Green Bay Packers preseason continues when they travel to FedEx Field on Saturday night to face the Washington Redskins in their second preseason game.
The following are three things to watch – starting with the defensive side of the ball …
Defensive assignments
The Green Bay Packers defense this year will rely on a number of young defenders, including rookie defensive backs Kevin King and Josh Jones. Both players bring much-needed elements of size and speed to the secondary.
But in order for these players to receive playing time, Dom Capers needs to have the utmost confidence in them to know the playbook and every possible adjustment inside and out.
Aside from subpar talent, one of the biggest issues with Capers’ defense over the years has been an unacceptably high number of missed assignments.
The playbook is very complex, and it can lead to young players giving up huge plays.
Last week, King let Eagles receiver Bryce Treggs get behind him on a go route because it seemed that he expected help from Jones, who was nowhere to be found.
Wonder if the safety played the wrong call here. Looks like he expected a slot blitz. pic.twitter.com/mCxgqlKlWc
— Aaron Nagler (@AaronNagler) August 14, 2017
That’s exactly the kind of mistake that the Packers defense cannot tolerate this season. King and Jones will need to play, as well as young players like Montravius Adams and Vince Biegel when they return from injury.
On Saturday night, we’ll be carefully watching to see if the defense is effectively communicating and executing the correct assignments on each and every play.
If Capers can’t get his entire defense on the same page, then he might be forced to simplify the scheme.