Defensive line delivers despite heat

Daniels, Guion refuse to succumb

Jacksonville, Fla. – Mike Daniels ambled through the visitor’s locker room carrying a grape Gatorade, a chocolate protein shake and a towel. His white undershirt was soaked through. His face still glistened.

Twenty minutes after the Green Bay Packers opened their season with a 27-23 win that felt more like survival, Daniels’ pulse resumed to resting. The sweat still flowed.

“It was pretty hot out there,” Daniels said.

The kind of heat that induces references to death. As in, quarterback Aaron Rodgers would say later, both defenses were “dying” when the no-huddle tempo cranked up.

Kickoff temperature was 90 degrees, with a heat index of 97. It only got hotter through the afternoon. In the second half, thermometers at field level spiked at 110 degrees.

That’s a hellish existence for 300-pound defensive tackles wearing shoulder pads and a helmet that acts more like a convection oven. At one point in the second half, Daniels took a knee on the sideline and tried not to pass out.

“Yeah,” Daniels said, “but I came back in the game, right? So I was fine. But I had to gather myself.”

Yeah, Daniels kept coming back. So did veteran linemate Letroy Guion. On a field that felt like a frying pan, Daniels unofficially played 45 snaps Sunday. Guion unofficially played 47.

You could count the number of snaps with neither Daniels nor Guion on the field with two hands, with fingers left over. One play was a 37-yard screen pass to tight end Marcedes Lewis. Another resulted in a 22-yard touchdown pass to tight end Julius Thomas.

If there was one reason to be nervous about the Packers opening against a Jaguars team that finished 5-11 last season, it was their young, thin defensive line holding up in the swelter. Defensive end Mike Pennel’s fourgame suspension for violating the league’s substance-abuse policy left a unit short on experience. Rookies Kenny Clark and Dean Lowry, as well as fifth defensive lineman Christian Ringo, combined for no NFL experience entering Sunday.

The Packers couldn’t afford for Daniels or Guion — let alone both — to be off the field. So they rarely visited the sideline. No, it wasn’t ideal. The Packers made it work.

Daniels and Guion became a big reason the Packers left Jacksonville with a 1-0 record. The Packers allowed 48 rushing yards to a Jaguars offense that averaged 92.1 per game last season.

“We really could’ve held them down under 30,” Daniels said.

The Packers got some help before kickoff.

Chris Ivory, who signed with the Jaguars as a free agent this offseason, was expected to be the lead tailback and form a solid one-two

“It was difficult for everybody, but especially those bigger guys … fortunately the heat didn’t catch up to them.” CLAY MATTHEWS

punch with T.J. Yeldon. Instead, Ivory was admitted to the hospital Sunday morning with an undisclosed medical issue.

Yeldon, thrust into a workhorse role, finished with 39 yards on 21 carries. His 1.9 yards-perrush average mirrored the Jaguars’ collective 1.8 average as a team.

“I don’t think it would’ve mattered who they brought today,” Guion said. “We’ve got a pretty good front as a defensive line. We look forward to challenges every week. We’re going to try to stop whoever comes at us.”

It remains to be seen whether a beefed-up run defense will become a trend. Next week, the defensive front will be tested when the Packers travel to the Minnesota Vikings, where running back Adrian Peterson awaits.

But the Packers were able to turn the Jaguars offense into a one-dimensional unit Sunday. Quarterback Blake Bortles completed 24 of 39 passes for 320 yards and one touchdown with one interception. The Jaguars hit big passing plays down the field, including four that traveled more than 20 yards.

Regardless, the Jaguars’ inability to grind down the clock prevented them from keeping Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers on the sideline. Outside linebacker Clay Matthews said the pair of defensive tackles set a tone up front.

“It was difficult for everybody,” Matthews said, “but especially those bigger guys … in the trenches. We ask a lot of them, and fortunately the heat didn’t catch up to them. They were able to make their plays when it counted, get in there, stop the run and disrupt the quarterback. That’s what we needed.”

Together, Guion and Daniels knew Sunday would be challenging. Guion, a Florida native, said he prepared by sitting in the Packers’ sauna 20, 30 minutes at a time. Inside, temperatures can reach 180 degrees.

“If you can withstand that long of a time in there,” Guion said, “stuff like this becomes easy.”

Shirt off, Guion was resting at his locker by the time Daniels ambled by. Before landing in Green Bay, Guion guessed, he would down at least four blue Gatorades. As many as possible, just to rehydrate.

The Packers’ defensive line isn’t out of danger. There are three games until Pennel returns, making the unit complete. But Daniels said that Sunday proved the defensive front can hold its own until the depth chart stabilizes.

“We’ll be OK,” Daniels said. “If we can play that much in this heat, then we’ll be able to do it in any weather. So we’re fine. We’re fine.”

Jacksonville, Fla. — Jordy Nelson didn’t even see the cornerback. The one between him and Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers. The one whose left hand came inches from knocking away his first touchdown catch in 21 months.

In the back of the EverBank Field end zone, Nelson had been wide open. He was trying to settle in the soft zone, lifting his arms frantically for his quarterback’s attention. Rodgers noticed. So did Jacksonville Jaguars cornerback Prince Amukamara.

Rodgers, dancing in the pocket, rifled his pass with linebacker Telvin Smith closing in. Amukamara lunged. All Nelson saw was the football.

“I didn’t really feel anyone else,” Nelson said. “Aaron is seeing a lot more than I am. Everything was behind me, and I’m trying to stay stationary as much (as possible) and kind of move with him. Obviously, he led me away from probably some stuff that he was feeling. With him moving, the ball is going to tail a little bit, too.

“So just adjusting to it, and to me it wasn’t hard at all. It was just adjusting to the ball that he threw. He’s going to put it in a spot for us to catch it, and be safe about it.”

There’s the chemistry that was lacking in the Packers passing game through much of last season. It returned in spurts Sunday when the Packers opened their 2016 season with a 27-23 win against the Jaguars.

Nelson took time to get going. He wasn’t targeted in the Packers first three possessions. The first pass thrown his way opened the fourth drive, a three-and-out. Nelson ran a quick out, an automatic play with Rodgers during 2014.

This time, Rodgers misfired to the sideline.

So, yes, there was rust to knock off. Nelson played his first meaningful snap since the 2014 NFC championship game, a 20-month drought. He finished with six receptions, tying Randall Cobb for the team high, along with 32 yards.

Yet it was fitting Nelson caught Rodgers’ first touchdown pass of the season. The two-time MVP has his favorite receiver back. On Sunday, there were flashes of what that could mean for the Packers offense.

“It feels great having Jordy back,” Rodgers said. “He does so many things well out there. He had a great second and third reaction on that TD catch.”

Shields evaluated for concussion: Packers cornerback Sam Shields is being evaluated for a conof