Under new Packers DC Hafley, it all starts with 'the first line of defense'
GREEN BAY — While Jeff Hafley's background is in the secondary, in the Green Bay Packers defensive coordinator's system, it all starts up front.
So, while Hafley certainly has put an emphasis on what happens in the defensive backfield — a unit led by big-ticket free-agent addition Xavier McKinney at safety and a group that is hoping two-time All-Pro cornerback Jaire Alexander will return to form after a lost season — what the big guys do at the line of scrimmage will set the table for everyone else.
And even though defensive line coach Jason Rebrovich's attempt to compare his guys to a Navy SEALS team wasn't the best analogy ever conjured up by a Packers assistant coach, he's not wrong about how important the front four will be in Hafley's 4-3 defense — which, in truth, will be primarily a 4-2-5 operation.
"We're the first line of defense. The rest of the guys are going to sit back there and do what they need to do. We are going to work to get our forces in first," Rebrovich explained last week, as the Packers' offseason program progressed toward the organized team activity practices that kick off next week. "If that force goes in and is able to create that great opportunity for us defensively, then let's go."
OTA practices, with the first open-to-reporters session set for Tuesday, still won't give a major glimpse at how the front four will function in the new system. Practices are not in pads, so defensive tackles Kenny Clark, T.J. Slaton and Devonte Wyatt won't be crashing into offensive linemen in shorts and helmets like they will in more physical training-camp practices.
And while much of the focus will be on how outside linebackers-turned-defensive ends like Preston Smith, Rashan Gary and Lukas Van Ness convert from being stand-up edge rushers to putting their hands in the dirt again, the adjustment won't be nearly as extensive as it was back in 2009, when the defense flipped from a 4-3 system to Dom Capers' 3-4 scheme.
"For me, it always starts up front," head coach Matt LaFleur said earlier this month. "Getting off the ball, creating havoc, getting penetration and everybody doing their responsibility."
That aggressive approach is a stark departure from the previous system, in which ex-defensive coordinator Joe Barry had his defensive linemen playing a scheme where they were responsible for two gaps, requiring them to read blocks and ballcarriers and react by filling the appropriate gap.
Those days are now history, with Hafley wanting his guys up front to be getting up the field quickly.
"That group's (got to be) humming, getting off the ball, playing fast. That group has to attack!" Hafley said emphatically. "That's not going to be a passive, read-and-react (group). No. They're going to go and they're going to get off the ball.
"Before we break every meeting and I dismiss them and I talk to the back end (players), I tell them to go get after the quarterback, and that's what they're going to do."
Need visual evidence? Rebrovich suggested cueing up video from the San Francisco 49ers, Houston Texans and New York Jets defenses, which all operate on essentially the same premise: Get into the backfield, get tackles for loss on ballcarriers, and generate pressure on quarterbacks dropping back to pass.
"I'm sure you've heard it. It's an attack front, guys," Rebrovich said. "If you put the tape on with San Fran, Houston, the Jets, things like that, it's about TFLs and sacks. We're going to look to create havoc in the backfield. Every down, we're looking to penetrate and make something big happen."
And while Rebrovich downplayed the difficulty of edge rushers transitioning from a 3-4 to a 4-3 by saying it is "not as much as we perceive it to be" and calling most alignment changes "subtle" — "It's more of a mindset, a mentality," he said — it will take players time to get the hang of it.
Once they do, though, Hafley believes the defense's playing style will create all those issues the coaches are envisioning.
"For the D-line, they're going to be asked to do some different things than they would playing in 3-4 spacing," Hafley said. "Some are going to have their hand down on the ground more. But when it comes to getting off blocks and tackling, those guys have all done that."
"Like I talk about (with the players), I want a defense that's going to be confident, and it's not going to be nervous about making mistakes. Play style is important to me — how fast we play and physical and attacking the ball and all that stuff. But the only way to do that is they've got to know what they're doing.
"So, you teach all those things we talked about, then you learn the scheme and then you let them go play. There are some things that are new, but the cool part is, right now they're all buying in and really focusing on learning it. And that's what gives us a chance."
