Packers have a difficult call to make and it could define how they survive without another injured key starter
Safety Evan Williams will likely be out against the Bears on Saturday.
Evan Williams is a big part of what the Green Bay Packers have done on defense this year. In addition to his ability to cover, the safety has been massive to fit the run, and he’s a significant piece to supplement what the first level of defense can’t finish.
However, Williams was another piece to suffer a knee injury on Sunday against the Denver Broncos, and ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler reported that he could miss multiple weeks — Williams is trying to return, but he missed practice on Tuesday and Wednesday, which is already an indication he won’t be ready by Saturday to face the Chicago Bears.
How the Packers’ secondary will operate
Without Evan Williams, defensive coordinator Jeff Hafley will have to make some tough choices. The first is in terms of personnel.
The natural option would be to move Javon Bullard from the slot to deep safety. That’s his original spot, and that’s where he initially started as a rookie last year. That part is fine — Bullard is natural there and has already played 90 snaps in the box and 34 as a free safety this season.
But without Bullard to play nickel, Nate Hobbs enters the lineup. The free agent addition hasn’t been great and handled injuries in his first season on the Packers. However, Hobbs did show some improvement in the past two games playing the majority of his snaps inside — earlier in the season, he had struggled at boundary cornerback before being benched in favor of Carrington Valentine.
Considering experience and investment, that’s the most likely formation.
If the Packers still want Javon Bullard playing in the slot, the second safety alongside Xavier McKinney could be Zayne Anderson. While he’s mostly a special teamer, Anderson was solid last year when needed, and he’s played 15 safety snaps in 2025. Considering his ability to stop the run, and how the Bears can stress the Packers’ defense in that area, it could make more sense.
Base defense
NFL teams primarily use 11 personnel, which means one running back, one tight end, and three wide receivers. The Bears have used that personnel on 54.9% of their offensive plays. But this is a team, under head coach Ben Johnson, that likes to use heavier personnel — 30.1% of 12, with two tight ends, and 7.3% of 13, with three tight ends.
Those heavier groupings should be especially important this week for the Bears, since wide receivers Rome Odunze and Luther Burden are recovering from injuries and might play or not.
The Packers tend to match personnel, so they would defend 12 and 13 with base defense. In that scenario, the defense would have Javon Bullard at safety with McKinney, and instead of Hobbs or Anderson, that 11th piece would be a third off-ball linebacker — Isaiah McDuffie joining Edgerrin Cooper and Quay Walker.
So far this season, the Packers are fifth in base defense rate, so it’s natural for them to align with that personnel.
Especially against an offense that likes to establish the run game to make life easier for Caleb Williams, playing an extra linebacker could be smart — but anyway, replacing a versatile and efficient player like Evan Williams won’t be easy.
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