The Green Bay Packers have carried their past habits and mistakes into the preseason.
The preseason may not be the best time for definitive judgments, especially after only one game. Still, you’d think that in its second season under Jeff Hafley, Green Bay’s defense wouldn’t open 2025 by rehashing the same issues that held them back last year.
Instead, they failed to address the coverage issues over the middle that I pointed out for Zone Coverage last year. While there’s time to fix them, the early product left plenty to be desired.
On Saturday, Justin Fields went three for three for 42 yards and a 118 passer rating on throws inside the numbers. Brady Cook also connected on all four of his attempts in that area for 43 yards and a 108 rating. Adrian Martinez was eight of nine for 105 yards, a touchdown, and a 115.3 rating, with his lone score coming on a throw inside the numbers — though the pass was delivered behind the line of scrimmage.
This time of year is mostly about figuring out what you have in your depth pieces, and, like I said earlier, it’s too soon to draw firm conclusions about how Green Bay’s defense will look in 2025. That said, it’s not like they weren’t getting picked apart over the middle late last season, and it’s concerning to see them open 2025 with the same trend.
Releasing All-Pro cornerback Jaire Alexander is one of the most hotly debated moves among Green Bay’s fanbase this offseason. However, it won’t matter who lines up at corner if the middle of the field remains a constant free pass for receivers and tight ends. Edgerrin Cooper will start Week 1, which can help address that, but he may end up having to carry much of the load himself.
“I think you’ll see some fun stuff pop up,” Jeff Hafley noted about Cooper’s role in 2025.
Quay Walker should start alongside Cooper in the 4-2-5 package. He finished 2024 on a promising note, but by now, we have a good idea of what the Packers are getting with him. His coverage grades were 54.7 in 2023 and 50.6 in 2024 — far from good, but still better than Isaiah McDuffie’s 46.7 last season. McDuffie is also a less effective drop-back linebacker than Walker.
Brian Gutekunst has stated his commitment to keeping Quay Walker in Green Bay for the long term. However, with Walker now entering the final year of his rookie contract, he faces pressure to deliver the best season of his career if he wants to secure a lucrative extension. Packers linebacker coach Sean Duggan believes that once Walker returns to practice, the team will see a faster, more comfortable, and more confident player ready to take his game to the next level.
As for the rest of the group, Ty’Ron Hopper played fewer than 20 snaps last year, and it’s hard to know how much playing time he’ll actually see. Meanwhile, Isaiah Simmons had Green Bay’s lowest coverage grade against the New York Jets on Saturday.
“Last night, he’d be the first to say he wish he had some plays back,” Duggan said on Sunday.
On Sunday, Matt LaFleur said Simmons got some work in during Green Bay’s game against New York. He played as much as he did because LaFleur wants him to prove he can earn the coaches’ trust within Hafley’s system. It wasn’t a great performance, but Simmons still has plenty of time to study the tape and come back stronger.
The good news for the Packers is that they have three capable safeties. Xavier McKinney and Evan Williams have been the starters throughout training camp, with Javon Bullard rotating in. Bullard played his best football last year when lined up near the line of scrimmage, so a compelling solution might be to unleash him in the second level, especially on obvious passing downs.
If there’s ever a time for the Packers to be inconsistent, it’s during the preseason. This is when teams take the chance to test new schemes, experiment with plays, and work through any growing pains before the regular season kicks off.
It’s much better for Green Bay to have these issues out in the open in August rather than face them when the games really start to matter. That said, it was still surprising how badly they struggled to defend inside the numbers. If that continues, the team will likely have to make some tough personnel decisions.
