Packers Address Key Areas of Special Teams Ineptitude

The Green Bay Packers’ special teams didn’t look appreciably better during the three-game preseason than last season, as a whole, or the playoff loss to the 49ers, in particular.

However, there are numerous reasons to be bullish aside from the addition of esteemed special teams coordinator Rich Bisaccia.

Last season crashed and burned on a blocked punt that the 49ers scooped up for a touchdown. On the play, long snapper Steven Wirtel was bulldozed backward. The Packers could have survived that had personal protector Henry Black stayed in to blocker rather than run out on coverage.

The Packers have made changes at both positions, and other positions, in an effort to turn weakness into strength.

At long snapper, the Packers are rolling the dice with undrafted rookie Jack Coco. Until the preseason, Coco hadn’t snapped on a punt in a game since high school. But he had a good training camp and preseason. More than his snap accuracy, which was just fine, Coco should be more than just a speed bump to the opposition.

At his pro day in 2020, Wirtel measured 6-foot-3 3/4 and 235 pounds and put up 19 reps on the 225-pound bench press. At his pro day in 2022, Coco measured 6-foot-2 1/8 and 248 pounds and put up 22 reps on the bench. With that added bulk, Coco should provide sturdier protection.

“Consistency was the biggest thing,” he said late in training camp of his inexperience on punts. “It was the fact that there’s no real knowledge of consistency that I had in-game experience. But I feel like the way that Rich makes me practice and Byron (Storer) makes me practice, it allows me to have an absolute chaotic environment during practice so, when it gets to a game, everything is a lot calmer and I know what’s going to come at me. That’s just the way they do it, by preparation, and that gives you a lot of consistency with everything moving forward.”

Meanwhile, the Packers didn’t even bother to re-sign Black as an exclusive-rights free agent. Just before the start of camp, they signed safety Dallin Leavitt. He was a standout on Bisaccia’s special teams with the Raiders and will be an extension of Bisaccia with the Packers. A No. 1 on all four phases of special teams, he took Black’s spot as personal protector. Presumably, he’ll know when it’s time to cover and time to block.

General manager Brian Gutekunst’s renewed emphasis on special teams continued on Wednesday with the signing of safety Rudy Ford. Ford and former Raiders defensive back Keisean Nixon, who was signed in free agency, could be the gunners on the punt team.

“It’s probably one of the toughest positions on the field,” Ford said. “You should definitely write about it more, because at gunner they can fight you the whole time. They can hold you, you’ve got to beat two people, you can be blocked by two guys and one can grab and hold you, you’ve got to try and throw one of them off the other one. It’s a lot of dynamics. Definitely speed and power, you’ve got to use everything. …

“(If) you want to be a dominant player, you’ve got to be able to hone in on your technique. You’ve got to go dominate, you’ve got to make tackles, you want to down a punt inside the 5 or inside the 10. It’s definitely a fun position. You can change the game, change field position, so it’s a lot of things that come with that position.”

With the additions of Nixon, who led the Raiders with nine special-teams tackles in 2019, Ford, who led the Eagles with 11 special-teams tackles in 2020, and Leavitt, who led the Raiders with 12 special-teams tackles in 2021, Gutekunst has put his money where his mouth is in terms of upgrading the team’s perennially downtrodden special teams.

While they might lack a game-changing returner, the things that lose games – bad snaps, bad holds, bad protection and bad coverage – have been addressed.

“I think we’ve done a little bit of things that might be out of character for us, as far as some of the guys we brought in that maybe don’t play as big a role on offense or defense but maybe they’re more heavy special teams players,” Gutekunst said. “We’ll kind of see how that goes. We’ve got to get better there to accomplish the goals that this team wants to accomplish. We have to be better. I think we will be and we certainly invested a lot, not only in Coach Bisaccia but some of the guys we brought in.”

By signing accomplished punter/holder Pat O’Donnell and sticking with kicker Mason Crosby, the Packers have a pair of veterans with cold-weather kicking experience. And by hiring Bisaccia, who has a long and strong track record, the Packers have a respected voice leading the room.

“I don’t know if you can put your finger on it or say it’s one specific thing, but my favorite part – and I feel a lot of people feel this way – is he’s going to love on you as much as he’s going to be hard on you,” Leavitt said. “He has great expectations. As much as that, he’s going to love on you as well. When you do something good, he’s going to tell you, ‘Good job.’ When you do something wrong, he’s going to tell you (that) you did it wrong.”