Three of his top five players out for the season and depth hanging by a thread, Green Bay Packers cornerbacks coach Joe Whitt Jr. had a long talk on Saturday with Brandon Underwood, Josh Bell and Trevor Ford.
The message was loud and clear: one of them needs to seize the No. 4 cornerback spot or the Packers will find someone else who can.
Nobody cares that theyre rookies or theyre second-year guys, Whitt said after practice. Nobody cares. I asked (Charles) Woodson, OK, Woodson, do you care? He said, No.
If youre out on the field, youre there to produce and were going to play at a high level. Thats our standard. If they go out there, they better produce or they wont be out there very long.
Tramon Williams continued his strong play last week against Detroit in his first start since Al Harris joined Pat Lee and Will Blackmon on injured reserve with season-ending knee injuries. Jarrett Bush, who replaced Williams as the third cornerback in the nickel defense, also held up well except for dropping an easy interception. But if something happens to one of them or Woodson, its unclear what the Packers would do.
Whitt has become increasingly frustrated with Underwood, the lanky (6-foot-1, 198 pounds) sixth-round draft pick from Cincinnati who took over the No. 4 slot when Bush moved into the nickel. Underwood has the physical attributes the Packers like on the perimeter long arms, quick feet, good physicality for his size but the rookies focus and grasp of the scheme have yet to come around.
He needs maturity, Whitt said. He needs to learn how to be a professional. He has the skill-set, he has the ability its time for him to step up and show us that he is an NFL-caliber player and hes serious about getting better. Im not pleased with where he is right now.
Told of Whitts comments, Underwood nodded and said he definitely can improve.
Him and Woodson have been saying its important for a guy like me to know everything in nickel and corner, Underwood said. Just detail in your work thats all I can do, is just detail, detail every little thing and make sure I pay attention to details to make sure that if somehow or another I get called on, that Im ready.
From a technique standpoint, Underwood said he feels hes just a totally different player than when he arrived in May. But when asked how much progress Underwood has made during the season, Whitt said, Not much. Hes about the same. He needs to get better.
It all leaves a good chance the Packers eventually will elevate Bell, who played in nine games (five starts) as a rookie last season with the Denver Broncos.
At 5-11 and 177 pounds, Bell probably is too small to play in the slot where Bush played extensively last week and hes had less than two weeks to learn the Packers system since signing on Nov. 24. But he has good speed, a competitive edge the Packers like and more playing experience than Underwood or Ford (6-0, 188), the undrafted rookie elevated from the practice squad a day before making his NFL debut on special teams against Detroit.
I want one of those guys to jump up and take the dang thing and stop sitting back and saying, Im a rookie, Whitt said. Thats B.S. Weve got to get it done.