So, Dom, you’re phasing A.J. Hawk out then?
Uh, well, I don’t know if I’d say that…
Well, what would you say?
Uh, well…
“I would say it would vary from week to week,” Packers defensive coordinator Dom Capers said. “You saw him play every snap of our [base] defense. And you saw two weeks ago against Minnesota, we used Brad Jones inside in our dime defense. You saw Clay Matthews in there [Sunday]. Again, based off what our opponent is doing, you’ll see different personnel groups and different people involved in those, and it could change from one week to the next based on your injury situation [and] who’s available.”
Only time will tell if the Green Bay Packers are actually phasing the definition of mediocre, A.J. Hawk, out at inside linebacker. We’ll be throwing a party when that day comes, but we’re not sure if it’s here yet and the Packers aren’t letting on.
What we do know is Hawk played less than 30 snaps against the Patriots and made only one tackle. We also know that you want your best personnel on the field when you’re playing an elite team.
So the Packers can talk all they want about match-ups, but clearly they didn’t think Hawk provided them with anything in pass defense. All of the veteran’s snaps came when the Packers ran their base defense, last Sunday. They played nickel or dime the majority of the time.
And that left Hawk standing on the sideline the majority of the time.
The Packers face another team that’s more pass than run in the Atlanta Falcons this week. They’re not nearly as good as the Patriots, however.
So if you’re concerned about Hawk’s role, then how many snaps he plays this week should be telling.