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Nick Barnett- GB starting ILB (1 Viewer)
- Thread starter smackdaddies
- Start date
Jene Bramel
Footballguy
Most of this was expected since the mid-preseason, when it became clear that Brandon Chillar was going to play a major role in the nickel package. It's not so much that Barnett has supplanted Hawk at ILB, it's more that Chillar can now play for Hawk exclusively in the nickel and that Chillar's base defensive snaps come at Hawk's expense than Barnett's.
Profootballfocus shows that Hawk barely played in Week 4 against Minnesota, only against the Viking offensive sets that included a FB. Should be interesting to see if Hawk can get even 50% of the snaps in future weeks.
Profootballfocus shows that Hawk barely played in Week 4 against Minnesota, only against the Viking offensive sets that included a FB. Should be interesting to see if Hawk can get even 50% of the snaps in future weeks.
bcr8f
Footballguy
He didn't really play or practice in the PS so this is basically game 2 for him.
Gators
Footballguy
Last edited by a moderator:
bcr8f
Footballguy
Hawk makes self scarce
Decreased playing time may be frustrating linebacker
By Greg A. Bedard of the Journal Sentinel
Posted: Oct. 21, 2009
Green Bay — When the final whistle blew at the conclusion of the Green Bay Packers' victory over the Detroit Lions on Sunday, most players and coaches ambled onto the field to say hello and good luck to each other.
One player most certainly did not.
When the game was over, Packers linebacker A.J. Hawk went into a full sprint off the field and up the tunnel to the locker room.
That's not out of the ordinary, but it was a bit unusual for Hawk.
That he quickly cleared out of the locker room before the media arrived also seemed to be another clue: Hawk is frustrated he's only played 31 snaps out of a possible 125 (24.8%) the past two games.
Mind you, Hawk hasn't said that to the media or his coaches, but his frustration is clear to everyone.
"I can just tell," assistant head coach/inside linebackers Winston Moss said. "He's a very good professional, but just based upon his body language, his mannerisms, you know it's a bother.
"From a guy that wants to play a lot, he feels as though he's done what's asked of him, and he's handling his share of the load. I would say that, yeah, he'd be very frustrated because obviously his plays are down. I think that he's being a good professional about it."
Said coach Mike McCarthy: "If I was A.J. Hawk, I'd be disappointed I wasn't playing either. . . . Yeah, he hasn't played a whole lot the last two weeks, but I don't really think anything's going on. . . . He just doesn't have a lot of opportunities right now."
Hawk was not in the locker room during a period opened to the media on Tuesday. A request for an interview was not returned.
But Hawk has never been one to say much. When asked about being taken out of the nickel defense earlier in the season, Hawk repeated his often-used line about how "no one likes to come off the field."
Against the Lions, Hawk played a career-low nine snaps. Moss insisted Hawk, who plays only in base defense and short-yardage situations, isn't being phased out of the lineup.
In fact, Moss said that if Hawk's low snap totals continue, the Packers will find a way to get Hawk on the field more, because they believe in him.
"That's obviously something we'll have to address," Moss said.
The problem has been that against the Minnesota Vikings and the Lions, the game plans called for the Packers to be in nickel much more than base. And the Packers clearly prefer Brandon Chillar and Nick Barnett in that situation.
"It has no reflection on (Hawk's) play, it has no reflection on is a guy playing better than another guy, like Chillar and Barnett in those combinations," Moss said.
"It's based upon what we're evaluating on film every single week. It can vary from week to week, it just so happens that the last couple weeks, his plays have been reduced not because of what he did but just because of the way we've taken the approach to Minnesota and Detroit."
But there is still the issue of Hawk's performance. He ranks eighth on the team with 21 tackles and has yet to produce a sack or a tackle for a loss or deflected a pass.
In general, Hawk hasn't yet demonstrated the ability to be impactful and to make plays outside of his own responsibility on a play-by-play basis.
That is something Barnett did against the Lions.
"I thought he was very active and made a lot of plays a lot of different ways," Moss said. "He covered up a lot of areas that really weren't his. That's what you love to see. A guy that's not only taking care of his responsibility, but he's going out and making some plays outside his requirement."
It's what Moss has been trying to get Hawk to do for two years.
With 7:13 left in the second quarter, the Lions ran a basic lead play to the right side. Left end Aaron Kampman and Chillar didn't exactly execute the play as planned, and that left Hawk against fullback Jerome Felton and tailback Kevin Smith.
Hawk took on Felton, which is Hawk's responsibility, but he failed to get off the block to either make the tackle or force Smith to the inside. Smith ran free for a 19-yard gain, the Lions' second-longest run of the game.
"Nick Barnett is finding ways to create production outside of his responsibility," Moss said.
"I think A.J. is extremely conscious on one, being right. It's important for him to execute. It's very important for him to be reliable. It's very important for him to take coaching and what we were asking him to do as a scheme and execute it on the field.
"But at some point in time, he has to tell himself, 'Well, I've done my job. Now throughout the course of a play, I'm going to have to do my job to find a way to make plays if they're not coming to me.' That would be his next point."
