Learning from mistakes
Linebackers evaluate game
Green Bay — The juxtaposition of a young inside linebacker looks something like this:
In the fourth quarter of the Green Bay Packers first exhibition game against the New England Patriots on Thursday, rookie Jake Ryan unleashed a superbly timed blitz and blasted between the defensive tackle and outside linebacker to sack quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo for a loss of 7 yards.
On special teams, where coach Mike McCarthy asked kicker Mason Crosby to purposefully avoid touchbacks for the sake of coverage practice, Ryan made a mistake worthy of an instructional meeting along the sideline.
Feast or famine, great or ghastly.
“I’m doing it,” Ryan said. “I just need to keep putting it out there consistently.”
The precautionary absence of Clay Matthews, which followed a handful of missed practices due to knee soreness, further exposed a trio of inexperienced inside linebackers who have taken turns in training camp rotating through the open spot next to veteran Sam Barrington. Ryan, drafted in the fourth round by the Packers, shared playing time with Carl Bradford and Nate Palmer in what amounted to a fairly stout defensive effort shrouding one major flaw — a 55-yard touchdown run by tailback Jonas Gray.
“We had that one big play that we wish we could have took back,” Barrington said. “But it’s the preseason.”
The touchdown from Gray, which Palmer called “a blemish on our defense,” came early in the second quarter with the Packers leading, 3-0. Gray took a handoff and bounced right toward the perimeter, where a logjam of traffic worked to his advantage.
Offensive lineman Shaq Mason, a 300-pound rookie from Georgia Tech, engaged with Barrington while simultaneously sideswiping safety Ha Ha Clinton-Dix. Two more Packers — outside linebacker Andy Mulumba and defensive back Micah Hyde — were taken out of the play by the tight end and fullback.
Unblocked was Palmer, whose broken hand remains wrapped in a black plaster club. But Palmer was swallowed up at the line of scrimmage, and when he lunged to make the tackle he could not snag Gray’s jersey.
“I swiped, but I couldn’t grip,” said Palmer, who was adamant that he would have made the tackle were his hand uninjured.
It was the lone miscue for an inside linebacker pairing that has received plenty of reps in Matthews’ absence. Palmer, a third-year player from Illinois State, and Barrington, who began last season on the bench and was thrust into action due to injuries, say their off-field friendship enhances chemistry between the sidelines, where there is a greater sense of responsibility.
Palmer occupies the weak inside linebacker position Barrington inherited last season when he played adjacent to A.J. Hawk. It creates a natural teacher-protégé relationship in which Palmer can pepper his predecessor with questions.
“I’m always critical,” Palmer said. “I’m super critical. I’m a big perfectionist. I’m always asking for feedback. I’m always asking, ‘What can I do better on this play? How did I look today? How did the game go?’ ”
Palmer and Barrington both played fewer than 17% of defensive snaps against the Patriots, which opened the door for Bradford (first sub, 56%) and Ryan (second sub, 71%) as the backup inside linebacker pairing.
Both Bradford and Ryan flashed moments of strong play against a fleet of Patriots’ reserves. In addition to his sack of Garoppolo, Ryan showed terrific anticipation by knifing into the backfield to completely disrupt a running play to record his second tackle for loss. He finished with six total tackles, one shy of Jayrone Elliott’s team-high total of seven.
Bradford, a second-year player from Arizona State who played outside linebacker and defensive end in college, also notched a sack on a well-timed blitz, something he has shown a knack for in training camp.
But the tape showed signs of too much thinking on the field, Bradford said, and a slow transition from recognition to action. He was pleased with his Xs and Os performance — “I think I played the defense pretty well by just the calls and understanding it,” Bradford said — and the next step is making his movements match his mind.
That’s what next Sunday is for. Audition No. 2.
“It’s all about learning and growing,” Barrington said. “So that’s what we’ll do.”
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