The Green Bay Packers special teams unit is still having issues.
In Friday’s preseason game against the New Orleans Saints, Green Bay had 12 men on the field for a punt return during the third quarter. Then, on the following punt return, only 10 men were on the field.
These kinds of mental mistakes were a common occurrence for one of the worst special teams units in history last season when the 2021 Packers finished dead last in Rich Gosselin’s annual special teams rankings.
A dismal year led to the firing of Maurice Drayton after just one season. Green Bay replaced him with Rich Bisaccia, who is considered one of the best coordinators in the game, however, even Bisaccia is having trouble curing the Packers’ special teams’ woes.
Not having enough guys on the field is an easy fix, but it is also easily avoidable.
“It is what it is, and that’s something we’re well aware of, and we’ll clean up,” head coach Matt LaFleur said postgame.
It’s an odd oversight from someone like Bisaccia, who is one to harp on the details. He’s one of the most vocal coaches at practice, who is not afraid to correct a player if something is not done exactly the way he wants. After all, he’s a football savant with nearly 40 years of experience.
Bisaccia doesn’t take credit for coining the term “WE-fense” when referring to special teams, but that is a mantra he’s adopted from his years of coaching in college and the NFL. He views special teams as a collaborative effort that is only as good as the sum of its parts.
“There was a point in college where there wasn’t a lot of attention paid to special teams, and I was fortunate enough to be with a college coach that thought it should be an emphasis,” Bisaccia said Thursday. “It just became something that we could all do together. It wasn’t just guys that played on offense or just guys that played on defense. It was something that we could all do together to help our team win. And it’s just kind of grown from that. Coach LaFleur’s done a great job of making it part of our vernacular around here.”
It’s a fitting term that has certainly caught on around the building, but so far, it hasn’t translated onto the field. Last week’s preseason opener against the San Francisco 49ers had its up and downs as Amari Rodgers returned a kickoff for 50 yards. Then, later in the game, kicker Gabe Brkic missed a chip shot from 32 yards.
The plan is to play more starters on special teams in 2022 if it means avoiding another disappointing year. However, that hasn’t been the case in the preseason, as most of Green Bay’s starters are sitting. That includes veteran kicker Mason Crosby, who is rehabbing a knee injury.
The Packers will hope to have their veteran kicker and a healthy number of starters contributing on special teams to start the season. By then, not having the correct numbers of players on the field should be a thing of the past. Then again, more goes into fielding a successful special teams unit.
“I think we’re a work in progress,” said Bisaccia.
