Packers' Woodson has high hopes for 3-4 defense
By CHRIS JENKINS , Associated Press
Last update: August 2, 2009 - 4:28 PM
GREEN BAY, Wis. - The Green Bay Packers are starting a new season with an almost entirely new defensive coaching staff. So cornerback Charles Woodson figures it's now OK to say what a lot of players might have been thinking last season: The team's previous defensive scheme was too predictable.
"When you watched those games last year, you could call what we were running a lot of times, you know?" Woodson said Sunday. "It's one thing for things to look the same every play, but you can't just run the same thing every play."
And despite the time it took Packers players to make the offseason transition from last year's 4-3 scheme to a 3-4 alignment under new defensive coordinator Dom Capers, Woodson believes the extra work will pay off.
"This defense gives us a great chance to give the offense different looks, move around a little bit, just show them different things and keep (offenses) off-balance," Woodson said. "It's a defense you can have a lot of fun in."
And if Sunday morning's practice is any indication, the Green Bay Packers' pass rush could be a handful for opposing offenses this season. The Packers' offense generally ran the ball well but had trouble picking up some blitzes they hadn't seen before.
"They're attacking from all different angles," wide receiver Greg Jennings said. "They're making it tough on us as far as reading blitzes, adjusting to their blitzes. Blitz pickup has definitely been a challenge, just because of the way that Dom has those guys running and penetrating, looking like they're going to blitz, you have your eyes open."
Jennings said that wasn't the case last season when they were facing a defense more familiar to them.
"We understood that defense to perfection, pretty much, and we were able to pick them apart," Jennings said. "This defense, they can throw a lot of different schemes at you, and we never know what to expect. Especially with a coach like that (Capers), he's got those guys on their toes. Sometimes, I hate to say it, we're kind of on our heels because we don't know what to expect."
Packers linebacker A.J. Hawk said he expects the offense to adjust to the defense's new blitzes, providing some friendly competition in the first few days of camp.
"I think early on in camp like this, it's us — the offense_ kind of figuring out which blitzes we're throwing at them every day," Hawk said. "And then they'll come back tonight and they'll have a lot corrected and they'll block it and we'll throw new stuff at them. So it's a fun game in camp right now."
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