Decreased playing time may be frustrating linebacker
By Greg A. Bedard of the Journal Sentinel
Posted: Oct. 21, 2009
Green Bay — When the final whistle blew at the conclusion of the Green Bay Packers' victory over the Detroit Lions on Sunday, most players and coaches ambled onto the field to say hello and good luck to each other.
One player most certainly did not.
When the game was over, Packers linebacker A.J. Hawk went into a full sprint off the field and up the tunnel to the locker room.
That's not out of the ordinary, but it was a bit unusual for Hawk.
That he quickly cleared out of the locker room before the media arrived also seemed to be another clue: Hawk is frustrated he's only played 31 snaps out of a possible 125 (24.8%) the past two games.
Mind you, Hawk hasn't said that to the media or his coaches, but his frustration is clear to everyone.
"I can just tell," assistant head coach/inside linebackers Winston Moss said. "He's a very good professional, but just based upon his body language, his mannerisms, you know it's a bother.
"From a guy that wants to play a lot, he feels as though he's done what's asked of him, and he's handling his share of the load. I would say that, yeah, he'd be very frustrated because obviously his plays are down. I think that he's being a good professional about it."
Said coach Mike McCarthy: "If I was A.J. Hawk, I'd be disappointed I wasn't playing either. . . . Yeah, he hasn't played a whole lot the last two weeks, but I don't really think anything's going on. . . . He just doesn't have a lot of opportunities right now."
Hawk was not in the locker room during a period opened to the media on Tuesday. A request for an interview was not returned.
But Hawk has never been one to say much. When asked about being taken out of the nickel defense earlier in the season, Hawk repeated his often-used line about how "no one likes to come off the field."
Against the Lions, Hawk played a career-low nine snaps. Moss insisted Hawk, who plays only in base defense and short-yardage situations, isn't being phased out of the lineup.
In fact, Moss said that if Hawk's low snap totals continue, the Packers will find a way to get Hawk on the field more, because they believe in him.
"That's obviously something we'll have to address," Moss said.
The problem has been that against the Minnesota Vikings and the Lions, the game plans called for the Packers to be in nickel much more than base. And the Packers clearly prefer Brandon Chillar and Nick Barnett in that situation.
"It has no reflection on (Hawk's) play, it has no reflection on is a guy playing better than another guy, like Chillar and Barnett in those combinations," Moss said.
"It's based upon what we're evaluating on film every single week. It can vary from week to week, it just so happens that the last couple weeks, his plays have been reduced not because of what he did but just because of the way we've taken the approach to Minnesota and Detroit."
But there is still the issue of Hawk's performance. He ranks eighth on the team with 21 tackles and has yet to produce a sack or a tackle for a loss or deflected a pass.
In general, Hawk hasn't yet demonstrated the ability to be impactful and to make plays outside of his own responsibility on a play-by-play basis.
That is something Barnett did against the Lions.
"I thought he was very active and made a lot of plays a lot of different ways," Moss said. "He covered up a lot of areas that really weren't his. That's what you love to see. A guy that's not only taking care of his responsibility, but he's going out and making some plays outside his requirement."
It's what Moss has been trying to get Hawk to do for two years.
With 7:13 left in the second quarter, the Lions ran a basic lead play to the right side. Left end Aaron Kampman and Chillar didn't exactly execute the play as planned, and that left Hawk against fullback Jerome Felton and tailback Kevin Smith.
Hawk took on Felton, which is Hawk's responsibility, but he failed to get off the block to either make the tackle or force Smith to the inside. Smith ran free for a 19-yard gain, the Lions' second-longest run of the game.
"Nick Barnett is finding ways to create production outside of his responsibility," Moss said.
"I think A.J. is extremely conscious on one, being right. It's important for him to execute. It's very important for him to be reliable. It's very important for him to take coaching and what we were asking him to do as a scheme and execute it on the field.
"But at some point in time, he has to tell himself, 'Well, I've done my job. Now throughout the course of a play, I'm going to have to do my job to find a way to make plays if they're not coming to me.' That would be his next point."
Just finishing off the Packers/ Lions player participation ... I have Hawk down as having been in on 10 snaps ... so one in 5 defensive plays. Most of them would have been the unusual 5 linebacker sets the Packers use where he is the Mike. Lost containment on one play and there's a noticeable difference (As there always has been with him) compared to the other linebackers who just seem to get it more.
Hawk is a major disappointment to this point in his career.
Interesting that another first round linebacker Ernie Sims looks to have been officially benched, seeing limited time in most nickel packages. Why, I'm not sure sure since is there a more hopeless linebacker in coverage? Sims may be one of the biggest draft busts in recent memory.
Hawk is a major disappointment to this point in his career.
Interesting that another first round linebacker Ernie Sims looks to have been officially benched, seeing limited time in most nickel packages. Why, I'm not sure sure since is there a more hopeless linebacker in coverage? Sims may be one of the biggest draft busts in recent memory.
Nope, comes out in the nickel for either Sims or Dizon
Michael Fox Fan
Footballguy
Michael Fox Fan
Footballguy
Barnett is a beast. He looks healthy, explosive, back to being a playmaker.
