play mistake-free instead of impactful. Maybe he always colored inside the lines as a kid. Who knows?

It wasn't always that way. As a rookie in 2006, Hawk played a little more free and made big plays. He played how you would expect a player taken fifth overall to play -- or at least in the ballpark.

The past two years Packers coaches have tried to turn that switch back on with Hawk.

Maybe it's starting to work.

Let it be said loud and clear (so no one thinks anybody is anti-Hawk): Hawk played very well in the season-opener against the Chicago Bears.

"I thought he played a lot more aggressive," said assistant head coach/inside linebackers Winston Moss. "He did a very good job of stepping up and making some plays that he was supposed to make."

Hawk, who had four tackles and a one for a loss, has almost always been in the right place from play to play, even though he hasn't been the quickest at reading his keys and then reacting like the elite players at linebacker are.

What the Packers want from Hawk is for him to instinctively read a play and then shoot a hole to make play. He did some of that in college and then as a rookie.

In the new 3-4 scheme, it's imperative that he do that. Against a power-running team like the Bears, he had to.

And he did.

"I think as a whole on every play against the run, he was a lot more aggressive than he's been the last three years," Moss said. "So that was extremely encouraging to see. I think he's going to be able to take a look at the film we just studied and be able to gain a lot of confidence in that he can just go ahead and trust his ability, trust the scheme and continue to go out there and make a lot of plays."

Has Hawk turned a corner? We'll have to see. When training camp started, Hawk was also very physical the first few days and was very impressive. Then, for some reason, he went back to thinking too much.

The Packers are hoping he sticks with it this time.

"I like A.J.," defensive coordinator Dom Capers said. "Everybody's thinking he was drafted high. I've seen it many times. Everybody expects a guy to have a cape on. But A.J.'s a good football player. I think he's good in the huddle. He's really done a nice just calling the plays. He had some physical plays (on Sunday night). Part of that run defense, our linebackers got to the ball pretty good."


"The oranges are dry; the apples are mealy; and the papayas... I don't know what's going on with the papayas!"
jdog2
15 years ago
I also thought he played pretty well. The whole LB group did well.
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Greg C.
15 years ago
I was especially happy to see him chasing receivers down the field and making a key tackle on a WR near the sideline on one play, preventing what would've been a huge gain or maybe even a TD. I would love it if my theory--that he's too musclebound and has lost his speed--proves to be wrong. Or maybe he's been locked out of the weight room long enough to lose a bit of that extra muscle mass. www.jsonline.com/sport...80772.html

On Sunday he still didn't have any big solo tackles behind the line of scrimmage, like he used to do at Ohio State, but he did everything else. I love the way the defense swarmed ballcarriers on Sunday night. Multiple tacklers. It was a lot of fun to watch, and A.J. was right there in the middle of a lot of those plays.
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nerdmann
15 years ago
He got ALOT of talent at LB. Thanks, TT!
“Winning is not a sometime thing, it is an all the time thing. You don't do things right once in a while…you do them right all the time.”
Packers_Finland
15 years ago
Kept Olsen in check for the whole game. Awesome performance by A.J.
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Patlee22
15 years ago

On Sunday he still didn't have any big solo tackles behind the line of scrimmage, like he used to do at Ohio State, but he did everything else. I love the way the defense swarmed ballcarriers on Sunday night. Multiple tacklers. It was a lot of fun to watch, and A.J. was right there in the middle of a lot of those plays.

"Greg C." wrote:


Besides the time he had to cover Greg Olsen he was always around the ball which is nice to see. I think he'll keep it up since he has to be aggressive in his new role.

I'm excited to see how this D looks against the Bengals. Carson Palmer has to face 3 3-4 defenses a year, so he has a lot of experience facing these defenses so, we'll get to see how our D matches up.
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TOPackerFan
15 years ago

Kept Olsen in check for the whole game. Awesome performance by A.J.

"Packers_Finland" wrote:



Pretty sure that they had Woodsonon Olsen for most of the game. Still thought AJ played well. You at least noticed him out there for a change.
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zombieslayer
15 years ago

He got ALOT of talent at LB. Thanks, Ted Thompson!

"nerdmann" wrote:



Pretty much anyone would have drafted him when we did. So not taking credit from TT, but being realistic. AJ Hawk was a no brainer. I wanted him at that pick and I'm no GM.

The one who deserves credit right now is Capers. Goes to show just how important coaching is to a player. You can have all the talent in the world but if it's not utilized correctly....
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Packers_Finland
15 years ago

Kept Olsen in check for the whole game. Awesome performance by A.J.

"TOPackerFan" wrote:



Pretty sure that they had Woodsonon Olsen for most of the game. Still thought AJ played well. You at least noticed him out there for a change.

"Packers_Finland" wrote:



I saw Hawk lining up against him more than 5 times. Woodson still probably saw more time against him though, Hawk may have been assigned to a backfield player more often.
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bozz_2006
15 years ago

He got ALOT of talent at LB. Thanks, Ted Thompson!

"zombieslayer" wrote:



Pretty much anyone would have drafted him when we did. So not taking credit from Ted Thompson, but being realistic. AJ Hawk was a no brainer. I wanted him at that pick and I'm no GM.

The one who deserves credit right now is Capers. Goes to show just how important coaching is to a player. You can have all the talent in the world but if it's not utilized correctly....

"nerdmann" wrote:



+1
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