By Tom Silverstein, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel –
GREEN BAY, Wis. — Feeling the sting of an opening day loss in which his unit made too many mistakes to contend with a top-tier team like the San Francisco 49ers, Dom Capers had a choice to make.
The Green Bay Packers defensive coordinator could either stick with the veterans who had won their positions through training camp competition and underperformed against the 49ers, or he could roll the dice with a bunch of rookies.
He had roughly 24 hours to make a decision because the Packers played four days later against the Chicago Bears.
What Capers did is a testament to his ability to be honest with himself.
He very well could have convinced himself to give cornerback Jarrett Bush and safety M.D. Jennings one more chance before making a switch. He could have very well waited another week before crafting significant roles for rookies Casey Hayward, Jerron McMillian, Dezman Moses and Mike Daniels.
But he didn’t.
And as a result, the Packers played their best defensive game since holding the Minnesota Vikings to 7 points and 266 yards in Week 10 of last season.
Capers’ defense cut the Bears at the knees with seven sacks and four interceptions in a 23-10 victory at Lambeau Field Thursday night.
Six rookies — Hayward, McMillian, Moses, Daniels, Nick Perry and Jerel Worthy — played integral parts in a game the Packers couldn’t afford to lose. It takes some guts to make that call.
“I just think that’s where we are,” Capers said. “The one thing I feel good about stating is I think we will get better.
“As long as we stay healthy, and we can keep these young guys coming along, we’ll get better as a defense just because of game experience.
“When you take young guys and if you feel they have good ability, what they have to do is they have to gain that experience and start to play with more confidence.”
Heading into the season, Capers and his assistants chose Bush to start at cornerback over third-year pro Sam Shields and Hayward. They also chose Jennings, in his second year, over McMillian as the nickel and dime safety.
Experience was a factor, but when both players blew coverages against the 49ers, it showed Capers had nothing to lose by using the rookies.
“Really, our biggest problem in the opener was we had two or three breakdowns to where we just kind of gave them some gifts,” Capers said. “And you can’t do that against any football team in the National Football League, let alone a team the caliber of the 49ers.”
Perry and Worthy were already involved, but Hayward and Daniels had been inactive the first week. McMillian didn’t play until Jennings was benched in Week 1, and Moses was used sparingly.
As Capers crafted his game plan for the Bears, he replaced Bush with Shields, Jennings with McMillian and inserted Hayward over Bush into the dime.
He had won games with Shields before, but just a week ago he didn’t have the confidence to start him, McMcMillian or Hayward in his sub-packages.
“Well, when you’re getting ready to play that first game, you’ve got to just see the consistency through the preseason,” Capers said. “And with young guys, there’s a lot to learn. So I guess there’s more of a confidence level in a guy that’s had more reps; you’ve seen him more on the practice field.
“I always feel, being accountable for your job and taking care of your responsibilities, that over a period of time, that’s our job. We’ve got to evaluate those things, then you have to make a decision based off the body of work that you see. And it changes.”
In just one week, McMillian went from playing 15 snaps to playing 44; Hayward from 0 to 23; Moses from 4 to 18; and Daniels from 0 to 14.
Perry played fewer snaps because of a sore wrist and the return of suspended linebacker Erik Walden, and Worthy played about the same he had the week before.
Pass rush was the biggest reason the Packers dominated the Bears, and Worthy, who had a sack, a quarterback hit and a tackle for loss, added more than he had the week before. He is now being used as the lone linemen in the “psycho” formation, a position that Cullen Jenkins used to hold.
“I liked the way he played,” Capers said. “I thought he brought a lot of energy, quickness. You could see him push the pocket. He came off and made a sack. What Jerel gives us; he gives us another athletic guy with quickness.
“You see when we go to the one-down-lineman defense; he’s the guy that’s in there, which really puts our most athletic group out there. I think it puts the most speed and athletic ability out there that we have.”
McMillian and Hayward, meanwhile, held up well in the secondary. McMillian had his first career interception and should have had a second. Hayward had three tackles and was even used as a blitzer while giving up a long reception of 14 yards.
Daniels had his first career sack and was active from an inside rushing position. Moses didn’t show up on the stat sheet, but he played in the “psycho” package and subbed in relief of Clay Matthews.
All in all, Capers was rewarded for his commitment to the rookies with a top-notch defensive performance. But as Charles Woodson, noted, there are 14 games to go.
“We’re very capable,” Woodson said. “But you have to be consistent in this game. But we’re going to have to do it for a lot more games. Is this the type of performance I’d love for us to continue to have?
“Yeah. But it’s one game. Though it feels good, it’s one game.”
