What does Casey Hayward want to do? Be a starting cornerback. What is Casey Hayward going to do? Play the slot again while Tramon Williams and Sam Shields start outside.
He doesn’t sound too pleased about it either.
“I’m not satisfied with it, but if that’s my role, I’ll be satisfied with it,” he said. “But I’m also critiquing my game to be able to play outside. (Cornerbacks coach) Joe (Whitt) has given me a lot of opportunities to go out there and play outside a lot, as well.”
Is there a difference other than where you line up on the field? In today’s game, not really.
Most teams run their nickel package more than they do their base defense. So if Hayward stays healthy and isn’t losing snaps to say, Micah Hyde or Davon House, then he’ll play just about as much as anyone on the Packers’ defense.
But Hayward is feeling a slight sting. That’s pride fucking with him because he isn’t a starter.
And barring injury to Williams or Shields, he’s probably not going to be a starter for another season. Williams is in the last year of his contract and the Packers surely won’t re-sign him next year because that’s how they roll.
In the meantime, Hayward needs to worry about returning to his rookie year form (6 INTs). Last year was a turd of a season. Hayward was ultimately lost to the hamstring epidemic of 2013, but when he was on the field he looked like crap.
Now, you can go ahead and chalk that up to the injury if you like, but the Packers still need to see much better play from Hayward than they did last year.
Then maybe we can talk about a starting job.