Packers head coach thinks a few Falcons players are going to give his guys hell
Green Bay Packers head coach Matt LaFleur and company can all agree that their offense will face a tall task on Sunday when they take on the Atlanta Falcons secondary, which is stacked with weapons. The Falcons' secondary stars cornerbacks AJ Terrell, Tre Flowers, and possibly Jeff Okudah, along with Week 1's Defensive Player of […]
Green Bay Packers head coach Matt LaFleur and company can all agree that their offense will face a tall task on Sunday when they take on the Atlanta Falcons secondary, which is stacked with weapons.
The Falcons' secondary stars cornerbacks AJ Terrell, Tre Flowers, and possibly Jeff Okudah, along with Week 1's Defensive Player of the Week, safety Jessie Bates.
"AJ's – I think he's an elite corner," LaFleur said ahead of Week 2's matchup. "Obviously, Okudah, we'll see if he's back and then they've got flowers who we've gone against before. So I think I think all those guys are really solid players. They play a really aggressive scheme, as well. So, they're gonna get up in your face, they'll challenge you, and they do a nice job. They got really good length and size and can run. So, it'll be a good task for our young receiver group."
Green Bay's offensive coordinator Adam Stenavich is on the same page as LaFleur.
“Their secondary is excellent,” Stenavich told reporters on Thursday. “Their corners, their edge guys are good. Very aggressive safeties. So it’s going to be a huge challenge for us, basically across the board.”
Atlanta had their way in Week 1 against Carolina Panthers' rookie quarterback Bryce Young, holding him to just 146 passing yards and 3.2 yards a pass in his welcome-to-the-NFL debut.
Bates alone registered 10 total tackles, two interceptions, two passes defensed and a forced fumble in the Falcons' 24-10 win over Carolina.
"Jessie is a really good safety for them," Packers' QB Jordan Love said during Wednesday's press conference. "He's a ballhawk, you've seen the numbers he had last week with two interceptions and a forced fumble. So you know, he's a ballhawk, he's a really good player. He's a very instinctual player and he plays on quarterbacks' eyes, and that's how he made his plays last week. So, definitely a guy we got to be looking out for and just know where he's at, at all times."
Thanks to a solid offensive line, Love hardly faced any struggles in the Packers' 38-20 win against the Chicago Bears as he completed 15 of 27 passes for 245 yards and three touchdowns. But the Packers' o-line will need to repeat those same efforts–and then some–on Sunday if they plan on keeping the Falcons off of Love.
"We just got to keep doing a great job of communicating,” Stenavich added. “Keep doing a great job of executing and just making sure that when we get the opportunities to make plays we do.”
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