Jonathan Gannon had just come out of a meeting on the Detroit Lions when he stepped to the podium on Tuesday, and the Green Bay Packers’ defensive coordinator came away impressed. “It’s a really good offense. I just left the meeting,” Gannon said. “There’s no tendencies. He’s creative as all get out. He uses his playmakers in a way to showcase their talents.”
The Packers are 4-2 after three straight wins, the last a 23-13 victory over Dallas on Sunday night. They visit the 3-2 Lions on Sunday in the first NFC North game of the season for both teams. Gannon, offensive coordinator Adam Stenavich and special teams coordinator Cam Achord spoke to reporters back to back.
Gannon said Lions quarterback Jared Goff punishes a defense that plays it safe. “The quarterback does an excellent job of getting them in the right place, to put you as a defense at a disadvantage,” he said. “He burns you when you want to be safe.” He also praised the Lions’ offensive line under coach Hank Fraley. “This O-line is souped up now,” Gannon said. “They’ve got good players that collectively play well together. They communicate. They never bust. Their protection scheme is on point. Then they can run it to win, and they can throw it to win.”
Asked what makes running back Jahmyr Gibbs so hard to stop, he listed it out. “He’s faster than everybody. He has elite vision. I would say he can make any cut that you want. He’s got really good contact balance,” Gannon said. “All 11 are at the point of attack when you defend this guy.”
“You’re gonna get fired”
A reporter said safety Evan Williams had explained that Dak Prescott pointed him out as a possible blitzer before an interception on Sunday, when Williams was doing something else. Asked about disguise, Gannon went back to his first NFL job in 2007, with Mike Zimmer as defensive coordinator in Atlanta. “I thought I knew a lot when I got there,” he said. “I quickly found out I knew zero about football.”
“Everyone talks about affecting the quarterback, but I think their brain goes to post-snap,” Gannon said. “Yes, you have to affect the quarterback post-snap. I think that you have to affect the quarterback pre-snap. If the quarterback and the offense know what you’re in before the ball is snapped, you’re gonna get fired.” He said that means sometimes lining players up in spots that make their job harder, “but it’s for the overall good of the defense.”
On Williams himself, he said: “First thing of a safety, be reliable. He’s reliable. His skill set allows him to make a lot of different plays and a lot of different calls. He’s physical. He’s extremely intelligent.” He borrowed a line from head coach Matt LaFleur: “To play like a G, you better prepare like a G.” He added: “Nothing’s catching him by surprise.”
“They call what they call”
Green Bay was flagged three times for roughing the passer in the fourth quarter against Dallas, including one that wiped out an interception. Gannon said the fix is on his side. “We can’t foul,” he said. “It’s continuing to educate, continuing to talk technique, and then decision making. We got to make sure that we’re making correct decisions in real time, which I know is not easy to do, but good defenses don’t beat themselves.”
Asked whether he talks to officials about it, Gannon passed. “That’s a better question for Matt,” he said. “I don’t worry about what they’re calling, what they’re not calling.” Asked how many of the flags were really fouls, he said: “They call what they call. You guys know how I answer that.”
He said the defense defines its style as “motor and violence,” and that he keeps the weekly plan light so players can react. “They know I never add late in the week. I always delete,” Gannon said. “If they’re thinking too much, they don’t get to play fast and free.”
Jacobs back, and “starting with me”
Josh Jacobs returns to a run game that entered the week averaging 59.8 rushing yards a game, last in the league. Stenavich said Jacobs will help but will not fix it alone, and that everyone, “starting with me,” has to do a better job. “Josh, I think, will definitely help for sure. He’s an excellent player and he’ll provide some good spark for our offense. So I’m excited about that. But yeah, we just all need to do a better job.” He said Jacobs “looks great” and has been in meetings and doing his workouts.
Asked whether the problem is the calls or the execution, Stenavich said it is “a combination of everything,” and that he is asking himself questions too. “Are we doing too much? Are we not doing enough?” he said. “Obviously if we want to be a really good football team, we’ve got to be able to run the ball.”
On the offensive line, Stenavich said the Packers were ready to use veteran guard Kevin Zeitler on Sunday. “Obviously, he dressed for the game, so we were prepared to put him in if we needed him,” he said. “We’re not going to change just to change, but we want to put the best five guys out there that we think give us the best chance to win.” He described guard Aaron Banks’ recovery as “kind of a rollercoaster,” saying “he’s almost back and then he’s not, and this last week he looked really, really good.”
Golden’s drops and Love’s hits
Matthew Golden has dropped some passes this season. Stenavich said he is not worried. “I’m not concerned just because I know the type of player that he is,” he said. “You can’t lose trust in yourself. You got here for a reason. We all trust him. Jordan trusts him. I know he’s gonna make those plays. The ball’s gonna keep coming his way.”
He agreed with a reporter who said Jordan Love is taking too many big hits. “I agree. He’s definitely getting hit way too hard,” Stenavich said. “There’s a couple plays where we were not on the same page last week, so we gotta make sure we clean that up, because you can’t have free runners at the quarterback.” He said the Lions “do a really nice job with their twists,” so that will be a big part of practice this week. He called Detroit’s front, led by Aidan Hutchinson and Alim McNeill, “salty.”
Achord, who coached special teams in New England for six seasons, called the Lions “one of the top teams in the coverage on both phases” and singled out their punter. “I think he’s got one of the bigger legs in the league, high, high hang times,” he said.
The Packers play the Lions at Ford Field on Sunday, October 25, at 4:25 p.m. ET (11:25 p.m. in Cairo), then host the Carolina Panthers on Thursday, October 29.
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